Season Review: Adam Woodbury

Mar 19, 2014; Dayton, OH, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes center

(34) goes up for a shot past Tennessee Volunteers defense in the first half of a college basketball game during the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at UD Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Oh how I have been waiting for this review to come around on my list.  Arguably the most talked about Hawkeye this year through good and bad times.  I’d be willing to bet more of you focused on the bad times that Adam Woodbury had, but believe it or not there were some ups in Woodbury’s season.

Woodbury shot 52% from the field last season and was up 20 percentage points at the line to 71% from 51% his freshman year.  He averaged around 6 points and 4 boards per game this year for the Hawkeyes while averaging around 17 minutes per game.

The Good: He got better from his freshman year to his sophomore year.  People continue to refer to him as a bust, but I just think he hasn’t quite developed yet.  We saw a flash of what we could see in his junior year in Iowa’s final game against Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament.  Woodbury was the best Hawkeye on the floor by a lot with his 16 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes.  The 30 minutes on the floor is a career high for him, so is the 16 points.  The 8 rebounds were his second highest total this season. He had 11 against Iowa State earlier in the year.  He was a presence under the hoop and altered shots all year long with his 7’1″ frame.

The Bad: The worst moment Woodbury had this year that comes to my mind right now is that missed dunk against Minnesota in Iowa City.  I was present for the game and the collective groan from fans in Carver Hawkeye was deafening.  He missed bunnies on the regular and you’d figure for a guy that tall he would hardly miss any.  But it started to become a problem, this led to him silencing his own crowd for all the crap he received about not being able to dunk, after he threw down a dunk – really dude? You’re 7 feet tall, stop it. You were also wide open.

Final Grade: C

Bottom line; Woodbury was just very average all year long, but did make strides toward the end of the year.  That gives me faith that we could see a bigger, more improved Adam Woodbury next season.  One bit could fix all his problems he has had and that thing is; slow down!! He’s in too much of a hurry when it comes to the game.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that he makes strides now that he in an upperclassmen.