Let's go back in time...

[1977Hawkeye]

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say it doesn't work that way. You don't know what a coaches results are going to be when you hire him. So it seems to me it does work that way.

Yeah, that's what I meant. We don't know how a coach is going to work out regardless of style of play. Working under that assumption, I'd rather be uptempo vs. not.

 

[ssckelley]

I do hope Fran learned from this seasons experience. Fran has done a good job getting us "back" but he will need to grow as a coach if we hope to get to the next level.

But I give Fran a lot of credit, he saved this basketball program. From where this program was when he got here to where it is now is a night and day difference.

So to answer the OP's question, heck yes I'd take that. Those of you with unrealistic expectations need to review what happened the last time we chased off a coach who was content at coach here and had us in the NCAA tournament almost every year.

 

[PCHawk]

Agreed.

By "can't miss" hire, I was thinking of someone more proven in a major conference. A guy like Alford, who at the time had never coached above the MVC level, was never "can't miss" in my mind.

Maybe if there's a coach that happens to have Iowa ties (can't think of one outside of Bruce Pearl, and he's got some baggage now).. Or if there's a former proven college coach who gets canned from an NBA gig and is suddenly available.. Or, if Iowa's AD is willing to pony up the cash to lure someone good. Seems we always go for the under the radar hire, though, so this whole conversation may be moot point. This is all premature, anyway.

Otherwise, schools like Iowa typically have to go the mid-major route.

I didn't even realize I used your can't miss words. Those were supposed to be my words because I thought he was an awesome hire at the time and we'll worth the risk of losing what we had with Davis. Especially since it was looking like he was about ready to retire anyway.

Also I wonder how many coaches there even are out there who could be a guarantee to do better than what Fran has done the last 3 years or so. My only worry at all is he did that run with all Iowa kids, and Iowa won't always have that talent. Tyler Cook makes that worry of mine really small tho.

 

[trj]

It's pointless to compare winning with a slow style of play and losing with a fast style. That answer is easy. The question is, if all other things were equal, would you rather take the chance on a guy who plays a fast pace or a guy who plays a slow pace? If your answer is to flip a coin because it makes no difference to you, then you truly don't care about style of play.

Interesting. Do you want the chick that is an 8 who is smart and funny? Or do you want the 10 who has a rockin bod, dumb as a box of rocks, but she is fun to be with. Do you want Virginia's style of play or ISU's? Fast tempo is sexier more entertaining, I enjoy slow tempo basketball if the execution is at high level. 'I guess I am a truly don't care' guy.

 

[Xerxes]

If that is truly where we are going to stay at with Fran, what you do is you live with what you got for at least a few more years. 7 or 8 years in a row of mostly making the tournament makes for a good looking job opportunity for someone new.

Programs like Iowa have no choice but to live with good until it's time for a coaching change. Wisconsin didn't become Wisconsin by pushing good coaches out the door until they found a great one. The time came where it made sense to look for a new coach and they hit the jackpot. If Ryan had only made the program good instead of great, he would still have been there until he decided to leave.

With Davis we lived with good until it was time. It was time because his recruiting was getting lazier and lazier and the next "can't miss" coach fell into our lap because we were an extremely attractive job at the time. Once our program is back on the stable ground it was back then, I'm all for taking another calculated risk trying to get to the next level before Fran pulls us down a level. That's at least a few years away tho.

I agree with your post except for the bolded. When you factor in the following:

-two straight 12-6 B1G seasons along with 1 NCAA win in each of those seasons
-3 straight seasons of being ranked in the top 25 for a extended period of time
-the athletes Iowa already has on the roster
-BTN money that wasn't there in 1998-1999
-practice facility for the basketball team that wasn't there in 1999 (they were sharing Carver with the ladies at the time for practice)

This program now as a whole (money coming in and facilities especially) is light years ahead of where it was in 1998-1999. For as much as people didn't like Alford, he was spot on about the football school thing. At the time Bob B was putting a ton of money (and wisely so) into the football program and the BB program had to pay the price so to speak. It wouldn't have mattered who was the coach in 2000-2007, Iowa wasn't getting good recruits to Iowa City with no practice facility.

A lot of Tom Davis lovers don't want to admit this but this program was heading for disaster long before Alford and Lick got here they just put the last few shovel-fulls on the grave. Even if Davis would have been given a long term contract instead of the lame duck, Iowa was seriously behind in the arms race at the time and just a few years ago finally caught up a little.

 

[trj]

I do hope Fran learned from this seasons experience. Fran has done a good job getting us "back" but he will need to grow as a coach if we hope to get to the next level.

But I give Fran a lot of credit, he saved this basketball program. From where this program was when he got here to where it is now is a night and day difference.

So to answer the OP's question, heck yes I'd take that. Those of you with unrealistic expectations need to review what happened the last time we chased off a coach who was content at coach here and had us in the NCAA tournament almost every year.

