Let it be remembered that the Clemson game...

Gohawks123 said:
You were entertained by what you saw last night? I didn't say fire the guy...I just said its not ridiculous to compare him and Lick in 1 year if this team is worse and the interest in the program has dropped dramatically.

Believe it or not, Iowa still has a lot of season ticket holders. That could change if we throw another 10 win year on the board this year.
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I wasn't entertained and I don't think anyone likes losing, but the guy is starting from ZERO.

We don't have a single player that starts for a competitive BB team. we have maybe 4 players that would log meaningful minutes on a competitive basketball team.

To say that the cupboard was bare when he took over is an insult to cupboards.

Iowa basketball is like a stroke victim that is going through therapy. You have to relearn everything. That process isn't overnight, and progress in these kinds of situations are made in inches, not miles.

My concern at this point is not that Fran is incapable, not that he isn't the right coach for Iowa and not what happened last night.

My concern is that if the fanbase turns on Fran after year two, than it means that the last decade of Iowa basketball has brought irreparable harm to the program and we are beyond fixing.
 
SteveGarvey said:
was the that the fans en masse began turning on Fran. You really wonder if Fran gets more than three years now since Lickliter was only given that long. Shoot, this day and age of athletics and fandom wanting an immediate winner I'm not sure he does get more than next year to turn it around. Guess the only thing he has going for him is the highly rated upcoming class but methinks that class is a bit overrated and even if it isn't, those guys are only going to be freshmen.

We've seen how some Hawk fans want Ferentz gone (or at least some of his staff) after a 7-5 season. We see Turner Gil only given two years (two!) to turn a pathetic Kansas football program around. We see Eagles fans calling for Andy Reid's head despite all of what he's done there. Now we're witnessing perhaps an unraveling of fan support for Fran after another debacle on the court.

Hope he gets at least four years total to turn it around but it's going to get ugly if we continue to play ball like we've played the last four games.
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Not at all. Fans will give Fran time to turn it around. Most true Hawkeye fans realize this program was absolutely the pits, thanks to Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter. He deserves far more support, latitude and time than most of you idiots are willing to give him.

If you can't support Iowa basketball and the rebuilding effort Fran has in front of him, do us all a favor and go pound sand.
 
CAARHawk said:
The class Lick had coming in was not constructed from a TOP 50 Iowan. Fran gets next year, no matter what. But, he might want to really think about clearing more space on the roster and finding an immediate contributor.

That being said, with the lockout over, the league will drop off next year.
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Once last season ended, put Dillard and Francis on planes and tell them not to come back until they find clones of Doug Thomas and Justin Johnson. I am not talking high profile juco players, just a big body down low and a guard with some quickness---not hard to do. Once those guys are in tow, then go after White, Olaseni, etc. McCaffrey apparently misevaluted his talent or his coaching abilitiy or both, but he made some pretty serious recruiting errors by not getting some court ready guys in here to help.
 
I love McCaffery give him time! It seems like he's trying the soft sell with his players now but that won't last for long...he's WAY too passionate. This isn't his first rodeo he'll figure it out.
 
Wow.. Some people...

If you think Fran isn't good for Iowa basketball because of a couple early losses this season... then please leave. There wasn't a person on this board saying Fran needs to leave last season or in the first three or four games this season... Everyone was praising him and now he needs to go? Wtf? Correct me if I'm wrong... but he hasn't even coached 2 full seasons yet? He has a good recruiting class coming in and he took over an absolutely god-awful program and managed to recruit and show progress. He isn't going to make this a winning program overnight, folks.

Look at how the players are playing defense. I guarantee Fran is teaching them to play better defense than that, but defense is about determination. If you aren't determined to play well on defense and you don't make it a personal priority... then you won't be good at it no matter who your coach is. The problem is that half of the guys don't appear to care about playing defense and some of the guys are just NOT talented enough to keep up. So when you have only 1 or 2 kids that are actually playing good defense... it makes the ENTIRE team look bad at defense, because we all know that in basketball it is all about the TEAM DEFENSE. You have to play good team defense to win games and right now they just don't have all of the puzzle pieces put together, but I'm confident Fran will get them there.

My god, have some patience. It is embarrassing.
 
Fran is a great coach. If he can't turn it around, no one will. I would give him a MINIMUM of 6 years. Just be patient!!

Also, Kirk Ferentz can coach at Iowa as long as he wants to coach. 10 bowls in 11 years is plenty good enough for me, and good enough for the vast majority of Iowa fans. The vocal minority on this message board is simply delusional.
 
ChosenChildren said:
Fran is a great coach. If he can't turn it around, no one will. I would give him a MINIMUM of 6 years. Just be patient!!

Also, Kirk Ferentz can coach at Iowa as long as he wants to coach. 10 bowls in 11 years is plenty good enough for me, and good enough for the vast majority of Iowa fans. The vocal minority on this message board is simply delusional.
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I am one of the people on the fence about KF right now and even I think Fran is great for this program and should get at least 6 years. ;)
 
Husky28 said:
Imagine that... a negative post about an Iowa coach after a loss. Predictable.
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It's not so much a negative post on my part but an observation about the fan base. I'm for giving Fran more than 3 years. I think he'll end up turning it around but I'm not 100% convinced at this point. Just keeping it real.
 
