DMR/Hanson's article on Mr. Davis

JonDMiller said:
There were several high ranking athletic department officials that told me their side of the Mr. Davis/Lame duck story, a year or two after the change. All of their accounts were the same...that Tom came to Bob and wanted to resign...and Bob took him up on it...and then Tom had a change of heart, but Bob did not.

Not saying which side is the truth, but that is definitely one side of it.
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Glad to hear another side of controversy.
 
83Hawk said:
Apparently there are a lot of people who forget how frustrated many fan were becoming with Davis....rarely challenging for the Big 10 title, padding Iowa's record with non-conference patsies, sneaking into the tournament with an 8 seed...yes, they would win the first game, and then usually got bounced in the second game.

He was treated terribly...on that I agree...but to think many fans didn't want a change is revisionist history.
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+1. Loved Mr. Davis, his fiery approach to the game and the up-and-down style of play, and have a lot of respect for him to this day. But all was not rosy when his contract was not renewed. Davis had gotten stale; he needed to find a way to reinvigorate his coaching and the program. He didn't.

This is meant as no defense of Bowlsby, who totally mucked up much of Iowa athletics.
 
Hind sight it always 20/20 and unless Mr. Davis was on the verge of getting Iowa to the Final Four his firing was inevitable. The attendance at CHA was starting to sag and the fan base was no longer happy with annual NCAA appearances, people thought Iowa should be competing for the Big Ten Championship and Final Four appearances. I was not one of those fans as I liked the job Mr. Davis was doing at Iowa. But even I was excited when Bowlsby went out and got who looked like was going to be the next greatest basketball coach. Our only fear was how long Knight was going to coach at Indiana. Who could have thought that was going to be the last time we would see the Sweet 16 for going on 13 years?

So let's pretend for a minute Bowlsby extended Mr. Davis another year or 2, anything less than an elite 8 appearance would have gotten him fired anyway. So we miss out on Alford who probably ends up at Indiana. More than likely we would have ended up back at this point anyway, rebuilding. Hopefully when Fran gets Iowa back to the point where NCAA appearances are the norm it will make us appreciate it even more and we never ever have to endure another Alford/Lick era again.
 
Herkyalert said:
No it wasn't. It's been said before by people close to the program that BB fired Davis on his own. He's been hammered for it by the media since.

BB also interviewed for the Duke AD job. He was looking for a way out prior to going to Stanford.

Like most AD's, he's overpaid and selfish.
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Stanford is a much better AD job than Iowa. I cannot fault BB for substanitally improving his position.
 
83Hawk said:
Apparently there are a lot of people who forget how frustrated many fan were becoming with Davis....rarely challenging for the Big 10 title, padding Iowa's record with non-conference patsies, sneaking into the tournament with an 8 seed...yes, they would win the first game, and then usually got bounced in the second game.

He was treated terribly...on that I agree...but to think many fans didn't want a change is revisionist history.
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sounds familiar to a current situation, no?

be careful what you wish for......

I know I wasn't happy with Bowlsby in this decision, and let him know that, but I do recall a lot of the above and it sounds just like a lot on here talk of Ferentz and staff.....'mediocre'......
 
the lame duck year was NOT bowlsby's idea or decision.

the two certainly did not see eye to eye on several instances but Mr. Davis should be thankful that he got to coach his last year, as should iowa fans.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
sounds familiar to a current situation, no?

be careful what you wish for......

I know I wasn't happy with Bowlsby in this decision, and let him know that, but I do recall a lot of the above and it sounds just like a lot on here talk of Ferentz and staff.....'mediocre'......
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We need to keep reminding the football folks of this. I seem to be one of the few fans that does not mind a 7-6 record with a Insight Bowl bid for a down year.
 
Herkyalert said:
It was time for Davis to move on, but the way Bowslby sent him out was what irked me.

Fry was sort of encouraged to retire and it was handled much better than how Davis was "asked" to leave.
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Yeah it was time for him to move on, cause he didn't have anymore coaching left in him. Except for the fact he took a perennial door mat and made them into a contender and then came back and owned Iowa. I would have gladly taken TD over Alford or Lick liter anyday. Yeah he beat patsies like Cambell, Creghton, Northwest Louisiana or whoever the hell it was ALford lost to in the first round. I can't believe you guys write. beleive this crap. How is it revisionist history, to point out the fact TD NEVER lost in the first round of the tournament and missed it only a couple of times in his years. I was never in favor of getting rid of Davis, as it is we now stand with Japan in the lost decade.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
sounds familiar to a current situation, no?

be careful what you wish for......

I know I wasn't happy with Bowlsby in this decision, and let him know that, but I do recall a lot of the above and it sounds just like a lot on here talk of Ferentz and staff.....'mediocre'......
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I was also thinking this the whole time I read the article. As far as basketball goes, in my original post I mentioned the talent level dropping way off. Anybody see a huge difference in the likes of B.J., Roy Marble, Ed Horton, etc and some of the slower more unathletic guys that have been used in recent years?
 
notafan said:
I was also thinking this the whole time I read the article. As far as basketball goes, in my original post I mentioned the talent level dropping way off. Anybody see a huge difference in the likes of B.J., Roy Marble, Ed Horton, etc and some of the slower more unathletic guys that have been used in recent years?
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The recruits that raveling brought in are most likely to be seen as a 'high water mark' regarding talent in Carver. That's not saying Lute and prior coaching staffs didn't bring in great players, or that Davis didn't bring in some great players, but the overall collection of players Raveling brought in in a short time period is remarkable.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
The recruits that raveling brought in are most likely to be seen as a 'high water mark' regarding talent in Carver. That's not saying Lute and prior coaching staffs didn't bring in great players, or that Davis didn't bring in some great players, but the overall collection of players Raveling brought in in a short time period is remarkable.
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Even the guys before that, such as Carfino, Stokes, and Payne seemed like they were much more talented too though.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
sounds familiar to a current situation, no?

be careful what you wish for......

I know I wasn't happy with Bowlsby in this decision, and let him know that, but I do recall a lot of the above and it sounds just like a lot on here talk of Ferentz and staff.....'mediocre'......
Click to expand...

Some of the older farts around here may remember similar talk around Lute Olson just before he left.

Yes, THAT Lute Olson. Upset by Wichita State in the first 1981 tourney game... upset by Idaho in the 1982 second round... couldn't win the Big Ten after '79... only got a 7 seed in '83 and got knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen... just couldn't win the big game...

Most knew we had a very fine coach, but there were a lot more naysayers than would dare admit it today.
 
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