I don't understand Fran

[tksirius]

who's making excuses?

You

 

[InGoodCo]

You

i aint made any excuse - just speaking the truth. You want to pretend the Big Ten was as good during Steve's tenure as it has been during Fran's? Or let's just completely ignore facts and call them excuses.

 

[DDThompson]

I've been blasting Fran for a while. Check my history

Of that I have no doubt. Since year one when Fran didn't turn Iowa into an elite program?

 

[Adam]

#Excuses

If your referring to my comment being an excuse. It's not an excuse it is merely a fact. It also is the reason it doesn't matter if Alford was the second coming John Wooden. Alford was a decent "coach" at Iowa and would've gotten even better over time, but the fact is he disgraced himself and the Iowa program with a poor decision. He drove a wedge in the fan base and hurt us on the recruiting front. The worst infraction in my mind is he made the mess and wasn't even man enough to stay and fix it. He bolted and left us holding his bag of shit. Pretty simple. How you pine for that feeling again I simply will never understand.

 

[Kennyfromminne]

Of that I have no doubt. Since year one when Fran didn't turn Iowa into an elite program?

He's reached his ceiling. It's pretty low

 

[Adam]

He's reached his ceiling. It's pretty low

I'm sure with the money he's making he can afford vaulted ceilings.

 

[ibahawkeye]

A couple questions I would have for Fran following this game:

1) Why start Dom in OT?
2) Why have Pemsl on the floor on final play?
3) I understand Moss didn't have much of an impact early in this game and Fran has a tendency to not go back to him when he starts slow.... why?

 

[HawkGold]

The bottom line is that coaching decisions show up more when the real discussion is about talent. Iowa lost to a team that had a pretty decent non conf record but went 6-12 in conference...turning things around late. Except for an upset of KU they shouldn't have been there (KU was short a player). TCU can score, but they give up lot's of scores.

Scoring 92 points, the problem was defense. And that is mostly about talent/speed. Though Iowa likes to run and score a lot of points, they do it w/o a lot of speed.

Fran is what he is. He's better than TL. He's probably better than SA but the verdict isn't in. He has emotional deficits. Still he's like able.

A friend of mine is a score keeper at a Big school. He tells me Fran's questions are very...interesting and hard to understand why he's asking. For sure unusual.

He is what he is. As long as he's in the upper 1/2 consistently (and he is) and doesn't do something too bizzaro, he's ours.

If he recruits more speed and talent (and still on an upward trajectory..)....

Would anyone exchange Fran for Crean? Fran for Pittino?

Collins? Yes I would. For IL's new coach?

Beilein? I would. Purdue's coach? Nebby's? Izzo? I would. Wisky?

Can't wait though for his coaching his kid. Can you see the headline? Mom smacks son's college coach. Says the coach is incompetent. Then they both get ejected and get thrown out of the airport for the return home.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

A couple questions I would have for Fran following this game:

1) Why start Dom in OT?
2) Why have Pemsl on the floor on final play?
3) I understand Moss didn't have much of an impact early in this game and Fran has a tendency to not go back to him when he starts slow.... why?

Extremely valid questions…. Wonder if any were asked. Wouldn’t you have rather seen Kriener in there then Pemsl on the final play? And the yo-yoing of Mosses PT couldn’t be more frustrating. No wonder the guy wants to jack up a couple shots early on because he knows it might be all he’ll get. That’s just a tough thing to get used to. And as far as Dom that’s just a total head scratcher to me too. There’s just little rhyme or reason to some of the moves he makes and I bet he’d admit to as much. ‘gut feelings’ are sometimes all they go by..

 

[Adam]

Extremely valid questions…. Wonder if any were asked. Wouldn’t you have rather seen Kriener in there then Pemsl on the final play? And the yo-yoing of Mosses PT couldn’t be more frustrating. No wonder the guy wants to jack up a couple shots early on because he knows it might be all he’ll get. That’s just a tough thing to get used to. And as far as Dom that’s just a total head scratcher to me too. There’s just little rhyme or reason to some of the moves he makes and I bet he’d admit to as much. ‘gut feelings’ are sometimes all they go by..

A couple questions I would have for Fran following this game:

1) Why start Dom in OT?
2) Why have Pemsl on the floor on final play?
3) I understand Moss didn't have much of an impact early in this game and Fran has a tendency to not go back to him when he starts slow.... why?

I can answer the question why he started Uhl in OT. Dom is an upperclassmen. Dom is a reliable and long rebounder. Dom is better than our average defender. Dom is good with the ball and doesn't turn it over often. I don't really mind the call on playing Dom. Your other questions are not as easily answered.

