After sleeping on it what did we accomplish?

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
We were ranked as high as #2 early. OK that turned out to be fools gold but it was nice while it lasted.
We finished in 3rd place in the Big Ten. OK the Big Ten really wasn't that good
We got a 2 seed. OK fools gold again.
We had the player of the year in the Big Ten and maybe Wooden award. Very deserving and impressive.

We really didn't beat anyone good. Sure we beat Ohio State in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and an early flop in the Tournament
Lost to Gonzaga, Illinois and Michigan. Probably beating Wisconsin 3 times in the most impressive. Of course we match up well against them as neither team is gifted athletically

Where do we end in the rankings? My guess is between 15 and 20 which is too high. there are 6 teams in the Pac 12 that should be rated higher

I guess ill take a break and make this my last post or viewing on the site. I do enjoy hearing from all of you but my enthusiasm for the entire athletic program with Ferentz nearing the end after a year of racial turmoil and McCaffrey getting an extension making the future in basketball uninspiring and Barta a total Zero as leader of the program. Have a good summer
 
A generational player that should be making an NBA paycheck of some sort, a participation Trophy, and Fran is 4 years richer.

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I learned that as a 40 year old guy I have better shit to be mad about than a bunch of teenagers and 20 year olds losing a bouncy ball game.

Does it suck that they lost? Kinda. Would I have been happy if they had won? Ecstatic.

But many (if not most) of the people doing the hardcore bitching have grand kids older than the current crop of college athletes. Is this how you're gonna spend your sunset years? Pissed off at the world about some kids you've never met losing a basketball game?
 
Based on the experience of the team - did not accomplish much as a TEAM. At all. Luka had a great personal year. Bo is up there with 3's but this wasn't a good year for him at all...not entirely his fault. Not gonna hate on the kids, no. But its empty feeling.
 
Bigtenchamp said:
the issue is that the NCAA tournament is how everyone is judged... a one and done crapshoot.
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For us.

Some how this whole thread made me laugh. I guess you have see humor in tough times.

Fry is right in that in the grand scheme of life who gives a damn, most of us will be dead when or if another Garza comes along and Kirk and Fran will be on life support machines while Barta grabs their hands and helps them sign the contract.

Now visualize that and tell me it didn’t make you laugh.
 
BigD said:
For us.

Some how this whole thread made me laugh. I guess you have see humor in tough times.

Fry is right in that in the grand scheme of life who gives a damn, most of us will be dead when or if another Garza comes along and Kirk and Fran will be on life support machines while Barta grabs their hands and helps them sign the contract.

Now visualize that and tell me it didn’t make you laugh.
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LOL...Barta is the opposite of Jack Kevorkian.....he keeps those contract alive to anyone with the last name Ferentz or McCaffery.

The long term contract I have signed I will be coaching the Hawkeyes until the end of time with my YODA.......
 
Fryowa said:
I learned that as a 40 year old guy I have better shit to be mad about than a bunch of teenagers and 20 year olds losing a bouncy ball game.

Does it suck that they lost? Kinda. Would I have been happy if they had won? Ecstatic.

But many (if not most) of the people doing the hardcore bitching have grand kids older than the current crop of college athletes. Is this how you're gonna spend your sunset years? Pissed off at the world about some kids you've never met losing a basketball game?
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Agree totally. Sports are not worth being miserable over. IMO, every fan needs to ask themselves what they're satisfied with, and if the overall experience is fun and worth it (or not). If not, then maybe it's time to move along and find other things in life that bring pleasure.

I find myself asking myself these questions more and more these days, if I'm being honest. I'm not happy with simply making the Tournament and losing in the first or second round every time. This is what it's been for more than 3 decades.
 
I really, really wanted to make the Sweet 16 but at the end of the day we lost to a team that we were barely favored against. Also, it's becoming clear that the Pac 12 was underrated, and Oregon should probably have been a 5 seed. At least we didn't lose to Grand Canyon in the first round. THAT would have been embarrassing.

I enjoyed watching the team this year and especially Garza. It was also nice seeing some freshmen show promise since they are the future (Murray, Perkins, Patrick, Ulis).
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Agree totally. Sports are not worth being miserable over. IMO, every fan needs to ask themselves what they're satisfied with, and if the overall experience is fun and worth it (or not). If not, then maybe it's time to move along and find other things in life that bring pleasure.

I find myself asking myself these questions more and more these days, if I'm being honest. I'm not happy with simply making the Tournament and losing in the first or second round every time. This is what it's been for more than 3 decades.
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Losing in the first or second round isn't the "overall experience" tho. The overall experience was 31 games over 4 and a half months. During the lick years, I kinda quit paying attention. Some of that had to do with the Big 10 Network just starting and me not having it. But some was also because the overall experience wasn't worth it. Ever since Fran has been here, the overall experience has been worth it for me and it's not even close.
 
