Fran fade lands Iowa in the AP top 25

thedukeofearl said:
Well deserved indeed

Fran's best coaching job, for certain

These guys play Smart, Tough and together

One other thing: Stephan Curry is starting to look like Caitlin and Jordan:

16 threes in the NBA All-Star game, some of them from Caillin Clark and Jordan range

stephon curry makes 16 three pointers in all star game: youtube - Google Search

www.google.com

It's All Good
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25-13 is still better. Not done enough yet to beat that. that was earlier as well and Keegan as your best player is certainly a nice step up from Roy Devon Marble as your best player. Fran and this team have a bit more experience as well. We will see how it turns out in a few weeks as far as Fran's best performance.
 
InGoodCo said:
Fran McCaffery has Iowa in the AP top-25 on Feb. 21 (in the midst of the Franuary fade) after losing two players to the NBA and two key pieces to transfer. It will be interesting revisiting season predictions here in a few weeks as I felt like overwhelmingly the consent was Iowa was going to be terrible after that kind of attrition.

This could be Fran's best coaching job since arriving at Iowa. They end the season with 3 really tough games but this team has a ton of opportunity to better their resume over the next 3 weeks.
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Going by memory, I seem to remember thinking Iowa would be approximately a bubble team to NIT this year. So to this point, they've done a little better than I expected.

Offensively, this team is definitely more potent than I figured. On that note, I did expect this team would be weaker than last year's team from behind the arc, but better at getting to the rim. Higher ceiling defensively this year. I believe we've seen all of those things come to fruition. It seems to be gelling pretty well right now.

I just hope they stay committed on the defensive end, and on the glass, like we saw on Saturday. Do that, and this team is a tough out.
 
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ssckelley said:
Weird, the AP voters must really like Iowa. They finally beat a ranked opponent after losing to Michigan in the same week and they decide to put Iowa in the top 25. Neat, but now they have to prove they belong. Unranked Michigan State is next (can you believe that?), it's a home game so hopefully Iowa can protect the home court.
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I almost think they have been wanting an excuse to get them in the rankings due to the play of Murray 1. He is such a talent that everyone wants to (deservedly) hype and the spotlight shines a little brighter when a stud is on a team that is ranked.

At the same time this team is top 25 worthy with the talent they have. It is going an interesting stretch run for sure the way they are gelling. Pretty sure I was one of the optimistic ones and had em finishing top 5 BIG, but that remains to be seen. At this point they are probably there talent wise.
 
Dadman said:
speaking of butt ugly games, on Dec 26, 1968, Iowa lost to St Johns 55-57, our record then was 3-4, but then we sorta went on a win streak until we had to play Jacksonville with their twin 10' footers
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Going up against Joe Lapchick coached teams was like getting a root canal. He was a huge early influence on Bobby Knight as well.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Going up against Joe Lapchick coached teams was like getting a root canal. He was a huge early influence on Bobby Knight as well.
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Which brings us back to the Buttgers game- that was most definitely a root canal

Too bad Bo Ryan and Bobby Knight weren't head to head- those would have been some interesting chess matches
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Can you imagine this team with Jack Nunge and the impact he could have had. Overall, most fans at the beginning of the season didn't think Iowa would be in this position this late in the season. It's been a good run.
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Well no one could project Keegan M as a player of the year candidate at the start of the year. Keegan with 16 ppg, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists would have looked very good but he is way above that.
 
I maintain that if Nunge has stayed, he would have blown his knee out by now. He needed different Karma and Flip has proved to be an able replacement. Also, Nunge is very good, but he is not exactly a "flow guy." He is big and lumbering. Flip moves well in the offense. This is the most fluid offense of the Fran era, and it is in part because we don't have a giant 7 footer stumbling around the floor for the first time since before Woodbury got here.

I like the team as is, and think it is built for tournament play.
 
Win an NCAA tourney game or two... then I'll be impressed.

That said, this team has outperformed expectations. Let's hope they keep trending up.
 
uihawk82 said:
Well no one could project Keegan M as a player of the year candidate at the start of the year. Keegan with 16 ppg, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists would have looked very good but he is way above that.
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Well, that's what I am saying, can you image adding Nunge to that mix this year?
 
InGoodCo said:
It was actually brought up by some posters and pointed out that Fran has only finished below .500 in the B1G 3 times since his arrival and 2 of those times were his first 2 seasons. I hardly count those 2 first seasons against him, but if we're being fair, he has to own them just like all the rest.

A lot of people expected that trend to continue because, hell, we have 12 years of data at this point, Fran is a lot more known for producing than not at this point. I've been a regular on this board and I routinely made comments about how healthy this program is and was. It is not at all shocking to me they are in this position.
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I mean this with all due respect to everybody, but Fran is the consummate high floor, lower ceiling than some fans want kind of guy. And it is year 13, so the only thing I can think of is that people are just tired of it. There is a reason why Jimmy Johnson said nobody should coach in one place more than 10 years.

IMO making the NCAA tourney is a successful season in CBB. The big thing is getting in because you never know what can happen once you get there. I think it's actually kind of weird Fran hasn't gotten to the Sweet 16 yet, simply by some other upset happening in the tourney and giving them a clear path or something like that.

All of that said I am honestly little surprised at the Iowa fanbase - it seems like all I see online is either general apathy about the program or people just continually pissed off about Iowa basketball. Other than not making the second weekend of the tourney I don't know what you can fault Fran for when it comes to this program.
 
BryceC said:
I mean this with all due respect to everybody, but Fran is the consummate high floor, lower ceiling than some fans want kind of guy. And it is year 13, so the only thing I can think of is that people are just tired of it. There is a reason why Jimmy Johnson said nobody should coach in one place more than 10 years.

IMO making the NCAA tourney is a successful season in CBB. The big thing is getting in because you never know what can happen once you get there. I think it's actually kind of weird Fran hasn't gotten to the Sweet 16 yet, simply by some other upset happening in the tourney and giving them a clear path or something like that.

All of that said I am honestly little surprised at the Iowa fanbase - it seems like all I see online is either general apathy about the program or people just continually pissed off about Iowa basketball. Other than not making the second weekend of the tourney I don't know what you can fault Fran for when it comes to this program.
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Since 1999 every time Iowa has advanced, they have never played a team that upset the higher seed in round 1. So, in the 8 times (Alford 3, Fran 5) that Iowa has played in the NCAA since our last Sweet 16 in 1999 - not once have they got that lucky. I am with you, giving yourself routine chances to advance is really the only way Iowa is going to get there. Fans that don't see how valuable a coach like Fran is to this school really boggle my mind. I like going to the NCAA dance on the reg
 
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