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Let's be honest: I know what you're here to see. You're here for the Tyler Cook dunks. The sweet, sweet Tyler Cook dunks. Well, I would hate to stand in the way of your appreciation of Tyler Cook dunking the hell out of the ball.
Cook Video from HawkeyeReport on Vimeo.
Meanwhile, in other highlights from recent PTL action (courtesy Hawkeye Report):
PTL July 14 from HawkeyeReport on Vimeo.
PTL Highlights July 22 from HawkeyeReport on Vimeo.
Hawk Central's Mark Emmert has been providing useful write-ups for several Iowa players in PTL action this summer.
Now that local fans are finally able to get a look at him, he seems determined to show what he can. Moss has been a consistent scorer in his first four PTL games, putting up 24, 24, 23 and 25 points. But the shots he's needed to get those totals have been increasing — from 13 in the opener, to 17, 20 and, on Thursday, 21 attempts for a team starving for any semblance of offense.
"He's a lot more aggressive and his shot's looking a lot better. He's always a promising perimeter shooter, but I think he's developed his game a lot more," said Iowa sophomore point guard Christian Williams, who played alongside Moss on the scout team last winter and is doing so in the PTL this summer. "He's more of a finesse type of guy. He's really good offensively; that's where he strives the most and just getting out in transition."
Hawkeye guard Moss not shy about shooting
Dailey is a difficult player to get a read on because of his insistence on playing team basketball in a summer-league setting that tends to reward showy players. In his first PTL game, he was noticeable for passing up open shots to deliver the basketball to teammates closer to the basket.
"He's like a Swiss army knife. He can do a little bit of everything. He can dribble, pass, shoot it at an elite level," said fellow Hawkeye freshman Tyler Cook, who is on Dailey's PTL team. "He has great height, too. He's long, he's hard to guard, so once he gets strong, he'll be a problem in the Big Ten."
"My ability to guard the smallest player on the court and the biggest player on the court" is what he brings to the team, says Dailey, whose wing span approaches 6-10. "My energy. I think I can really ramp it up and do whatever the coach asks me to do.
"I think the whole team is versatile, but I think I can bring the ball up the floor, I can rebound, I can shoot."
Dailey brings an unselfish basketball style to Iowa City
Uhl has spent the summer preparing for a heavier workload, trying to improve his outside shot and his post moves while packing muscle onto his 217-pound frame.
"Same things I worked on last summer," Uhl said. "My shot is looking better, although I'm missing a lot of shots in the PTL."
Uhl was 1-for-7 from 3-point range in his team's loss Sunday, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. Those would be ideal averages for him in Iowa's actual season, but are less impressive in summer-league competition against an assortment of lower-division players.
"I definitely have to step up," Uhl said. "Rebounding, scoring — whatever the team needs me to do — defense, my all-around game."
Junior forward Uhl works to be Iowa's second option
Iowa's freshman point guard made 7-of-11 3-pointers that night, some from near halfcourt. By the time the summer league ended for Bohannon's team, with a blowout playoff loss Thursday at the North Liberty Recreation Center, he had cooled considerably.
Bohannon scored 21 points in that 120-72 defeat, but was only 3-of-12 from the arc.
He had a simple explanation.
"We're pushing pretty hard in practice and we're lifting (weights) before these games," Bohannon said of his Hawkeye teammates. "These games are somewhat important, but we've just got to realize the long run and not every one of these possessions is going to affect what's going to happen this season."
Point guard Jordan Bohannon pushes hard before Iowa debut
Meanwhile, The Gazette's Scott Dochterman spoke with Fran McCaffery, who expressed his excitement about Iowa's large group of incoming freshmen:
"[Cook]'s special, there's no question about it," McCaffery said. "I think you're blown away by his athletic power, but I think if you get to know him and understand the quality of who he is and how he wants to be good and how he wants to be a complete player and how he wants to be a guy that is recognized for all the things that he can do — he can dribble, pass, run, shoot, jump, defend — he could be the guy that everybody's talking about. But he just wants to win. I think that's the thing that impresses me with him. I think what you'll see is as good as he is today, he's just going to keep getting better with more work."
"[Pemsl] can really pass it, he can put it on the deck, he can score, he's got a low-post game, he can play facing the basket," McCaffery said. "He just knows how to play. You know what he is, he's a really good basketball player. Everybody looks at a lot of other things, but he just knows how to play the game."
Have you been at the last few PTL games? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.