 

[ibahawkeye]

I can answer the question why he started Uhl in OT. Dom is an upperclassmen. Dom is a reliable and long rebounder. Dom is better than our average defender. Dom is good with the ball and doesn't turn it over often. I don't really mind the call on playing Dom. Your other questions are not as easily answered.

I certainly anticipate Fran put him in for Defense as that was a struggle all game long. With that said, I don't agree with you that Dom is reliable. He's as hot and cold as anybody else on the team if not more. I know he's an upperclassmen but he's also not used to being in that position. He's not on the floor traditionally in the crunch time of a game.

 

[Adam]

I certainly anticipate Fran put him in for Defense as that was a struggle all game long. With that said, I don't agree with you that Dom is reliable. He's as hot and cold as anybody else on the team if not more. I know he's an upperclassmen but he's also not used to being in that position. He's not on the floor traditionally in the crunch time of a game.

I said reliable rebounder and I stand by that. Not to be confused with reliable scoring. On that topic he is severely lacking. Again though I don't think Fran cared if Dom scored or not. I am confident the decision was based on ball handling, low turnover rate, defense & rebounding. I feel comfortable (won't do something stupid) when Dom has the ball and I guess Fran does too.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

A couple questions I would have for Fran following this game:

1) Why start Dom in OT?
2) Why have Pemsl on the floor on final play?
3) I understand Moss didn't have much of an impact early in this game and Fran has a tendency to not go back to him when he starts slow.... why?

Man, these mirror past KFz events so much it's scary

1. play the upperclassman over younger talent
2. situational player insertion (or lack there of)
3. Fumble once? You're benched...let's kill your confidence

 

[ibahawkeye]

I said reliable rebounder and I stand by that. Not to be confused with reliable scoring. On that topic he is severely lacking. Again though I don't think Fran cared if Dom scored or not. I am confident the decision was based on ball handling, low turnover rate, defense & rebounding. I feel comfortable (won't do something stupid) when Dom has the ball and I guess Fran does too.

Fair enough. I don't disagree with anything your saying about Dom but my position would be that when the game is on the line I want my best guys on the floor. Even with the D, rebounding and ball handling abilities, I think we have better options.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Unless Fran forgot to have the players practice free throws the past week, the loss isn't on him.

and we have a winner.

Look, defense wasn't good, hasn't been good all year(except for a few flashes), so not sure why folks are surprised on that. Free Throws....Fran isn't taking those and I guarantee they work on them quite a bit.

While I am not a fan of the "Hedge trap from the center position" defense, we win this game by 6+ in regulation if the team shoots fricken 65% from the free throw line.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Heil McCaffery!!

Supporting current coaches. It's weird, i know.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Really pretty simple: Gotta play some D and get some stops, or this program will never be any better than "2nd round blowout loss to a 1 or 2 seed in the dance" territory.

Offense is not the problem. As pointed out in another thread - Iowa was first in the conference in offense.. Last in defense. You can't simply outscore everyone.

Just a little better defense will go a very long ways. To your point, when you try to win by simply outscoring everyone....and then you don't shoot great and play a hot team(see Indiana game)....you get your doors blown off....or lose to UNO....

 

[Adam]

Fair enough. I don't disagree with anything your saying about Dom but my position would be that when the game is on the line I want my best guys on the floor. Even with the D, rebounding and ball handling abilities, I think we have better options.

I won't debate that. That aside Dom as the only senior next year Dom will be relied upon for these exact contributions. If he gets any scoring swagger back I could see him cracking the starting 5. The kid is just too much in his own head. Hopefully Fran can fix that this off season because I believe Dom will be a catalyst for a successful season next year. It is almost imperative that he plays great D and rebounds well if we are going to have a shot at a B1G title. Still not sure how much we need him to score but he will at least need to be able to knock down a shot when the opposing D chooses to double other guys.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

Heil McCaffery!!

Feel free to goose step away from the conversation.

 

[ibahawkeye]

I won't debate that. That aside Dom as the only senior next year Dom will be relied upon for these exact contributions. If he gets any scoring swagger back I could see him cracking the starting 5. The kid is just too much in his own head. Hopefully Fran can fix that this off season because I believe Dom will be a catalyst for a successful season next year. It is almost imperative that he plays great D and rebounds well if we are going to have a shot at a B1G title. Still not sure how much we need him to score but he will at least need to be able to knock down a shot when the opposing D chooses to double other guys.

I'm not rooting against Dom but I honestly hope we don't need him next year. I hope Nunge can come in and be similar to Dom as a stretch 4 at 6'9"/6'10" but I think Nunge will be a much better outside shooter. Nunge won't be as strong as Dom so that may be a concern on both D and rebounding.