Evaluating McCaffery

[pirate]

I acknowledge up front I have standards very high for my Iowa Hawkeyes sports teams so to some of you I am sure this post will seems far too critical of McCaffery.

Secondly, I do have some frustrations with the fact Fred Hoiberg at ISU took over a situation there every bit as bad as McCaffery did and argueably worse, and for the second year in a row has his team in the Big Dance. And Alford now has established his New Mexico program into a top 20 program over the past two years.

As I sit back and analyze the Iowa program now, there's no doubt we are in a better place today than three years ago when the Lickliter era was ending. We have more talent and we are more comepetitive.

However, there seem to be some shortcomings. I also struggle to find a lot of progress with the program from year 2 to year 3. To me this season was a disappointment from my expectations. Before the year started if someone had said 7 Big 10 teams will make the NCAA tourney, but Iowa won't be one of them, I never would have believed that.

McCaffery's teams, especially this one, just do not play smart or saavy at the end of games and consequently, seem to lose most of the close games. Is this all on the players or does the coach need to look himself in the mirror too?

The substituting patterns are highly questionable at times with McCaffery. Last night when MSU was making their run late was a perfect example. Often times I sit scratching my head with some of his substitutions.

 

[hawkeyescott]

I stopped reading when you said Hoiberg took over a situation worse then what McCaffery did because that proves you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[pirate]

I stopped reading when you said Hoiberg took over a situation worse then what McCaffery did because that proves you don't know what you're talking about.

Hoiberg inherited 6 players when he took over and NONE of them had star quality.

 

[ssckelley]

Fran is an awesome coach, his substitution patterns are confusing to me but he has said over and over he substitutes to keep his players fresh. I just do not like seeing a hot shooter heading to the bench, but Fran wins games on the defensive side so I can see his reasonings. My only complaint is how Fran deal with officials, I love his fire and intensity but him beating up the scorers table and going after officials accomplishes nothing. Izzo is a perfect example in how you work over officials, he is constantly talking to them even when things are going good and it is almost always calm and collected so when Izzo does get barking, the officials tend to listen.

But saying Iowa State was in a similar situation when Hoiberg took over is crazy talk. Iowa came pretty damn close this year and each year Fran has made significant improvements year over year. Next season the bar will be raised on our expectations, even I will start getting gripey with Fran if Iowa is not in the NCAA Tournament next season.

 

[Hawkstrat]

I don't care about Iowa State.

Iowa was a program that was in the gutter, and Fran has fans mad as hell for missing the tournament in year three. Iowa should be set up well for the next three years, and depending on the 2014 class, for a lot longer than that.

He over-subs, but few coaches are perfect.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

Fran is an awesome coach, his substitution patterns are confusing to me but he has said over and over he substitutes to keep his players fresh. I just do not like seeing a hot shooter heading to the bench, but Fran wins games on the defensive side so I can see his reasonings. My only complaint is how Fran deal with officials, I love his fire and intensity but him beating up the scorers table and going after officials accomplishes nothing. Izzo is a perfect example in how you work over officials, he is constantly talking to them even when things are going good and it is almost always calm and collected so when Izzo does get barking, the officials tend to listen.

But saying Iowa State was in a similar situation when Hoiberg took over is crazy talk. Iowa came pretty damn close this year and each year Fran has made significant improvements year over year. Next season the bar will be raised on our expectations, even I will start getting gripey with Fran if Iowa is not in the NCAA Tournament next season.

Will see in time, but this is the biggest negative and as a result of those patterns it has cost us a couple wins and sadly those wins cost us a ticket to the dance..

 

[1977Hawkeye]

It's easy to see that Iowa is a much better team than it was a year ago. Still work to do, but I think Fran is getting it done so far. If next year's team is in the NIT again, then I'm going to start being more critical, but noticeable progress is being made from year to year, so I can't really complain about where we're at.

 

[LivermoreHawk]

Hoiberg inherited 6 players when he took over and NONE of them had star quality.