This season was very enjoyable for me, but IMO, it was an over all disappointment. I had a bar of the sweet 16 and Iowa fell short. That said, doesn't mean I am gonna watch less. It was one of the better regular seasons in 20+ years. That has me wanting more. Fran puts a really nice product on the floor and every year I am pretty proud to be a Hawkeye. I'll never quit watching. Go Hawks EVERY DAY ALL DAY.

That said, Iowa ultimately had a pretty big let down of a year. It's ok to admit. I want to see them be better.
 
It was a good year that has been clouded, perhaps unfairly, by our collective anxiety in having precious few program accomplishments in the last 20 years. Alford won a couple Big Ten tournaments (one of which was definitely a Cinderella type situation) and the other one, while impressive at the time, sure seems fleeting in hindsight.

Fran is a good coach but, I'll say again, probably not a great coach. He runs a spotless program and gives every appearance of treating his players like they are his own kids (though a couple of them ARE his own kids!). We haven't found the next Lute, but we aren't being pulled to the bottom of the ocean on the SS Todd Lickliter, either.

And now, the rebuilding begins. A roster full of some interesting projects at varying degrees of development and upside that can likely be developed into a top half Big Ten team - if not this next year, perhaps the year after. I think that's life as an Iowa basketball fan. It could be much worse, but glory and recognition on the national level is likely to remain out of reach.

The team was a lot of fun to watch and provided a desperately needed distraction during some trying times. I'll be telling my grandkids about Luka Garza someday. I've never seen a Hawk like him in my lifetime (I'm too young to really remember Marble).

Perhaps we can hope for a "Fran 2.0" like what we've seen on the football side. Again, I think Fran is a good coach - maybe even "very good" - but he, like all of us, has strengths and weaknesses. The man can coach offense for sure, but we have consistently struggled on defense over the years. The safe assumption would be that's just an "it is what it is" kind of thing, but who knows.

We were a good team that came away from the season without much to show for it. We're definitely not alone there, I think it just stings a little bit more for us because the lack of program success we've had over the last couple decades and we were all hoping this would be the year.
 
Fryowa said:
I learned that as a 40 year old guy I have better shit to be mad about than a bunch of teenagers and 20 year olds losing a bouncy ball game.

Does it suck that they lost? Kinda. Would I have been happy if they had won? Ecstatic.

But many (if not most) of the people doing the hardcore bitching have grand kids older than the current crop of college athletes. Is this how you're gonna spend your sunset years? Pissed off at the world about some kids you've never met losing a basketball game?
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Agreed, I use to be die hard, rant ,rave pissed when they lost same with the vikings. So much money spent for season tickets to iowa fb, vikings fb and then I guess I grew up, kids, now grandkids and you know Saturdays and Sundays are spent doing other things. Do I still follow? Yes, do I want them to be successful? Yes. But in the realm of things it is what it is. Sports, entertainment. One team wins and one loses. It has no impact on my daily life. The young guys will become old guys just like I've gone through and our fathers before us. I sleep through the night either way win or loss....trust me life goes fast and seems faster every day when you hit the magic number and you'll know it. Hate to admit it but you'll know it.
 
PCHawk said:
Losing in the first or second round isn't the "overall experience" tho. The overall experience was 31 games over 4 and a half months. During the lick years, I kinda quit paying attention. Some of that had to do with the Big 10 Network just starting and me not having it. But some was also because the overall experience wasn't worth it. Ever since Fran has been here, the overall experience has been worth it for me and it's not even close.
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For me, the overall experience in the regular season hasn't been phenomenal, either. Alford had a few bright spots but was pretty "meh" overall. Lickliter.. We can all agree on that one. Under Fran, too many February/March meltdowns, second round blowout losses in the Tournament, early losses in the Big 10 tournament, etc. Fran has done solid overall, and although I expect peaks and valleys, I want the peaks to be higher than they've been.

This isn't as much about Fran as it is my feelings about the program and it's culture.

My expectations definitely seem to be higher. Right or wrong, it's how I feel.
 
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1977Hawkeye said:
For me, the overall experience in the regular season hasn't been phenomenal, either. Alford had a few bright spots but was pretty "meh" overall. Lickliter.. We can all agree on that one. Under Fran, too many February/March meltdowns, second round blowout losses in the Tournament, early losses in the Big 10 tournament, etc. Fran has done solid overall, and although I expect peaks and valleys, I want the peaks to be higher than they've been.

This isn't as much about Fran as it is my feelings about the program and it's culture.

My expectations definitely seem to be higher. Right or wrong, it's how I feel.
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All I was saying is the overall experience is easily good enough to be an overall plus to continue watching. I agree it's been far from great. Although I'd say this one was until yesterday.
 
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