If You Build It, They Will Come

   Here's my updated list for Iowa Connections on NBA teams.  There are 27 connections at the start of the 2023-24 season.  Connections are sparser than the NFL, so I will only list teams with connections.  Looks like we are cheering for a Milwaukee/ Phoenix Finals this year! (Shout out to Sacramento, Utah, Golden State, Dallas, Indiana and Atlanta)  Note: Coaches/Staff in  italics . Note: These players/coaches/staff are not with NBA teams this after they were last year:  Nate Bjorkgren  (Buena Vista),  Paul Jesperson  (UNI),  Mike Dunlap  (Iowa),  Dave Joerger  (Cedar Rapids River Raiders), Al McCoy (Drake), Aaron Nelson (ISU) Note: This will change as players get added throughout the season and as I discover assistant gms that went to Iowa colleges.  Some names to watch include: Tyger Campbell, Terry Stotts, and  Joe Wieskamp 

 The Hoops release is a good point to check on the status of Iowa Connections in the NBA and whom the minds at Panini have dubbed important enough to have a card.  Hoops is good one to use because of the size of the set (300 cards) which covers more than most other sets.   According to my records there are 25 Iowa Connections in the NBA this season.  Some are coaches which won't be covered by Hoops (unless accidently in the background.)  Let's see how many made it: #51 Tyrese Haliburton #155 Doug McDermott #156 Joe Wieskamp #158 Harrison Barnes #175 Talen Horton-Tucker #190 Monte Morris #234 Keegan Murray #284 Keegan Murray We  have 8 cards and 7 connections, exactly the same connection count as last year.  This year Keegan Murray replaced Luka Garza. Excluding coaches, who is missing?  Well as mentioned above, Luka Garza for the Timberwolves is missing.  He started the season on the Iowa Wolves, so that is probably why.  Also missi...

 Unlike the Hawkeyes, the top of the list for the Cyclones makes sense.  #1 is Tyrese Haliburton, soon to be all-star dropped into this card era has three times as many cards as anyone else on the list.  Hornacek snuck past Jamal Tinsley for #2 this year, a gap that will probably grow as Hornacek is more likely to be in sets now.   Talen Horton-Tucker is #4, and graced this card count generation like Haliburton, but with less juice.  #5 is Wesley Johnson, who didn't end his college career in Ames but did start there. Marcus Fizer at #7 is probably correct, despite being the #2 draft pick, but his pro career didn't really explode. As for the collection, 74 new additions this year with Haliburton leading the way with 29 new cards and Hornacek with 14.  Monte Morris, Craig Brackins, Justin Hamilton, Bridget Carleton and Dedric Willoughby added their first cards to my collection this year. Player ICDB Rank Have Total ICDB 2022 Have...

 I'd like to start a new series of posts where I list the Iowa Connections within each set, but that is ridiculous, so I plan on doing one major set for each season.  Obviously Topps with baseball, but with the Panini sports its not quite as obvious.  You need a larger checklist, and preferably one that comes out during the season.  I'd pick Prizm for both, but we won't get Prizm in football until after the season is over.  I'll probably go back and do Score for football since it is a reasonable get and has a decent checklist.   For the NBA, I'm going with Hoops.  These are the Iowa Connections in 2021-22 Hoops: #51 Monte Morris : Iowa State #78 Harrison Barnes : Ames #108 Tyrese Haliburton - Iowa State #193 Doug McDermott - Ames #245 Joe Wieskamp - Iowa #250 Luka Garza - Iowa Notable exceptions include Nick Nurse (UNI), Talen Horton Tucker (Iowa State) and Tyler Cook (Iowa).  

F I made a trip to the LCS over the weekend looking for supplies to store my cards into a more organized manner.  Instead, I walked out with more cards, but to be fair they were out of what I was looking for.  I didn't have much time, but I did grab a few Iowa Connections. Tyrese Haliburton / Talen Horton Tucker / Allen Lazard : Iowa State Doug McDermott / Joe Burrow: Ames George Kittle : Iowa