I've had enough of this experiment

[okeefe4prez]

We are not at a higher level than we were under Alford, if anything it's slightly worse.

Dude, be careful. People are so blinded by Aflord hate that they can't look at him objectively. His 2005-06 squad was the best starting 5 we've had in at least 10 years and maybe even nearly 20 years, but the morons on this board hate him so much that they can't acknowledge it. This past January, with HawkFan flying high due to the top 10 ranking, I tried pointing out just how good that Alford-led squad was, and I got ridiculed to high hell. Of course, we all saw the meltdown and resulting play-in game last season, but I'll bet there are still idiots here who will say that last year's starting five was better than the team that got the 3 seed. The other coaches in the conference have completely cracked the Fran code and this program is in big trouble unless we get some serious ball players in here ASAP.

http://hawkeyenation.com/forum/showthread.php?63084-Top-10-for-the-first-time-since-2002-wow

Heck, man, in all honesty you could even make a case that the 2004-2005 team was better than any team Fran has had. That team played all four Final Four teams and beat two of them, plus took an absolutely stacked Illinois team that made the Final Four to overtime in Champaign (but IIRC lost one some poor free throw shooting by Pierce). This year's squad would get trucked by pretty much any legit contender for the Final Four.

 

[1hawkeye1]

This year's squad would get trucked by pretty much any legit contender for the Final Four.

So would 90% of the teams in the NCAA. That's a pretty weak troll job. You're slipping.

 

[okeefe4prez]

So would 90% of the teams in the NCAA. That's a pretty weak troll job. You're slipping.

Lulz. Let me guess, you are one of the room temperature IQ fans who thinks Fran has been better than Alford.

 

[1hawkeye1]

Lulz. Let me guess, you are one of the room temperature IQ fans who thinks Fran has been better than Alford.

I don't have to guess for you. You're one of the "Wasteland Trolls" who likes to get people wound up by praising Alford. Weak brah, very weak.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I don't have to guess for you. You're one of the "Wasteland Trolls" who likes to get people wound up by praising Alford. Weak brah, very weak.

I'm not praising Alford, I'm just saying he had better teams than Fran has. It's a fairly low bar. It's like a Clown fan comparing Jim Walden and Paul Rhoads. They both stink, but one makes the fan base hallucinate with misplaced hope.

 

[SnapBack2]

I know most of you don't like OK4P, but he's right about Alford. Even if he's a troll unfortunately, I agree. I wish I knew OK4P's real agenda. Likely to troll, but I have a glimmer of hope it's a voice of reason. Regardless, I'm a big fan of Fran, but he needs to get higher level talent in ASAP.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I know most of you don't like OK4P, but he's right about Alford. Even if he's a troll unfortunately, I agree. I wish I knew OK4P's real agenda. Likely to troll, but I have a glimmer of hope it's a voice of reason. Regardless, I'm a big fan of Fran, but he needs to get higher level talent in ASAP.

My agenda is for Iowa basketball to get back to the level where I actually care to watch it again. Fran got me going for a minute there last year, but then took a gigantic deuce all over the bed. It's very frustrating because turning a basketball squad around shouldn't be too hard and I commend him for his recruits on paper, but on the court it looks bad. 5 years in and a 2 year old deep NIT run is the high water mark. It ain't pretty.

 

[jacknicholson]

Guys aren't developing fast enough. Gabe has gotten better but none of the other players have improved each season. They might play better for a period of time but then regress.

Marble 100% got better but I really can't think of another player under Fran who actually has gotten better since he arrived on campus each year.

That is the biggest thing that worries me. Player progression because it's pretty damn bad. Some of that is coaching but other reasons is probably just pure talent and Iowa doesn't have a lot.

Woody has improved a lot this season, much more smooth and he has developed a nice midrange jump shot. Jarod has improved by becoming more active and shooting the ball much more and Dom Uhl has actually improved somewhat despite his limited playing time, he does get a fair amount of time on the floor though. Peter Jok is starting to assert himself. If he reaches his potential, we will be a much better team.....

 

[Knight78]

Could not agree more. I have long said that putting the ball in the basket will win you many, many, many more games than a defensive emphasis. That only works if you also have elite talent which we do not.

Shooting won that game last night and broke our team mentally. When the other team is raining in 10 straight shots which were not all poorly defended and we cannot make a lay up or a jump shot. Hello.

Shooting can also erase large deficits which ISU has done multiple times in the last couple of years to many teams. It breeds confidence.

Jok is the most pure shooter on this team and everyone wants him to spend his time being a lock down defender. Okay? Meanwhile we cannot make a bucket for 9 minutes.

I partially agree. We do need to shoot better. But while they were "raining in 10 straight shots" we turned the ball over 6 times. Do you think maybe their defense had a bit to do with that? I don't think we stopped just into the front court and held the ball out to them and said "Here, take this".

Talk to EVERY ONE of the top coaches in college BB (and most in the NBA) and they will tell you how much they value defense and how much time they spend on defense in practice. From my personal experience as a D-III player, we spent about 75% of our practice time on break-down defensive drills; our actual scrimmage time was limited to 15-20 minutes in 2 hours of court time.

Calipari (great coach, but a cheater) emphasizes defense. When Iowa beat them in the NIT, he kept going back to defensive effort and how his team didn't put in the work necessary to win.

 

[Knight78]

We are not at a higher level than we were under Alford, if anything it's slightly worse.

Under Alford: 8 seasons. Three 20+ win seasons. Three NCAA tournament appearances, 1 win. Three NIT appearances, 4 wins.

