I said multiple times that I am not Fran bashing. He is my favorite Iowa coach in my lifetime. That also doesn't mean that I can't accurately assess any perceived successes or failures. IMO in regards to this 1 game. The MSU game. Fran has some ownership in that loss. If we shot poorly and got routed like ILL or Northwestern I would say players own those loses. The MSU game we were in and our lack of defensive variation cost us the game as much as anything. How is Fran not culpable for that? Do the players choose the defense? You should be able to distinguish the difference between games that the team lost from games that coaches lose. I posted this thread so that people would not get down on the players for the loss. They aren't totally at fault. Fran could have done more that is all.
You're not coming off as bashing at all and it's a good thought that may be right. I just disagree. I think it was a great effort by coaches and players to stay in that game. Then again, the main reason they were in it is because MSU was sucking bad.