Is Fran a GD genius or what?

1hawkeye1

1hawkeye1

Well-Known Member
I gotta admit when he gets those tech fouls it annoys and embarrasses the heck out of me. But the last two games (Neb & Maryland) those T's have lit a fire under the Hawks and really seemed to motivate the team. Sure it wasn't enough vs Neb. Hell, nothing would've been enough when you shoot that bad. But in the Maryland game, when Fran got the T, I was shaking my head and thinking "boy Fran you really blew it there". Next thing I know Iowa looks like a completely different team. They took that game over and never looked back.

I'm starting to think Fran isn't just losing his sh*t. He knows exactly what he's doing and it works. My man, Fran!
 
1hawkeye1 said:
I gotta admit when he gets those tech fouls it annoys and embarrasses the heck out of me. But the last two games (Neb & Maryland) those T's have lit a fire under the Hawks and really seemed to motivate the team. Sure it wasn't enough vs Neb. Hell, nothing would've been enough when you shoot that bad. But in the Maryland game, when Fran got the T, I was shaking my head and thinking "boy Fran you really blew it there". Next thing I know Iowa looks like a completely different team. They took that game over and never looked back.

I'm starting to think Fran isn't just losing his sh*t. He knows exactly what he's doing and it works. My man, Fran!
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I totally agree. I said when he got it that it wasn't a "refs suck" T, it was a "wake the F up" T.
 
The more I think about it the more I think the Nebraska game was really an apparition and clearly a result of the excessive heat in the Penn State game. The team just looked sluggish and tired legs are going to affect your shooting. Hopefully they prove me right by beating NW handily on Tuesday.
 
Stanzi said:
The more I think about it the more I think the Nebraska game was really an apparition and clearly a result of the excessive heat in the Penn State game. The team just looked sluggish and tired legs are going to affect your shooting. Hopefully they prove me right by beating NW handily on Tuesday.
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If we win our next 2 games, I'm gunna start dreaming big.
 
He looks like Dennis the Menace's dad...........
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If the new standard of being a genius is getting technical fouls to fire up your team then the bar as been lowered. Or, if that is the case now, that must make John Wooden an Uber, Uber, Uber, God.

BTW, Fran's tantrums in the past have not worked out so well, but I guess a blind squirrel has to find a nut every now and then. ;)

Some would say that tactic is just part of the game....like calling a timeout to ice a kicker. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. That said, if it worked last night, we will take it for sure.
 
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HaydenHawk56 said:
If the new standard of being a genius is getting technical fouls to fire up your team then the bar as been lowered. Or, if that is the case now, that must make John Wooden an Uber, Uber, Uber, God.

BTW, Fran's tantrums in the past have not worked out so well, but I guess a blind squirrel has to find a nut every now and then. ;)

Some would say that tactic is just part of the game....like calling a timeout to ice a kicker. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. That said, if it worked last night, we will take it for sure.
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I wouldn't necessarily call it a new standard.

I've been watching college basketball since 1977 and have seen coaches draw technical fouls to spark their team the whole way along.
 
I have been trying be optimistic this season mainly because of Garza and the improvement in the players around him. His warrior effort can be infectious. Oh by the way I said when he was a freshmen that I felt that by his Junior year he would be one of the premier dominate players in the conference. I am not tooting my own horn here because as one poster just said that even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in awhile. I sure am happy as hell to see it though. I am also glad to see our guards playing better despite being short staffed and the pressure it puts on them. I hope we can keep it going because we are only going to be better next season.

Having said that I am also happy to hear some of you pipe up and say you have high expectations out of Fran next season. I was beginning to think that some on here believed in giving Fran a life long career free pass.
 
Northside Hawk said:
I wouldn't necessarily call it a new standard.