Under Fran: 4 seasons. Two 20+ win seasons. One NCAA tournament appearance, 0 wins. Two NIT appearances, 5 wins.

We are in our 5th season under Fran. Judging from the results we are at least as good as Alford.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Under Alford: 8 seasons. Three 20+ win seasons. Three NCAA tournament appearances, 1 win. Three NIT appearances, 4 wins.

Under Fran: 4 seasons. Two 20+ win seasons. One NCAA tournament appearance, 0 wins. Two NIT appearances, 5 wins.

We are in our 5th season under Fran. Judging from the results we are at least as good as Alford.

Hey, let's add the Battle 4 Atlantis runner-up trophy, too! If you're counting lost NCAA play-in games in Dayton and NIT appearances and wins in measuring the success of the program, we should just fold the thing now.

Alford hung two Big Ten championship banners. Fran got trucked by Northwestern in the first round with his best team to date.

 

[MiniMoeHawk]

Hey, let's add the Battle 4 Atlantis runner-up trophy, too! If you're counting lost NCAA play-in games in Dayton and NIT appearances and wins in measuring the success of the program, we should just fold the thing now.

Alford hung two Big Ten championship banners. Fran got trucked by Northwestern in the first round with his best team to date.

And he could beat the clowns

 

[SteveGarvey]

My agenda is for Iowa basketball to get back to the level where I actually care to watch it again. Fran got me going for a minute there last year, but then took a gigantic deuce all over the bed. It's very frustrating because turning a basketball squad around shouldn't be too hard and I commend him for his recruits on paper, but on the court it looks bad. 5 years in and a 2 year old deep NIT run is the high water mark. It ain't pretty.

I've had a few days to reflect on this. All of the shortcomings of this team are known and noteworthy but I think people are not taking enough into consideration that the two teams that dominated us are top 10 teams, maybe final 4 contenders. It won't always be this bad and we can still make a run at a 9-9 B10 season if we get better. R-E-L-A-X

 

[BIG10INCH]

Recruiting has been horrible. Not a legitimate talent anywhere on the roster.

terrible take --

 

[trj]

I've had a few days to reflect on this. All of the shortcomings of this team are known and noteworthy but I think people are not taking enough into consideration that the two teams that dominated us are top 10 teams, maybe final 4 contenders. It won't always be this bad and we can still make a run at a 9-9 B10 season if we get better. R-E-L-A-X

You can say that if you are Aaron Rodgers, but if you are waiting on Olgbsey to hit shots that is a completely different story.

 

[okeefe4prez]

You can say that if you are Aaron Rodgers, but if you are waiting on Olgbsey to hit shots that is a completely different story.

Agreed. With B1G officiating, we will likely lose nearly every road game and then I figure we'll get beaten at least 3, if not 4 times at home.

 

[mysteron]

Woody has improved a lot this season, much more smooth and he has developed a nice midrange jump shot. Jarod has improved by becoming more active and shooting the ball much more and Dom Uhl has actually improved somewhat despite his limited playing time, he does get a fair amount of time on the floor though. Peter Jok is starting to assert himself. If he reaches his potential, we will be a much better team.....

We need to change our mascot to a giant question mark and call ourselves the University of Iowa "Ifs". 15 yrs in a row of "ifs".

 

[okeefe4prez]

We need to change our mascot to a giant question mark and call ourselves the University of Iowa "Ifs". 15 yrs in a row of "ifs".

Every time I read your posts, I see your name as "mysterion" so I suggest this:

 

[SpecialKHawk]

I partially agree. We do need to shoot better. But while they were "raining in 10 straight shots" we turned the ball over 6 times. Do you think maybe their defense had a bit to do with that? I don't think we stopped just into the front court and held the ball out to them and said "Here, take this".

Talk to EVERY ONE of the top coaches in college BB (and most in the NBA) and they will tell you how much they value defense and how much time they spend on defense in practice. From my personal experience as a D-III player, we spent about 75% of our practice time on break-down defensive drills; our actual scrimmage time was limited to 15-20 minutes in 2 hours of court time.

Calipari (great coach, but a cheater) emphasizes defense. When Iowa beat them in the NIT, he kept going back to defensive effort and how his team didn't put in the work necessary to win.

Of the 5-6 turnovers White was involved in 2-3 as he was positioned out around the 3 point arc. He made several lazy passes into our post player. White's defender was sagging and an another ISU player was also in the passing lane but he tried it multiple times. I have a hard time characterizing those sequences as great defense. The result for ISU was great. It looked more like stupidity to me especially after the first one. The real issue is they were daring White to shoot the jumper which he was reluctant to do. This goes back to my point about being able to shoot and put the ball in the basket from multiple locations on the court.

Not saying defense is a waste of time but saying offense can really spark a team and win a lot of games. I am not certain you can take a group of less talented players and mold them into an elite defensive unit. It takes talent, skill, athleticism and yes lots of practice to play elite team defense.

ISU blew us out of the water by hitting 10 shots in a row from layups to 3 pointers. Yes the turnovers gave them opportunities but putting the ball in basket won the game. Had they missed half of those shots we might have survived.

 

[Hawke]

Under Alford: 8 seasons. Three 20+ win seasons. Three NCAA tournament appearances, 1 win. Three NIT appearances, 4 wins.

Under Fran: 4 seasons. Two 20+ win seasons. One NCAA tournament appearance, 0 wins. Two NIT appearances, 5 wins.

We are in our 5th season under Fran. Judging from the results we are at least as good as Alford.

the play-in game determines which of the two teams playing in it gets into the tourney. Only the winner does so. Iowa lost that game. Fran still has zero NCAA appearances at Iowa.