Fran may be subbing more to take guys out to make a point

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uihawk82

Well-Known Member
As one of my answers to the "Fran's Coaching" thread, I think Fran substitutes sometimes with the priority to pull guys out rather than to put someone in. Yesterday is a good example, early in the game at about the 3-4 minute mark, I think, several hawks just stood there and watched and let a NW guy swoop in and get a long rebound about 10 ft out. This was after about 2 other early offensive rebounds by NW.

Right after it happened, you could see Fran stand up, looking pizzed, and start pointing to several guys on the bench. Next thing you know, you had May, McCabe, and one other player coming in. And I bet the guys who went out heard about it from the coaches.

Fran is not going to stand for players standing around and not hustling. I would love to have some old footage of Fran's playing days because I bet he was the so called "whirling dervish".

Any other examples of Fran pulling guys for bone headed plays or not hustling?
 


This is true but there are times where his substitutions don't make sense. The wisky game sticks out to me. Woody was doing a great job defensively and rebounding. Yet in major spots he wasn't in there.

I have questioned his defensive coaching...he seems to have shown he knows how to do this since this team does much better at it. But I am not sure he knows how to work with a deep bench like this and that he will have next yr. He has said he has never coached depth like this...and I think his rotation (or lack thereof) and substitions show this. Maybe he figures it out but rotations can be tough to get a feel for when benches are deep. You want to put people in to keep guys fresh and then end up hurting your own momentum. And others you want to build a guys confidence and leave him in too long.
 


You are right that he subs at times based on his unhappiness with the way kids are playing...I saw the same example you mentioned from the NW game. As to Woody: Fran has been pretty consistent about how and how much he plays this young man. I suspect Fran knows something about him that justifies this behavior. I don't understand his substitution moves at times, either...I guess I am just going to have to be satisfied that he is trying to keep 10 guys really happy and in fact, our bench outscores opposing teams time after time. Yes, that may be partly because we play more "bench" guys. But, we just have a lot of pretty darn talented ball players who bring different skill sets to the table. That can really keep the enemy off balance...like, "who is next?" "What is the scouting report on this kid or that kid?" Love this team!
 


Foval21 said:
This is true but there are times where his substitutions don't make sense. The wisky game sticks out to me. Woody was doing a great job defensively and rebounding. Yet in major spots he wasn't in there.

I have questioned his defensive coaching...he seems to have shown he knows how to do this since this team does much better at it. But I am not sure he knows how to work with a deep bench like this and that he will oo long.
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I think in the wisky game Fran wanted some bigs in who were scorers but it didnt work out. The hawks had a scoring slump late in that game and we could have used Woody's rebounding and defense. But if one of Frans subs would have put in one or two buckets the last part of that game we win.

I have only questioned Fran's lack of defensive adjustments once in the last two years and I wrote a post on it. It didnt seem Fran or the players made any adjustments to Purdue's high circle screen this year. I think the hawks are playing pretty good defense.
 


uihawk82 said:
I think in the wisky game Fran wanted some bigs in who were scorers but it didnt work out. The hawks had a scoring slump late in that game and we could have used Woody's rebounding and defense. But if one of Frans subs would have put in one or two buckets the last part of that game we win.

I have only questioned Fran's lack of defensive adjustments once in the last two years and I wrote a post on it. It didnt seem Fran or the players made any adjustments to Purdue's high circle screen this year. I think the hawks are playing pretty good defense.
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My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it...woody's play was part of the reason we were in that game and we needed him. Maybe he would have caused them to miss 1 or 2 more shots or not gotten an offensive rebound...that stuff can go either way.

If you didn't question the defense last yr then I wonder if you know about defense because we were horrible at it. We were giving up like 10 more pts per game last yr than this yr. We were terrible on the defensive end last yr and that is putting it nicely and that is with gaten's great individual defense.
 


Foval21 said:
My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it...woody's play was part of the reason we were in that game and we needed him. Maybe he would have caused them to miss 1 or 2 more shots or not gotten an offensive rebound...that stuff can go either way.

If you didn't question the defense last yr then I wonder if you know about defense because we were horrible at it. We were giving up like 10 more pts per game last yr than this yr. We were terrible on the defensive end last yr and that is putting it nicely and that is with gaten's great individual defense.
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Above you questioned Fran's defensive coaching. In this post you referenced the fact that Iowa is allowing about 10 points less per game. There is no doubt the defense has improved. Who coached that turnaround?
 


Foval21 said:
My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it...woody's play was part of the reason we were in that game and we needed him. Maybe he would have caused them to miss 1 or 2 more shots or not gotten an offensive rebound...that stuff can go either way.

.
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I agree with that. I wanted Woody in 50% of the last 10 min of regulation and the two OTs in the wisky game. Wisky and bergeron sp? killed us late. And Wisky's slow down offense fits Woody better than an uptempo game.

At the same time, if Iowa under FM is going to run, press some, and play tough man to man, you are going to need 8-10 guys.

We all know a few made shots and this team 7-4 in the B1G and and about 18-6.

We are that close and I am loving it and I expect big things from Woody.
 


Quote "And Wisky's slow down offense fits Woody better than an uptempo game." Quote

I will add to my own quote - If Woody can get in enough oxygen up and down the court he might be another Lohaus who can press, run, get in on the fast break the other way. Some people can just bring in more oxygen.

On the other side, the best way to take a really good half-court big man out of the game is to press on defense to make the other team run and not work their half court offense and to run yourself after a defensive rebound to beat that big man down court. Plus this can tire them out.

Lute Olsen was really good at this against the Kevin McHale's and Jo Barry Carroll's of the Big 10.
 


ForeverHawk said:
Above you questioned Fran's defensive coaching. In this post you referenced the fact that Iowa is allowing about 10 points less per game. There is no doubt the defense has improved. Who coached that turnaround?
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He acknowledged the improved defense. But there are some times when I scratch my head a little. I know I found it odd we went to a zone right before Hollins hit the big 3 at Minnesota. They needed 3, so why not stay man to man and take that away?
 


ForeverHawk said:
Above you questioned Fran's defensive coaching. In this post you referenced the fact that Iowa is allowing about 10 points less per game. There is no doubt the defense has improved. Who coached that turnaround?
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I said I had questioned it (especially last season), but this year he has proven that he is a better defensive coach than previous seasons showed.
 


In my opinion, Iowa's go to kids come out for way to long of stretches. I understand they cant play the entire game, but gesell, white, basabe and marble (not as of late with his performance) need to be in the game the majority of the minutes, they are iowa's best players.
 




eveningnewsteam said:
In my opinion, Iowa's go to kids come out for way to long of stretches. I understand they cant play the entire game, but gesell, white, basabe and marble (not as of late with his performance) need to be in the game the majority of the minutes, they are iowa's best players.
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+1000. Play our studs like the rest of the conference does! It's tough for kids to get in a rythym. momentum is destroyed. Confidence is shaken. the 10 man rotation has got to go.
 


Here is my comment from the other thread, he over manages his subs at times. You see four guys come in just before a TV timeout, but the starters, or a portion of those guys don't come back until the next dead ball after the TV timeout, sometimes that is the next TV timeout.

I understand not wanting guys to be tired, but I think that sometimes Fran is to liberal in keeping the bench in a little too long at times. That said, Fran trusts his players and from what I have seen, he is still doing a heck of a job with this team.
 


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