Grateful to Miller but I'm Searching for Answers

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
Jon Miller has entertained Iowa fans for years. Jon, you run a great web site and to top it off, it is now free of charge. You put it on the line every day. I get to post on an anonymous basis (not necessarily fair). I don't always agree with you, but I would never question your ability or your knowledge about Iowa athletics.

I am very grateful and enjoy this web site very much. We must thank you for that.

I also respect your opinions, but reading your posts today (and really all season) it is clear to me that you want a coaching change for Iowa basketball. Your points may be subtle, but your desire is clear to me.

I have never seen you so negative about Iowa basketball. Your attitude rubs off on the Iowa fan base, which throws more gasoline on the fire.

What do you recommend at this point? Your negative posts, although they appear to be honest and sincere, do not help. Can you offer something constructive? I think firing Lickliter would be a huge mistake. Am I wrong?
Where do we go from here?
 
I'm not answering for Jon here, but I think he seems as frustrated with the current state of the program as anybody else, and I remember reading a comment of his in a thread earlier today saying that he hopes it works out, so I am guessing that Jon is not ready to throw in the towel quite yet.

While I can agree that negative attitudes don't help the team any, but before last weekend's game against Michigan, the general tone out here was positive - acknowledging that the team was playing better and that just maybe there was some hope for the future after all. That positive vibe didn't stop the team from showing up in Ann Arbor and totally stinking the joint up. What's my point? My point is that I don't think that the tone of the message boards has all THAT much impact on the team's play. I'm not asking anybody to like it, especially not the team or the coaches, but it is what it is. Better play leads to better attitudes from the fan base. I think we saw that last week, and are seeing it again right now.

Is firing Lickliter a big mistake? Well who is to say what the rest of this season and next year will bring, because things could still work out in the end. On the other hand, it's hard to argue with the record - Lickliter is on the verge of becoming the coach with the worst winning percentage in Hawkeye history. It's hard to ignore that.
 
I'm old enough to remember all of the Lute era. Lute did not turn it around immediately. It took time -- but he was a great recruiter.

I think basketball comes down to recruiting. Can Lickliter bring in good players? Don't you have to give him more time?
 
ChosenChildren said:
I'm old enough to remember all of the Lute era. Lute did not turn it around immediately. It took time -- but he was a great recruiter.

I think basketball comes down to recruiting. Can Lickliter bring in good players? Don't you have to give him more time?
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Well, that's the main reason I would be tempted to give him next year, because the next recruiting class sounds good from everything I'm hearing. Otherwise, where would the hope be? If Lickliter can't get it done next year, then I say it's time to move on. Yes, that means I am basically in favor of giving Lick a year 4, unless there is another mass exodus, or the team pretty much loses out.
 
ChosenChildren said:
Jon Miller has entertained Iowa fans for years. Jon, you run a great web site and to top it off, it is now free of charge. You put it on the line every day. I get to post on an anonymous basis (not necessarily fair). I don't always agree with you, but I would never question your ability or your knowledge about Iowa athletics.

I am very grateful and enjoy this web site very much. We must thank you for that.

I also respect your opinions, but reading your posts today (and really all season) it is clear to me that you want a coaching change for Iowa basketball. Your points may be subtle, but your desire is clear to me.

I have never seen you so negative about Iowa basketball. Your attitude rubs off on the Iowa fan base, which throws more gasoline on the fire.

What do you recommend at this point? Your negative posts, although they appear to be honest and sincere, do not help. Can you offer something constructive? I think firing Lickliter would be a huge mistake. Am I wrong?
Where do we go from here?
Click to expand...

Totally agree with all you said here, with the exception about him being so negative about Iowa BB - just look at the last coach for the last example of the last time he was negative about Iowa bb.
 
I actually think it is refreshing to see that Jon and others in the media are voicing their honest opinions versus playing it off like everything is all hunky-dory and being a tool.
 
McHawkin said:
I actually think it is refreshing to see that Jon and others in the media are voicing their honest opinions versus playing it off like everything is all hunky-dory and being a tool.
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Who is the tool, one that makes his own voice, or one that follows the crowd? Right now, it is pretty-much one sided against, and Jon is certainly not the leader of this new voice.
 
Imported_Ankle is correct - Miller became very negative about Alford as well.

It is easy to be negative; simply to vent when a team is losing.

What are the answers for Iowa basketball?
 
ChosenChildren said:
Jon Miller has entertained Iowa fans for years. Jon, you run a great web site and to top it off, it is now free of charge. You put it on the line every day. I get to post on an anonymous basis (not necessarily fair). I don't always agree with you, but I would never question your ability or your knowledge about Iowa athletics.

I am very grateful and enjoy this web site very much. We must thank you for that.

I also respect your opinions, but reading your posts today (and really all season) it is clear to me that you want a coaching change for Iowa basketball. Your points may be subtle, but your desire is clear to me.

I have never seen you so negative about Iowa basketball. Your attitude rubs off on the Iowa fan base, which throws more gasoline on the fire.

