Second Four Star Recruit Badara Diakite Decommits

[Zstatman]

Wasn't it just last summer that the team, led by Brock Harding I think, went to Fran and said they wanted to be really good this past year and wanted to have a new focus on defense. Supposedly they spent the summer working on that new focus but somewhere along the way it fell by the wayside.

 

[CP87]

3) Fran isn't the type of guy who's going to capitulate to fans complaining about defense and bring someone in to run that side of things. To do so would be to admit defeat and incompetence in that phase of the game and that's not Fran's MO. He'd never do it himself, so it would be a deal where Goetz would have to force it and do you really think Fran would be cool with that?

That was Dochterman's and Leistikow's take when they were discussing Fran toward the end of the year. There are things that could improve the situation (D assistant he did not have responsibility to hire; forcing him to make nice with reporters and attend more PR events across the state), but Fran is not going to go for them.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

That was Dochterman's and Leistikow's take when they were discussing Fran toward the end of the year. There are things that could improve the situation (D assistant he did not have responsibility to hire; forcing him to make nice with reporters and attend more PR events across the state), but Fran is not going to go for them.

Yeah over the last couple yrs since Beth has been on the job I'd say she got the feel for what Fran was all about and he made himself as a take me as I am or fire me kinda guy. He definitely isn't the type to be micromanaged about his staff.

That's where he and KF were in similar yet such different situations. Fran was easily fireable. Coulda been after last yr albeit woulda been costlier. KF wasn't/isn't. KF wasn't ready to tell her to take the job and shove it either. So when she said Brian has to go she got what she wanted.

What surprised me about that was how stubborn the Ferentzs are. I woulda thought they coulda had Brian leave for another job on his terms so the embarrassment of firing him wouldn't have had to happen. It coulda been a 'we all know what happened' sort of thing. So they tried to flex on her and she didn't blink and pulled the trigger. To have been a fly on the wall for how that went down behind the scenes woulda been really interesting to know.

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

Fran's teams could often play good d for stretches though, which makes me thinks it was a "want to" issue.

When given the “green light” sometimes this happens. I think having someone with a defensive mind would have helped. It wasn’t the best but defense was better with Speraw around.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

Yeah over the last couple yrs since Beth has been on the job I'd say she got the feel for what Fran was all about and he made himself as a take me as I am or fire me kinda guy. He definitely isn't the type to be micromanaged about his staff.

That's where he and KF were in similar yet such different situations. Fran was easily fireable. Coulda been after last yr albeit woulda been costlier. KF wasn't/isn't. KF wasn't ready to tell her to take the job and shove it either. So when she said Brian has to go she got what she wanted.

What surprised me about that was how stubborn the Ferentzs are. I woulda thought they coulda had Brian leave for another job on his terms so the embarrassment of firing him wouldn't have had to happen. It coulda been a 'we all know what happened' sort of thing. So they tried to flex on her and she didn't blink and pulled the trigger. To have been a fly on the wall for how that went down behind the scenes woulda been really interesting to know.

Kirk came to his crossroads after 2014 and decided to take in the feedback from fans and Mary, and even hired a PR firm to get additional perspective.

Beth collected all kinds of fan feedback from focus groups around the state this past year.

I'm guessing when presented with fans' sentiments about ways to improve the program/fan experience that Fran wasn't super receptive. Or at least not interested in implementing any changes himself.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

And to be fair, maybe most of the feedback was that a coaching change was needed. And/or changes to Carver. So beyond his control at that point (with the changes requiring more funds that wouldn't be donated until he was gone).

 

[kicker22]

Fran's teams could often play good d for stretches though, which makes me thinks it was a "want to" issue.

For stretches, maybe but not on a consistent basis game in and game out. That's like saying our offense was built on attacking the basket. We could do it, but the make up of the team was built around perimeter shooters.

