Mr. Davis

BigD said:
Not going to happen. I’ve been an Iowa fan for over fifty years. I totally get what you are saying.You want the team you cheer for to be more successful and occasionally great. That’s just not Iowa and likely not ever going to be. If it happens it will be a fluke.

The general fan base doesn’t demand it. Cub fans know how this goes. Decade after decade they filled wrigley field. It’s a beautiful ball park to go out and enjoy on a warm summer day with your family and have a hot dog. If the cubs won on that day all the much better, but not required.

If you want a team that is going to be playing for titles every few years then chose a program that does that.

This is how it works. Let’s say in football you chose Alabama to follow. You find their forums and sign up on that chat board. You start to follow the football team. You don’t know any of the players at all but as you get on the chat room and follow the sport web pages you start to familiarize yourself with them. You learn about the freshmen players coming in. By the time those freshmen are juniors you start to know them as players and maybe some of their personal history. Your team is in the conference championship game almost every year. If they win you know they will likely play in the four team playoff title. Eventually you start to identity with the team.

You’ve still kept an eye on your old school and wished them the best. However you start to realize how much fun it is to be cheering to win the big game EVERY year while your old team gets its seven or eight wins and goes to the Outback Bowl which no one in the college football world really gives a shit about.

As the years roll by you start to follow your old team less and less until you don’t really know the players. Occasionally you come across them on the TV and see their rabid fans cheering wildly for their 7-4 team. During the least ten years your new team has played for seven conference titles and been to the four team playoff several times.

As you look at those fans of your old team you will wonder what the hell is with those people, even though you were caught up in it once yourself.

Now here the problem with all of this. Often times people grow up watching a team with their family and friends. It becomes a family activity. The moments of just going and enjoying being with family and/or friends is Priceless really.

So that is the challenge of walking away from an affiliation backed with memories with loved ones and just starting over with a strange team. It doesn’t mean you can’t slowly build memories and associations with a new team or get involved with others things with your family and friends. Community projects helping others.

Your just going to frustrate yourself wanting your team to play for national Titles in football or basketball when it likely hasn’t happened in your lifetime. It’s unlikely it will ever happen in your life time as an Iowa fan.

So if it is that important to you then do as I suggested. Pick out a prominent team that plays for all the marbles on a occasional basis and still follow Iowa.

I understand how you feel, but the simple fact is that it’s not expected at Iowa or demanded at Iowa by the fan base. Everyone is just enjoying the games and having a hotdog. That’s no knock on them as they are building memories with family and friends.
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I so wish I could fight you on this but I can't, you are right and it's sad. Back in the 70's and 80's the basketball team was probably more popular than football, people packed that old field house and then we got the new shiny Carver. The fans were into it, the students were rowdy, and going to a basketball game was a blast. Every Iowa game was televised and if you watched it from home you couldn't wait to hear a "OH MY!".

Now few give a shit. You go to the game and besides the pep band there are not many students. You got all the old geezers like Huckfinn who sit on their hands all game. I hate how far back Carver feels even if you're sitting in the first few rows.

All of this because back in the mid to late 90s there were a group of fans who felt that TD wasn't good enough and they wanted to see Iowa take the next step as a program. Going to the NCAA tournament every year and winning at least the first round wasn't good enough. So they went out and got, what was thought to be, the hottest young coach around in Steve Alford. Most of you probably know the rest of the story so I won't describe it. But let's just say Iowa as a basketball program returning to the Alford/Lickliter years could happen very easily. Fran may never get Iowa to the next level but at least the team is fun to watch and usually competitive.

It's no different than football and people hating on KF. All you have to do is look to our west to see how quickly a program like Iowa could turn into a dumpster fire.
 
Fryowa said:
Even if they did demand it it wouldn't mean a damn thing.

nebraska fans demand excellence probably more than any fan base in the country. And look what it gets them.

Excellence in college sports isn't something you get by playing musical coaches, or "hitting the portal," or any of those other bullshit things fans want. Excellence in college sports is 98% luck, and then using that lucky run to out recruit everyone else which sets you up for 10 or 15 years until your unicorn coach retires.

But yeah, better fire Fran cause it's a sure bet it'll get better.
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Clowny is doing very well under the douchbag looking coach who went the Fred Hoiberg rout and pulled in talented transfers. Just kicked our asses. Just his first year. From 2 wins to already 9 wins. But, they must be in that 98 percentile.

Personally, I don't think Fran should be fired (at this time) as Iowa has been competitive enough and his body of work has been good enough. But, I could see the act wearing thin at some point and fans start voting with their dollars. Then, it will be interesting to see whoever the AD is then what they will do.

