Fran's first 4 Years

JonDMiller said:
The fact that Iowa was basically one win away from the NCAA's in year three, given the HISTORIC low Iowa's program was at, was fantastic.

SUre, this year disappointed...but I like Fran at the helm...and some folks forget the smoldering crater of suck the program was when he took it over
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That wasn't "smoldering", it was at five-alarm blaze. That was Richter-scale-level rumblings you folks in the Midwest were feeling...
 
Mid-season collapse due to over-hyped team that couldn't handle the pressure and live up to expectation. Iowa played teams in killer attack mode and Fran didn't prepare the players mentally to stop the onslaught.
 
trj said:
I am really hoping that Fran works because I really do not know where you go if he does not. you hire BJ, bring in a bunch of transfers and run NBA sets.:)
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A model that appears to be working at another Iowa collegiate program. :eek:
 
trj said:
I am really hoping that Fran works because I really do not know where you go if he does not. you hire BJ, bring in a bunch of transfers and run NBA sets.:)
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Can he convince Derek Rose to finish his remianing 3 years of elgibility at Iowa??!!
 
JonDMiller said:
The fact that Iowa was basically one win away from the NCAA's in year three, given the HISTORIC low Iowa's program was at, was fantastic.

SUre, this year disappointed...but I like Fran at the helm...and some folks forget the smoldering crater of suck the program was when he took it over
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I think one win away from the tournament last year is a little optimistic. Iowa wasn't really on the bubble last year, and they were a three seed in the NIT, which theoretically indicates that at least 8 teams were likely to be selected before Iowa was.

That being said, the B1G in 2012-13 was much more difficult than 2013-14, which makes last season that much more disappointing, and makes Fran's job in 2012-13 that much more impressive.
 
imported_Tmoney12 said:
I think one win away from the tournament last year is a little optimistic. Iowa wasn't really on the bubble last year, and they were a three seed in the NIT, which theoretically indicates that at least 8 teams were likely to be selected before Iowa was.

That being said, the B1G in 2012-13 was much more difficult than 2013-14, which makes last season that much more disappointing, and makes Fran's job in 2012-13 that much more impressive.
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You could be right but I've felt all along... had we won at Nebraska, we would have been in the tournament.
 
ibahawkeye said:
You could be right but I've felt all along... had we won at Nebraska, we would have been in the tournament.
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If we're just going to revise history, I think if we won that double OT game at Wisconsin, we would have made the tournament. Also, the real killer loss was Virginia Tech, which was a much worse loss than Nebraska.
 
imported_Tmoney12 said:
If we're just going to revise history, I think if we won that double OT game at Wisconsin, we would have made the tournament. Also, the real killer loss was Virginia Tech, which was a much worse loss than Nebraska.
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Virginia Tech was a better team earlier in the year. They had injury problems that they couldn't overcome....They wouldn't have been as terrible with a full roster.
 
imported_Tmoney12 said:
If we're just going to revise history, I think if we won that double OT game at Wisconsin, we would have made the tournament. Also, the real killer loss was Virginia Tech, which was a much worse loss than Nebraska.
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I think I look at the Nebraska game becuase in my eyes it was a game should have been a win, where as VT was so early in the year and the double OT loss was at the Kohl center, not a game I anticipated winning.

Going into the Nebraska game we had finally started to hear the bubble talk and were riding a 3 game win streak with a 17-9 record overall and we had home games with Purdue, Illinois and Nebraska which all ended up being wins.
 
SpecialKHawk said:
I hear you about program momentum but let me ask you is it really possible to keep momentum going forever? Does there not reach a point in the success ladder that any step back is viewed as a momentum killer and worrisome?

I am just not sure our fan base is realistic and because they do not or will not value what we have. I cannot tell you how many of my fellow hawk fans I spoke to who completely blocked out that we even played basketball under lick and even early Fran. When Fran provided a spark then it was 'how nice would it be if we could make a post season!'. After a little taste expectations came into play in a hurry and suddenly nothing outside of a sweet 16 was acceptable. Now an NIT is grounds for termination.
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Kentucky lost in the 1st round of the NIT last year. They did a little bit better this year. We're certainly no Kentucky. If they can get bounced in the 1st round of the NIT then anyone can IMO.

Edit - I doubt Coach Cal was ever on the hot seat.
 
WindsorHawk said:
Kentucky lost in the 1st round of the NIT last year. They did a little bit better this year. We're certainly no Kentucky. If they can get bounced in the 1st round of the NIT then anyone can IMO.

Edit - I doubt Coach Cal was ever on the hot seat.
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Well that is certainly a worthless comparison.
 
imported_Tmoney12 said:
I think one win away from the tournament last year is a little optimistic. Iowa wasn't really on the bubble last year, and they were a three seed in the NIT, which theoretically indicates that at least 8 teams were likely to be selected before Iowa was.

That being said, the B1G in 2012-13 was much more difficult than 2013-14, which makes last season that much more disappointing, and makes Fran's job in 2012-13 that much more impressive.
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The top teams in the conference were better last year but we also played most of them once. This year the conference was deeper and we played most of the bottom feeders once.
 
PCHawk said:
The top teams in the conference were better last year but we also played most of them once. This year the conference was deeper and we played most of the bottom feeders once.
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The conference was not deeper this year. In 12-13, Wisconsin finished with 12 conference wins and ended up in 5th place. In 13-14, they had 12 conference wins and finished in 2nd place. In 12-13, 9 teams finished with 9 or more conference wins; In 13-14 only 7 teams did.

And do I even need to mention that Nebraska finished 5th? Case closed.
 
imported_Tmoney12 said:
The conference was not deeper this year. In 12-13, Wisconsin finished with 12 conference wins and ended up in 5th place. In 13-14, they had 12 conference wins and finished in 2nd place. In 12-13, 9 teams finished with 9 or more conference wins; In 13-14 only 7 teams did.

And do I even need to mention that Nebraska finished 5th? Case closed.
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I feel like your stats helped prove my point.
 
Fran has done great. IMO, the team has become more fun to watch each year and i believe they have been better each*year(I believe schedule was more difficult this year than last, even if the B1G wants quite as strong, which is debatable).

We may take a step back next year, we may not. I do think we will be competitive in almost every game.

If we make the NCAA 2 out of three next years(with a 10 seed or higher hopefully) I think the program will be in very good shape and I will be quite happy, with promise of higher success to come.

Next year could be pivotal for the short term.

Go Hawks.
 
WindsorHawk said:
Kentucky lost in the 1st round of the NIT last year. They did a little bit better this year. We're certainly no Kentucky. If they can get bounced in the 1st round of the NIT then anyone can IMO.

Edit - I doubt Coach Cal was ever on the hot seat.
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Maybe he should have been. What happened to UMass after Coach Cal left? That's right - probation/sanctions. What happened to Memphis after Coach Cal left? Again, probation/sanctions. One can argue that it wasn't him - he was not found guilty of any violations. But one could also argue that he's one step ahead of the violations coming to light.
 
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