Some of you need to let that go. Iowa tried to take the next step as a program and it didn't work. End of story. This has nothing to do with how I evaluate FM.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Interesting. Do you want the chick that is an 8 who is smart and funny? Or do you want the 10 who has a rockin bod, dumb as a box of rocks, but she is fun to be with?

I can only have one or the other? I'm going to need some time before I answer this.

 

[Stanzi]

If we make the NCAA next season it should be considered a successful season.

 

[ssckelley]

Some of you need to let that go. Iowa tried to take the next step as a program and it didn't work. End of story. This has nothing to do with how I evaluate FM.

Not really, it should always serve as a reminder of what the outcome can be when you start thinking Iowa needs to find a coach to take us to the next level. The expectations of some of those on here are unrealistic.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

You forgot 12 games over .500 in the Big 10 over the last 4 years.

This is only the second time Iowa has been at least twelve games over five-hundred in the B1G in four consecutive seasons since Lute left. Surprisingly, Davis was fourteen games over five-hundred in his last four seasons. Not even in his first four seasons was Davis at least twelve games over five-hundred. Ralph was twenty games over five-hundred in his last four seasons & the B1G was only playing fourteen games. Of course, being fourteen over in one season sure helps a lot.

 

[PCHawk]

I agree with your post except for the bolded. When you factor in the following:

-two straight 12-6 B1G seasons along with 1 NCAA win in each of those seasons
-3 straight seasons of being ranked in the top 25 for a extended period of time
-the athletes Iowa already has on the roster
-BTN money that wasn't there in 1998-1999
-practice facility for the basketball team that wasn't there in 1999 (they were sharing Carver with the ladies at the time for practice)

This program now as a whole (money coming in and facilities especially) is light years ahead of where it was in 1998-1999. For as much as people didn't like Alford, he was spot on about the football school thing. At the time Bob B was putting a ton of money (and wisely so) into the football program and the BB program had to pay the price so to speak. It wouldn't have mattered who was the coach in 2000-2007, Iowa wasn't getting good recruits to Iowa City with no practice facility.

A lot of Tom Davis lovers don't want to admit this but this program was heading for disaster long before Alford and Lick got here they just put the last few shovel-fulls on the grave. Even if Davis would have been given a long term contract instead of the lame duck, Iowa was seriously behind in the arms race at the time and just a few years ago finally caught up a little.

I completely agree. What I should have said was in another few years of comparable results, this program will look even more attractive. It's also extremely likely that Fran will give us those results. It's even possible he will give us better results and put us in an even better position.

When getting rid of a coach, it's hard to find the exact right time to do it. With Davis, we maybe waited a couple years too long but more than likely we did it a couple years too fast. At the time, I thought it was done perfectly as far as timing goes. With Fran, I think it's an extremely safe bet to wait a few more years. We will almost certainly look better as a program 3 years from now than we do now.

 

[Stanzi]

Come to Iowa where the ceiling is falling for some fans if we lose in the second round of the NCAA tourney!

 

[PCHawk]

Interesting. Do you want the chick that is an 8 who is smart and funny? Or do you want the 10 who has a rockin bod, dumb as a box of rocks, but she is fun to be with. Do you want Virginia's style of play or ISU's? Fast tempo is sexier more entertaining, I enjoy slow tempo basketball if the execution is at high level. 'I guess I am a truly don't care' guy.

So if you could make the decision on whether we go 12-6 with Fran's style or 12-6 with Lick's style, you truly don't care? That's fine if you don't but most people would.

 

[ssckelley]

If we make the CBI next season it should be considered a successful season.

Come to Iowa where the ceiling is an embarrassing second round blowout loss!

ok, I'll bite...what are you hoping to accomplish with these remarks?

 

[PCHawk]

Come to Iowa where the ceiling is an embarrassing second round blowout loss!

Our ceiling has changed 5 times in the past 6 years. Does that saying not mean what I think it means?

 

[ColumbusHawk]

ok, I'll bite...what are you hoping to accomplish with these remarks?

You actually replied to post by somebody who has Opfraud as an avatar. Or is it that Opfat?

 

[trj]

So if you could make the decision on whether we go 12-6 with Fran's style or 12-6 with Lick's style, you truly don't care? That's fine if you don't but most people would.

It is all relative "the Butler way" can be just as entertaining as transition basketball. It is a loaded question.

 

[Stanzi]

You actually replied to post by somebody who has Opfraud as an avatar. Or is it that Opfat?

Do you have something against black women?

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Do you have something against black women?

Just keep trolling!

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

We ran off another coach as we were on our way down the other side of a parabola because we lost our focus, so we hired someone else because he goes right through the parabola's focus.

I just freaked out my coworkers because this made me burst out laughing.

I don't know if it's intentionally funny or not, but it made me laugh.

I tried to push my parabola's focus through my colleg girlfriend's latus-rectum once...she was pisssed.