Fran, stop the bleeding...

H

HuskerlandHawk

Well-Known Member
...Hire Chad Walthall as assistant!

I may be wrong, but with the current state of the program, you've got to do something to maintain a near-decent record next year for recruiting purposes in 2011 and 2012. Also, you don't want to fill your roster with sub-par players or a bunch of JUCO transfers. If he hires Walthall it may help get Larson and Brust back on board? If so, I think hiring him may prove to be a good strategic move...
 
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I want him to hire who he feels is the best for the job without taking any recruits into account. I'd love to keep Brust and Larson but would rather assemble a top notch staff that can build for the long term.
 
Wrong. Why bring back an assistant from the worst 3-year stretch in the history of the program? It's time to go another direction. No more recruiting all guards and SF. Let's put together an actual bball team with a true center and true PG.
 
Fran has every right to bring in assistants who fit and compliment his system, coaching, etc.

My guess is that Walthall does not fit what Fran is looking for, or fits his vision.

Look, fact of the matter is there is turnover with any coaching change. If anyone thought that Fran would come in, retain all players / recruits, and return the team to post season play next year needs a heavy dosage of reality.

Next year is going to be a long year, much like this year. McAffery hasn't even coached a game at Iowa and some are freaking out over the departures. Does losing Fuller hurt? Sure, but it should be plainly obvious he had his mind made up well before Fran was hired. He was leaving regardless.

And maybe Larson and Brust re-opening their recruitment is a good thing for McAffery. Maybe those two do not fit the uptempo style Fran employs. I'd much rather have those schollies open now than 2 years down the road after each decide they'd rather transfer.

Patience must be employed with this hire. Coach has rebuilt 3 programs prior, and although none were on the same level as the Big 10, I'm of the opinion that the guy probably knows what he's doing. As fans, we need to trust him, even if it is hard w/ the departures.
 
Makes no sense to keep an assistant just for the sake of keeping a few recruits who may or may not fit into the new coach's system.
 
HuskerlandHawk said:
...Hire Chad Walthall as assistant!

I may be wrong, but with the current state of the program, you've got to do something to maintain a near-decent record next year for recruiting purposes in 2011 and 2012. Also, you don't want to fill your roster with sub-par players or a bunch of JUCO transfers. If he hires Walthall it may help get Larson and Brust back on board? If so, I think hiring him may prove to be a good strategic move...
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Not likely as he was already told to clean out his office.
 
In basketball, you cannot "build for the long term." You need to hit the ground fast and establish yourself in the immediate future. Pretty long thread that makes a case for that.

It works in football, because your players don't have to contribute for 2 or 3 years. In basketball, they need to contribute from day one.

That being said, hiring a coach to try to keep two players who backed out of signed commitments is kind of foolish. You want to hire coaches that are going to upgrade your roster, not just try to maintain the status quo.

They need a rainmaker recruiter. Pay him whatever he wants, within reason.
 
83Hawk said:
Makes no sense to keep an assistant just for the sake of keeping a few recruits who may or may not fit into the new coach's system.
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I agree with this. And thinking back to the last coaching change, the recruits from the previous coach didn't seem to work out the best anyway. I want Fran to go out and recruit HIS players. I don't want to keep Lick's recruits just to have players. Then we will continue to have the transfer problems.
 
Chad Walthall please give it a rest. I honestly want no coaches from that previous regime.. Let's move on..

DYK is exactly right all Iowa has recruited the last 2 years are Shooting Guards and Small Forwards. I've been saying it for 3 years now. we are not recruiting to be competitive in the Big Ten. Lick and his stafff weren't failing badly in this department. Let's move on!!
 
Fran McCaffery needs to hire top-notch recruiters. I sincerely hope that Gary Barta has approved going over budget to hire such established recruiter assistants. I have the sinking feeling that due to the Lickliter buyout, the Hawkeye basketball program is being run on the cheap.
 
DYK88 said:
I agree with this. And thinking back to the last coaching change, the recruits from the previous coach didn't seem to work out the best anyway. I want Fran to go out and recruit HIS players. I don't want to keep Lick's recruits just to have players. Then we will continue to have the transfer problems.
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Believe me guys, this thread was more of a fleeting thought than a real life fix. To my surprise, even after 3 defections in 2 (business) days the fan base is very optimistic with what Fran can do. It's encouraging! More encouraging than what our record will likely be next year.

DYK88, I can see your point. The optimist in me says maybe they're being encouraged to open up their commitment if they're not 100% on Iowa at this point. A technique Fran is employing to stop the transfer problem at it's root...probably wishful thinking at this point tho.
 
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I have no problem losing players from a program that compiled the worst three-year record ever and bidding adieu to lightly-regarded recruits who had committed to the staff responsible for it.

Let the rebuilding begin.
 
CAARHawk said:
In basketball, you cannot "build for the long term." You need to hit the ground fast and establish yourself in the immediate future. Pretty long thread that makes a case for that.

It works in football, because your players don't have to contribute for 2 or 3 years. In basketball, they need to contribute from day one.

