How much longer does Fran get?

SmokeTownHawk said:
Not having read the whole thread I think part of the frustration stems from a team like Wisky having a great run, changing coaches and seemingly not missing a beat. Besides Jok, Fran has a very young team and I don't know of many who really expected much this year except development and maybe a NIT slot.
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Last sentence; spot-on. Even with Jok this was an NIT team, at best and a questionable one, at that. Great shooter but always considered him fragile and not really that "go-to leader". Not to mention, you knew by mid-season every team would have an easy strategy to shut him down. Frankly, I think this team is on track to actually achieve it's ceiling and, at times, has played above expectation in terms of grit and poise. That's good stuff for next 3 years.

My frustration isn't based so much on comparison to Wiscy, or any other team. It's about Fran's terrible coaching - aka, negligence of the importance - of the Bigs, on both ends of the floor, low emphasis on sound defense and discombobulated management of the rotations.

He's got two towers coming in that'll need work to transition and produce. I'm more concerned they'll whither and die on Fran's vine than not being capable.

As far as how much longer? If he's not deep in NIT next year (MAYBE a play-in) and dancing at least 2 games the next two years after that, he's squandering his talents and needs to go.
 
WE have Indiana. Maryland ,Wisconsin and P S left. We might win 1 of those games. What's going to happen to this board then? If we lose all 4 o Baby watch out!!
 
STILLBUSTER said:
Last sentence; spot-on. Even with Jok this was an NIT team, at best and a questionable one, at that. Great shooter but always considered him fragile and not really that "go-to leader". Not to mention, you knew by mid-season every team would have an easy strategy to shut him down. Frankly, I think this team is on track to actually achieve it's ceiling and, at times, has played above expectation in terms of grit and poise. That's good stuff for next 3 years.

My frustration isn't based so much on comparison to Wiscy, or any other team. It's about Fran's terrible coaching - aka, negligence of the importance - of the Bigs, on both ends of the floor, low emphasis on sound defense and discombobulated management of the rotations.

He's got two towers coming in that'll need work to transition and produce. I'm more concerned they'll whither and die on Fran's vine than not being capable.

As far as how much longer? If he's not deep in NIT next year (MAYBE a play-in) and dancing at least 2 games the next two years after that, he's squandering his talents and needs to go.
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I said before the season this was an NIT team at best and got crucified. Most people thought this would be a bubble team
 
Hawk5656 said:
I said before the season this was an NIT team at best and got crucified. Most people thought this would be a bubble team
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Who crucified you for saying this was a NIT team? Nearly everyone thought it was NIT and possibly a NCAA team with all the right breaks.

I did persecute you for saying they wouldn't make the NIT. You should have taken my bet on that, as you are gonna be right for the first time it seems, I don't think we make the NIT.
 
At the end of the day (one of Kirk's favorite expressions)...or rather the end of the season... this is a very young team that's gotten our hopes up a few times. So Fran gets a pass this year. Yes, Jok is a great shooter...but not much more.

But if there's not significant improvement next year and an NCAA tourney berth...things should get warm for him. Especially the "significant improvement" part. I sometimes wonder what the coaches teach at practice. We see the same weaknesses over and over...some of which would fall under the heading of "fundamentals"...(rebounding, blocking out on the defensive boards, too much dribbling...and others which have been pointed out here).

Next year is big for Fran. The year after should be do-or-die..as these guys will all be upper classmen with lots of experience.
 
deanvogs said:
Who crucified you for saying this was a NIT team? Nearly everyone thought it was NIT and possibly a NCAA team with all the right breaks.

I did persecute you for saying they wouldn't make the NIT. You should have taken my bet on that, as you are gonna be right for the first time it seems, I don't think we make the NIT.
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I said NIT at best and everyone called me crazy saying NIT at worst
 
Don't know why anyone is surprised with how they are doing? Too many young players to have a good season and young guys that weren't highly ranked. Fran's recruiting of guards has been bad the last few years. Next year they might not make it to the tournament either. I do think they have some good young pieces especially their frontcourt and I think Bohannon can be nice Big 10 player. If they have the chance to, they should go after a good grad transfer guard.
 
The funniest thing to me is we are two correct calls away from being a bubble team (@Neb & @ Minnesota). Throw in a healthy Jok, which we haven't seen since the Purdue Win, and who knows how many more wins we'd have.

It's amazing the kind of selective amenisia people have. We knew we needed Jok to carry a heavy load for this young team and he's been a shell of his former self for the last 9 conference games, yet we are suprised we are 3-6 in our last 9?
 
It's time to:

A. Just watch the last four regular season games without expectations. Hope for the young guys to grow a little bit better and garner some hope for next season.

B. Hope for the unlikely run to the BTT championship. I know it's a long shot but there are no teams in the B1G that are head and shoulders better than Iowa on a neutral court. There are teams better than us, of course, but not teams so much better that we couldn't beat them on a given day.

