Fran's Radio Show is Pretty Good

[ChosenChildren]

I know I need to control my enthusiasm after only one big win, but I did tune in to Fran's radio show tonight with Dolphin. This was the first time I have done so.

The detailed analysis he gave was really interesting. He broke down Iowa State and talked about what Iowa did to combat what Iowa State does well. He also spent a lot of time analyzing why UNI is so tough. I'm no BB expert, but I found it extremely entertaining.

He also made a strong point about the fact that a coach cannot teach "poise". He was talking about Clemmons and his ability to make good decisions late in the game when everything was in doubt. He also went into great detail about playing time and the leadership he is getting from the older players on the team (McCabe, May and Basabe). The unselfish nature of those older players is creating great "chemistry" for this year's team. He also was very honest in pointing out that it isn't always that way; if the older players are selfish, the whole team becomes selfish.

I'm not going to summarize everything he said, but Fran's radio show is interesting because, at least at this point in his Iowa career, Fran is very forthright and detailed in his answers and really provides a ton of commentary and analysis.

 

[DesMoinesHawki]

Agree 100 percent. What I like about Fran (as we have all learned) is that he is not afraid to state it like it is. No vanilla responses about "we need to execute better" etc. It's refreshing to hear his show versus the football show.

 

[dmShortSaledude]

Fran knows how to articulate the game of basketball extremely well. Better than just about any coach out there. He tells it like it is. He coaches through the media in some regards, too. I like that, to know what a coach is thinking makes the sport all the more interesting, IMO.

 

[kmajhawk]

I wonder at times how much Fran -- and any coach, for that matter -- is trumpeting to the herd in these call-in shows. You have to assume some of the players are listening and what's said gets back to the locker room. Probably not many surprises to them but never hurts to have the coach stroke egos, especially the upperclassmen who are seeing less PT.

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

He is the anti-Ferentz when it comes to pressers and his shows. As you said ,he gives detailed answers. Not the canned coach speak response. I haven't bothered to listen or watch KF shows in years.

 

[SpiderRico]

Hyperbole aside.....and Fran is the king of hyperbole....he does a really good job of letting people inside the head of the head coach and what he's thinking as it relates to Xs and Os and his philosophy to combat what the other team does well. He's also not afraid to let us fans know what he perceives to be our weaknesses and what he's doing to combat those as well.

Contrast that with a question Ferentz got in a presser about what can be done to improve the passing game and his BS response was, "Throw better, catch better and block better." No effort whatsoever in trying to detail what he thinks is wrong, which then leads most people to believe that he really didn't know what was wrong.

 

[GhostofBTT]

Agree 100 percent. What I like about Fran (as we have all learned) is that he is not afraid to state it like it is. No vanilla responses about "we need to execute better" etc. It's refreshing to hear his show versus the football show.

I don't think Fran "states it like it is". I think Fran "states it how you want to hear it". Fran knows he still has to sell this team, and he is a great salesman. Kurt is (was?) a good coach, but obviously not a good salesman. Luckily, he never had to struggle to sell a ticket in his career.

 

[LG210]

I wonder at times how much Fran -- and any coach, for that matter -- is trumpeting to the herd in these call-in shows. You have to assume some of the players are listening and what's said gets back to the locker room. Probably not many surprises to them but never hurts to have the coach stroke egos, especially the upperclassmen who are seeing less PT.

I am of the impression that all phases of Fran's life are focused on the singular goal of making a better basketball program at the University of Iowa. Everything he says or does is calculated to advance that goal.

Not only does that show how dedicated Fran is to the stated goal, but it also indicates a very high level of personal discipline, determination, and intelligence.

I joke about Fran's hyperbole at times, but if he is doing it, I am sure that it advances his goal in one way or another.

We have the right guy.

 

[NottiBoy]

I don't think Fran "states it like it is". I think Fran "states it how you want to hear it". Fran knows he still has to sell this team, and he is a great salesman. Kurt is (was?) a good coach, but obviously not a good salesman. Luckily, he never had to struggle to sell a ticket in his career.

GTFO clown.

 

[dave3912]

I don't think Fran "states it like it is". I think Fran "states it how you want to hear it". Fran knows he still has to sell this team, and he is a great salesman. Kurt is (was?) a good coach, but obviously not a good salesman. Luckily, he never had to struggle to sell a ticket in his career.

I agree Ghost, if Fran "states it like it is", he would come out and say, McCabe and May don't give us the best chance to win by giving them more minutes unless someone else is in foul trouble.

McCabe and May need to execute better, that's just basketball.

