Are you willing to give FM credit?

[1hawkeye1]

With the dwindling support FM has on these boards, I'm wondering if any of those calling for his head is willing to give him credit for getting the team to give the inspired performance they did against WI.

I'm not one calling for his head, but I was impressed with the effort vs WI and think FM should receive at least a pat on the back for it. What say you?

 

[deanvogs]

With the dwindling support FM has on these boards, I'm wondering if any of those calling for his head is willing to give him credit for getting the team to give the inspired performance they did against WI.

I'm not one calling for his head, but I was impressed with the effort vs WI and think FM should receive at least a pat on the back for it. What say you?

One game doesn't change my mind. 8 years with only 3 NCAA appearance with 2 NCAA wins is what Fran should be judged on.

 

[DDThompson]

Yes he gets credit for getting his team to play the entire game with 100% effort —

in the 22nd game of the season.


But dean’s right. One game does not a coaching record make.

The good thing about freshmen and sophomores is that they become juniors and seniors.

 

[InGoodCo]

I'm not calling for his head - I think he should get another year to be able to be given the chance to correct things. I base that off the previous 5 seasons more then the previous 8 because of the situation and culture at Iowa before he arrived. All that said, no, absolutely no pat on the back. It was a nice win, I am glad they won, but the only way I'm giving Fran a pat on the back this season is if he wins the next 9 and he won't.

 

[Hawk5656]

It was nice to see that he hasn't lost the team but Wisconsin is really bad. I know they've had some key injuries but man how far have they fallen. I agree with Dean and you have to look big picture. 8 years with only 2 NCAA appearance with 2 NCAA wins is what Fran should be judged on.

 

[NikeHawk21]

With the dwindling support FM has on these boards, I'm wondering if any of those calling for his head is willing to give him credit for getting the team to give the inspired performance they did against WI.

I'm not one calling for his head, but I was impressed with the effort vs WI and think FM should receive at least a pat on the back for it. What say you?

I am willing to give Fran credit for some things, I am also willing to criticize him when necassary, which has been often this year.

I WILL NOT give a coach credit for getting his team to play hard for one game. That should be an absolute given for a coach getting paid the kind of money he is.

 

[HawkGold]

Stay or go, it was a nice recovery when many would have folded. Saturday was ugly. This was nice, but the opponent was also ugly.

Garza is saving him from disgrace. Fran has shown an ability in the past to recover. Think we'll get 4 wins yet minimally. Maybe 6. The Big isn't very good. Other teams are on the down swing. We might be showing some upswing.

Would like to see new leadership. Credit for a recovery.

 

[InGoodCo]

well, I will give him this credit... I think we can stop with "These guys wouldn't play on any other B1G team" take with some of Iowa's roster. They'd obviously play at WI and IL.

 

[InGoodCo]

I'll give Jordan some credit...his play sans the Purdue game has been really good over the past several.

 

[mopkins]

One game doesn't change my mind. 8 years with only 3 NCAA appearance with 2 NCAA wins is what Fran should be judged on.

I'm fine with throwing out Fran's first two seasons. He inherited a shithole country and made the most of it...even making the NIT in year 2. Yes the NIT is a joke but for where Iowa basketball was at the time it was a success.

Still, is 3 tourney appearances in 6 years good enough? I don't think so, but it's not completely terrible like Nebraska or Illinois or Minnesota or northwestern either. Next year is a big year for Fran.

 

[deanvogs]

well, I will give him this credit... I think we can stop with "These guys wouldn't play on any other B1G team" take with some of Iowa's roster. They'd obviously play at WI and IL.

Cook would either start or play a ton on nearly every B1G team
Jordan would get 20+ min. playing SG on lots of B1G teams
Garza would get minutes, but he would eventually be a starter on most B1G teams
Baer would be a nice roll player off the bench for several B1G teams
Moss/Dailey would barely sniff the floor at most B1G schools.

Then we have Fran as the head man who thinks his team is 11 deep, when in reality is it about 4 quality players deep with a couple reserves.

 

[deanvogs]

I'm fine with throwing out Fran's first two seasons. He inherited a shithole country and made the most of it...even making the NIT in year 2. Yes the NIT is a joke but for where Iowa basketball was at the time it was a success.

Still, is 3 tourney appearances in 6 years good enough? I don't think so, but it's not completely terrible like Nebraska or Illinois or Minnesota either. Next year is a big year for Fran.

This is where I am at as well. Fran shouldn't be killed for years 1 and 2. Year 3 is fair game, and he, like you said has made 3 NCAA tournaments in 6 years, and I'm sorry, but that is below the bar I feel we should set. Minimum should be 3 NCAA tournaments every 5 years in my mind. This is just what I think and I don't think that is too demanding even.