What do you recommend at this point? Your negative posts, although they appear to be honest and sincere, do not help. Can you offer something constructive? I think firing Lickliter would be a huge mistake. Am I wrong?
Where do we go from here?
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one (as you can see from my posts earlier in the day in other threads in which Jon participated).

Jon is a fan, just like the rest of us (and probably more than most, as evidenced by the commitment he has made in his life to this site and elsewhere to surround himself with all things Hawkeye). I was surprised to see his comments on Lickliter today. I know it must have been a tough decision for him to take the position that he has, particularly since he must know that his opinion is not regarded lightly by many Hawkeye fans. Given the potential influence that his opinion has, if Lick is gone after this season, we may look back and say that today was the day the mutiny achieved critical mass. I hope that is not the case, but it may be.
 
Lute turned it around relatively quickly. By this time in his tenure, he had Ronnie Lester on board, he knew that PG was the key to it all, plus he had a base that was clearly developing (unlike what we see with Lickliter). Lickliter seems clueless to what he is doing, the fact that John L is "earning" more minutes clearly reinforces that. More time isnt warranted for this coach, he has had plenty (compare to others who came into the BigTen at the same time, look and compare results) of time. The overall recruiting hasnt been good ( some players, yes. but the mix isnt right ), retention isnt good, game decisions look pathetic, and the prep for Michigan was abyssmal. He needs to go.
 
LG210 said:
I'm with you on this one (as you can see from my posts earlier in the day in other threads in which Jon participated).

Jon is a fan, just like the rest of us (and probably more than most, as evidenced by the commitment he has made in his life to this site and elsewhere to surround himself with all things Hawkeye). I was surprised to see his comments on Lickliter today. I know it must have been a tough decision for him to take the position that he has, particularly since he must know that his opinion is not regarded lightly by many Hawkeye fans. Given the potential influence that his opinion has, if Lick is gone after this season, we may look back and say that today was the day the mutiny achieved critical mass. I hope that is not the case, but it may be.
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The day Gary Barta (or any athletic director) uses the opinion of a message board owner and radio personality as the basis for any decision on whether or not to keep a coach is the day that athletic director needs to resign.
 
I not only drank the kool aide during the first six and a half years of the Alford era, I made more than my share of batches. When I realized Steve was being dishonest about his interest in the Missouri job, on top of the mediocrity of his era, I was done supporting him as iowa's head coach. In the end, I think we all saw what he thought of the Iowa job and we all saw what became if the program under his watch.

I don't want to see Iowa go through another coaching change because that means the Lickliter era was a failure. Which in turn hurts Iowa basketball. I don't know any Iowa fan right now that could reasonably argue that what we have seen the past two and a half seasons has resembled progress. I guess those that think something has to be torn down to it's foundation before you can rebuild a solid program might speak up now an jump in here.

But I have seen little to nothing the past two and a half years that gives me confidence in that, that things are going in a good direction. This is the nuclear winter of Iowa basketball. The signs of life and hope have all too often been followed by transfers, hints o communication issues and more. When they have taken one step forward it's followed by two steps back.

I am not calling for a coaching change. I am not sure I ever will. I don't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

But I am running out of faith. And having done this for going on 11 years and having spoken my mind for much of that time, I am not going to change now.

I love the Hawks and I love Iowa basketball. These bad times remind me of that. The brief glimmers of hope we see at Michigan State, at Indiana and home against Ohio State rekindle that. The way these kids play for the name on the front of the jersey remind me of that. The positive thoughts I had in March of last year, honestly seeing a road map top light at the end of the tunnel, that reminded me of that. But Kelly and Peterson leaving blew that up in a hurry.

Going to Michigan an seeing John play 24 minutes and then hearing Todd say that he should have been playing John earlier in the season?

There probably isn't one team in all of division one that he could start for. It's not his fault, this just isn't where he was gifted.

I do not accept what Todd said on this matter. He can't possibly be serious with that

but I think that he is because I cannot see any purpose served by throwing that out there

So, my confidence in this program right now, under it's direction, has been severely shaken. I have not given up yet, but this situation is not inspiring any hope, at least from my vantage point

I think Todd is a good guy. A good husband, a good dad.

I have my doubts right now as to whether or not he is a good fit as the coach of this program.

We'll see what happens the rest of this season
 
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PCBHAWK said:
How do you love the Hawks and allow the Little Lick video on your site?
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Because deleting the post doesn't make the video go away. It just makes it a bigger deal when you do things like that. I have been there and done that before.
 
NewMexHawk said:
I believe one of the driving forces for Jon's negativity was the statement made by Lickliter that lil Lick had earned more minutes playing time after a previous press conference when he said that his players should have no problem playing 40 minutes a game.

Lil lick should be no more than a backup for Payne and the only one that doesn't know it is his dad.
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That's exactly what he is. Remember Anthony Tucker?
 
Thank you Jon Miller for your post. You have courage and conviction - there is no doubt about that.

The only logical conclusion after reading your post is that an Iowa coaching change is inevitable.

If that is truly the case, my original question remains unanswered: Where does Iowa basketball go from here?

Is Iowa basketball becoming a coaching graveyard, a place where the best coaches do not want to be?
 
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