I think 5 years is a pretty good number for "how much time" to give Fran, or any coach, for that matter. The only reason Lick was let go after 3 was that the program was getting worse after the first 3 (and it was HORRIBLE), and more players were threatening to leave the program, etc. so it was plain that things were only going to get worse. Or at best, there would be no improvement in year 4. I guess it would have to take something just as drastic (or worse) to make me think Fran shouldn't get at least 4-5 years to get this thing turned around.

Fran has a good recruiting class coming in next year, which will be year 3 already. But those players will only be freshmen, so how much can you expect out of them right away? By year 5 they will be juniors. So by that point, if there has been no significant improvement from where we are today, then it could be time to part ways. But that is nothing more than "what-if" talk right now - I'm willing to give Fran some time to see what he can do.

Right now, it is what it is - a team that is not very talented and Fran doesn't have many of his own players on campus yet, much less have HIS players WITH EXPERIENCE.

Get back to me at the end of 2013, or sometime in 2014.
 
tweeterhawk said:
Not at all. Fans will give Fran time to turn it around. Most true Hawkeye fans realize this program was absolutely the pits, thanks to Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter. He deserves far more support, latitude and time than most of you idiots are willing to give him.

If you can't support Iowa basketball and the rebuilding effort Fran has in front of him, do us all a favor and go pound sand.
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This post should be pinned at the top of the board.

Well said tweeter
 
Gohawks123 said:
I don't think its silly to compare Fran and Lick. No I don't want Fran fired yet. But if one year from now this team is worse than this year and Carver has 1500 fans for every game then the administration might have no choice. People forget that Lick had a pretty good class lined up when he got canned...recruits won't always save you.
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If we fire Fran after just three years, we might as well fold everything up and drop the program. We need a sense of stability at this point. We aren't going to get good, or even decent replacement options if we make it clear: "You have 2-3 years to get us where we want to be. Here, we'll give you next to nothing to work with, too. Now get to work."
 
JonDMiller said:
I think people turning on Fran at this point are silly.

The guy just signed a nationally ranked recruiting class, the first time someone at Iowa has done that in about a decade...and in case you haven't looked, the last decade was the worst in Iowa history.

Yeah, this team is disappointing right now and trying to find itself. But the mentality of some fans today is more disappointing to me.

Did you miss the part where Fran was taking over a job that was in worse shape than any other job in the conference from a last 10 years production standpoint, or real close to it? Just now they have facilities in line with most of the other programs in the league.

This job was hardly a peach...and he is making some lemonade out of lemons and there is more hope for the future in Iowa City than there has been in about six years.

We know Basabe can play better. We know Cartwright can play better....its far to early to hit the eject button.
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Last night's game was really hard to watch. I am disappointed that Iowa basketball has fallen to this level. However, the team got better last year, and this year's team will get better too. Next year we get some better players to go along with guys that will develop. For the most part, we are young and have to take some lumps right now. I have faith will get this thing turned around, but we are going to have to watch some bad performances along the way. Hopefully we get some great moments too, like Purdue last year. I understand those of you who became apathatic with Lick at the helm, but just because something hasn't turned in a season and 7 games, doesn't mean you should jump ship. Give him time, Fran can be successful here
 
One thing to keep in mind for next year; Iowa will have a freshman at the point...so next year's team isn't going to the dance either. This wasn't going to be a short term fix.
 
cjhawks said:
No, what fans need to do is display some degree of patience and common sense. Fran has been successful at every stop in his career. You think they were quick turnarounds? No. It took time and effort. He is still getting guys to fit his style of play.

In this day and age, fans need to realize the deep hole the program was left in under Lickliter. Fran is not a magician folks - he can't simply snap his fingers and make everything better. Anyone who says the program is on the same path it was under Lick, going into a deeper hole, is a moron. A schmuck. So spare me the "the program is regressing, we've had a horrid start to the season, oh noes!?!!!!!" routine.

The program is fine under Fran. He is absolutely the guy for the monumental task of rescuing it from the depths of the Lickliter era. Fans wanted a winner, and they got one in Fran. Look at his resume for proof. And for god's sake, take a deep breath and step away from the ledge.
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How quickly we forget. The LICK had a very impressive resume. 131-61 at Butler. 4 post season trips in 6 years with a sweet 16. Won or tied for the conference 3 years and a 2nd place conference finish. He can coach.
 
LICK had a better coaching record than Fran the man. LICK won 68% of his games before IA. Loser FRAN was 251-178, or 58%. They both suck as coaches. AT UNCG FRAN won 49 conference games and lost 47. WOW... above 50%... make that 51.04%.

We get mediocrity when we hire it.
 
Agree McCaffrey needs more latitude here, but he had a chance to bring in a different mix of players and didn't. McCaffrey is not a newbie coach with an inexperienced staff. These guys should have done a better job of plugging the gaping holes in our lineup and didn't, period. No doubt he needs at least 2 more years to make major strides, but baby steps need to start happening sooner than later.
 
JonDMiller said:
One thing to keep in mind for next year; Iowa will have a freshman at the point...so next year's team isn't going to the dance either. This wasn't going to be a short term fix.
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Agreed. Before the season, i thought next years team could be worse that this years. Now,i don't think that is possible.
 
hawkIhoops said:
Agree McCaffrey needs more latitude here, but he had a chance to bring in a different mix of players and didn't. McCaffrey is not a newbie coach with an inexperienced staff. These guys should have done a better job of plugging the gaping holes in our lineup and didn't, period. No doubt he needs at least 2 more years to make major strides, but baby steps need to start happening sooner than later.
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reminds me of a lot of the Ferentz criticisms early on as to why he didnt go the Juco route
 
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