If you need to put a Hawkeye on that team put Journey Houston in. For all her accolades coming in Addie Deal has been a huge disappointment. I would go as far as to say a flop. Yesterday, in the 2nd half against ILL she had two great assists almost back to back! But that was about it. She has had an entire season to adjust to the college game and improve but too often she makes mistakes like it's her first time on the floor. She has shown glimpses of talent, creativity, and something this team lacks, a mid range game. And Addie's 17 point explosion against Western Illinois? Whoop whoop, Give Iowa 10+ today. Draw fouls and be a threat!
Addie Deal made the Big10 All-Freshman team WHAT?
- Thread starter Wango Z Tango
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Sometimes awards following fame rather than production.
Yes, Journey has had a better season.
Addy is not a flop.
Yes, Journey has had a better season.
Addy is not a flop.
Deal in general has been underwhelming, especially coming in so highly rated. She's had a few moments, but no objective observer would look at her game yesterday and say they could see why she was a 5-star and what, a top 20 player in the nation coming out of high school. If you didn't know Deal's rating, and you watched her and Callie Levin, would you come away saying Deal was a potential star and Levin a deep reserve? I wouldn't. Despite a couple of outliers, right now I'd be as confident with Levin in the game as with Deal.
And yes, anyone who was paying attention to actual performance and consistency would have put Houston on the freshman team well ahead of Deal.
That doesn't mean Deal won't make a big leap next year and become the player her background suggests she should be. OTOH, that may never happen. Highly rated players in all sports often fail to take that next step. But as for the present, Deal is adequate in her current role, and that's about it.
Deal has had a couple of breakout games that earned her a starting role for a stretch. In my opinion, the potential is definitely there for her to become the elite player many of us think she can be. From what I’ve seen, the biggest hurdle right now may be the mental side of the game. At times it looks like she might be overthinking things or trying a bit too hard.
I don’t mean that as any disrespect to her—plenty of athletes go through phases like that. It seems like her confidence may have taken a hit after that run as a starter, and she’s probably working through how to get back into a rhythm. I’m sure the coaches are focused on building her confidence back up, which in my opinion is the best approach in situations like this.
I don’t mean that as any disrespect to her—plenty of athletes go through phases like that. It seems like her confidence may have taken a hit after that run as a starter, and she’s probably working through how to get back into a rhythm. I’m sure the coaches are focused on building her confidence back up, which in my opinion is the best approach in situations like this.
Deal - has struggles some with the speed of the game. It is getting better. Her stroke and court awareness is dare I say similar to Clark. Her ball handling and driving to the bucket are behind. She effectively has 1-2 basketball moves from what I see which makes her really predictable for defenders to try and pick her pocket. The defense has improved. For a young player you are going to have good and bad games. Yesterday was rough. She still has the possibility of being an elite player - possibly higher ceiling than Houston - but Houston played like a veteran the majority of the year. I do think we will be looking for a guard in the portal.
Journey should have been a much higher rated recruit. A knee injury shut down a big part of her junior year and her ranking dropped. A lot of people knew once she was healthy she was gonna be good. Just be nice if she was a few inches taller if playing the 4.
The OSU game showed why she was rated highly. She was dynamic. Journey has been much more consistent but Addie has had a few flashes which show her high ceiling.
Hwr biggest adjustment is playing this style at this level. Shes much more dynamic in the open court and in transition. OSU kinda forces you to play that way so it played to her strengths. But JJ is a half court, pound the post coach. Which I understand with this roster and Ava’s talent. So Addie will need to improve her half-court game for sure.
AD plays pretty good defense as well. Journey had the better season imho. BUT I am sure glad they are both back next year! I think next year's team might end up being better!
Whoever says she hasn't underperformed are lying to themselves. She's had a whole season now and looks alot like she did at the beginning of the season. The jump to college ball has been overwhelming to her it looks, much more so than Houston but she also handles the ball a lot more which makes a big difference. She has shown a few flashes but overall she has struggled mightily. Here's to hoping she improves tremendously and has a great career at iowa. Not giving up on Addie Deal
that’s great. Cause if you were giving up on her then I was too.
Did you forget that she was Big Ten Freshman of the Week - TWICE, and had 20 against Ohio State in addition to the 17 you mentioned? I'll assume you forgot, or don't know basketball.
Sometimes the mental side of the game is the hardest part to overcome, and that seems to be where Deal struggles the most. On top of that, her basketball IQ is a real concern. Too often she makes poor decisions on the floor. She also lacks the burst off the dribble, which becomes a serious problem at this level where defenders are faster and recover quickly. She has heart, is a fierce competitor, and can shoot - that doesn’t always translate though.
We have 2 star guards on this team today. People's expectations of Addie were simply too high this year. Hopefully she can make a huge jump next year to join Chit chat and Strem and make Iowa's perimeter game one of the best in the country. Lot's of good progress can be made between now and next year.
In all fairness to Addie as well, she's been asked to learn and play 3 positions PG, OG, SF. That is a lot on a freshman. But will pay dividends in the future.