 

[Kennyfromminne]

No

 

[PCHawk]

I'm not calling for his head - I think he should get another year to be able to be given the chance to correct things. I base that off the previous 5 seasons more then the previous 8 because of the situation and culture at Iowa before he arrived. All that said, no, absolutely no pat on the back. It was a nice win, I am glad they won, but the only way I'm giving Fran a pat on the back this season is if he wins the next 9 and he won't.

This is where I'm at. 3 out of 6 still isn't what we want, but saying 3 out of 8 sounds terrible and is completely unfair. He will always carry those first two years as a crutch, no matter what he accomplishes. Just like Davis always had his first two years as a positive.

I also agree that I'm not giving a coach credit for getting his team to play hard on the 20th game of the season. It's good to see, but no credit is deserved.

 

[InGoodCo]

This is where I am at as well. Fran shouldn't be killed for years 1 and 2. Year 3 is fair game, and he, like you said has made 3 NCAA tournaments in 6 years, and I'm sorry, but that is below the bar I feel we should set. Minimum should be 3 NCAA tournaments every 5 years in my mind. This is just what I think and I don't think that is too demanding even.

It's not too demanding IMO - it's what I expect too...and until this year, that's exactly where they were trending. Iowa has been to some sort of post season in 6 of his 8 seasons. It's not been good enough over all, but I can't get over how Iowa went to 3 and almost made a 4th last season. That hasn't happened at Iowa for a long time, maybe ever? - I am willing to give him and his staff 1 more season to figure it out. If he doesn't - let's go get the next guy.

 

[NikeHawk21]

It was nice to see that he hasn't lost the team but Wisconsin is really bad. I know they've had some key injuries but man how far have they fallen. I agree with Dean and you have to look big picture. 8 years with only 2 NCAA appearance with 2 NCAA wins is what Fran should be judged on.

Just two be clear for historical purposes, 2 NCAA wins in the last 8 years put us at 8th in the conference ahead of:
PSU, Minny, Neb, Rutgers, NW, and ILL

Behind:
MSU, UW, Mich, Purdue, OSU, Maryland, Indy

Throw out Fran’s first couple years and I guess you can’t say those two wins are awful comparatively speaking. Next step would obviously be consistent dancing and a sweet 16 run or better. I’m not convinced Fran is the guy to do it.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

With the dwindling support FM has on these boards, I'm wondering if any of those calling for his head is willing to give him credit for getting the team to give the inspired performance they did against WI.

I'm not one calling for his head, but I was impressed with the effort vs WI and think FM should receive at least a pat on the back for it. What say you?

Way to early to be tossing out any praise. Let’s see how Iowa finishes before we doing any of that. Wisconsin might be worse off than Iowa.

 

[PCHawk]

This is where I am at as well. Fran shouldn't be killed for years 1 and 2. Year 3 is fair game, and he, like you said has made 3 NCAA tournaments in 6 years, and I'm sorry, but that is below the bar I feel we should set. Minimum should be 3 NCAA tournaments every 5 years in my mind. This is just what I think and I don't think that is too demanding even.

If you truly think Fran shouldn't be penalized for the first 2 years, you should stop including them in your stats.

Since those first 2 years, he is one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen against Michigan State, and a horribly blown call against Minnesota, from making the tourney 5 straight years. Then a lot of people would just say "sure he gets us in every year, but barely". And they would have a point too. He would have snuck in 3 out of the 5 years. Since I don't like to judge a coach based on what a committee decides to do, I judge him for being a borderline tourney team 3 times and easily in 2 times.

The reason I do that is because if we would have snuck out one more win those two years, Fran would still be the exact same coach. It's obvious what he is now, and that's a coach that gets in in tourney contention almost every year. One step lower than a coach who gets us solidly in almost every year.

 

[BGOLD]

Solid win, but we have two conference wins this year and have been blown out in most of our losses.

What was more telling to me was how much better we play when our rotation is limited to roughly 8 guys. I doubt Fran continues employ this, but it's obvious and has been obvious that playing 11-13 guys doesn't work.

 

[deanvogs]

If you truly think Fran shouldn't be penalized for the first 2 years, you should stop including them in your stats.

Since those first 2 years, he is one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen against Michigan State, and a horribly blown call against Minnesota, from making the tourney 5 straight years. Then a lot of people would just say "sure he gets us in every year, but barely". And they would have a point too. He would have snuck in 3 out of the 5 years. Since I don't like to judge a coach based on what a committee decides to do, I judge him for being a borderline tourney team 3 times and easily in 2 times.

The reason I do that is because if we would have snuck out one more win those two years, Fran would still be the exact same coach. It's obvious what he is now, and that's a coach that gets in in tourney contention almost every year. One step lower than a coach who gets us solidly in almost every year.

3 out of 6 years after you have had time to establish your program isn't good enough. Also if you are going to try to give Fran credit for "almost" making it, then you could also say he has only had 2 teams in 6 years that were SOLID NCAA teams. The rest of what he has put on the floor is basically NIT level.