Fran's 1st yr.

S

SirJamaLot

Well-Known Member
Next year I would be happy if the Hawks finished with a winning overall record, 7-9 in the Big Ten, 1-2 games in the NIT,

Reasons:
1. Our rotation could be Gatens,May,Payne,Cole,JC guard?, Cougill, Brommer,Archie, Baasabe, I doubt if the other freshman will have much of an impact but I hope I am wrong.

2. When you consider the talent that MSU, Osu, Mn, Ill, Purdue, Nortwestern, Whisky, have coming back, Fran will have his work cut out for him to go 7-9 or 8-8.

3. Our roster is not built for uptempo pressure defensive basketball, I hope Fran can keep making progress in recruiting, but i hope Hawkeye fans are patient because we have a long ways to go.
 
I would be happy with that too, but you surely don't expect that do you? If he has a winning record, he should be B10 COY. This team is coming off of a 10-22 season, they lost arguably the best player in Fuller, and they are attempting to completely change the culture and style of play.

I just hope too many people don't expect the things you've laid out. If so, it's going to be a lot tougher to build a program if people are already upset after year 1.
 
I'd be happy if they could keep me interested in watching a game beyond the first 5 minutes. Slow ball + getting pummeled = I can't watch... just too painful.

Give me hope... and I'll stay tuned in... any hope.... hope of a dunk or a run or a change up on D... or..any sign of in game adjustments.
 
I honestly don't see Archie having any sort of positive impact. I think the incoming freshman will all contribute more.
 
I think we have to look at this just like any other 1st year rebuilding job...SA had a losing season his first year,just like Lick. We went 10-22 and we lost our best player and our best recruit...meanwhile,more importantly, the conference returns the best single class of seniors(sans Turner) in the league in this century. I am presuming everyone returns cept for Turner and Manny Harris. That means that the Big Ten will be a top 2 conference.
Now, that said, Iowa could have some opportunities in conference vs Wisky(only at CHA this year),Michigan(potential sweep) IU, PSU(lost Babb),Minny (if Al Nolen,Reggie Cobb and other do not return),NW at CHA(we own them there)..
...so I can hope for maybe 6-7 conference wins, but do not expect that many.

The real opportunity might lie in our non-conference schedule. We get ISU and UNI at home. ISU is down to 5 scholly players so that is winnable. UNI has struggled at Iowa so that is a possible win. At Drake is a possible win. If we can go 2-1 at the Paradise Jam, lose only in the ACC challenge on the road,take care of in-state schools, and schedule 6 cupcake home games, we could go 10-3 or even 11-2....which is the key to a winning season,of course. I expect no better than 15 -17 overall,but doing 17-15 would be great.
 
I will be happy if Fran simply brings in a more exciting brand of basketball, doesn't lose key players or recruits at the end of the year and is able to show he is building a foundation for more success in years 2 and 3.

Expectations of a winning record this year are unrealistic and foolish, IMO, although I would wet my leg if that happened.
 
Is the OP serious? Those expectations are ridiculous. The team next year is going to be worse than the team this past year that won 10 games. The results (win/loss) record might not be worse but it will be close

Adjust your expecatations so you arent disappointed. The key in progress will be building a very solid recruiting class for 11
 
What you outlined is not..

SirJamaLot said:
Next year I would be happy if the Hawks finished with a winning overall record, 7-9 in the Big Ten, 1-2 games in the NIT,

Reasons:
1. Our rotation could be Gatens,May,Payne,Cole,JC guard?, Cougill, Brommer,Archie, Baasabe, I doubt if the other freshman will have much of an impact but I hope I am wrong.

2. When you consider the talent that MSU, Osu, Mn, Ill, Purdue, Nortwestern, Whisky, have coming back, Fran will have his work cut out for him to go 7-9 or 8-8.