I agree that part of it is a "want to" issue, but based simply on players builds that we were bringing in we had guys that were skinny, tall, and lengthy but not guys built to bang in the post and dominate the glass or get stops when we needed to.

 

[longtimer]

I got that same thing from an Iowa player's family member. I was told Freeman didn't get along with anyone and it got a lot worse when he no-showed on Garza who had come to IC to work out with him over the summer. One of those locker room cancer types who's better not being in the program anyways.

And before anyone @'s me about ragging on a "college kid," these guys are getting paid millions. Sorry, they're fair game. Big boy money brings big boy expectations/criticism.

Hey i ain’t going to rag on you. Agree

 

[Gander Hawk]

For stretches, maybe but not on a consistent basis game in and game out. That's like saying our offense was built on attacking the basket. We could do it, but the make up of the team was built around perimeter shooters.

I agree that part of it is a "want to" issue, but based simply on players builds that we were bringing in we had guys that were skinny, tall, and lengthy but not guys built to bang in the post and dominate the glass or get stops when we needed to.

IMHO build isn't that important, it's tenacity. Rodman was seldom the biggest guy in the front court but he was a dog.

 

[kicker22]

IMHO build isn't that important, it's tenacity. Rodman was seldom the biggest guy in the front court but he was a dog.

No you're absolutely right. My issue I guess isn't so much the build, although I'd love some absolute bruisers, but the fact that 89-90% of the roster make up is perimeter players. Guys that grow up on the perimeter simply aren't going to be used to banging in the paint all game long. That's a physical toughness and mental toughness we simply didn't have.

 

[Gander Hawk]

No you're absolutely right. My issue I guess isn't so much the build, although I'd love some absolute bruisers, but the fact that 89-90% of the roster make up is perimeter players. Guys that grow up on the perimeter simply aren't going to be used to banging in the paint all game long. That's a physical toughness and mental toughness we simply didn't have.

Fran definitely recruited that type. As a stocky, medium height, unskilled pick up game player I loved banging around for rebounds. I could never understand tall guys who were afraid to mix it up inside, I also saw skinny guys who were great at getting position and grabbing boards.

 

[PCHawk]

I disagree with the people saying we were bad on defense because of the recruits Fran brought in. I think it was a mix between the percentage of practice time focused on defense and the preference on which side of the floor to exert energy. You can only give 100% on a court for so many minutes in a row. Fran chooses to sprint up and down the floor and sprint around on offense looking for a shot. You gotta slow down somewhere.

If Ben came in and coached the exact same roster we had this year, we would probably be way better on defense and probably struggle a lot more on offense. Even scouting how to attack individual opponents was probably mostly spent on how to score on them instead of how to stop them from scoring. In my opinion, the only reason people think Fran brings in "great offensive players" is because the way he coaches makes them look like great offensive players.

 

[kicker22]

I disagree with the people saying we were bad on defense because of the recruits Fran brought in. I think it was a mix between the percentage of practice time focused on defense and the preference on which side of the floor to exert energy. You can only give 100% on a court for so many minutes in a row. Fran chooses to sprint up and down the floor and sprint around on offense looking for a shot. You gotta slow down somewhere.

If Ben came in and coached the exact same roster we had this year, we would probably be way better on defense and probably struggle a lot more on offense. Even scouting how to attack individual opponents was probably mostly spent on how to score on them instead of how to stop them from scoring. In my opinion, the only reason people think Fran brings in "great offensive players" is because the way he coaches makes them look like great offensive players.

I wouldn't say great offensive players, but I'd say they all fit the same mold of being skinny and lengthy and fit the mold of a stereotypical perimeter player. Fran recruited shooters and when they were on the did exactly what Fran wanted them to do. That said I think those players were far from great, with the exception of the obvious, because they were generally one dimensional. I'd love to see McCollom bring in some midrange players and some players that are horrible from the outside but can absolutely own the paint and multiple guys that can attack the basket and score in traffic. I think it's the offensive diversity we've been lacking for quite some time.