Is Fran And Iowa Basketball At A Tipping Point?

I think if we could combine George Raveling, Tom Davis, and Fran we would be amazing.


"C'MON GUYS, BLOCK OUT!!"


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Most of his really good players have been from in state and there hasn't been great in state guards lately. If Carton comes to Iowa and becomes Dean Oliver, does that cure Fran's recruiting woes at guard? Or did he just get lucky there was finally a good player in state that was a guard?
I don't know the answer. We are probably going to need more than 1 more guard so we will see who else comes in. We just need more balance on the roster. I'm sure Fran understands this and will try to rectify the situation.
 
You're not a top 30 team when you have to play in Dayton for the play in game.

Over that 3 year period they were. Over the majority of that year they were. There are a lot of reasons why it's ok to say they were a top 25-30 program over that 3 year span. But you can definitely make a nit pick argument that one of those years they fell to a play in game late so they weren't top 25-30 at the very end. I'm not surprised you picked that path.
 
This is what I was talking about in the post about liking every single negative post on here. I say the team had a 3 year run of being top 25-30. Then you follow with the point that we lost 2 games the last week of the year and fell out of the top 25 that one year. That is seriously the only negative thing that can be said in response to my post, and that's what you want to say. You really want to be the guy who always finds something negative? Why would someone want to live like that?
 
Face it, Iowa basketball is at the same place as in 1999 (Tom Davis' last year).
Davis went 107-51 (51-35 B1G) in his last 5 years at Iowa.
Fran last 5 years (not including this year) the record was 108-64 and 52-38.
Davis went to 5 tourneys 3 NCAA, 2 NIT. In the last year, Iowa went to the Sweet 16.
Fran went to 5 tourneys 3 NCAA, 2 NIT.
After going to the Sweet 16, Tom was shown the door.
 
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.
What in the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk? Lick was hired in April of 2007 when the recruiting period was basically over. He didn’t really get to recruit his first season. There was zero talent when he took over . We absolutely sucked in Alford last season . The cupboard was bare when lick took over . In 2008 Lick brought in Brommer , Tucker and Gatens. Granted that class didn’t really pan out. Then Lick started to gain momentum in only his 2nd class with two four star recruits in Larson and Brust with the other two being Marble and MCCabe who did not ask to be released from their letters. Fran inherited them .Lick 3 seasons sucked but you need to be fair to him because he was given Zero time . How do you not know these facts ? How long have you been covering this team?
 
Over that 3 year period they were. Over the majority of that year they were. There are a lot of reasons why it's ok to say they were a top 25-30 program over that 3 year span. But you can definitely make a nit pick argument that one of those years they fell to a play in game late so they weren't top 25-30 at the very end. I'm not surprised you picked that path.

I'm surprised you want to disregard the end of the season when defending Fran haha.
 
What in the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk? Lick was hired in April of 2007 when the recruiting period was basically over. He didn’t really get to recruit his first season. There was zero talent when he took over . We absolutely sucked in Alford last season . The cupboard was bare when lick took over . In 2008 Lick brought in Brommer , Tucker and Gatens. Granted that class didn’t really pan out. Then Lick started to gain momentum in only his 2nd class with two four star recruits in Larson and Brust with the other two being Marble and MCCabe who did not ask to be released from their letters. Fran inherited them .Lick 3 seasons sucked but you need to be fair to him because he was given Zero time . How do you not know these facts ? How long have you been covering this team?

21 years and I'm confident in my knowledge of the program. You left out A LOT of details. Try again.
 
I think when people are pointing out year 8, they are implying the bold above, questioning if this is indeed the ceiling. I agree that we should really take a look at where the program is when this group are juniors and seniors. We will be able to tell at that point if the ceiling is indeed higher.

I want Fran to succeed more than anybody. I like his style, passion for the game and even appreciate his temper. Most on here are stating they want to see this work out. I am not hearing anybody flat out state they want to see him go. Most are pulling for him to get this team and program rolling.

Just because we are evaluating where the program is at this point and pointing out the flaws we see and some are being cynical, doesn't mean people want Fran to go.
This is where I'm at. I see flaws and certainly big time concerns, but I'm think there is time to get it corrected. But, I think we are underachieving at this point for reasons already stated.
 
In the last Hawkeye Report podcast, Gesell talked about how Fran knows what to do with different players and knows when it's time to not yell. Listening to him actually made me think about how dumb everyone (but me) sounds on here.

And MikeG also played like he was 6 foot 6 and got swatted so many times I lost count. And my gosh, him at the line. From the eyeball test, I'm not sure Fran reached Gesell near enough (along with the rest of that cast....God bless them for helping us dig out of the ground). That said, Gesell would give us more at the guard position on this team.

Just because Fran is our coach, does not mean he knows everything. Same goes for us. Ultimately, we can't know everything that goes on behind the scenes. We can only look at the product on the court.
 