3. Our roster is not built for uptempo pressure defensive basketball, I hope Fran can keep making progress in recruiting, but i hope Hawkeye fans are patient because we have a long ways to go.
Click to expand...

impossible, but highly improbable. Losing Fuller, losing two members of the recruiting class (Larson and Brust) put the program back at square one. My only expectations for the year are to see improvement and see the guys fighting and playing together. Then to keep all important members of the roster on board and not transferring, adding in a good class next year and going from there.
 
I have no expectations going into next season. It's best that way. The next 3 years are rebuilding as far as I'm concerned. As long as there are more wins in season two then there were in season one, and more wins in season three as there were in season two, I'm happy.

I wish I could say the same for this coming Football season ;)
 
If they are able to add a PG to spell Cully the team could potentially win more than 10 games....it's hard to say how many games they will win at this point in time....I think we should wait until late Summer before we throw out win/loss records for next year.

The Big Ten will be very tough next year.....
 
Suspect the OP was simply tossing out an outlandish prediction to generate attention (which, sadly, I provided.)
 
In Fran's first year I want to see how well he does with his first true recruiting class. If he can get Randle and a big that can play immediately i would call it a success even if he wins 10-12 games. Then he can move onto 2012 and lock down the in state talent.

I would love to see some success this year, but can he do it without bringing in a bunch of players and hamstringing himself in recruiting for 2011-2012. I hope that he gets Salters and Coco. Coco is done after this year so that still keeps a few schollies open for the next few years. The future is not now, it is 2011-2012.
 
More wins than last year would be a very good year. Unless Caff slows down the tempo of the game there will be more blowout than last year. Complain about Lick's style all you want, but a slower tempo will keep an outclassed group closer than trying run with them. Mathematically at least.
 
OK, I'll stick up for the OP. It is highly unlikely that we have a winning season, but I think most feel we will be better than last year. For the sake of argument, if we would have the same schedule next year (which I realize won't happen), I'll say we will win the same 10 games again this year, beat Texas-San Antonio, Duquesne, Wichita State, Virginia Tech (lost by 6), and Michigan once. This would give us a 15-17 record. Throw in the fact that Iowa State and UNI will be at home this year, one of those wins and no others (there are other teams we definitely can beat) gives us a 16-16 record.

I think that a faster pace will help us against those teams. I think that the slower pace kept us closer against some of the better teams, but also kept us closer against some of the teams that weren't as good and not as deep.

I would at least like to think that there is a possibility of a .500 season, just not expecting it.
 
If we're ok with 10 wins why did we get rid of Lick? I understand coaching change and half the recruiting class leaving, but I think our expectations have to be higher than 10 wins. For the 1st time since Alford was here we'll have more than 3 upper classman on the roster this year. B10 will be tough, but I think more than 10 wins should be expected of this team.
 
The first year needs to be all about recruiting. Wins and losses shouldn't really matter. I have said it over and over and provided data to prove it that good recruiters score early.

I can buy that it might take three years until the results really start showing up on the court, but that can't be the case for recruiting. If it is, we will not be in position for the 2012 class and Fran's fate might already be sealed. (Before you jump on me for saying this, show me conflicting data.)

He needs Basabe to develop and (probably) two more new players that these kids are going to want to play with, ala Randall.

A huge bonus would be if Marble could end up playing beyond his current grade, but I still think we will need more even if this does happen.

Basically, we need a few guys to whom Paige is going to be looking forward to dishing the ball.

One variable might be if we were to bring in an impressive JUCO PG that Paige could imagine taking over for when he comes in 2012.
 
I think they'll be better than this year's team. The players were beaten down last year, and often played like it, particularly by the end of the year. They reflected the demeanor of their coach. That burden has been lifted, and I think it will reflect in better play, and hopefully, more wins.
 
JehovahShalom said:
I'd be happy if they could keep me interested in watching a game beyond the first 5 minutes.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Keep it close towards the end, give me a slight glimmer of hope that we may still win the game at halftime instead of being down 10-15 points at that time. That's all I'm asking, make this team competitive again every night, and fans will come back in droves whether we're winning or not.
 
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