Is Fran And Iowa Basketball At A Tipping Point?

RobHowe said:
Fran brought Iowa to the NCAA Tournament three years in a row for the first time since the early '90s. He took over the program when it was arguably in the worst shape ever. People forget what it was like under Lick.

This a disappointing season so far. No doubt. But Fran's job is not in jeopardy right now, nor should it be. That's ridiculous.
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It is year 8 Rob. My point is if the struggles continue after these solid recruiting classes. How doe you sell the program then? They are young and we must not forget that, I guess. I'm just saying with these recruits and if the team continue to struggles to make the top half of the BIG and fight not to have the bubble burst every year.......

Iowa can give all the time it wants and he can get all the solid recruits he can get, but we can still evaluate why the defense struggles every year or how the rotation of players is detrimental, bad FT shooting, etc.. Iowa had defensive issues going back to when they played in that championship NIT game.
 
RobHowe said:
Dude, you're off your rocker if you think this season resembles what things were like under Lick.
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Lick's first year he was 6-5 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 11.18 points a game.
Lick's second year he was 9-2 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 15.81 points a game.
Lick's third year he was 4-7 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 14 points a game.

This year, Fran is 5-6 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 5 points a game.
 
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GotTimDodge said:
Ridiculous would be talking about this after 3 seasons.
Not 8.
We're certainly getting close to that moment.
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Exactly, hence the tipping point at some point. I'm just saying if it doesn't happen after these recruiting classes it may be what moves the scale. The University of Iowa is very patient, though. If butts are in the seats, they may have a longer leash.
 
RobHowe said:
Dude, you're off your rocker if you think this season resembles what things were like under Lick.

BTW, here's another stat for you guys:

Iowa is one of only three teams to have posted a Big Ten record of .500 or better each of the last five seasons (Michigan State and Wisconsin).
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Good find. That is quite shocking to me actually.
 
Hawk5656 said:
That is if you consider losing a play in game as making the NCAA Tournament. Many people don't including Schwartz.
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I think you have to count it though, because theoretically, a team could win the whole darn thing if they kept winning. So, it's an extension of the tournament rounds.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I think you have to count it though, because theoretically, a team could win the whole darn thing if they kept winning. So, it's an extension of the tournament rounds.
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If you win the play in game everyone counts it as a tournament appearance. If you don't win it a lot of people won't, especially if it helps their argument. People defending Fran will count it as an appearance but if things go south the narrative will quickly change to justify the frustration.
 
Hawk5656 said:
If you win the play in game everyone counts it as a tournament appearance. If you don't win it a lot of people won't, especially if it helps their argument. People defending Fran will count it as an appearance but if things go south the narrative will quickly change to justify the frustration.
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The NCAA counts it as an appearance! What more do you want?
 
tksirius said:
Lick's first year he was 6-5 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 11.18 points a game.
Lick's second year he was 9-2 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 15.81 points a game.
Lick's third year he was 4-7 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 14 points a game.

This year, Fran is 5-6 in his first 11 games. Outscored opponents avg of 5 points a game.
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How did Lick do in the Big Ten? He also took over a program that had some talent left over from Alford and tore it apart to a point it was among the worst programs in the Big Ten.

But, by all means, start another thread comparing Fran to Lick. It really shows a lack of context and really makes you look foolish.
 
RobHowe said:
How did Lick to in the Big Ten? He also took over a program that had some talent left over from Alford and tore it apart to a point it was among the worst programs in the Big Ten.

But, by all means, start another thread comparing Fran to Lick. It really shows a lack of context and really makes you look foolish.
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Well, we're 0-2 in the B1G so far this year, so I don't know if I'd use that as an argument.... #Context :)
 
Fran also has produced first-team all-Big Ten selections the last four seasons for the first time in program history for the first time since the '40s. But, I know, if he has all-Big Ten talent he should win more games. The whiners need to take a positive and shape it to their negative narrative.
 
RobHowe said:
Fran also has produced first-team all-Big Ten selections the last four seasons for the first time in program history for the first time since the '40s. But, I know, if he has all-Big Ten talent he should win more games. The whiners need to take a positive and shape it to their negative narrative.
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Lol. I was going to make a point, but you took care of that for me.
 
Last year they started slow and picked it up at the ISU game, and blew them away - felt like they figured it out at that point. This year they gave a good effort at ISU and fell short. Who knows, maybe the light goes on and they can kick it in again this year, but they've dug themselves quite a hole. I haven't seen a breakout game against a good opponent yet. That loss to Penn State wasn't helpful.
 
tksirius said:
You clearly haven't followed the rest of this thread.
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I have and you still clearly don't remember..Bottomline Iowa basketball was UNWATCHABLE during the Lick years and people stop attending games. You can toss out all the meaningless comparisons you want, but the 2017 Iowa basketball team as frustrating as it is, bears no comparison to the Lick years.
 
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