By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Coming off a season in which it finished 14-19 overall and 4-14 in the Big Ten, the Iowa men’s basketball team is a maddening case of the whole being much worse than the individual parts.

Because from an individual standpoint, Iowa has at least three current players and one future player that most fans probably would give a rousing thumbs-up to with regard to talent and potential.

That would include 6-foot-9, 255-pound power forward Tyler Cook, who withdrew his name from the NBA Draft on Wednesday in order to return to Iowa for his junior season.

Cook said Thursday on a teleconference that it took him until Wednesday morning to finally make a decision about his future. The St. Louis native said he had legitimate options in professional basketball without being specific, but ultimately decided that another year at Iowa would be his best option.

“It was hard,” Cook said. “We had opportunities both ways, to come back to school or stay in the draft. But through a lot of prayer and what would be best for myself and best for my family, I just felt like coming back to Iowa was a smart decision to make.”

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery obviously feels the same way because he gets to have at least for one more season arguably his best piece to a talented puzzle.

“I think it’s going to without question benefit our team and I definitely think it’s going to benefit him,” McCaffery said on the teleconference. I think it’s win, win.

“What you’re going to see is a guy going into his junior year who really puts the time in on his own to get better. And he’s going to be better than he was last year, just like he was better last year than he was the year before.”

Cook is one of the most physically gifted players to wear an Iowa uniform in years, and has the statistics, including a bunch of rim-rattling dunks, to back it up. He also led the team in scoring and rebounding last season with per-game averages of 15.3 and 6.8, respectively.

Junior point guard Jordan Bohannon and 6-11 sophomore center Luka Garza represent two more star pieces. Bohannon is well on his way to being the most prolific 3-point shooter in school history and a leader in assists, while Garza improved more than any player on the team last season. Garza’s rise in conference play was arguably the most encouraging thing that occurred last season.

Joe Wieskamp has yet to play in a game for Iowa, but to say that fans expect a lot from the 6-6 incoming freshman would be an understatement. Wieskamp is one of the best high school players in state history and he should have a significant role as a true freshman next season.

Cook, Bohannon and Garza hardly compare to the late 1980s triumvirate of B.J. Armstrong, Roy Marble and Ed Horton at this stage.

But there is a lot to like about all three of the current Hawkeyes, and about Wieskamp and about junior shooting guard Isaiah Moss, until you shift to defense.

Then it becomes a problem that showed no signs of being corrected last season.

Multiple factors caused Iowa to unravel last season, but most of the damage was inflicted by woeful defense.

McCaffery said the players have to understand that things need to change, starting with the defensive end, and that the players have to re-commit to each other and get stronger physically.

In other words, the players have to get tougher, more physical and more connected on defense.

McCaffery is right to say that, but the coaches also have to make some changes because their approach to defense failed miserably last season.

Everybody has to be held accountable, and everybody has to be on the same page.

There were numerous times last season when the Iowa players seemed confused, uninspired and disconnected on defense.

There wasn't one player on the team, besides maybe forward Ahmad Wagner, whose greatest strength was defense. However, Wagner has since left the team and will finish his college career playing football for Kentucky.    

The challenge for McCaffery will be helping Cook prepare for the NBA within the framework of the team. That is a delicate balancing act because there might be some things that Cook has to work on from an NBA standpoint that won't really matter at Iowa, like 3-point shooting for example.

But from a defensive standpoint, the NBA scouts, according to McCaffery, want Cook to learn how to defend multiple positions because it's position-less basketball in the NBA.

"He fits well with that mold," McCaffery said. "So defensively, being able to stay in your stance and stay committed in that stance on the weakside, come over and block shots, rotate out on the three-point shooter, rotate out on the driver, slide your feet, make them make a tough two; those kinds of things are absolutley critical." 

Those kinds of things also are what Iowa struggled to do last season. So maybe with the NBA stressing defense,Cook will see the light and make it a priority.

And if Cook makes defense a priority, his teammates will do the same.

Cook said all the right things on the teleconference as you would expect. He is now an upperclassman and wants to use his knowledge and experience to help the team.

“I want to be the guy that leads the team every way possible,” Cook said.

It has to start on defense because it won’t matter how good the individual parts are if nobody defends at an acceptable level.

All of the current players mentioned in this column have star potential, but none are very good at defending.

It’s impossible to evaluate Wieskamp from a defensive standpoint because he hasn’t played a game in college yet.

Even with Cook returning, Iowa probably won’t have to carry the weight of high expectations into next season. After what occurred last season, there is reason to doubt Iowa.

Cook and his cohorts can score with the best of them and look good from an individual standpoint.

But until they prove they can defend at an acceptable level, there is reason to be skeptical no matter who is on the Iowa roster.