I Love This Fran Quote!

[1977Hawkeye]

And I think that is what Fran is going to do. I think this "up tempo" thing confused people into thinking it's going to be run-and-gun the entire game. Fran's not stupid. He knows we don't have the athletes to do that the entire game. I think he means that we'll look to push the ball and get a quick basket if it's there. If not we'll pull it back and set up the half court and look for a good shot instead of intentionally bleeding the clock and chucking about a 25ft prayer with 3 seconds left to shoot. He will make adjustments when needed instead of operating like Lackluster's bull-headed approach to change.

This. It sounds like they will always look to run, but if it's not there, they will pull it back and set up the offense.

I also think Fran made a good point in one of the videos that sometimes it's better to run and try to get some easy transition buckets than to walk the ball up the court and face a stacked defense every possession (like we did under Lickliter).

 

[Hawke]

I want to see a coach who makes situational adjustments. If the transition game isn't working, slow it down. If the slow down isn't working, get out and run. Our last couple of coaches didn't seem to be able to make changes on the fly. But to return to my original point. If we are running and getting beat by 30, I won't find that any more entertaining than milking the clock and getting beat by 10.

This. And Fran will make whatever adjustments are needed.

 

[rodg12]

The entire transcript of Fran's PC at Media Day...

Hawkeye Sports - University of Iowa Official Athletic Site

 

[jparmley3]

Fran and the boys can run all they want.

We are still not going to win more than 11-13 games this year, and maybe next.

 

[BasketballMan]

Lets all say "DEFENSE" together. Ready? Nobody. Make that NOBODY, has ever won anything in the NCAA dance without the ability to play big time defense. We can run and slam and high five all we want, but unless we play hard core defense, sorry....this "winning" thing ain't gonna happen. Its a fact of life. And I'm NOT trying to rain on the Iowa parade, I'm simply being real. Has anybody heard McCaf (aka the school teacher) say the word "defense" yet?

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Lets all say "DEFENSE" together. Ready? Nobody. Make that NOBODY, has ever won anything in the NCAA dance without the ability to play big time defense. We can run and slam and high five all we want, but unless we play hard core defense, sorry....this "winning" thing ain't gonna happen. Its a fact of life. And I'm NOT trying to rain on the Iowa parade, I'm simply being real. Has anybody heard McCaf (aka the school teacher) say the word "defense" yet?

I seem to remember McCaffrey saying in his first press conference that if it makes sense to play man to man, then we'll play man. If it makes sense to play zone, we'll play zone. I haven't heard much talk about defense since then, but I don't think that automatically means they don't spend any time in practice working on defense. I can't say, because I'm not at the practices.

I suppose maybe the thing to do would be to see what Fran's Siena teams were like defensively, and that should be a good indicator.

I do remember Davis' Iowa teams not playing much D and were still pretty competetive most of the time. Something like the 3rd winningest Big Ten team in the 1990's or something like that, I thought I had heard at one point. I'd take that again right now in a heartbeat.

 

[DunderMifflinHk]

Lets all say "DEFENSE" together. Ready? Nobody. Make that NOBODY, has ever won anything in the NCAA dance without the ability to play big time defense. We can run and slam and high five all we want, but unless we play hard core defense, sorry....this "winning" thing ain't gonna happen. Its a fact of life. And I'm NOT trying to rain on the Iowa parade, I'm simply being real. Has anybody heard McCaf (aka the school teacher) say the word "defense" yet?

"...and make sure that we play defense, because sometimes what happens when you're playing fast on offense, you don't dig in defensively like you should. We can't have that. We have to make sure that we're locked in defensively, whether we're in man, whether we're in zone, whether we're changing defenses, whether we're trapping ball screens or not. We have to be locked into stopping people, limiting them to one, because if we do that, then it's much easier to run on misses than it is on makes."

-Fran McCaffery during media day.


I think his quote up there speaks for itself BasketballMan.

 

[jacknicholson]

Fran is a savvy coach. I am quite sure he means what he says about defense. I get the impression that he really likes the guys he has, both veterans and newcomers including the walk-ons. He has done his homework and has a veteran staff to assist him. This will be a fun year for Iowa basketball. Fran and Marge with the vastly improved team will bring the folk back to Carver. As soon as the recruits maintaining a holding pattern notice what Fran is bringing to Iowa, they will come. Have faith. The change is gonna come.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lenHYXtiqoI]YouTube - The Impressions - People Get Ready[/ame]

 

[bcl20]

I like that Fran has the "political aspect" of college basketball down. He knows what to say and do to get people excited. That's the easy part though (Lick didn't know what he was doing though is this aspect). Winning in a major conference with an awful program is going to be a lot more difficult.

Can't wait to start the season.

 

[DeputyHawk]

I know wins are going to be hard to come by this year and probably next but I really am excited to watch this team play this year.