Fran McCaffery Says Hawkeyes Will Rebound from Down Season

[HawkGold]

Was that another poster? If so, big mistake on my part. Either way a small part of the post and no harm intended. My apologies. I should have gone back to that thread before going to the airwaves.

EDIT:. That was you, Gold. Check posts 32-34 on the March 17 St. Bonaventure vs Alfraud game thread. That's was I was talking about, not last week's conversation. I even qualified it as a paraphrase. That was you. I should have made it more clear. Right or wrong, I will own anything that gets by my posting thumb and enters these threads.

Again I eat my words. I thought I was responding to someone else and was totally confused, which a few on here would say is normal for me. Growing up in Iowa will do that to you maybe. Or maybe the state I am in now...

 

[HawkGold]

There is no evidence that he's abusive to his players. And don't bother showing me pictures of him yelling at his players during games. That's frustration due to his players practicing one way for days and playing another way in the games. I've had that situation several times and it's extremely frustrating. I'm not a defender of Fran. I think he lacks the attention to detail his position needs, in order to succeed at a program like Iowa. We've seen the best he can offer, IMO. But there's no way he's abusive to his players in general. We've had a dozen transfers since he got hired, that would have come out and said something by now. Too much social media access to not have something like that leak out. A coach can lock down those things on campus but he can't do anything about former players talking, several years after the fact.

It's a gut feeling from the school of hard knocks. I will strongly disagree. The chest bump and especially the kicking of the scorers table are worse than what some have done to get charged with assault. As far as covering things up, it's possible. Those 2 actions (and maybe at Wisky) were enough to get him fired. My guess is and I hope I'm wrong, a lot of stuff will come out later.

Transfers themselves don't mean much one way or another. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the lack of comments from former players either.

There is just a lot in the Iowa program equation that doesn't make much sense.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Well, after a 19 loss season, nowhere to go but up I guess. So Fran may be on to something!

 

[Kennyfromminne]

I wonder what would happen if Fran goes off on one of his boys and they stand up to him? Might look like Godzilla vs. Chuck Norris

 

[lightning1]

It's a gut feeling from the school of hard knocks. I will strongly disagree. The chest bump and especially the kicking of the scorers table are worse than what some have done to get charged with assault. As far as covering things up, it's possible. Those 2 actions (and maybe at Wisky) were enough to get him fired. My guess is and I hope I'm wrong, a lot of stuff will come out later.

Transfers themselves don't mean much one way or another. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the lack of comments from former players either.

There is just a lot in the Iowa program equation that doesn't make much sense.

We'll see. It's not like Fran is a local treasure with deep ties to this community. Alfraud couldn't get away with anything around here and there was 1/10th the social media outlets in 2000-2006, as there are today.

 

[BryceC]

and just so that you are all aware, I am not saying kirk is a hot head. I am saying Fran isn't a hot head and that is based on the definition of "hot head" i provided. neither kirk or Fran is a hot head. they both can show emotion. in my opinion, that is a good thing for a coach, as long as it is in defense of his team and players and program.

I'm sorry the way that Fran has behaved multiple times on the court and with the press makes me think he is a hot head, and well within the definition you provided.

 

[HawkGold]

I wonder what would happen if Fran goes off on one of his boys and they stand up to him? Might look like Godzilla vs. Chuck Norris

Had a family member sit behind them on a plane and described it as entertaining. The bigger challenge will be when one of his kids is getting hammered and the officials fail to do something about it, or Fran thinking they are allowing too much which may or may not be true. If the kids are lippy with officials and the dad is not liked.... it could be a tough situation. The other wildcard is the mom.... Fran has to answer to the mom. The mom will be under pressure in a public setting.

Having coached my own kids in sports, it's really hard. As someone said, some coaches are harder on their kids and others are easier. I was harder and boy did I get it from their lovely and normally sweet mother.

There are advantages though. The kids do understand what needs to be done usually better (according to Dad's plan). This could be win/win or something less. Odds are on less, but Fran does surprise to the positive.

 

[DJL]

I really have been trying not to post about Iowa basketball because I don't want to spend a bunch of time dealing with negative things. But I guess I'm feeling the need to be negative today.
Fran is in over his head. He's a mid-major coach, trying to run a Power 5 team . But hey, he's better than the previous coach, so let's give him a truck load of money ,I've thought this for awhile now. He got a great group of recruits who were all Iowa fans, and had some moderate success with them. I don't think he's a great recruiter, I know he's a poor defensive coach, and his temper has given him a a reputation that hurts win with officials.

