Fran's 1st yr.

[bpiercehawks]

I'm not into predicting W/L's, but it's fun to think about next year already. I think the big thing that needs to happen is for Coach FM to coach 'em up big time this offseason. We honestly could be better than we think if we get continued development from our returners. Cully, May, Gatens, Cole. It's a huge offseason for them, and you know they're sick of losing. Also, I really believe that the dynamics of the squad will be different this year; this can't be understated. We need to see improvements in our posts. I think Brommer could step up as a hustle player and/or if Cougs is in shape and healthy he could be a player who we could run an offense through based on being skilled with the ball. Not that he will shoot a lot, put the ball on the floor, etc... but having a big man who has ball skills and can pass relieves a lot of pressure in both the half and full court. Way too many question marks, but that's part of the fun as well. As I've said in a few other posts, the trick is going to be are we fun to watch (get fan support), competitive, win a few we shouldn't win, and show our potential recruits that we're not far from knocking on the door. Basketball is a much different animal than football in that turning a program around should not need to take as long. - Go Hawks!

 

[Thomzahawke]

No expectations for this team next year from me. The only thing I will be watching is Fran's coaching style, how he adapts in-game (adjustments) since we've seen none in the past several years and how he interacts with the players. Other than that no expectations so that way no disappointments. I would think however they can surpass this years win total but we'll see.

 

[CHShawk]

Similar to last year there are two things that need to be looked at by Hawkeye fans:

1. Improvement - as a team (how well they grow to play together) and as individual players (especially with the young guys)

2. This was touched on before which is recruiting. Can McCaffery bring in quality B10 recruits to fit his style?

 

[pmchawk]

I'll be estatic if we go 7-9 in Big 10 play next year. The future would be looking very bright if that happens.

 

[loesshillshawk]

I will not put wins and losses on Fran next year. I want to see a team having fun on the court and getting up and down. I want to see coaches that are demanding yet having fun with their guys. I want to see players loving their coaches and vice versa. I want to see all guys sticking with the program, and recruiting interest picking up.

 

[pin2win]

all i want is to be able to watch a game and be competitive instead of knowing we lost after 1st half

 

[Cracca]

all i want is to be able to watch a game and be competitive instead of knowing we lost after 1st half

And get rid of theose ungodly 10 minute scoring droughts we always had last year.

 

[CAARHawk]

I'm not into predicting W/L's, but it's fun to think about next year already. I think the big thing that needs to happen is for Coach FM to coach 'em up big time this offseason.

Is we talking about FM or RR, here?

 

[hawkeye12345]

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

Not necessarily. Although I agree with your basic premise that from a talent standpoint we may be worse than this year, we hopefully improved in one area.....coaching.

It was obvious to even the uninformed follower of basketball that the kids simply didn't want to play at times. If it was boring and difficult for the fans to swallow, how do you think the players felt?!@?!

Fran, from all outside inferences, is bringing in an up tempo style of play that the players and the fans should enjoy. If you like playing in a system then you may put in a little more effort and the wins might come.

I don't expect any more than 10 wins next year but it will be nice to watch better basketball.

 

[hawkeye12345]

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 change was necessary to prevent the future of Iowa basketball to mimic the past 3 years of Iowa basketball. Fuller was leaving, who knows if Larson would have asked out of his LOI if the change didn't take place?

 

[BALDIES7980]

I think the team will be lucky to win 10 games...

Disagree,0 reason to think they can't win 10 games or more. I really don't think alot of people realize how Lick hampered our players success.
Book it,save it and I expect people will throw it back in my face but they will win MORE than 10 games.

 

[AcctHawk99]

The change was necessary to prevent the future of Iowa basketball to mimic the past 3 years of Iowa basketball. Fuller was leaving, who knows if Larson would have asked out of his LOI if the change didn't take place?

I understand that change was necessary. My point was that we changed, hopefully, for the better. 10 wins as some prior posters were saying they'd be happy with wouldn't be an improvement over if Lickliter had stayed.

 

[JHHawk]

ISU has five scholly players returning...are they more talented than Iowa? Enough to beat us at CHA?
UNI has Moran,young Koch,Alleghbe..and a few other holdovers. Are they talented enough to beat Iowa in CHA?