I've been watching college basketball since 1977 and have seen coaches draw technical fouls to spark their team the whole way along.
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Agreed.....it is not a new standard and I would disagree with OP that it does not make Fran a genius all of the sudden. In fact, this has been a Fran tactic for awhile now that has generally not worked for the most part when he deploys it. What John Wooden was able to do with his program or Dan Gable with his wrestling program...that is genius level. Again...the best we have got out of Fran is a 2nd round exit in the NCAAs...and that is not a given almost every year compared to past coaches prior to the dark years (Alford/Lick) of Iowa Basketball. I think we need to be careful about heaping to much praise when it is not deserved. But, everyone has their opinion though and that is ok. I agree with BigD....it is getting to that point where it is shit or get off the fence. Hopefully the sound pieces coming out these interviews and the determination being played out on the court is a sign of the tide turning. But, Fran and his program has to continue to earn it.

Jon Miller often talked about points in the trust bank between Coach Ferentz and his players playing time. I kind of look at it the same way with the basketball program. It has been such a rollercoaster over the Fran regime that at least with me trust points are very low. A win against Maryland is nice and essential (every one is winning at home in the conference though). Beating the clowns and the cuse on the road is nice (but they are not quite as tough as they usually are). Texas Tech was a quality win. But, that does not erase 10 years of a rollercoaster ride.

Fool me once. Fool me twice...."Is Fran a GD Genius or what." No, he is just another overpaid coach that can talk up a good game, but has not earned his keep yet. And the goodwill built up by his rebuilding years is shrinking each year with nothing remarkable to show beyond that. Again hopefully the tide is turning there.
 
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Stanzi said:
The more I think about it the more I think the Nebraska game was really an apparition and clearly a result of the excessive heat in the Penn State game. The team just looked sluggish and tired legs are going to affect your shooting. Hopefully they prove me right by beating NW handily on Tuesday.
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Aberration? Perhaps. Apparition? I would need more evidence for that!
 
Not a genius for getting a tech imo, they hurt often times in regards of score. That particular one was very untimely considering the circumstances. That said they don’t embarrass me at all and I don’t mind them at all. I also think they are strategic, just not genius. I wish he had a better way to spark his team.
 
BigD said:
I have been trying be optimistic this season mainly because of Garza and the improvement in the players around him. His warrior effort can be infectious. Oh by the way I said when he was a freshmen that I felt that by his Junior year he would be one of the premier dominate players in the conference. I am not tooting my own horn here because as one poster just said that even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in awhile. I sure am happy as hell to see it though. I am also glad to see our guards playing better despite being short staffed and the pressure it puts on them. I hope we can keep it going because we are only going to be better next season.

Having said that I am also happy to hear some of you pipe up and say you have high expectations out of Fran next season. I was beginning to think that some on here believed in giving Fran a life long career free pass.
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You and several others were more correct about Garza than i was. I didn't think he had the foot speed to be more than a serviceable player.

By here's what i overlooked, and shouldn't have. His basketball IQ. He is a very smart player out there. He has also figured to how to play without fouling (with some help from refs who are giving him more respect.) The surgical procedure he had just before his sophomore season undoubtedly set him back as well. He had a full offseason to prepare and is reaping the benefits.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Agreed.....it is not a new standard and I would disagree with OP that it does not make Fran a genius all of the sudden. In fact, this has been a Fran tactic for awhile now that has generally not worked for the most part when he deploys it. What John Wooden was able to do with his program or Dan Gable with his wrestling program...that is genius level. Again...the best we have got out of Fran is a 2nd round exit in the NCAAs...and that is not a given almost every year compared to past coaches prior to the dark years (Alford/Lick) of Iowa Basketball. I think we need to be careful about heaping to much praise when it is not deserved. But, everyone has their opinion though and that is ok. I agree with BigD....it is getting to that point where it is shit or get off the fence. Hopefully the sound pieces coming out these interviews and the determination being played out on the court is a sign of the tide turning. But, Fran and his program has to continue to earn it.

Jon Miller often talked about points in the trust bank between Coach Ferentz and his players playing time. I kind of look at it the same way with the basketball program. It has been such a rollercoaster over the Fran regime that at least with me trust points are very low. A win against Maryland is nice and essential (every one is winning at home in the conference though). Beating the clowns and the cuse on the road is nice (but they are not quite as tough as they usually are). Texas Tech was a quality win. But, that does not erase 10 years of a rollercoaster ride.