 

[ssckelley]

Well if they don't he'll be looking for a new job....errr...wait.....he just got another extension didn't he?

 

[HawkGold]

I really have been trying not to post about Iowa basketball because I don't want to spend a bunch of time dealing with negative things. But I guess I'm feeling the need to be negative today.
Fran is in over his head. He's a mid-major coach, trying to run a Power 5 team . But hey, he's better than the previous coach, so let's give him a truck load of money ,I've thought this for awhile now. He got a great group of recruits who were all Iowa fans, and had some moderate success with them. I don't think he's a great recruiter, I know he's a poor defensive coach, and his temper has given him a a reputation that hurts win with officials.

I don't see him as a great offensive coach. The transition game success comes at the expense of releasing players too early which costs the D. Not much 1/2 court O.

 

[Adam]

Uthoff would eat Cook for breakfast and even he can’t make a roster.

Cook would lower his shoulder and cave in Uthoff's chest. Making his rib cage explode outward like the crew of the U.S.S Sulaco from Aliens.

Uthoff was a slick shooter and slasher for his size, but he was a bean pole. He didn't make the NBA because 50 pound heavier guys would have abused him in the post. I fear it is just that simple. Love the kid, but just was never convinced he had the frame for a sustained professional career. It's too bad as well, because he actually had the skill set.

Cook on the other hand is the closest we have had to a "pro" mold since Reggie Evans. Will he make it? Hell if I know. Will it be this year? I wouldn't bet a nickel on it.

 

[Adam]

You may be right. However, studies show soldiers more apt to develop ptsd went through severe childhood trauma. Freezing and or leaving are trauma responses.

LOL I just watched my 12 year old nephew potato a shot on goal. The rest of the match he proceeded to sulk and give minimal effort. The kid averages 3 goals a game but mustered zero in this contest, because his team was utterly dominated position by position.

My nephew is by far the most gifted junior soccer player that I have ever had the luxury to watch. At 12 he already has college coaches sniffing around. Foot coordination like he possess is rare at almost any age. So why did he have such a terrible game? He could have easily asserted his individual dominance. Even after the embarrassing missed goal. His response was "the game wasn't any fun". Unfortunately probing an angsty pre teen boy any deeper proved impossible.

You see the moral of the story here is that a team sport requires a bond of teammates. When an individual evaluates the struggles of bonded teammates they can and will react in any number of confusing ways. This does not highlight some underlying abuse. The only abuse is the present. The abuse of when a team dominates another in any sporting related competition. I believe you are reading into Moss way more than is necessary. It is the simplest and most likely scenario that Moss is struggling coming to grips with playing for a team that gets dominated versus his prep career playing with Ed Morrow and Zach Norvell. His team was more often then not was doing the dominating.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Cook would lower his shoulder and cave in Uthoff's chest. Making his rib cage explode outward like the crew of the U.S.S Sulaco from Aliens.

Uthoff was a slick shooter and slasher for his size, but he was a bean pole. He didn't make the NBA because 50 pound heavier guys would have abused him in the post. I fear it is just that simple. Love the kid, but just was never convinced he had the frame for a sustained professional career. It's too bad as well, because he actually had the skill set.

Cook on the other hand is the closest we have had to a "pro" mold since Reggie Evans. Will he make it? Hell if I know. Will it be this year? I wouldn't bet a nickel on it.

I tend to disagree with most of this actually. If you follow the NBA game today it’s shifting more towards skilled type bigs and further away from the big bruisers like an Evans or a Cook. John Henson and Thon Maker are the two Centers for the Bucks and they check in at 6’11/ 229 and 7’1/223 respectively. Uthoff is a 4 and he’s 6’9/220 so his thickness really isn’t that big of a concern. Uthoff always made up for his lack of thickness with his long arms and timing, which is why he blocked so many shots in college.

Saying Uthoff didn’t make the league because of his size is no different than saying Cook won’t make it because of his lack of skills. Uthoff has played in an NBA game, until Cook does I’ll consider Uthoff the better NBA prospect.

 

[HawkGold]

LOL I just watched my 12 year old nephew potato a shot on goal. The rest of the match he proceeded to sulk and give minimal effort. The kid averages 3 goals a game but mustered zero in this contest, because his team was utterly dominated position by position.

