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Luka Garza shares best NBA Finals strategy for Miami versus Denver, Nikola Jokic

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Luka Garza shares best NBA Finals strategy for Miami versus Denver, Nikola Jokic


Former Iowa Hawkeye Luka Garza made an interesting prediction ahead of game one of the NBA Finals. In an interview with sports betting network VSin, Garza laid out the game plan on how to possibly contain the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

“You live with him getting 50 and maybe 5 assists versus 30, 17, and 17,” explained Garza in the interview.

The idea has been thrown out a lot after the Heat’s success in game two where they leveled up the series. Nikola Jokic is going to feast, he’s simply too good to hope to completely eliminate him. Your hope is to contain the scoring outburst to just him, single-covering the big man while trying to stop the shooters around them.

“We’re going to let you get 50 points but we don’t want you to get 15 assists,” Garza said.

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With how great of a facilitator Nikola Jokic is, especially with how the offensive system is designed to flow through him, going all out to stop Jokic can really hurt you. He will find players open. As Garza suggested, just letting Bam Adebayo do his best to try and limit Jokic on offense, while eliminating the shooters around him, seems to be the best way to go.

You could see this in action already this series. In the first game, Jokic was an expert facilitator, his 14 assists combined with 27 points led to a comfortable 104-93 Nuggets win. Then, most recently in game three, Jokic filled up every part of the stat sheet, scoring 32 points, grabbing 21 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. It didn’t hurt that Jamal Murray had a triple-double as well, but you get the point in Denver’s 109-94 game three victory.

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While Jokic went on a scoring tear in game two with 41 points, the assists numbers were down to just four. Of course, it’s not just that cut and dry. The Denver players weren’t hitting their shots from deep, but that all really played into what the Heat were trying to do defensively. Just as Luka Garza said.

It makes you wonder, when Luka Garza’s playing career is over, can he have an even bigger star as a basketball analyst?

The NBA Finals resume tonight from Miami’s Kaseya Center at 7:30 p.m. CT on ABC with Denver currently owning a 2-1 series lead.

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Iowa City’s 33rd annual jazz festival

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Iowa City’s 33rd annual jazz festival


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – People in Iowa City got the chance to enjoy live music in the city’s thirty-third annual Jazz Festival.

The festivities kicked off last night with performances from numerous different jazz bands concluding with fireworks on the Pentacrest.

This year featured more music from local high schoolers and even international acts.

Some of the musicians there see it as a way for the community to have more exposure to the genre.

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Caitlin Clark triple-double: Iowa basketball star, Fever rookie makes history vs. Liberty

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Caitlin Clark triple-double: Iowa basketball star, Fever rookie makes history vs. Liberty


Caitlin Clark spent her four years at Iowa rewriting the record books of Big Ten and Division I women’s basketball.

Now, she’s doing the same in the WNBA.

With 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in the Indiana Fever’s 83-78 victory Saturday against the New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double in a game.

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REQUIRED READING: Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark gets WNBA’s first triple-double by a rookie

It’s also the first triple-double by any player in the 24-year history of the Fever, who selected Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Clark secured the triple-double with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, when she pulled down her 10th rebound of the afternoon.

“I think everybody was a little confused as to why they were going to so nuts over rebound,” Clark said after the game, laughing. “I mean, they can do that every time, but this was a little different.”

The 13 assists and 12 rebounds both matched career highs. It’s the fourth time in the past five games that Clark has dished out at least 10 assists. The West Des Moines native entered the day third in the WNBA in assists per game, with 7.1.

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Clark’s production helped the Fever rally from a 10-point deficit with 6:05 remaining to knock off the Liberty, who came into the matchup with the best record in the WNBA. The win was Indiana’s sixth in its past nine games, improving its record to 9-13 following a 1-8 start to the season. The Fever currently holds the eighth and final spot in the WNBA playoffs.

For Clark, triple-doubles aren’t anything particularly new. She had 17 over the course of her four-year career at Iowa, where she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championship games while ending her time in college as the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball.

REQUIRED READING: Caitlin Clark vs Kate Martin recap: Iowa women’s basketball stars in Fever-Aces rematch

How many points did Caitlin Clark have today?

Clark finished with a team-high 19 points for the Fever.

She made seven of of 17 shots from the field and three of her 12 3-pointers.

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Caitlin Clark stats

In 22 WNBA games, each of which she has started, Clark is averaging 16.1 points, 7.4 assists, six rebounds, 1.4 steals and 5.5 turnovers per game.

A prolific shooter throughout her career, Clark is making 39.3% of her field goals and 33.1% of her 3s this season.



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American Press Male Scholar Athlete of the Year: Iowa benefits from Guillory’s leadership – American Press

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American Press Male Scholar Athlete of the Year: Iowa benefits from Guillory’s leadership – American Press


American Press Male Scholar Athlete of the Year: Iowa benefits from Guillory’s leadership

Published 9:20 am Saturday, July 6, 2024

In his four years at Iowa High School, Luke Guillory grew into a leader everywhere he went.

His academic excellence and athletic skills landed him a coveted spot at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and earned him the American Press Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.

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“He is an amazing young man,” Iowa Principal Luke Dietz said. “In everything he does, he works as hard in the classroom as he works on the playing field.

“In everything he does, he wants to be truly excel. He puts the work in to be able to do that. He is just a blessing to have here at the school. He has such high character.

“Even with all the success he has had in academics and athletics, I truly believe his best attributes are probably his character, work ethic and moral beliefs. He bases everything he does around those three things. It drives him to succeed in everything he does.”

Guillory started his six weeks of basic cadet training last week. He will be required to serve at least five years of active duty and three years as an inactive reserve after graduation.

Guillory ranked fourth in his class senior class at Iowa of 140. He scored a 32 on the American College Testing exam and a 4.36 grade point average.

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He was a member of the National Honor Society, student council and helped start a chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the school.

His influence extends into the community where he volunteers for Special Olympics and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“That kid is off the charts and in the community,” Iowa head football coach Tommy Johns said. “Anytime you needed him for something, he was going to show up. He was the guy that would get everybody else to show up with him. If Luke Guillory walked into the locker room and said, ‘We are going to help this organization,’ everybody got up and followed. Nobody had any questions. That is the kind of person he is.

“All of it comes from his parents. He was raised right. His parents have a very structured home. They demand excellence out of their kids. It has been very impressive. We are definitely going to miss him, not only the football player but the person.”

Johns said Guillory started at defensive end but found his place at tight end and turned into a top pass catcher with 36 for 420 yards and six touchdowns for the state quarterfinalist Yellow Jackets.

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“When he first stepped on to our campus he was shy and a little timid,” Johns said, “but you could tell he had the body and the brain to be a great player. He is very, very intelligent. He progressed along.

“I remember after his freshman year he was questioning if he really wanted to play ball. We had a long, long talk in my office, and he decided to stick with it. From that day forward, he turned into a man. He has been our leader the last two or three years. He is a wonderful person.

“Everybody in the school respects him. They flock to him. He earned that. He is a tremendous asset to Iowa High School, the entire community and our program.”

His intelligence and athletic skills helped him to become a force in the lane for the Yellow Jackets’ 2023-2024 basketball Nonselect Division II state runner-up team. He was a second-team all-District 3-3A forward.

“He is so mobile,” Johns said. “I thought he was a little stiff when he was younger, but so is every other kid for the most part. For somebody to carry around that kind of frame and that kind of weight and move like he could was very impressive.”

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