Now is when the Fran losers disappear until next season

[lightning1]

Thanks for clarifying. I just want to watch it play out. It could end in horrific fashion as you guys are worried about. But, to be honest, you guys have been worried about this all season and the team has responded. Iowa is not playing it's best ball. I can clearly see that. But that's the weird thing about hoops, is it can change pretty quickly one way or another. I think the players see the season in 4 parts. The OOC, Conference, Conference Tournament and Post Season. Each one is a new lease on life. Earlier in the season people were saying "Gosh, I love to win these close games but hopefully we aren't using up our "luck" to early in the year" - well, who's to say Iowa is not going through their slump right now and they bust out of it when it matters most? We don't know. This team has never been consistent enough to be much more than a middle of road B1G team. Which is good for Iowa this season all things considering and where most thought they would be, which is the basement or close to it. Losing out wouldn't break my back. I've said since the get go - get this team into the dance. That's the goal. I think they are going to accomplish that. I will expect more from the program next season.

Losing out would be a serious indictment of Fran's coaching ability. As well as cement the notion that his teams tank at the end of the season.

 

[BigD]

Losing out would be a serious indictment of Fran's coaching ability. As well as cement the notion that his teams tank at the end of the season.

I agree IF we lose out, means we lose from here on out. The goal of every program should be constant improvement leading into the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament. This is what teams like MSU are all about. Their coach has got to be one of the best in the country at this. It seems like MSU in most seasons are playing their best ball at tournament time.

I hope Iowa can do well from here on out and do well in both tournaments. In that regards Fran hasn’t done much except a good run in the NIT one year, and winning in the post season NIT is like taking your sister to the prom. That may work for Alabama folks but I am not into incest.

So far; LUTE, LUTE, LUTE > Tom > Steve > Fran > Todd

 

[BigD]

Being a passionate Hawkeye fan is why we are so up and down with our university athletics and support. We all want to be competive at the national level, striving the same way the hospital and academia does as well. Being loyal does not mean you are complacent and accepting of poor effort and performance in all categories from coaches to students.

Excellent post!!! You sir move to the front of the class.

 

[BigD]

I agree IF we lose out, means we lose from here on out. The goal of every program should be constant improvement leading into the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament. This is what teams like MSU are all about. Their coach has got to be one of the best in the country at this. It seems like MSU in most seasons are playing their best ball at tournament time.

I hope Iowa can do well from here on out and do well in both tournaments. In that regards Fran hasn’t done much except a good run in the NIT one year, and winning in the post season NIT is like taking your sister to the prom. That may work for Alabama folks but I am not into incest.

So far; LUTE, LUTE, LUTE > Tom > Steve > Fran > Todd

Point of interest with a question for those of you who were around long enough. I didn’t live George out as a slight to him in the procession of coaches above. I am just not sure where he would fit in the procession. He was a great recruiter but struggled with during game adjustments. I fact going back to when I first started following the Hawks in the 70’s I can easily say that George was the best recruiter Iowa had as a head coach.

So if I had to throw George in the mix I would probably slip him in before Steve. What say you???

 

[WindsorHawk]

Point of interest with a question for those of you who were around long enough. I didn’t live George out as a slight to him in the procession of coaches above. I am just not sure where he would fit in the procession. He was a great recruiter but struggled with during game adjustments. I fact going back to when I first started following the Hawks in the 70’s I can easily say that George was the best recruiter Iowa had as a head coach.

So if I had to throw George in the mix I would probably slip him in before Steve. What say you???

Many consider recruiting and coaching to be intertwined. So that makes this a tough question.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Let me preface this question by saying I was a big Tom Davis fan. I think he was an outstanding practice coach...bounce pass, fundamentals, etc. But was he a good game coach...adjustments, etc.?

 

[eledmonster]

No more miraculous buzzer beaters to spout off after.
Just more collapsing.

But hey, Lick years tho.
Got it.