I'm pretty sure he inherited an NBA draft pick (can't think of his name) and also Christopherson(sp?) who could drain it from 3.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

I'm pretty sure he inherited an NBA draft pick (can't think of his name) and also Christopherson(sp?) who could drain it from 3.

If you talking about Royce White, Hoiberg brought him in. Hoiberg took over in April of 2010 and he brought Royce in and gained commitment in July of 2010..

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/rivalry-forum/12546-royce-white-commits-clones.html

 

[MisterLucky]

If the original poster cannot see how much the team has improved defensively from last year, which was their major weakness, then he obviously is just posting here with a anti-McCaffery agenda and very little basketball knowledge. If this team had ONE shooter that could be depended on to hit shots in the game, we would have won several more games and the OP wouldn't have any reason to even post. McCaffery can't shoot shots for the team. He ran plays and put guys in perfect shooting situations, but we just couldn't knock down shots with any consistency. We've gone from 11 to 18 to (at least) 21 wins (4-8-9 in conference) in Fran's three seasons. That's not progress? If someone had told me after Lickliter's last year (10-22 with 4 conference wins) that the new coach would have us with 20 plus wins, .500 in conference and scratching for an NCAA berth in his third season, I would have taken that all day long. So here we are and we have "fans" bitchin'. Sorry you're disappointed, but I will side with Coach McCaffery and anticipate even further progress in the years to come. You don't think it's enough? There is more than enough room on the Clown bandwagon. Hop on.

 

[BryceC]

I'm pretty sure he inherited an NBA draft pick (can't think of his name) and also Christopherson(sp?) who could drain it from 3.

He inherited Garrett, Scotty, and vanderbeken as scholly players. The situations were not markedly different. However comparison is the thief of joy and both coaches went about it different ways. That said as an Iowa State fan I am happy we went about it this way.

 

[LivermoreHawk]

If you talking about Royce White, Hoiberg brought him in. Hoiberg took over in April of 2010 and he brought Royce in and gained commitment in July of 2010..

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/rivalry-forum/12546-royce-white-commits-clones.html

I was thinking of Brackins but I believe he was a year before Hoiberg. He did inherite Garrett though who was a pretty good player.

 

[DuffMan]

Hoiberg inherited 6 players when he took over and NONE of them had star quality.

Derp.

Royce White was an NBA draft pick and Christoferson could flat out shoot. The six schollies also allowed him to turnover the roster immediately with game ready jucos as opposed to rebuilding with freshman.

Your whole post is a lesson in fail.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

Secondly, I do have some frustrations with the fact Fred Hoiberg at ISU took over a situation there every bit as bad as McCaffery did and argueably worse, and for the second year in a row has his team in the Big Dance. And Alford now has established his New Mexico program into a top 20 program over the past two years.

Fran is a great coach for us and is doing a great job. Is he perfect? No, but 3 seasons ago we were a 10 win ball club with win #10 coming on the last game of the season. Where were you then? I'm disappointed but taking a step back and seeing what we are building is very exciting to me. The future looks bright to me.

Next CAN WE STOP WITH THE COMPARISONS TO OTHER PROGRAMS like ISU and New Mexico. We do not play in the same basketball conferences. Life is different for each of the programs in their respective leagues. It's not apples-to-apples. The Big 12 has had some very good years, teams and players but they do not have many traditional powers to leap over in order to get into the dance. Kansas is a power but outside of that who else? They have a couple of nice programs in OK St. & Texas. Sometimes Baylor, K-State or OKlahoma are decent. The Moutain West is a pretty decent basketball conference but has no traditional powers to compete against. The B1G has long time powers; Indiana, MSU, and OSU. Then it has a series of programs that are tough to beat most years; Wisconsin, IL, Michigan, Purdue and occassionally Minnesota. You realize that we have to consistently be better than some of these programs in order to get in the dance? That's no easy task.

