Fran McCaffery Says Hawkeyes Will Rebound from Down Season

[theboat]

My issues with Kirk on not his on field demeanor and it has nothing to do with winning or losing.

Fran's behavior is better on court.

I think he needs therapy, but my show is booked.

I don't think the behavior is overblown. We can disagree. In the end one of us may be proven wrong.

His teams still stink at 1/2 court, but any team with Cook and J Bo...and Moss under the right coach is gonna score. They are still bad at 1/2 court as a team.

JBo can get his own shot, but not off the dribble. Cook can do about what he wants with more support.

Uthoff strikes me as a self motivated player. White the same. Jok is just plain gifted, but your point is noted.

I couldn’t care less about demeanor, short of sleeping or tossing chairs on the court. My beef with Fran is that I can’t figure out what these guys do in practice. Kirk has his teams usually fundamentally sound and well prepared. Sure they lack in talent sometimes and scheme regularly, but that is a difference of philosophy and availability. Fran can’t seem to get his teams to handle the basic tenets of basketball.

 

[revkev73]

Might be a good question to ask..."Coach, how much time do you spend on fundamentals during practice? What are they?"

 

[HawkGold]

Might be a good question to ask..."Coach, how much time do you spend on fundamentals during practice? What are they?"

I think the answer may be more obvious than many suspect.

Watch a video of a coach teaching shooting fundamentals and then watch videos of his son's shoot. Very telling.

 

[revkev73]

Amazon "Teaching the Basic Tenets of BB" Coach Fran Mc

Cost $27

Running time 76 seconds

 

[DDThompson]

There are several you just don't see of other coaches. Next year will be the real test when it involves his kids.

I speak from experience. Maybe I'm the only poster on here that has bumped a ref while officiating. I didn't do it to motivate the team. I knew exactly what I was doing. It was stupid. Deserved, but stupid.

So you’re telling us you’re mini-Fran

 

[DDThompson]

Iowa allowed 78 ppg the last two seasons.

Iowa allowed 69 ppg three seasons ago.


What’s the major difference from the squad three years ago and the squads the last two years?


(I mean, besides white guys)

 

[HawkGold]

So you’re telling us you’re mini-Fran

He's taller and fatter.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

To get back to the main point, most coaches have bad seasons in which firing them after one would in hindsight, have been a bad move. The 76'ers coach had three or four years in a row in which they won 28 games or less and look at them now. Mr. Davis had a few terrible years sprinkled in among decent to good seasons. If you want to use football, Hayden and Kirk had lousy seasons only to eventually turn it around and have some memorable seasons. To think what would have could have happened to Hayden if there was social media back then is kinda scary.

Fran can turn it around and he should get at least another year to do so. If we're terrible again next season all possibilities for his future should be on the table, but to see the vultures start circling after one terrible season isn't a good look.

 

[Ree4]

I have no problem with Fran's on court antics. I'm glad to see him get upset when one of his players get elbowed in the head with no call among countless other bullshit calls/non-calls that Iowa faces regularly. There's just such a disparity in officiating consistency in basketball that I almost want to shut it off. Hell I'd probably react worse than he does and I'm a very mild mannered person.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Just when i thought Fran couldnt go and make me think less of him he goes and totally redeems himself! Man he is the biggest tool in the shed

Going to go out on a limb here and say that Fran could care less about what you think of him or his coaching. I suspect you may have even been referenced in his interview.

 

[tksirius]

Going to go out on a limb here and say that Fran could care less about what you think of him or his coaching. I suspect you may have even been referenced in his interview.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I haven't listened to the podcast as I've had a rather full day but maybe will tomorrow. I like the idea of standing up for his players and felt that Woodbury especially in that group fans never quite grasped his value to the team. That said I tend to agree with the comments that calling out the fans gives a bad look. It screams lack of mental toughness which seems pervasive in this program from the head coach on down. I for one don't see those comments as black and white.

Lack of mental toughness. Interesting. Perhaps some fans need this. Suck it up through 1 bad season and see what next year brings...

 

[WindsorHawk]

Fran's just being honest. Every fan base has its share of morons and idiots and he was calling out those of ours who continued to bitch about the players Fran has defended, after they've helped bring an overall level of decent success to Iowa. I wasn't one of the morons or idiots so I don't feel bad about him calling them out at all.

This.