So the goal here is to call fellow Hawkeye fans losers?? I fail to get the point. Nobody can be terribly happy about the last couple of weeks of the basketball season (trolls excluded) but presumably we all want Hawkeye wins, regardless of the coach (again trolls excluded).

I understand frustration, I'm frustrated.
I understand disappointment, I'm disappointed.
I don't love Fran, don't hate him either. He has his players backs, which I appreciate and doesn't suffer thugs. These are good things. Game management is another story.

But calling fellow fans losers because they may or may not agree with you is weak fucking bullshit.
Go Hawks! Always

 

[NikeHawk21]

Another thing worth noting is that after this year, 3 of the 5 teams you’re comparing Iowa with will have fired their coaches during this period of time. So more teams than not feel that this level is a unsatisfactory.

Fair point, but Miles and Nebraska has only danced once in his tenure as has Pitino and so far they are still around.

Indiana basketball fans still think they are a blue blood and Tom Crean was a tool which was part of the reason he didn’t make it there. Matta had some health issues that slowed him down.

 

[Knight78]

Francis says players did a good job preparing for this game.

The player that hurt us the most was Justin Ahrens. How do you prepare for a guy who has scored 38 points during the entire season, well actually only 18 games of their 26 at that point, before our game? Just curious.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I agree IF we lose out, means we lose from here on out. The goal of every program should be constant improvement leading into the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament. This is what teams like MSU are all about. Their coach has got to be one of the best in the country at this. It seems like MSU in most seasons are playing their best ball at tournament time.

I hope Iowa can do well from here on out and do well in both tournaments. In that regards Fran hasn’t done much except a good run in the NIT one year, and winning in the post season NIT is like taking your sister to the prom. That may work for Alabama folks but I am not into incest.

So far; LUTE, LUTE, LUTE > Tom > Steve > Fran > Todd

Steve Alford 8 years 3 tournament appearances.

Fran will be 9 years 4 appearances after this year.

Fran inherited a program that hadn’t been to the tournament in 4 years while Alford inherited a program that had been to the dance 3 of the previous 4 seasons.

Alford’s claim to fame I guess would be the two BTT championship runs, one that was followed by the subsequent loss as a 3 seed in the first round.

If he’s ahead of Fran it’s not by much.

 

[PCHawk]

No, the interest in whether your team finishes in 3rd place or 6th place. To me it's not relevant, everything after 1 is trying to play for seed. Especially in most conferences where you are playing really unbalanced schedules. I'd rather finish 6th in the conference and be a higher seed in the NCAA's than finish 3rd and be lower, which happens pretty frequently.

It's pretty much impossible to have a discussion on how the coach is doing without discussing where they finish in the conference. Both the negative and positive posters bring it up as a talking point. It's not surprising at all. Maybe on your board they only talk about tournaments (makes sense since they play in a conference that is Kansas and everyone else) but I'm sure you would point out if people were saying your coach can't ever get past the first round of the tournament. I guess my point is, if you're going to use placement in the conference as a point for Fran not being good enough, maybe you should at least know where he's placed first.

 

[PCHawk]

No, the interest in whether your team finishes in 3rd place or 6th place. To me it's not relevant, everything after 1 is trying to play for seed. Especially in most conferences where you are playing really unbalanced schedules. I'd rather finish 6th in the conference and be a higher seed in the NCAA's than finish 3rd and be lower, which happens pretty frequently.

And the more I think of it, the more you're full of shit. You're telling me if your coach finished 3rd in the conference the last two years, you would have the exact same amount of people calling for his head than there would be if he finished 6th?

 

[BigD]

Many consider recruiting and coaching to be intertwined. So that makes this a tough question.

I had the same thought.

 

[BigD]

Steve Alford 8 years 3 tournament appearances.

Fran will be 9 years 4 appearances after this year.

Fran inherited a program that hadn’t been to the tournament in 4 years while Alford inherited a program that had been to the dance 3 of the previous 4 seasons.