Fran could really do himself a solid if he made room for a defensive guru on his coaching staff and a savvy recruiter who could land a stud point guard or two.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
This is a dumb thread. Fran took over a dumpster fire and turned Iowa into a consistent winner. He has had a first team Big 10 players almost yearly the last 8 years. He produced the best player in the history of the program and one of the best true centers nationally in a generation just last year. He typically finishes in the Top half or third of the conference. He is putting a few guys into the league. He plays a fun style of BB. He goes apeshit on the sidelines sometimes and makes us all laugh.

Yes, he has not won a conference title or gotten to the Sweet 16. You want that. Join the club. Fran wants that. We all hope it happens. These things are typically like lightening in a bottle. You just gotta catch it. Also, let's not forget there are no 14 teams in the league, meaning conference titles are even harder to come by given the competition.

As to the Mr. Davis reference, remembered we fired him because he couldn't take the next step. How did that go for us? Scandals and douchbaggery followed by the worst 3 years in modern history. Fran righted the ship. So, as Fry noted, careful what you wish for.
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I agree he did right the ship and that was a lot of hard work to fix the F ups of the previous two coaches. And, technically I think he is doing enough to stay here to stave off being fired.

But, I strongly suspect he will never win the Big Ten. I also strongly suspect he will never have a significant run in the NCAAs.....maybe he will get lucky and get a Sweet 16. The reason being he has the opposite problem of the football team and he is deficient at recruiting difference making point guards.
 
InGoodCo said:
Yeah, the non con is weak but Iowa is 1-3 in Q1 and Q2 games, so 4 so far. That's pretty much the same amount of tough games as everyone else at this point. For context

Arizona has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
LSU has played 2 Q1/Q2 games so far
Houston has played 1 Q1/Q2 games so far
Baylor has played 2 Q1/Q2 games so far
Nova has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Purdue has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Kansas has played 4 Q1/Q2 games so far
Gonzaga has played 4 Q1/Q2 games so far
USC has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Duke has played 3 games against Q1/Q2

^ that's the top 10 Net teams

So, Iowa has played 4 - this notion that Iowa is playing tomato cans while everyone else is playing tough schedules is kind of fools gold. Iowa has played 6 Q4 games, same amount as Gonzaga, Uconn, Texas Tech, Wake, Kentucky and Indiana - and most other schools have played 5 against Q4. Iowa is playing a comparable schedule to their peers. It's weak but the notion Iowa is playing a drastically different schedule than everyone else is false.
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Agreed...Iowa has played a tough 4 game stretch...similar to other top teams. Considering what personal they lost last year to get one win and two play very competitive in 2 of the 3 losses is admirable.

It is just sad we are seeing the same old problems against the better competition that we have seen out of all the other Fran years.
 
ssckelley said:
I so wish I could fight you on this but I can't, you are right and it's sad. Back in the 70's and 80's the basketball team was probably more popular than football, people packed that old field house and then we got the new shiny Carver. The fans were into it, the students were rowdy, and going to a basketball game was a blast. Every Iowa game was televised and if you watched it from home you couldn't wait to hear a "OH MY!".

Now few give a shit. You go to the game and besides the pep band there are not many students. You got all the old geezers like Huckfinn who sit on their hands all game. I hate how far back Carver feels even if you're sitting in the first few rows.

All of this because back in the mid to late 90s there were a group of fans who felt that TD wasn't good enough and they wanted to see Iowa take the next step as a program. Going to the NCAA tournament every year and winning at least the first round wasn't good enough. So they went out and got, what was thought to be, the hottest young coach around in Steve Alford. Most of you probably know the rest of the story so I won't describe it. But let's just say Iowa as a basketball program returning to the Alford/Lickliter years could happen very easily. Fran may never get Iowa to the next level but at least the team is fun to watch and usually competitive.

It's no different than football and people hating on KF. All you have to do is look to our west to see how quickly a program like Iowa could turn into a dumpster fire.
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Agree with most of this, but I think they are fun to watch when they beat up on a sub 300 BPI opponent.....but even then it is a snooze fest because the opponent is so bad. They are fun to watch when the Fran system gives top teams fits (like the Purdue game).

But, I don't think they are fun to watch in general with big games...more frustrating and comical than fun. The big offensive numbers also shrink when they play teams worth a damn. Also, as I'm typing, Oregon just another 3 pointer on Garza's team.....no wait that was the Clowns last night.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Agree with most of this, but I think they are fun to watch when they beat up on a sub 300 BPI opponent.....but even then it is a snooze fest because the opponent is so bad. They are fun to watch when the Fran system gives top teams fits (like the Purdue game).

