HawkeyeTech
Well-Known Member
So the close games they won last year don't count in Fran's resume? Last year they had a go-to guy in Gatens. This year not so much. Don't put it all on Fran's shoulders.
I hate to say this, but this loss official ends the Fran Honeymoon for me.
- Thread starter HaydenHawk56
- Start date
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
I'm where the OP is - the honeymoon is over for me as well. What I'm saying is that although I think Fran has done a lot to improve the program since he's been here, and I have no particular reason to think the team won't be better next year, I also am to the point where I think that 3 years is enough rebuilding time where we should all start expecting results going forward, starting next season. And by results, that means an NCAA tournament bid. To do that, these close losses have got to turn into wins.
Even this year, the team really ought to be in good position for a bid. Three blown leads in the closing minute or two, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. If not for those, this team would be 17-5 (6-3) and with the easier part of the schedule coming up, pretty much have an NCAA appearance locked up, barring major collapse. But here we are, with an NCAA bid looking more and more like a longshot.
Maybe next year those close losses will be W's. I sure hope so, because at some point, you have to put up or shut up. No more moral victories, excuses about youth and/or players not playing at 100%.
I still think Fran deserves at least 5 full years based on what he's done so far, no matter what happens the rest of this year, and next.
Even this year, the team really ought to be in good position for a bid. Three blown leads in the closing minute or two, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. If not for those, this team would be 17-5 (6-3) and with the easier part of the schedule coming up, pretty much have an NCAA appearance locked up, barring major collapse. But here we are, with an NCAA bid looking more and more like a longshot.
Maybe next year those close losses will be W's. I sure hope so, because at some point, you have to put up or shut up. No more moral victories, excuses about youth and/or players not playing at 100%.
I still think Fran deserves at least 5 full years based on what he's done so far, no matter what happens the rest of this year, and next.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
Everything counts, both the good and the bad. Last year, getting into the NIT was a nice step forward compared to where we were the previous few years, but the program needs to build on that and keep moving forward. NCAA appearances are what I want to see, and that hasn't happened yet. The team is missing lots of chances to make that happen this year, and that's frustrating. Next year, I will be expecting it.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I've said alot that I like Fran and think the program is going in the right direction. At this point, however my concern is that he has been signing players the past few seasons as a caoch with a team on the rise, as Iowa has been progressing quite nicely since he's been here. What happens if that progress starts to fade and as others have said we plateau short of where we need to be? Is Fran a good enough coach to win games with marginal talent in the event that we lose the "program on the rise status"? As much as I like Fran, the fact remains that we need to compete at a high level to continue to progress and IMO we're currently seeing that we need to the program to continue to improve to bring in recruits that can get us over the hump. If we plateau and don't reach "the next level" then we may not get there.
RealistaHawk
Well-Known Member
I've been saying this for some time. We don't have a stud go to finisher. Have not for some time. It is the missing peice.
tubahawk
Well-Known Member
True. But this team has been in close finishing games 3 or 4 times this year during the B1G season (MSU, arguably OSU, Purdue, Minn). How many times must they go through this before they are considered experienced enough to handle the situation?
I saw in Seth Davis' column today, Iowa was one of RJ Hunter's finalists before he chose to play for his day at Georgia State. Would have been real interesting to have him on this team, he would have fit in nicely.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
Wait, does this team need shooters? Or slashers? Or go-to-guys?
I can't keep track of all the personnel everyone wants on this team.
I can't keep track of all the personnel everyone wants on this team.
As TedNugent has said a few times before, we need better basketball players who are better athletes. Juco Harrison Barnes types.
volhawk50
Well-Known Member
Everyone on the team needs to be a Harrison Barnes type, or else we're recruiting poorly and falling behind the competition.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
I lean towards shooting. Based on what we saw last year, the performance of the guys already on the team has been underwhelming. Go to guys and all that are things we didn't have coming back. It's more realistic to hae expected Oglesby and McCabe to shoot better than they have this year, based on what they did last year. If we shoot even just slightly better, we're in the thick of the conference race.
How much better should you expect McCabe to shoot? Maybe the 44% he shot last year was not his true talent level. Maybe he isn't that great of a shooter. His % this year is more in line with his freshman year. I have not found a study on sample size for shooting yet but I am looking.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Maybe 45% is the outlier here. But even if he were just shooting 35%, that would be a big boost. Same for JO.
hawkeyemark
Well-Known Member
In regards to the honeymoon, at this stage of the game it seems like most fans don't want to wrap their arms around the idea that we don't really know what we have with Fran yet. That feels uncomfortable because we like Fran and appreciate him for erasing the Lickliter era. The more we get to know Fran the more I find him an enigma. He really gets the vital aspects of program management when it comes to recruiting, public relations, embracing the state and the history of the program. Yet when it comes down to the nitty gritty if you watch these games with eyes wide open and start to notice some trends in the heat of battle Fran's game management and decision making at times seems suspect. I have no idea where all this leads.
2 main times where iowa could have made a play at the end that could have helped them get the win.
1) marble - when he came back in he screwed up. Not fran for putting him in. He never looked at white rolling off the screen. If he does we score as white was wide open. I expect a junior to pull that play off whether hurt or not. Fran went with a long athletic ball handler in that position. I can't fault that. But the play should have been made.
2) when we got the ball back and gesell brought it over half court fran should have called a timeout. We had been executing great off of out of bounds plays and we could have gotten a good shot for gesell off of screens and such. Instead mg tries to do it all himself and he isn't quite able to yet. That mistake is on fran.
In the end it isn't either one of these plays that wins or loses the game but they were 2 big possessions that likely should have gone our way if handled properly. We had some lapses and that cost us. And we are young and that causes lapses. But a junior should be more aware and a coach with his experience should know better.
1) marble - when he came back in he screwed up. Not fran for putting him in. He never looked at white rolling off the screen. If he does we score as white was wide open. I expect a junior to pull that play off whether hurt or not. Fran went with a long athletic ball handler in that position. I can't fault that. But the play should have been made.
2) when we got the ball back and gesell brought it over half court fran should have called a timeout. We had been executing great off of out of bounds plays and we could have gotten a good shot for gesell off of screens and such. Instead mg tries to do it all himself and he isn't quite able to yet. That mistake is on fran.
In the end it isn't either one of these plays that wins or loses the game but they were 2 big possessions that likely should have gone our way if handled properly. We had some lapses and that cost us. And we are young and that causes lapses. But a junior should be more aware and a coach with his experience should know better.