Alford’s claim to fame I guess would be the BTT championship run followed by the subsequent loss as a 3 seed in the first round.

If he’s ahead of Fran it’s not by much.

He had two BTT championship, but I was glad when he left.

 

[PCHawk]

He had two BTT championship, but I was glad when he left.

The way I see it is it's not like Alford was some genius Big 10 tournament coach. He just caught some breaks like 2 buzzer beaters in a row and a random guy catching fire for 4 days straight. I'm not going to give Steve much credit for those wins, just like I don't give Fran much for his close wins this year.

 

[WindsorHawk]

It’s been a great week for the people that like to complain. We hadn’t seen some of these folks for awhile. My gut tells me when...I mean if...Iowa wins Thursday we won’t be seeing many several of you for awhile.

 

[DDThompson]

The player that hurt us the most was Justin Ahrens. How do you prepare for a guy who has scored 38 points during the entire season, well actually only 18 games of their 26 at that point, before our game? Just curious.

Pre-game warm-up videos. Duh!







/sarcasm

 

[GotTimDodge]

So the goal here is to call fellow Hawkeye fans losers?? I fail to get the point. Nobody can be terribly happy about the last couple of weeks of the basketball season (trolls excluded) but presumably we all want Hawkeye wins, regardless of the coach (again trolls excluded).

I understand frustration, I'm frustrated.
I understand disappointment, I'm disappointed.
I don't love Fran, don't hate him either. He has his players backs, which I appreciate and doesn't suffer thugs. These are good things. Game management is another story.

But calling fellow fans losers because they may or may not agree with you is weak fucking bullshit.
Go Hawks! Always

Not the goal.
It was primarily directed at the posters who have called me things FAR worse than a loser.

It's a message board. I don't really care. And you shouldn't either, really. It's just a casual descriptor

Re: Fran.
He sure as hell makes me appreciate KF so much. If I ever get fed up with KF, whiich isn't very often, I just think of Fran, and I'm just so appreciative of the football program. What a beacon of success on so many levels, regardless of headscratching coaching decisions during the season.

 

[BigD]

The way I see it is it's not like Alford was some genius Big 10 tournament coach. He just caught some breaks like 2 buzzer beaters in a row and a random guy catching fire for 4 days straight. I'm not going to give Steve much credit for those wins, just like I don't give Fran much for his close wins this year.

I totally agree. It was almost like a freak occurrence because his main body of work over his tenure as Iowa’s coach was not reflective of those two BTTs.

A lot of times I will make a comment based off of memory because I am a very busy person and I do t have time to fact check or look things up. For example I posted that Fran’s best finish was fourth place in the conference. You either knew or looked it up and say it was actually third place. I didn’t argue the point or challenge it as I was just going by memory or what seemed right.

I just bring that up to preface my next comment and that is I believe by memory that Steve finished on the average in seventh place in the conference every year during his time as Iowa coach. By the time he left I had Alford fatigue and was glad to see him go.

 

[Northside Hawk]

I totally agree. It was almost like a freak occurrence because his main body of work over his tenure as Iowa’s coach was not reflective of those two BTTs.

A lot of times I will make a comment based off of memory because I am a very busy person and I do t have time to fact check or look things up. For example I posted that Fran’s best finish was fourth place in the conference. You either knew or looked it up and say it was actually third place. I didn’t argue the point or challenge it as I was just going by memory or what seemed right.

I just bring that up to preface my next comment and that is I believe by memory that Steve finished on the average in seventh place in the conference every year during his time as Iowa coach. By the time he left I had Alford fatigue and was glad to see him go.

Weird thing was that, in addition to the two conference tournament titles you mentioned, he also got to Sunday in a third tournament (losing to OSU in 2002) and would have got to Sunday in a fourth tournament (2005) had Wisconsin's Alando Tucker not hit the winning shot at the buzzer. And he knocked Izzo out at least twice.

Something was going on there. Something about the quick turnaround or playing multiple consecutive days that somehow brought out the best in Alford's teams. I have no idea.