McDonagh & Bilas just gave us some love

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VintageHawkeye

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During a break in the Marquette-Louisville game on ESPN, they highlighted the B1G brackets and today's results, and Sean McD gave a shout-out to Fran and our Hawks, and Bilas echoed it with some specific Basabe appreciation.
Thanks, national college basketball commentator expert guys, you didn't have to do that but you did! :)
 
I saw this too. They really like what Fran is doing.

I also want to know what coaches like Izzo and Painter say to him after the games.
 
I've heard several TV guys throwing out positives about the Iowa program and considering the record it is surprising. I cannot rememeber that ever happening before at least for Iowa. I'm pretty sure its a direct result of FM.
 
cibula11 said:
I saw this too. They really like what Fran is doing.

I also want to know what coaches like Izzo and Painter say to him after the games.
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Me too! That was a pretty long conversation they had compared to most. It looks like the two really respect eachother. I'm sure Izzo echoed what a lot of other of people have been saying- that he's definitely taking this program in the right direction.
 
cibula11 said:
I saw this too. They really like what Fran is doing.

I also want to know what coaches like Izzo and Painter say to him after the games.
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After Izzo blasted Iowa for letting Lickliter go, he is probably worried that he won't two easy conference wins to bank on moving forward. I wish we wouldn't have tanked yesterday, as MSU was ripe for the picking and knocking them out of the tourney would have been poetic justice.
 
hawkIhoops said:
After Izzo blasted Iowa for letting Lickliter go, he is probably worried that he won't two easy conference wins to bank on moving forward. I wish we wouldn't have tanked yesterday, as MSU was ripe for the picking and knocking them out of the tourney would have been poetic justice.
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I'm still not convinced that MSU beating Iowa is enough to get them dancing. I realize it's another win on the schedule but the fact that they beat Iowa isn't exactly something that will jump out at the selection comittee since it's not that impressive of a feat. I realize that they're MSU and led by Izzo so usually a sure thing in March, but still not an automatic at-large IMO.
 
BALDIES7980 said:
I've heard several TV guys throwing out positives about the Iowa program and considering the record it is surprising. I cannot rememeber that ever happening before at least for Iowa. I'm pretty sure its a direct result of FM.
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I understand what you're getting at, but the "considering the record it is suprising" comment caught me off guard. No one with the exception of a few delusional Iowa fans, thought Fran would turn things around immediately and regardless of the record the difference is night and day between this year and last year. Progress is being made and recognizable, just a long long way to go.
 
kicker22 said:
I understand what you're getting at, but the "considering the record it is suprising" comment caught me off guard. No one with the exception of a few delusional Iowa fans, thought Fran would turn things around immediately and regardless of the record the difference is night and day between this year and last year. Progress is being made and recognizable, just a long long way to go.
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He's just saying that it's a little surprising that ESPN/TV guys are giving the program/Fran so much love right now, considering our record. And I agree with that. Usually you wouldn't hear that much from the experts until you started winning, when they can't ignore you.

Then again, with the way we've played this year, you can't ignore us right now, either. We've been a VERY tough out for the majority of the season.
 
I'm convinced that Fran is going to be a big improvement over Alford and Lickliter. But didn't those two get favorable comments from the TV guys early in their tenures also? Maybe I'm not remembering correctly.
 
cibula11 said:
I saw this too. They really like what Fran is doing.

I also want to know what coaches like Izzo and Painter say to him after the games.
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They like what he's doing because it is so addicting to watch this style of ball. I was listening to the game yesterday at work and even Dolphin gets excited when the Hawks are winning a foot race to the other end of the court against MSU! Energy. That is what FranBall is all about and I love it. Take the first available open shot, that puts a lot of pressure on the defense to be perfect.

I think the other coaches are saying, "How in the $#%@ did you hang right with us? You don't have any shooters!"
 
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kicker22 said:
I understand what you're getting at, but the "considering the record it is suprising" comment caught me off guard. No one with the exception of a few delusional Iowa fans, thought Fran would turn things around immediately and regardless of the record the difference is night and day between this year and last year. Progress is being made and recognizable, just a long long way to go.
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I'm just surprised they even saw fit to pay attention due to the record. To me that speaks to the potential they see in Fran.
 
does the espn against the big ten bias only apply to football? or is it only when they say negative things?
 
ajbrand33 said:
does the espn against the big ten bias only apply to football? or is it only when they say negative things?
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They weren't wanting to get Big Ten basketball, they wanted Big Ten football. They're a little butt-hurt that the BTN is actually successful. So yes, it's pretty much just in football. Plus, the SEC isn't typically that good in basketball outside of a couple schools.

Herbie plays it pretty straight, and I don't mind Mark May that much. But almost all the other "experts" in the studio are SEC homers. Fowler in particular is blatantly biased.
 
Herkeynerd said:
I think the other coaches are saying, "How in the $#%@ did you hang right with us? You don't have any shooters!"
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Laughing because it is true! Add in "Iowa beating us on a fast break? Iowa with 3/4 court pressure?"

Fran is the man... I hope we get more depth and run a full court press once in a while... I loved the old Tom Davis full court press.
 
I just want to echo what everyone else has been posting. At one point during yesterday's game, when we went on that little run to go up by seven, I instantly thought back to what this team looked like at the beginning of the season. It almost felt like I had taken a little trip in a flying Delorian. It's amazing how quickly Caff was able to recreate this team.
 
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