But, I don't think they are fun to watch in general with big games...more frustrating and comical than fun. The big offensive numbers also shrink when they play teams worth a damn. Also, as I'm typing, Oregon just another 3 pointer on Garza's team.....no wait that was the Clowns last night.
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Weren't you the one bitching about the defense last night? You do realize that the Clowns only shot 32% from 3, right? The problem wasn't the defense, the problem was every time the Clowns missed a 3 they got their own rebound. The rebounding SUCKED, the defense was really good and they forced 13 turnovers.
 
ssckelley said:
Weren't you the one bitching about the defense last night? You do realize that the Clowns only shot 32% from 3, right? The problem wasn't the defense, the problem was every time the Clowns missed a 3 they got their own rebound. The rebounding SUCKED, the defense was really good and they forced 13 turnovers.
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I think both of them are a problem....defense and offense in big games. Clown defense was really good, I agree. But, Iowa's defense did suck last night. Tons of open 3 point looks and ISU hit a good enough volume of them. And, I agree, the rebounding was terrible, but that is also a part of defense.

Iowa's defense sucks under Fran. The 3/4 press has looked pretty good though, but it was less effective against the clowns last night. Get a team with speed and they will go through it like a hot knife going through butter.
 
ssckelley said:
Weren't you the one bitching about the defense last night? You do realize that the Clowns only shot 32% from 3, right? The problem wasn't the defense, the problem was every time the Clowns missed a 3 they got their own rebound. The rebounding SUCKED, the defense was really good and they forced 13 turnovers.
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IMO the whole reason Iowa presses like they do is because they can't rebound. You need to force the turnovers before the shots start going up.

Really it was only 12 TO's, because ISU let the shot clock expire without taking a shot under no pressure at the end of the game.

If you're a team that relies on the press to win games... 12 TO isn't going to get it done. That's not nearly enough.
 
InGoodCo said:
Yeah, the non con is weak but Iowa is 1-3 in Q1 and Q2 games, so 4 so far. That's pretty much the same amount of tough games as everyone else at this point. For context

Arizona has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
LSU has played 2 Q1/Q2 games so far
Houston has played 1 Q1/Q2 games so far
Baylor has played 2 Q1/Q2 games so far
Nova has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Purdue has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Kansas has played 4 Q1/Q2 games so far
Gonzaga has played 4 Q1/Q2 games so far
USC has played 3 Q1/Q2 games so far
Duke has played 3 games against Q1/Q2

^ that's the top 10 Net teams

So, Iowa has played 4 - this notion that Iowa is playing tomato cans while everyone else is playing tough schedules is kind of fools gold. Iowa has played 6 Q4 games, same amount as Gonzaga, Uconn, Texas Tech, Wake, Kentucky and Indiana - and most other schools have played 5 against Q4. Iowa is playing a comparable schedule to their peers. It's weak but the notion Iowa is playing a drastically different schedule than everyone else is false.
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No doubt everyone's playing a ton of creampuffs. Didn't mean for it to sound like I was saying were the only ones. The difference between us and a lot of the other programs you mentioned is that to this point we really know very little about who we are and what type of team we'll be. For the most part the teams you listed know who they are and have an identity.

As fans, and maybe even the team, I'm not sure we know enough about who we are or have the slightest clue as to the identity of the current team. I used the cupcake reference to say that we've beaten the teams on our schedule that were scheduled as wins. But in doing so and playing these teams its really told us nothing about who we are or what's to come.
 
ssckelley said:
I so wish I could fight you on this but I can't, you are right and it's sad. Back in the 70's and 80's the basketball team was probably more popular than football, people packed that old field house and then we got the new shiny Carver. The fans were into it, the students were rowdy, and going to a basketball game was a blast. Every Iowa game was televised and if you watched it from home you couldn't wait to hear a "OH MY!".

Now few give a shit. You go to the game and besides the pep band there are not many students. You got all the old geezers like Huckfinn who sit on their hands all game. I hate how far back Carver feels even if you're sitting in the first few rows.

All of this because back in the mid to late 90s there were a group of fans who felt that TD wasn't good enough and they wanted to see Iowa take the next step as a program. Going to the NCAA tournament every year and winning at least the first round wasn't good enough. So they went out and got, what was thought to be, the hottest young coach around in Steve Alford. Most of you probably know the rest of the story so I won't describe it. But let's just say Iowa as a basketball program returning to the Alford/Lickliter years could happen very easily. Fran may never get Iowa to the next level but at least the team is fun to watch and usually competitive.

It's no different than football and people hating on KF. All you have to do is look to our west to see how quickly a program like Iowa could turn into a dumpster fire.
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Go to a game sometime and look at Section NN, Row 25, Seat 13. If you see me sitting on my hands, snap a photo. Thanks.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Clowny is doing very well under the douchbag looking coach who went the Fred Hoiberg rout and pulled in talented transfers. Just kicked our asses. Just his first year. From 2 wins to already 9 wins. But, they must be in that 98 percentile.