My nephew is by far the most gifted junior soccer player that I have ever had the luxury to watch. At 12 he already has college coaches sniffing around. Foot coordination like he possess is rare at almost any age. So why did he have such a terrible game? He could have easily asserted his individual dominance. Even after the embarrassing missed goal. His response was "the game wasn't any fun". Unfortunately probing an angsty pre teen boy any deeper proved impossible.

You see the moral of the story here is that a team sport requires a bond of teammates. When an individual evaluates the struggles of bonded teammates they can and will react in any number of confusing ways. This does not highlight some underlying abuse. The only abuse is the present. The abuse of when a team dominates another in any sporting related competition. I believe you are reading into Moss way more than is necessary. It is the simplest and most likely scenario that Moss is struggling coming to grips with playing for a team that gets dominated versus his prep career playing with Ed Morrow and Zach Norvell. His team was more often then not was doing the dominating.

I'm reading into Fran's behavior and trying to explain a Big athlete who put up 30 plus on a big team.
The first seconds of this video speaks for itself.
Per a 12 yo, there isn't a lot of correlation with high school. If he's scoring 3 a game on a team that could get totally locked down, one of his big struggles is playing with a team rather than being a team. Young soccer players that are dominating early really struggle with that.

Back to Fran. Argue that he's not abusive. As I've mentioned several times, that is misdemeanor assault in Iowa.

 

[Adam]

Boys want to play for crazy/volatile dad...crazy/volatile dad is at home...crazy/volatile is "normal" "good"...homeostasis

Any choice other than dad would be abnormal...out of the "norm"...

LOL the use of punctuation in these last 2 posts is definitely "out of the norm".

 

[Adam]

I tend to disagree with most of this actually. If you follow the NBA game today it’s shifting more towards skilled type bigs and further away from the big bruisers like an Evans or a Cook. John Henson and Thon Maker are the two Centers for the Bucks and they check in at 6’11/ 229 and 7’1/223 respectively. Uthoff is a 4 and he’s 6’9/220 so his thickness really isn’t that big of a concern. Uthoff always made up for his lack of thickness with his long arms and timing, which is why he blocked so many shots in college.

Saying Uthoff didn’t make the league because of his size is no different than saying Cook won’t make it because of his lack of skills. Uthoff has played in an NBA game, until Cook does I’ll consider Uthoff the better NBA prospect.

I understand your thoughts on the topic. Give this article and glance.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jarrod-Uthoff-41067/

Also consider that the Mav's let Uthoff go even after he proved he could score in the league. Maybe he would have been better off for a franchise like the Bucs since they are ok with a different mold.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I understand your thoughts on the topic. Give this article and glance.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jarrod-Uthoff-41067/

Also consider that the Mav's let Uthoff go even after he proved he could score in the league. Maybe he would have been better off for a franchise like the Bucs since they are ok with a different mold.

I saw an article on ESPN today talking about players testing the draft process, and Cook wasn’t even listed as a Top 100 prospect. Now granted Uthoff wouldn’t have been either at that point in his career, so maybe Cook will improve mightily.

It’s an interesting point you brought up about scoring, because right now it’s the only thing that Cook doesn’t at an above average level.

Right now gun to head if I was asked which guy has a better chance at an NBA contract I’d still say Uthoff, granted I don’t expect either of them to ever get one.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I'm sorry the way that Fran has behaved multiple times on the court and with the press makes me think he is a hot head, and well within the definition you provided.

then kirk is a hot head also, right? he's thrown his headset on the ground. he's gone the yards on the side line to get to an official and get in his face. i disagree with you that kirk is a hot head. neither are. they can be emotional and that, in my opinion, is a good thing.

 

[Tierney]

Iowa doesn't appear to be looking at any transfers so the coaching staff must be pretty confident about the team next year and the incoming freshmen. Iowa must be in on some pretty good high school players for 2019 and they don't want to waste a scholarship on a transfer. I doubt a fifth year senior transfer would help the team next year. It will be interesting to see how these guys will look after a year of the new weight training. Hopefully, they will be the ones doing the pushing around next year.

 

[lightning1]

Iowa doesn't appear to be looking at any transfers so the coaching staff must be pretty confident about the team next year and the incoming freshmen. Iowa must be in on some pretty good high school players for 2019 and they don't want to waste a scholarship on a transfer. I doubt a fifth year senior transfer would help the team next year. It will be interesting to see how these guys will look after a year of the new weight training. Hopefully, they will be the ones doing the pushing around next year.

The coaches are pretty confident they won't get fired, no matter who they recruit. That's the truth of it.