To me, these are kind of pivotal games for early momentum for the Fran era. If we can play fast, and manage to win these types of games, that will be a huge plus. Those will feature big crowds,and could really get the fanbase on board immediately.
Drake has some players returning also, and a couple of good recruits coming in,so over in Des Moines could be tough...but if Iowa somehow won the state tourny, that would be an early little triumph for Fran.
Otherwise, we hopefully will schedule very lightly for the home slate this year so that we can play a faster style,and get some highlight type plays that fire up the home folks and win most of them. Call me crazy but I expect us to win 8-9 games minimum in the non-conference....not asking that much. The league is a different matter.

 

[Gohawks123]

ISU has five scholly players returning...are they more talented than Iowa? Enough to beat us at CHA?
UNI has Moran,young Koch,Alleghbe..and a few other holdovers. Are they talented enough to beat Iowa in CHA?

To me, these are kind of pivotal games for early momentum for the Fran era. If we can play fast, and manage to win these types of games, that will be a huge plus. Those will feature big crowds,and could really get the fanbase on board immediately.
Drake has some players returning also, and a couple of good recruits coming in,so over in Des Moines could be tough...but if Iowa somehow won the state tourny, that would be an early little triumph for Fran.
Otherwise, we hopefully will schedule very lightly for the home slate this year so that we can play a faster style,and get some highlight type plays that fire up the home folks and win most of them. Call me crazy but I expect us to win 8-9 games minimum in the non-conference....not asking that much. The league is a different matter.

This team will be lucky to have 10 wins this year. Sad but true. ISU vs. Iowa will be a pillow fight of epic proportions.

 

[Hawk123456]

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

There is one stat that leads me to believe that Fran is a very good coach. I find this stat almost amazing, but Fran has been a head coach for 14 seasons. In 13 of those 14 seasons his teams have had a better record than the team had the year before. (Granted, if you are Tom Izzo and your team typically has a 30-4 record it is hard to improve on that every year, but nonetheless I wonder if there is any other coach in the country that can say they have led their teams to better records, than the year before, in 13 of the last 14 years. I would guess there is no other coach in the country that could say that.)

So, I agree that in the short run losing Fuller, Larson, and Brust hurts, and next year we could have less experienced talent than we did this past year. Nonetheless, I am hoping that Fran is able to show some improvement in the W-L record. Therefore, I am looking for the Hawks to win 11 to 13 games in 2010-2011. As painful as it is to say this, I would be satisfied with that.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

I understand that change was necessary. My point was that we changed, hopefully, for the better. 10 wins as some prior posters were saying they'd be happy with wouldn't be an improvement over if Lickliter had stayed.

We are ALL hoping we made a change for the better.

I didn't read every word of this entire thread, but I don't remember anyone saying they would be happy with 10 wins. What people are saying is more like the record doesn't mean much in year 1 of a coach's tenure, and it may be realistic to expect only around that number this year given what McCaffery is inheriting. They may be right, I don't know. but that's not the point.

I assure you, no one will be HAPPY with winning 10 games, but the key in the next year is to get some good recruits locked down, keep the players that we have, and improve and start to play more competetive as the year goes on. I think if those things happen, people won't be celebrating a 10-win season, but it doesn't mean we can't feel good about the future.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Is this a rhetorical question?

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.

No one is okay with 10 wins. That's why Lickliter was let go. That, and the fact that the roster carousel was going to continue. There should be expectations, but also a look at reality. If the best players transfer after each of McCaffery's first two years on the job, then we'll be looking at the exact same problem as Lickliter had. It's impossible to build momentum when your best players leave every year.

 

[shomehawk]

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.

Does it really matter by how much you lose when the margins have been between 20 to 40 points.

 

[BlackGold57]

I feel very confident we will have more wins than this past year and the average loss margin will be half what it was this year. The intensity level will be up simply due to the pace of the game and leadership. Yes, Fuller is gone, but every other player has another year of experience. There has to be a big wieght off players shoulders as compared to last year. Fans will get behind the team if they play hard and I believe they will. Momentum will be contageous. Don't be surprised at what solid leadership can bring.