Fran

[WindsorHawk]

A walk-on nearly outscored 3 starting seniors, again. Aside from Fran's coaching, he needs to shake up the players/scholarships. Send Ellingson & Uhl packing. Have Connor walk on. Give Baer a scholly and bring in some real talent. Might have some recruiting violations in order to accomplish this but ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.

Uhl makes open threes and can take his man off the dribble. He needs to upgrade his physique like Jok did. Ellingson is a RS freshman...too early to judge. And I don't believe in running players off.

 

[ssckelley]

Fran has essentially gotten Iowa basketball back to the Tom Davis level. It's nothing flashy, playing in the NCAA tournament more times than not, not ever going to win a BIG regular season title, etc. I guess you can either embrace the mediocre or roll the dice with a potential Alfraud redux.

I'll take the consecutive NCAA appearances and roll the dice they will get hot at the right time. That's really all you can ask any coach at Iowa to do, we will never get the recruits it takes to be a blue blood perennial power.

 

[trj]

Give me a break, Gatens could not have played for another Big 10 team, he was only on the floor because Lick had no one else. He would score points against nobodies, but was shut down when guarded by anyone with an ounce of athleticism.

That's not accurate, his role would change, minutes would change.....he would have been a contributor on any college bball team, ANY.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Fran has upgraded the talent and the program. I know there will be 90 more of these threads to go with the other 300. But Fran is around for a many years to come.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

He needs to be fired tomorrow morning!!!

You need to stop posting on HN starting tomorrow morning!!!!

 

[Hawk4Fan]

Poor defensive game plan. Playing anything but in your face man to man in this game is criminal. Nova loves soft man and zone.

Fran has no idea how to coach a game at all, the tool needs GONE ASAP!

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Give me a break, Gatens could not have played for another Big 10 team, he was only on the floor because Lick had no one else. He would score points against nobodies, but was shut down when guarded by anyone with an ounce of athleticism.

Disagree. But let's say you're correct in that the absolute best player on the team Fran inherited couldn't even play at another B1G school(which is ludicrous btw). Then what Fran has done is even more impressive than I thought.

Gatens may not have been a star for most other teams, but having him as a 3rd option this year would have won us the B1G.

Jesus people.

 

[Hawk4Fan]

Give me a break, Gatens could not have played for another Big 10 team, he was only on the floor because Lick had no one else. He would score points against nobodies, but was shut down when guarded by anyone with an ounce of athleticism.

You are either a troll or absolutely Clue Less about the game of basketball, it really could go either way with the garbage you post. Gatens would have started for most BIG ten teams so don't post your drivel like this

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Fran has no idea how to coach a game at all, the tool needs GONE ASAP!

How do you feel knowing Fran is probably the Iowa bball coach for at least another 3-4 years. No, wait, let me pull up you last 30 posts...nevermind.

 

[Hawk4Fan]

Fran has upgraded the talent and the program. I know there will be 90 more of these threads to go with the other 300. But Fran is around for a many years to come.

Then go ahead and accept Iowa BB is nothing more than mid major type team.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

You are either a troll or absolutely Clue Less about the game of basketball, it really could go either way with the garbage you post. Gatens would have started for most BIG ten teams so don't post your drivel like this

Agreed. Holy cow, I can't believe it.

 

[trj]

Fran has upgraded the talent and the program. I know there will be 90 more of these threads to go with the other 300. But Fran is around for a many years to come.

Yep. Jon's " state of the program" part II is coming at some point and that will be a week long and 60 pages, several mini- versions of that thread started and probably go on til May.

 

[knighthawk13]

I don't know many coaches that would pull their best on the ball defender when he gets two fouls and sit him for 15 minutes. Stuff like this is maddening, but the program is in a lot better shape than when he arrived.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

When you're a 5th year coach, and your team's top performer is a Freshman walk-on... something isn't right. (how's that for an understatement)

I think Uhl has potential, the question is (and one of the bigger questions) is anything being done to help him develop? For a bench of tenured assistants, we haven't seen much development in players that have been here 2+ years

In my opinion, the issue with Uhl is that he had to play out of position this season. He really is a 3, regardless of his height. But he was playing 4 and 5 this season. He'll never be big enough to do that consistently.

I'd say we've seen plenty of development from Jok and JU. Woody, Sapp and MG had ceilings that were not quite as high as they were considered to be when they were coming out of HS.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Fran has no idea how to coach a game at all, the tool needs GONE ASAP!

I knew there was something going on when we started 10-1 in the B1G this season. Fran had stopped coaching.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I don't know many coaches that would pull their best on the ball defender when he gets two fouls and sit him for 15 minutes. Stuff like this is maddening, but the program is in a lot better shape than when he arrived.

Oh, probably most. You know, we were already looking at needing a 2nd half comeback with 5 mins left in the half. Why risk getting a 3rd on MG in the first half and guarantee his ineffectiveness in the 2nd half? I don't have a problem with it. And Sapp is just as good an on ball defender.

 

[SteveGarvey]

The truth is this team being a 7 seed and winning only game in the NCAAs the last two years was about the ceiling based on the talent Fran had to play with. Considering the garbage heap the program had become before he took over, I'd say that's pretty good because it's pretty hard to recruit based on the recent history that was Iowa basketball before Fran got there.

That doesn't mean there aren't things to criticize him about (like his baffling non-use of timeouts) but to say he isn't a good coach has no basis.

 

[theboat]

The problems with Fran are a lot like the problems with KFer. They seemingly know a ton about their sport and are really good coaches, but they have lapses in the most basic things that my 8 year old son can watch and figure out. That is what is so maddening. He isn't a dummy, but he sometimes plays one in games.

 

[Hawk90]

Hey genius, I watched Gatens play throughout his high school and his college career. He was a good shooter.....that's about it. He had little to no defensive skills, he was slow. If a quicker player was guarding him, it was over. He was a big fish in a little pond during the Lick years. Could he have played on another Big 10 team...absolutely, started....no way. He was a good kid, no doubt, but he was no star.

 

[PCHawk]

When you're a 5th year coach, and your team's top performer is a Freshman walk-on... something isn't right. (how's that for an understatement)

I think Uhl has potential, the question is (and one of the bigger questions) is anything being done to help him develop? For a bench of tenured assistants, we haven't seen much development in players that have been here 2+ years

Come on man. You make it sound like Baer was our best player this year. He happened to be really good this one game and he happens to be a kid that didn't look like he deserved a scholarship 2 years ago. That doesn't mean anything bad.

If Ellingson came in and drilled 6 3's does that mean Fran built a crappy program? Who cares who our top performer was during one individual game as long as that top performer performed well.