That being said, hiring a coach to try to keep two players who backed out of signed commitments is kind of foolish. You want to hire coaches that are going to upgrade your roster, not just try to maintain the status quo.

They need a rainmaker recruiter. Pay him whatever he wants, within reason.
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Nobody is ever going to win at Iowa. People want instant results, and don't understand that that just isn't going to happen here. And if they get those results, what happens down the road when we start to fall again because we didn't build for the long-term? You guessed it, idiots like you will turn on the coach then too.

I'd rather see him build for the long term. That's worked for us in football quite nicely.
 
tm3308 said:
Nobody is ever going to win at Iowa. People want instant results, and don't understand that that just isn't going to happen here. And if they get those results, what happens down the road when we start to fall again because we didn't build for the long-term? You guessed it, idiots like you will turn on the coach then too.

I'd rather see him build for the long term. That's worked for us in football quite nicely.
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I have to disagree CBB is not football. There is no "long term". The teams that are great stay great (KU, UK, UNC, DUKE), then you have the middles (Think the B10 OSU, MSU, Purdue and your Cuse, PITT, Florida) that make the tourney every year and go on a hot streak for a few years at a time. Then there is the lower middle, just trying to pop up with a big hit every 4 or 5 years (big hit being the Sweet 16). Then you have the re-treads, once good(or never good, same thing because right now is all that matters), but the game and the business has passed them by. Iowa has been passed by. Davis and Alford had us in the lower middle now we are no different from Coastal Carolina and East Tennessee state, except that they beat us recently. To get back to the lower middle requires immediate impact, not bringing in a class and keeping them together so when they are seniors they lose in the 1st round of the NCAA's. You have to take chances on academically and socially challenged players, unless you want to stay in re-tread category. Sorry about the diatribe.
 
clicheusername3 said:
You have to take chances on academically and socially challenged players
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No thank you. I'd rather lose 20 games every year than brings in some thugs from the ghetto who grow up with a basketball in their hand but can't figure out how to pass high school level courses.
 
clicheusername3 said:
I have to disagree CBB is not football. There is no "long term". The teams that are great stay great (KU, UK, UNC, DUKE), then you have the middles (Think the B10 OSU, MSU, Purdue and your Cuse, PITT, Florida) that make the tourney every year and go on a hot streak for a few years at a time. Then there is the lower middle, just trying to pop up with a big hit every 4 or 5 years (big hit being the Sweet 16). Then you have the re-treads, once good(or never good, same thing because right now is all that matters), but the game and the business has passed them by. Iowa has been passed by. Davis and Alford had us in the lower middle now we are no different from Coastal Carolina and East Tennessee state, except that they beat us recently. To get back to the lower middle requires immediate impact, not bringing in a class and keeping them together so when they are seniors they lose in the 1st round of the NCAA's. You have to take chances on academically and socially challenged players, unless you want to stay in re-tread category. Sorry about the diatribe.
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Didn't Alford try that, the "taking chances" thing. Ask him how he feels Pierre Pierce turned out for him.

I'm fine with thinking long-term. I want a stable program, not one that is totally dependent on a lights out recruiting class every year. Because just think if Memphis went just a year without getting those dominant freshman under Calipari. All of the sudden they would have had a big drop-off. Coach K has been passed by, as well. He refuses to go after the one-and-dones, he wants guys that are committed. It took 9 years, but he finally got his latest title, and now they seem primed to make another run.

Short term success is like a caffiene high for energy. It's great while you have it, and it's a b*tch when you inevitably crash. Where as consistent sleep is a better way to gain energy. Slower process, but a much higher success rate.
 
clicheusername3 said:
I have to disagree CBB is not football. There is no "long term". The teams that are great stay great (KU, UK, UNC, DUKE), then you have the middles (Think the B10 OSU, MSU, Purdue and your Cuse, PITT, Florida) that make the tourney every year and go on a hot streak for a few years at a time. Then there is the lower middle, just trying to pop up with a big hit every 4 or 5 years (big hit being the Sweet 16). Then you have the re-treads, once good(or never good, same thing because right now is all that matters), but the game and the business has passed them by. Iowa has been passed by. Davis and Alford had us in the lower middle now we are no different from Coastal Carolina and East Tennessee state, except that they beat us recently. To get back to the lower middle requires immediate impact, not bringing in a class and keeping them together so when they are seniors they lose in the 1st round of the NCAA's. You have to take chances on academically and socially challenged players, unless you want to stay in re-tread category. Sorry about the diatribe.
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Do you always apologize for everything you say? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

I agree with most of what you say. Iowa MBB now has a WORSE reputation than Iowa State and pre-Hayden Fry Iowa football. And realize that today's recruits weren't even born during the Olson/Raveling/early Davis years when Hawkeye basketball was at its zenith. We're no longer relevant to talented players, and haven't been for a long, long time.

McCaffery has a huge rebuilding project in front of him. I think he's up to the task. But it's going to take some time.
 
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