 

[ibahawkeye]

If Cook comes back, I believe Fran.

We’ll be better defensively. We won’t be great, maybe not even good but I do think we’ll be better because we’ll have more experience and I hope that this last season proves as a motivator. It’s not a secret to these players or the staff that the Defensive end has to get better. I also think having Connor helps. I think he’ll take some of the minutes that JBo plays and he’s a better defender because of his size.

I also think we’ll be better offensively with Weiskamp. Nunge struggled with his 3 pt shot so I hope that will be better. Cook can still develop the mid range shot. Garza still will get better.

Although we were pretty good offensively last year, I think this roster will be better.

For all these reasons, I think we do rebound. But if we lose Cook, all bets are off.

 

[tksirius]

If Cook comes back, I believe Fran.

We’ll be better defensively. We won’t be great, maybe not even good but I do think we’ll be better because we’ll have more experience and I hope that this last season proves as a motivator. It’s not a secret to these players or the staff that the Defensive end has to get better. I also think having Connor helps. I think he’ll take some of the minutes that JBo plays and he’s a better defender because of his size.

I also think we’ll be better offensively with Weiskamp. Nunge struggled with his 3 pt shot so I hope that will be better. Cook can still develop the mid range shot. Garza still will get better.

Although we were pretty good offensively last year, I think this roster will be better.

For all these reasons, I think we do rebound. But if we lose Cook, all bets are off.

I do wonder how much Connor will help. I haven't forgotten that he was playing less than 100%.

 

[dahlhawk]

At face value for sure. However, given the talent level, many think that Woodbury and Clemmons under performed, but not because of the player.

The Woodbury/Uthoff teams when he was upper class under performed and went out with a terrible wimper. They struggled early against good but not great teams, made a nice run against MSU and Purdue and faded at the end.

Gesell I don't think ever under performed. Like J Bo he has his strengths and weaknesses. Clemmons seemed to under perform, but again, no blame on the player.

This discussion seems like a Fran deflection of getting to the heart of the matter. The real issues are; lack of game coaching, recruiting, and his demeanor. The issues aren't fan opinions of those players.

Woodbury was not what we thought we were getting, not his fault. He played below the rim, couldn't shoot, but was a hell of a screener and rebounder. Played good position defense, but lack of footspeed and jumping ability completely limited him. Gesell was a good defender, decent ball handler, and an inconsistent shooter. Don't blame them I guess that they were overrated in high school. Clemmons was a good defender, we could use a guy like him now. I would say as fans we had higher expectations which Fran didn't dampen Driving in with his gold car and using the catchphrase "Let's get mad again" didn't help. So that makes me a "moron" for believing.

 

[dahlhawk]

I listened to about half of the POD cast and heard Fran call some of our fans "morons"...as much as it isn't politically correct to call a subsection of the fanbase morons, he's right and I don't have a problem with it. There's a certain group of people who will find something to complain about in everything...and whose expectations for EVERYTHING are unattainable.

The issue I had with the discussion was around defense and the fact that he mentioned the inconsistency, missed assignments, etc...and the desire. Well Fran, you should have pointed the finger back at you. If you can't get guys to play defense...don't play them. Sit Bohannon, sit the guy making the mistakes until they decide they are going to play with a better attitude and hustle on defense. What, were you afraid to lose 15 games in B10 season? The minute you accept mediocrity and give into it...you lose. I couldn't believe he said that. Shocked. People piss and moan about Kirk Ferentz...but I've NEVER said his players don't give 100%. His teams may get beat by more talented teams or because their offensive gameplan sucked, but they don't lose because the players aren't focused and giving everything they have. Lessoned learned...McCaffery < Ferentz.

I said many times during this season that at points in several games players needed to be benched, JBo standing watching a player steal the ball from him and not even bothering to chase, Moss who several times let a player shoot right past him and stood there hands on hips while the guy scored. Many examples where guys needed to be benched for at least a few minutes. There were times I wanted to see the scout team out there to send the starters a message, Fran did none of these things, cause he was afraid to.

 

[dahlhawk]

His boys might resurrect Fran...this would be good.

I believe Fran's wife was a hell of a basketball player. Wouldn't be surprised if she spent the most time shaping the kids' games, probable more than Fran.

 

[revkev73]

She needs to work on that jump shot form

 

[HawkMD2007]

Hoping Fran doesn't have any more kids....