Fool me once. Fool me twice...."Is Fran a GD Genius or what." No, he is just another overpaid coach that can talk up a good game, but has not earned his keep yet. And the goodwill built up by his rebuilding years is shrinking each year with nothing remarkable to show beyond that. Again hopefully the tide is turning there.
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I have said since I joined the Forum. We will never win big with a "destination coach". We need a "stepping stone" coach. Someone who will give us a 4-6 year spurt of greatness but not considerin Iowa their final stop. Ralph Miller, Lute Olson, George Raveling and Steve Alford were stepping stone coaches. The first two had spurts of great success here. The third set the table for the next coach. The forth had a great initial vision but was hamstrung by his AD, the off the court issues of his best player, and in the end his own incompetence.

Iowa basketball from 1955-1989 was not built on mediocrity. It had exilerating peaks and deep valleys. But it at least made the peaks a heavenly time to be a Hawk fan.

When I say win big, I'm not talking blue blood. That ain't happening. I am talking John Bielein, Bo Ryan, Bob Huggins, Rick Barnes type big. Coaches with multiple elite eights and final fours on their resumes.
 
Northside Hawk said:
I have said since I joined the Forum. We will never win big with a "destination coach". We need a "stepping stone" coach. Someone who will give us a 4-6 year spurt of greatness but not considerin Iowa their final stop. Ralph Miller, Lute Olson, George Raveling and Steve Alford were stepping stone coaches. The first two had spurts of great success here. The third set the table for the next coach. The forth had a great initial vision but was hamstrung by his AD, the off the court issues of his best player, and in the end his own incompetence.

Iowa basketball from 1955-1989 was not built on mediocrity. It had exilerating peaks and deep valleys. But it at least made the peaks a heavenly time to be a Hawk fan.

When I say win big, I'm not talking blue blood. That ain't happening. I am talking John Bielein, Bo Ryan, Bob Huggins, Rick Barnes type big. Coaches with multiple elite eights and final fours on their resumes.
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Well said Northside.
 
Northside Hawk said:
I have said since I joined the Forum. We will never win big with a "destination coach". We need a "stepping stone" coach. Someone who will give us a 4-6 year spurt of greatness but not considerin Iowa their final stop. Ralph Miller, Lute Olson, George Raveling and Steve Alford were stepping stone coaches. The first two had spurts of great success here. The third set the table for the next coach. The forth had a great initial vision but was hamstrung by his AD, the off the court issues of his best player, and in the end his own incompetence.

Iowa basketball from 1955-1989 was not built on mediocrity. It had exilerating peaks and deep valleys. But it at least made the peaks a heavenly time to be a Hawk fan.

When I say win big, I'm not talking blue blood. That ain't happening. I am talking John Bielein, Bo Ryan, Bob Huggins, Rick Barnes type big. Coaches with multiple elite eights and final fours on their resumes.
Click to expand...

We could win big with a destination coach if one comes around that has strong Iowa ties. I agree that most hall of fame type coaches that you need to win big will use iowa as a stepping stone. But an in state former player might one day come along who wins big and wants to stay.
 
BigD said:
I have been trying be optimistic this season mainly because of Garza and the improvement in the players around him. His warrior effort can be infectious. Oh by the way I said when he was a freshmen that I felt that by his Junior year he would be one of the premier dominate players in the conference. I am not tooting my own horn here because as one poster just said that even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in awhile. I sure am happy as hell to see it though. I am also glad to see our guards playing better despite being short staffed and the pressure it puts on them. I hope we can keep it going because we are only going to be better next season.

Having said that I am also happy to hear some of you pipe up and say you have high expectations out of Fran next season. I was beginning to think that some on here believed in giving Fran a life long career free pass.
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I mentioned that he reminded me of Zach Collins before he arrived at Iowa

Still does remind me of him right now

 
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