My point here is there is also a greater chance of upward mobility in these other two leagues than there is in the B1G. Getting to # 6 is really a pretty good accomplishment and I do not take it lightly. It may not translate to a tourney bid (which is BS) but it is what it is.

So STOP PLEASE with the STUPID comparisons.

 

[hawkforlife9]

I'm pretty sure he inherited an NBA draft pick (can't think of his name) and also Christopherson(sp?) who could drain it from 3.

Fran inherited Matt Gatens, one of the most prolific scorers in Iowa history (6th), became only the second Hawkeye to ever amass 1,600 points, 450 rebounds, 250 assists and 125 steals (Roy Marble). Both programs sucked really bad 4 years ago. And both coaches inherited a shooter, albeit Fran inherited a much better shooter.

 

[hawkfan33]

Derp.

Royce White was an NBA draft pick and Christoferson could flat out shoot. The six schollies also allowed him to turnover the roster immediately with game ready jucos as opposed to rebuilding with freshman.

Your whole post is a lesson in fail.

LOL Hoiberg brought in White, he wasn't there when he got the job.

Your whole post is a lesson in fail

 

[hawkfan33]

Fran inherited Matt Gatens, one of the most prolific scorers in Iowa history (6th), became only the second Hawkeye to ever amass 1,600 points, 450 rebounds, 250 assists and 125 steals (Roy Marble). Both programs sucked really bad 4 years ago. And both coaches inherited a shooter, albeit Fran inherited a much better shooter.

I'm surprised a Clone Fan would admit Gatens is better than Scotty

 

[LivermoreHawk]

Fran inherited Matt Gatens, one of the most prolific scorers in Iowa history (6th), became only the second Hawkeye to ever amass 1,600 points, 450 rebounds, 250 assists and 125 steals (Roy Marble). Both programs sucked really bad 4 years ago. And both coaches inherited a shooter, albeit Fran inherited a much better shooter.

There is a big difference between Gatens and Christopherson though. Gatens always had to be the best player and the first scoring option on the teams he was on. Therefore, teams were able to key in on him and not get burned by someone else taking over. Christopherson was usally the 3rd scoring option and could roam free and do what he did best which was make 3's.

 

[PCHawk]

Gatens was awesome for a month of his career but his numbers are very inflated due to the teams he played on. If he was a freshman this year his numbers would probably end up about 60% of what they were.

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

I acknowledge up front I have standards very high for my Iowa Hawkeyes sports teams so to some of you I am sure this post will seems far too critical of McCaffery.

Secondly, I do have some frustrations with the fact Fred Hoiberg at ISU took over a situation there every bit as bad as McCaffery did and argueably worse, and for the second year in a row has his team in the Big Dance. And Alford now has established his New Mexico program into a top 20 program over the past two years.

As I sit back and analyze the Iowa program now, there's no doubt we are in a better place today than three years ago when the Lickliter era was ending. We have more talent and we are more comepetitive.

However, there seem to be some shortcomings. I also struggle to find a lot of progress with the program from year 2 to year 3. To me this season was a disappointment from my expectations. Before the year started if someone had said 7 Big 10 teams will make the NCAA tourney, but Iowa won't be one of them, I never would have believed that.

McCaffery's teams, especially this one, just do not play smart or saavy at the end of games and consequently, seem to lose most of the close games. Is this all on the players or does the coach need to look himself in the mirror too?

The substituting patterns are highly questionable at times with McCaffery. Last night when MSU was making their run late was a perfect example. Often times I sit scratching my head with some of his substitutions.

The Op is comparing Fran to Hoiberg.. Op,do the Cyclowns play in the Big10? If we played in the Big12, we could easily made the dance this year.. Hoiberg rolled the dice for the quick fix in bringing in all those transfers..It worked out and he is a good coach. But i have my$$$$$$$$ on Fran in the long run. Stop being a Debbie Downer and enjoy Iowa BB again.