Personally, I don't think Fran should be fired (at this time) as Iowa has been competitive enough and his body of work has been good enough. But, I could see the act wearing thin at some point and fans start voting with their dollars. Then, it will be interesting to see whoever the AD is then what they will do.

Fran could really do himself a solid if he made room for a defensive guru on his coaching staff and a savvy recruiter who could land a stud point guard or two.
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He's coached 9 P6 games and you're ready to say he's successful?
 
I understand why we play the soft schedule, but I've moaned for years that if the scheduling is done to pad the stats and generate wins that's one thing, but if it's to get the team ready for conference play then I have a major problem with that.

Sure the wins generate confidence in a young team and you want that momentum going into the conference season, but is it really confidence or a false confidence. I think it does more harm then good if a false sense of security is created in young players during nonconference play if they have no idea what they're up against when they get to the games that matter.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Agreed...Iowa has played a tough 4 game stretch...similar to other top teams. Considering what personal they lost last year to get one win and two play very competitive in 2 of the 3 losses is admirable.

It is just sad we are seeing the same old problems against the better competition that we have seen out of all the other Fran years.
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Really? I don't feel like this is the same stuff we've seen from Fran teams at all, especially in defeat in these last few games. Fran's teams aren't often times out rebounded like this. The team is definitely playing better defense than a lot of previous Fran teams. Last night they couldn't throw it in the ocean and shot 27% from the field and 18% from 3. Also, not a trait of Fran's teams. I don't think this is the same ole stuff - just my opinion.

If you mean same ole Fran, can't win, well, he'd won 3 of the last 4 against ISU. If you mean same ole Fran for IL and Purdue - well, neither of those games were blow outs, that would be same ole Fran for me personally.

I feel like this team is a lot different than Fran's other teams. A lot more athletic, not as good shooting and last night, our Alpha shrunk under the big lights. It was disappointing.
 
BryceC said:
IMO the whole reason Iowa presses like they do is because they can't rebound. You need to force the turnovers before the shots start going up.

Really it was only 12 TO's, because ISU let the shot clock expire without taking a shot under no pressure at the end of the game.

If you're a team that relies on the press to win games... 12 TO isn't going to get it done. That's not nearly enough.
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And, for whatever reason, they can't guard in the half-court. In the open court they are more active. But, get them more in phone booth (or condensed space) and they get outworked. Gary Close (former Mr. Davis assistant coach) last night said on youtube (Iowa voice of the storm) ISU was able to win because they were the more physical team (and quicker team).
 
InGoodCo said:
Really? I don't feel like this is the same stuff we've seen from Fran teams at all, especially in defeat in these last few games. Fran's teams aren't often times out rebounded like this. The team is definitely playing better defense than a lot of previous Fran teams. Last night they couldn't throw it in the ocean and shot 27% from the field and 18% from 3. Also, not a trait of Fran's teams. I don't think this is the same ole stuff - just my opinion.

If you mean same ole Fran, can't win, well, he'd won 3 of the last 4 against ISU. If you mean same ole Fran for IL and Purdue - well, neither of those games were blow outs, that would be same ole Fran for me personally.

I feel like this team is a lot different than Fran's other teams. A lot more athletic, not as good shooting and last night, our Alpha shrunk under the big lights. It was disappointing.
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Giving up a lot of three pointers, like you said Alpha's shrinking under the big lights, no difference making guards....that is what I mean by the same old Fran teams. And yes, not winning the big games.

I agree, I do think they have made some strides, but they still suck in the half court defense. Now, there is a lot of season left to go and hopefully they improve and peak in March. I'm still with you, I think the potential is there for making the NCAAs, but NIT is also starting to float on my radar.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Well, technically he is a Doctor, just not a medical one. "Mr. Davis" will always be associated with the better years of Iowa basketball....not the best but better years.
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Iowa fans ripped that name off from nebraska which is cringey.

They already had that campy nickname for their cheating bastard football coach, Iowa took it. Barf.

Those cult-of-personality-ish names are ridiculous. Like how the Matty Campbell worshipers in Ames always call him CMC for "coach Matt Campbell..." Like we don't already know he's the goddamned coach.
 
Fryowa said:
He's coached 9 P6 games and you're ready to say he's successful?
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I'll give the douchey looking guy credit, it took him one recruiting season to bring in a true freshmen point guard who is head and shoulders above any point guard Fran has found. And I hope Joe T proves me wrong, but I won't be holding my breathe.
 
Hawkboys said:
I think part of the schedule reputation is that IA has either played Q1/2 teams or bottom of Q4 teams. It really wasn't a balance schedule at all. It would have been nice to play a couple of Q3 teams to test them more before this gauntlet.
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It matters less and less these days since RPI isn't one of the deciding factors for the committee. Either they are Q1/2/3/4 - the severity of how bad they are is all the same if we are suppose to believe that NET Rankings are what they use now.
 
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