The Iowa Hawkeyes need Dom Uhl to regain his confidence and play better
Last season, Iowa basketball forward Dom Uhl became an integral player off the bench. He saw 17.9 minutes per game and averaged 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent from deep.
While they aren’t great numbers, he played well in his role. On a deep team, Uhl came in and knocked down threes and got to the basket on offense. He also made an impact on the glass on a team that didn’t have a lot of great rebounders.
That being said, Uhl’s production decreased as the season went on, despite his role not getting smaller. By the end of the season, he became a liability at times because of his inability to knock down open shots or finish at the rim.
Here’s a look at his stats month-by-month:
Uhl’s role fluctuated a little, just like any bench player, but not enough to where it should have impacted his numbers as drastically as they were. By the end of the season, Uhl was shooting as poor as anyone in the nation and evidently had zero impact.
His sudden decrease in production is shocking, to say the least. The only game he saw fewer than double-digit minutes in was Iowa’s last game of the regular season against Michigan, and his role in the offense didn’t get smaller, either.
Uhl had a string of poor games midway through the season that snowballed into something more. He lost confidence in his shot, which is dangerous for a shooter. It showed by him failing to make more than one three-pointer in any of the last 14 games, compared to making multiple threes in eight of the first 19 games of the season.
To start the 2016-17 season, Dom Uhl cracked the starting lineup. Fran McCaffery chose the 6-8 junior over redshirt freshman Isaiah Moss and sophomore Ahmad Wagner — both are now starting over Uhl.
Many thought an offseason to work on his game and put his terrible end of the season behind him, along with earning a spot in the starting lineup, would have been enough to get him back on track this season. It hasn’t happened, though.
In 17.4 minutes per game this season, Uhl is averaging just 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while shooting a horrid 37.5 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from deep. Not to mention his lackluster defense.
As the mess of a season Dom Uhl is putting together continues, he has already lost his spot in the starting lineup, is down to averaging just 12.7 minutes per game coming off the bench and might be on the verge of falling out of the rotation in favor of Maishe Dailey or Ryan Kriener.
Don’t get me wrong, Dom Uhl was never great. However, he was serviceable and a solid option off the bench when the offense needed a kickstart or Iowa needed help on the glass. Considering Iowa’s poor bench play this season, that would go a long way this year.
Now, Uhl can’t make an open three, seemingly misses every layup he attempts and has lost all confidence in himself.
His struggles are now in its fourth month, with an offseason between, and the outside noise surely isn’t helping. It’s clear by just watching him play that he’s not confident in his shot or any part of his game.
Against Stetson, Uhl made a two-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half. Unfortunately, it left his hands too late. While it had no impact on the game at the time or in the end, it’s just another thing that didn’t go Uhl’s way.
His disbelief walking to the locker room, as Iowa’s coaching staff patted him on the back, says it all regarding his lack of confidence. Uhl needs something to go right for him to get back on track, and a simple buzzer beater being waved off just adds insult to injury.
The season is still young for the Hawkeyes and Dom Uhl. However, for Iowa to turn their season around, Uhl needs to play better. His confidence would completely shatter if he fell out of the rotation, but that’s where it’s headed right now.
The Hawkeyes don’t need him to be a starting caliber player or even their sixth man, especially when Tyler Cook returns, but he needs to prove he’s serviceable and not a liability before conference play.
Besides, Uhl has shown positive flashes this season. He attempted 10 free-throws against Kennesaw State in the season opener and grabbed 10 rebounds against Rio Grande Valley. He needs to build on it and can’t let getting moved to the bench impact his play.
Maybe all Dom Uhl needs is to string together a couple of good games to regain his confidence and return to being a legitimate three-point threat with solid rebounding. If not, his playing time will only continue to decrease.
Iowa has tried to get him involved and out of his slump. Now it’s up to him regaining confidence in his game.
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