 

[tm3308]

I don't think Fran "states it like it is". I think Fran "states it how you want to hear it". Fran knows he still has to sell this team, and he is a great salesman. Kurt is (was?) a good coach, but obviously not a good salesman. Luckily, he never had to struggle to sell a ticket in his career.

This. I take his assessments of individual players with a grain of salt. However, he does tell it like it is when it comes to execution, and goes into a fair amount of detail when discussing the X's and O's (although I'm sure he doesn't tell the public everything about that).

 

[GhostofBTT]

GTFO clown.

 

[1hawkeye1]

When he talks about individual players he often goes overboard with the hyperbole as we all know. I can also tell who's rear got chewed in the locker room cause he always emphasizes how well so and so responded and what a great person he is. I get that about Fran.
But what I like is the details about x's and o's that he gives. He'll say why he chose to play zone or why he went 1/2 court trap instead of full court press. He also doesn't lull me to sleep with his monotone droning, like KF.
When KF gets a question, I know what he is gonna say before he says it. Like another poster above stated, I don't bother listening to any presser KF does anymore. I've heard it over and over.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I don't think Fran "states it like it is". I think Fran "states it how you want to hear it". Fran knows he still has to sell this team, and he is a great salesman. Kurt is (was?) a good coach, but obviously not a good salesman. Luckily, he never had to struggle to sell a ticket in his career.

Yes, of course, this is true to a great extent. A college coach is always "selling". He is selling hope to the fans - hope that the team will get better - hope that the team can contend for a post-season bowl, or conference championship, or tournament, or whatever. It seams to me that if you can't sell that hope, you are probably in the wrong profession.

I also agree that if Ferentz would just sell "the future" a little bit, the fan base would calm down. He really seems to have a little bit of a chip on his shoulder right now. I'm not sure he needs to act that way.

I actually had the privilege of playing golf with Hayden Fry in the summer of 1995. We were coming off of some pretty mediocre seasons: 5-7 in 92; 6-6 in 93 and 5-5-1 in 94. He spent the bulk of the two hours telling me that we had a bunch of young talent on the team and that he predicted better days for the Hawks. He was right: We went 8-4 in 95 and 9-3 in 96, with bowl wins in both of those seasons. He wasn't obnoxious about it, but just stated in a matter of fact way that the talent was there and that there was no reason why we wouldn't get better. Fry was an excellent salesman of the program. I always thought he would have been a TERRIFIC athletic director during the Ferentz era, because he could do the selling that Ferentz seems incapable of doing.

 

[NottiBoy]

I like that image. Thank you for sharing.

 

[kmajhawk]

I like that image. Thank you for sharing.

He took a pic of himself in the mirror.

 

[MeatMan]

agree with both Ghost and Chosen. Fran is a great salesman. I can see how he won over the selection group when he was hired here. He's not giving out that much info, but he does throw us a bone once in awhile. And yes, he actually is willing to explain why he went zone, or man to man. He's earning the good will of the reporters and making their job easier. KF has never cared for that, and while that doesn't matter if you're winning, it just makes you a bigger target when you're not.

i take everything he says with a grain of salt, but i still prefer his personality infinitely more than KF's.

 

[CPHAWK82]

I like Fran's interviews. He doesn't open up the playbook by any means but he does express what seem to be honest assessments. I know he can dish out some hyperbole and that's fine. Some of the hyperbole he's said probably does have some truth to it. I think he likes to tell you how good he "thinks" a player can be. At least when I hear him answer x and o questions his answers makes sense to me. When Kirk is asked a question of any kind he tells you about some game in 2004 or when he coached in the NFL. Fran also shows respect for the person asking the question and doesn't make the guy/gal feel like he/she should feel privileged to hear some anecdote.

 

[tednugentfan]

McCaffrey welcomes expectations on Iowa basketball. KF finds them unfair. McCaffrey restates what any semi-intelligent basketball fan sees when they watched the game. This guy played well, this guy didn't, so I talked to him at half and told him to shoot, hustle, *&$&^^@! whatever , so he came out in the second half and did a better job. Personally, I like that, as it shows me that McCaffrey holds guys accountable , wants them to succeed, but won't jeopardize the game to appease someone. KF has never figured this out.

 

[Tierney]

McCaffrey welcomes expectations on Iowa basketball. KF finds them unfair. McCaffrey restates what any semi-intelligent basketball fan sees when they watched the game. This guy played well, this guy didn't, so I talked to him at half and told him to shoot, hustle, *&$&^^@! whatever , so he came out in the second half and did a better job. Personally, I like that, as it shows me that McCaffrey holds guys accountable , wants them to succeed, but won't jeopardize the game to appease someone. KF has never figured this out.

Fran is a great coach. He knows if a player has the talent and desire the rest is all mental. You will never get the best out of your players by downgrading their potential.