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

Did Fran have a big hole to dig out of?.....Yes

Has he shown consistent improvement in development and recruiting?.... Yes

There's really not much more to discuss then
 
"Did Fran have a big hole to dig out of?.....Yes

Has he shown consistent improvement in development and recruiting?.... Yes

There's really not much more to discuss then"

For a clone fan, that makes sense. But, moral victories get old after awhile. Actually, I don't disagree with you on point 1 and point 2. But, this team has to get to point 3 and point 4 and so on.

We have to start taking those next steps and have to achieve them by the end of next year. But, we need to start doing it now. Start putting together complete games.
 
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Unfortunately, the current junior class isn't we were hoping for this year even though Basabe has been playing better than last year. Fran really needs to land a couple studs to replace the three juniors if we're going to take that next step forward.
 
1. Marble is hurt. He is trying to play hurt. Isn't working.
2. I am frustrated only because I know how close Iowa is to having a really good record and they just are not quite there.
3. If they were not a very good basketball team, it would actually be easier for me to handle losses like this one.
4. How long did it take Tom Crean to rebuild Indiana? And, did he not have an easier road due to history? And, was Indiana in as deep of a hole as Iowa was?
5. Next year, or maybe even this year, this team will start winning those close one's...book it.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
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.
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This is a seriously excellent post!

Off the cuff count is three games now that Hawks have been under 2 minutes, with the lead and blown it due to poor coaching, poor execution (i.e. coaching out of the time out, or lack thereof) or poor substition -- MSU, PU, Minny and, altho not in the lead, Indy would be a glaring 4th game. You also cannot dismiss the near losses in Wisky and PSU.

Fran is over-coaching this team with regards to foul trouble, shooting and paranoia (his current target seems to be Clemmons).
 
Honeymoon period is not over with me. I don't like the losses, but I like the job Fran is doing.

The wins in close games will come...this is a very young team in the best BB conference in the country. Once they get the first "close" win against one of the big boys, more will follow.
 
Gabe O. is in the dictionary under "can't walk and chew gum" he really is uncoordinated.

He has no business playing other than garbage time.
 
Perhaps Fran needs Mitch(and Mitch needs Fran) for success to follow.

Or perhaps the Tom Davis curse is alive and not done ******* with us yet.
 
I like Fran. I like this team. The fact is though that they are not getting it done at the end of games. I'm also tired of hearing about how we've played the toughest schedule so far in the conference. The fact is that regardless of how tough the schedules been we're losing games we shouldn't be. IMO at this point way to many people are using "the toughest schedule in the conference" as an excuse for us not finishing games out and I'm tired of it. Every games a new game and the fact is we're letting wins get away from us.
 
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. 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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Why r iowa fans sounding like cub fans? Wait till next year! Time is now and this team should be 16-6 at worse
 
Fact is, Iowa isn't winning a lot of close games under Fran McCaffery. We'll see if it's because of his coaching or because of youth.

So frustrating what we our record could be right now. There's still plenty of games left though.
 
With more experience we will close the games much better and win the close ones, might not be until next year......

Free throw shooting on the road seems to be much more difficult.....

It was somewhat silly to put Devyn back in the game at that point. He didn't do all that well at Purdue, sore toe and all. The most painful thing about him throwing the ball away was that Aaron had the right side of the court all to himself. There was nobody between him and the basket when Devyn through the ball out of bounds.....

Merely growing pains, we are getting better......
 
My honeymoon with Fran isn't over. Time will prove out he's a hellofacoach.

My honeymoon with this 2012-13 team, however, is.

We don't finish halves, don't have a real stud 'go to' guy, miss free throws and lose leads.
I just don't see this team, this year, correcting those issues to the point we win games like we lost vs MSU, Purdue and now Minney.

To be 100% totally unoriginal, we are what our record says we are.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
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.
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This is the only part of your post I agree with. Marble was showing he didn't have it today; why put him back in?
 
ForeverHawk said:
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!
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Minnesota is not a "very good team." They're a mid-level team in the B1G that will lose when they come to Carver later in the year. Same with Purdue, same with Illinois.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
"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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None, but I'm not the one that claims to know how to solve the team's problems. That's you my friend.
 
I rarely post here but find this topic of interest so will add my two cents. I see some red flags in some of the things we have seen happening in these conference games. It ultimately falls on Fran to figure out to close these games out and as pointed out by others in the thread we've seen a pattern of bizarre line-ups and questionable strategic moves when it comes down to crunch time. These kids play their guts out and Fran has to put them in the best position to win with the game on the line. I wrote in a thread over at HR that the window of opportunity for maintaining the perception of a rising program has only so long of a shelf life. We haven't built on the momentum that we came into this season with and next season becomes a critical year for Fran IMO.
 
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