C. Hope Pete has a great final moment or two as a Hawkeye.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
The funniest thing to me is we are two correct calls away from being a bubble team (@Neb & @ Minnesota). Throw in a healthy Jok, which we haven't seen since the Purdue Win, and who knows how many more wins we'd have.

It's amazing the kind of selective amenisia people have. We knew we needed Jok to carry a heavy load for this young team and he's been a shell of his former self for the last 9 conference games, yet we are suprised we are 3-6 in our last 9?
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What questionable call at Nebraska? We got gifted a basket in that game I remember
 
Hawk5656 said:
What questionable call at Nebraska? We got gifted a basket in that game I remember
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Iowa had the ball in the 1st OT up 4. Pemsl beat his guy to the baseline and got tackled. No call leads to a turnover and Neb 3 the other way. There was also the whole story about how Nebraska didn't get called for a defensive foul in over 13 minutes of action. Major home cooking.
 
SteveGarvey1 said:
It's time to:

A. Just watch the last four regular season games without expectations. Hope for the young guys to grow a little bit better and garner some hope for next season.

B. Hope for the unlikely run to the BTT championship. I know it's a long shot but there are no teams in the B1G that are head and shoulders better than Iowa on a neutral court. There are teams better than us, of course, but not teams so much better that we couldn't beat them on a given day.

C. Hope Pete has a great final moment or two as a Hawkeye.
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A) It's been my m.o. most of the season.
A-a) I think they've maxxed out for this season. Just don't see any more growth coming from games. Not saying they aren't gonna compete hard and show flashes but there aren't gonna be any "light bulbs". That's only going to come from a break, a deep breath, get after it in individuals and some high quality off season play. When they return, next fall, they shouldn't shoot a basketball for the first week of camp (defense - defense - rebounding - defense ... nothing but footwork, positioning and toughness.)

B) I can't see ANY chance of getting past 1-1. That's only if they beat Indy and Penn State and can get up to the 8 seed. Most scenarios send them home the 1st day.

C) Agreed. Always like to see guys finish their careers strong and get rewarded for their work. Hope it comes in BFT.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
Iowa had the ball in the 1st OT up 4. Pemsl beat his guy to the baseline and got tackled. No call leads to a turnover and Neb 3 the other way. There was also the whole story about how Nebraska didn't get called for a defensive foul in over 13 minutes of action. Major home cooking.
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I think it's reasonable to project that we'd have won one of those games, but we've leads choked away before without the officials helping out. Minnesota was a major screw job but there's no guarantee we win even with a TO. Same with the Pemsl no-call, there was plenty of time left IIRC. You're going to get some of that in the Big Ten...which is why you don't leave it up to the officials.

So yeah, we were a little....closer. But not that much. If this team gets in the NIT and wins a few games it will be a decent season for a very young club.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
I think it's reasonable to project that we'd have won one of those games, but we've leads choked away before without the officials helping out. Minnesota was a major screw job but there's no guarantee we win even with a TO. Same with the Pemsl no-call, there was plenty of time left IIRC. You're going to get some of that in the Big Ten...which is why you don't leave it up to the officials.

So yeah, we were a little....closer. But not that much. If this team gets in the NIT and wins a few games it will be a decent season for a very young club.
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Fair enough. I don't think Jok's injury has gotten enough notice around here either, but that's just me.

It is what it is at this point, there's no going back. I hope we can somehow sneak into the NIT, but if we don't I'm not getting out the pitchfork.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
Iowa had the ball in the 1st OT up 4. Pemsl beat his guy to the baseline and got tackled. No call leads to a turnover and Neb 3 the other way. There was also the whole story about how Nebraska didn't get called for a defensive foul in over 13 minutes of action. Major home cooking.
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We also got a free basket that game. Minnesota was bad but I don't think we lost to Nebraska because of officiating
 
Hawk5656 said:
I just don't see blaming that loss on the officials. We pissed that one away
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I don't think he is blaming the loss solely on the officials. He's just saying if the officials did their job better, we could be the same exact not very good team and be fighting for a bubble spot still.
 
PCHawk said:
I don't think he is blaming the loss solely on the officials. He's just saying if the officials did their job better, we could be the same exact not very good team and be fighting for a bubble spot still.
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We've had calls go our way too. Don't think you can say officials kept us off the bubble
 
Hawk5656 said:
We've had calls go our way too. Don't think you can say officials kept us off the bubble
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You can easily say if we don't have calls go against us at the end of close games, it increases our chance of getting on the bubble. You can also say if we had more bad calls go against us we would be even further from the bubble. Hell you can even say if we had the most bad calls in the history of organized basketball, we might not have won a game. All of those statements are true.
 
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