Big Championships, NCAA wins and higher seedings, a Final Four:

Ralph Miller did it
Lute did it
Mr. Davis very close and had some very good NCAA teams
Raveling no
Alford a couple of Big 10 Tourney championships iirc but not a good NCAA coach, finished high in regular season only once or twice

Lick we know didnt
Jury way out on Fran, Looking at Fran's past teams if he had a really 4* penetrating decent shooting point guard he may have 2 Big regular season titles and one or two Big tourney titles, solid NCAA bids and some deep NCAA runs

But Fran hasnt had the point guards which control the college game.

Along with guard play, a team that does not fold when the going gets tough. If Fran's teams had the heart of Mr. Davis's teams they would be All Americans.
 
What in the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk? Lick was hired in April of 2007 when the recruiting period was basically over. He didn’t really get to recruit his first season. There was zero talent when he took over . We absolutely sucked in Alford last season . The cupboard was bare when lick took over . In 2008 Lick brought in Brommer , Tucker and Gatens. Granted that class didn’t really pan out. Then Lick started to gain momentum in only his 2nd class with two four star recruits in Larson and Brust with the other two being Marble and MCCabe who did not ask to be released from their letters. Fran inherited them .Lick 3 seasons sucked but you need to be fair to him because he was given Zero time . How do you not know these facts ? How long have you been covering this team?


Lick's 2nd class didn't include Marble and McCabe... Lick inherited the 2007 class of Cole, Kelly and Peterson.. The 2008 was the Gatens class and Licks first.. The Iowa's 2009 Class was Cougill, Payne, May, Brommer and Jermain Davis.. The 2010 class which would have been his 3rd class included McCabe and Marble, Brust and Larson!, Basabe and Cartwritght and Yes Fran had to rerecruit both McCabe and Marble..

http://www.espn.com/colleges/basketball/recruiting/school/_/id/2294/class/2010

http://www.thegazette.com/2012/04/2...consin-an-individual-family-making-a-decision


Within days of his hiring, new Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery tried to re-recruit all four players. McCabe had no interest in leaving Iowa, but Marble was a more difficult sell. Both opted to stay.
 
Face it, Iowa basketball is at the same place as in 1999 (Tom Davis' last year).
Davis went 107-51 (51-35 B1G) in his last 5 years at Iowa.
Fran last 5 years (not including this year) the record was 108-64 and 52-38.
Davis went to 5 tourneys 3 NCAA, 2 NIT. In the last year, Iowa went to the Sweet 16.
Fran went to 5 tourneys 3 NCAA, 2 NIT.
After going to the Sweet 16, Tom was shown the door.
Not in the same place at all. Are you suggesting Iowa fans and AD might be looking for a change like they pretty much were back then? I remember it being sad when the Dr wasn't going to be brought back but he was a lame duck on the last yr of his contract hung out to dry. He could have blamed his agent to have been I that situation to begin with. But Fran has lots of time left on his deal and what ever fraction of the fan base is ready for a change now it's tiny and it isn't going to happen.
Any program that puts themselves in the situation of having a lame duck coach on the last yr of their contract that isn't retiring or have a replacement handy is dumb and I don't see that happening again
 
This .500 ball stat is a stupid meaningless stat.

One of the teams that hasn't been .500 or better in B1G play every year for the last 5 years is the Michigan Wolverines. In the last 5 seasons, Michigan has appeared in the Sweet 16, Elite 8, and the National Championship game.

Ohio State is another one of those teams that failed at the .500 stat. They were in the Elite 8 one of the last 5 years along with a couple of other NCAA tourney appearances.

Indiana is also another one of those teams.... Indy managed to get into the Sweet 16 twice in the last 5 years.

Even Purdue is one of those teams that failed at the wonderful .500 stat. They made the Sweet 16 last season.

How many times has Fran McCaffery made the Sweet 16 or better in his entire career? Answer: Zero

Like I said, the .500 B1G ball in the last 5 years is a stupid meaningless stat.

Uhhh... stability?
No?
Oh, wrong coach. Shoot!
I'll be back.
:)
 
Not in the same place at all. Are you suggesting Iowa fans and AD might be looking for a change like they pretty much were back then? I remember it being sad when the Dr wasn't going to be brought back but he was a lame duck on the last yr of his contract hung out to dry. He could have blamed his agent to have been I that situation to begin with. But Fran has lots of time left on his deal and what ever fraction of the fan base is ready for a change now it's tiny and it isn't going to happen.
Any program that puts themselves in the situation of having a lame duck coach on the last yr of their contract that isn't retiring or have a replacement handy is dumb and I don't see that happening again
If I recall correctly, it was primarily the AD looking for a change. Stevie Alford was the next hot thing so they went out and got him. Just saying Fran has given us BB similar to Tom. I personally liked Tom's coaching style much better than Fran's. Tom got a heck of a lot more out of the players he had.
 

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