I hate to say this, but this loss official ends the Fran Honeymoon for me.

HaydenHawk56

HaydenHawk56

Well-Known Member
Not that I don't think better times are ahead next year. I think it is quite likely we should be in contention for the NCAAs next year. I think Fran is clearly several step ups from Lick and likely a few from Alford. He is in no danger, nor should he be, but.........

But, this loss doesn't sit well with me. I'm seeing a trend of close games where we are failing big time in clutch time. This has put our football coach in hot water with the fans. Fran does not need to be there as well.

Hopefully he has learned Marble is not the guy you go to in clutch time. He made his best coaching move in this game in sitting him on the bench and totally flushed that away putting him back in the game.

And, how many times has Gessell put the ball on the floor near the end of the game before we even get a shot attempt up?

I think accountability starts today. He needs to find away to have his team perform better in clutch time. You can't loss games like this in this league.
 
Seriously......take the chill pill and relax. Did you expect to make the sweet 16 this year. They let one slip away on the road to a very good team. A game NOBODY expected them to win. Get a grip!
 
They are practically sophomores now. That is what you tell them in the lockeroom (at least the freshman class). Your telling them it is time to grow up or have fun riding the pine.

It is not just this loss. It is how Iowa is finishing in close games. It is how Iowa is finishing halfs. This has to get much better.

It should next year. But, if it doesn't..........
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
They are practically sophomores now. That is what you tell them in the lockeroom (at least the freshman class). Your telling them it is time to grow up or have fun riding the pine.
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You can say they're almost sophomores all you want but they still are freshman. You can also tell them to grow up but mistakes are going to still happen. You can see that this team has grown and is improving, they will keep doing so, finishing games will be top on that list.
 
The core of this team centers on two freshmen and a sophomore. Marble's in a funk. Right now, there is no go-to guy or strong team leader. They'll get there.

I don't like the mounting losses,either.
 
Herkyalert said:
I'm not bad at Fran, I'm upset with the players.
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My only gripe with Fran tonight was that he sat Marble most of the game because he was clearly playing poorly.. then he just puts him back in. It's not like I think this is some cosmic thing to be worried about for years to come, as OP is. I just think he could have managed his lineup a bit better in crunch time there.
 
FRANAMANIAC said:
My only gripe with Fran tonight was that he sat Marble most of the game because he was clearly playing poorly.. then he just puts him back in. It's not like I think this is some cosmic thing to be worried about for years to come, as OP is. I just think he could have managed his lineup a bit better in crunch time there.
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The only thing I can think of with Marble is that he brought him in for FT shooting purposes. But, he did not get to the line and he ended up with the killer TO. So all in all it backfired on Fran. It will be interesting to see if it was brought up in the post game presser and what Fran's response was?
 
Let me be clear. I like Fran. Think he is the real deal. The pieces should be there. But, essentially 2 1/2 years in we have to start making a move on some things. One of these is putting together a competent team for the entire game. Sure, we are still going to get beat by better and lesser teams from time to time, but we need to diminish beating ourselves.

We have to get much improved at closing out halves and games. From what I see, that is both by the coaches and players on this team. At least Fran has made us competitive again to put us in a position to win games. Now, we have to close them out.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Let me be clear. I like Fran. Think he is the real deal. The pieces should be there. But, essentially 2 1/2 years in we have to start making a move on some things. One of these is putting together a competent team for the entire game. Sure, we are still going to get beat by better and lesser teams from time to time, but we need to diminish beating ourselves.

We have to get much improved at closing out halves and games. From what I see, that is both by the coaches and players on this team.
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I don't disagree with you. But you yourself said that it has to happen by next year. Next year is the year that most people think Iowa will make the jump and make the NCAA's. This year was still a rebuilding year. So why stress about it now is my question?
 
"I don't disagree with you. But you yourself said that it has to happen by next year. Next year is the year that most people think Iowa will make the jump and make the NCAA's. This year was still a rebuilding year. So why stress about it now is my question?"

Just worried this is a trend and we need to use the rest of this year to start fixing the problem. Next year the accountability is going to be much higher (as it should).

But, I think we need to start growing up and being tougher out there (mentally and physically). That is Fran's challenge. So, I think it is on now for Fran. I think he is at his half-way point to rebuilding. Time to start making some more steps. Essentially, beat the teams you are suppose to beat, close out games strong when you are in a position to win it. I would like to see this for the rest of this year.
 
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HaydenHawk56 said:
"I don't disagree with you. But you yourself said that it has to happen by next year. Next year is the year that most people think Iowa will make the jump and make the NCAA's. This year was still a rebuilding year. So why stress about it now is my question?"

Just worried this is a trend and we need to use the rest of this year to start fixing the problem. Next year the accountability is going to be much higher (as it should).

But, I think we need to start growing up and being tougher out there (mentally and physically). That is Fran's challenge.
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Yes, Iowa has blown some games, but they have also had the toughest schedule in the big 10 the first half. We should see a better record the second half of the conference schedule. We will know more in the next month.
 
I just felt fran should have called a timeout when we got the ball past halfcourt to set up a last shot. We had been solid on out of bounds plays and we could have gotten at least a good look (whether made or missed). I actually said to my wife that I figured they would advance it over halfcourt and call a timeout. I was shocked that they didn't.
 
Don't want Marble handling it. Gessell can bring the ball up the court for sure........but if the lane is clogged I'm not sure about giving him the green light to drive it. Maybe Clemmons taking the ball up the court and Gessell looking to spot up? Or looking to feed the ball to White.

Fran seems to be good running designed plays out of timeouts. With such a young team, maybe he needs to run more set plays at the end of games. I would just like to see him take more charge of this team and less free lancing for what they are trying to do.
 
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HaydenHawk56 said:
They are practically sophomores now. That is what you tell them in the lockeroom (at least the freshman class). Your telling them it is time to grow up or have fun riding the pine.

It is not just this loss. It is how Iowa is finishing in close games. It is how Iowa is finishing halfs. This has to get much better.

It should next year. But, if it doesn't..........
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Exactly how many years of D1 head-coaching experience do you have? Just curious...
 
"Exactly how many years of D1 head-coaching experience do you have? Just curious..."

How long did it take for that card to come out. How much do you have?
 
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