DesMoinesHawki
Well-Known Member
No more of the "we are young" excuse. Youth is the name of the game in college basketball. Ever since kids started jumping to the NBA after their freshman or sophormore season, coaches across the country are charged with rebuilding just about every year. Look at Ohio State and the Thad Five. The "youth" factor, in my opinion, is only valid if the "youth" you are bringing in are not Big 10 caliber players. So next year, we add four more freshman and people will still classify us as a young team. Will it be another "Well, wait until next season ..." When does it stop? We add four freshman next season ... anyone making plans for an NCAA tourney trip? No ... Why? Because the talent is not there ... We have a bunch of "nice ballplayers" but with the exception of Gatens, we have a roster mostly filled with Missouri Valley-type talent ... Recruiting is the name of the game. Lick can't solely focus on the state of Iowa and the immediate Midwest for his recruits ... Don't follow the Lisa Bluder style of recruiting where you don't bring in a kid who is more than a six-hour drive away ... Lick needs to step it up ... No more "youth" excuses. No more "at Butler, he did this ..." and so and so and so forth ... No, this is Iowa. This is the Big 10 ... He is the leader. Defections. Players who, given a second chance, commit an alcohol-related offense -- again -- (right in the middle of the season, nonetheless) with no fear of punishment. When that happens there is a breakdown ...
Some fans want to make all of these excuses for players defecting, etc. ... While I agree a couple of transfers may have been beyond Lick's control, others were not ... As they say, Sh*t rolls downhill ... It starts at the top ... If there are problems within the program; if there are players leaving; if the team is not winning after year No. 3 and in worse shape than year No. 1 .. then that falls solely on Lick's shoulders ... That is the name of the game. As in any big corporation, the head honcho takes the heat and it is his/her head that rolls. Even though some of his/her vice presidents may have been responsible for one or two major bad decisions or happenings within the company, it is the CEO who takes the heat.
It is frustrating ... Seeing Iowa basketball become so non existent ... Seeing CHA with 3,000 people in attendance ... It's frustrating ... Lick may be a nice guy. He may know the game of basketball ... But that does not translate into returning Iowa basketball to respectability.
The longer this drags on ... the more fans will tune out ... Not only will current fans continue stay away, but also future generation of Hawk basketball fans won't be attending games.
The die-hards can come on here and say "well, you are a bandwagon fan and we don't need you anyway." ... I am not a bandwagon fan. A bandwagon fan is someone who all of a sudden goes out and buys an Iowa football T-shirt because they are going to a bowl-watch party and they don't have any black and gold to wear ...
Deep inside, of course I am still a fan of Iowa basketball. We all are ... Everyone who takes the time to post on this site (in this particular forum) is a fan of Iowa basketball ... The decline of Hawkeye basketball started with Alford and the hawkeye nation slowly became divided ... About half of the fans tolerated Boy Wonder while the other half were ready to help him pack up his U-haul ... The difference now is that so many fans are staying away and have tuned out that only a few "die-hards" are left. The few that no matter what, even if they are only one of three people in CHA, will continue to say "let's be patient," and "just give him some more time," and "Look what he did at Butler," and "Lick will get it done," ... and on and on ...
Reality is Lick will get another year at least ... But an NCAA tourney appearance is doubtful ... Is 14 wins considered a success? And maybe in four more years we get up to 23 wins?? When does it stop? Where does it end?
I keep going back to this one simple question that, I think, provides the answer to how Lick is doing ... "Is the Iowa basketball program in better shape today than it was three years ago?"
In the end its about wins and losses folks ... Not about how nice the players are or the flashes they show or the near-misses or the buzzer beaters or what could have been ... This is about wins on the court ... This is about fans in the stands ... For the minority who like to refer to frustrated fans as bandwagon fans and to just give Lick more time ... You have to understand ... fans lost patience with Iowa basketball starting about eight years ago ... Expectations and hype that never came to be ... You aren't dealing with a fan base that has turned South in just three years ... This is a fan base that has been patient for eight seasons ... And they are not seeing a better product on the floor in Year No. 3 of the Lick regime ... So why continue the trend ... Iowa notches 15 wins next season ... Does Lick get another year and then another ... until maybe by 2017 we get up to 24 wins? When is enough, enough?
Some fans want to make all of these excuses for players defecting, etc. ... While I agree a couple of transfers may have been beyond Lick's control, others were not ... As they say, Sh*t rolls downhill ... It starts at the top ... If there are problems within the program; if there are players leaving; if the team is not winning after year No. 3 and in worse shape than year No. 1 .. then that falls solely on Lick's shoulders ... That is the name of the game. As in any big corporation, the head honcho takes the heat and it is his/her head that rolls. Even though some of his/her vice presidents may have been responsible for one or two major bad decisions or happenings within the company, it is the CEO who takes the heat.
It is frustrating ... Seeing Iowa basketball become so non existent ... Seeing CHA with 3,000 people in attendance ... It's frustrating ... Lick may be a nice guy. He may know the game of basketball ... But that does not translate into returning Iowa basketball to respectability.
The longer this drags on ... the more fans will tune out ... Not only will current fans continue stay away, but also future generation of Hawk basketball fans won't be attending games.
The die-hards can come on here and say "well, you are a bandwagon fan and we don't need you anyway." ... I am not a bandwagon fan. A bandwagon fan is someone who all of a sudden goes out and buys an Iowa football T-shirt because they are going to a bowl-watch party and they don't have any black and gold to wear ...
Deep inside, of course I am still a fan of Iowa basketball. We all are ... Everyone who takes the time to post on this site (in this particular forum) is a fan of Iowa basketball ... The decline of Hawkeye basketball started with Alford and the hawkeye nation slowly became divided ... About half of the fans tolerated Boy Wonder while the other half were ready to help him pack up his U-haul ... The difference now is that so many fans are staying away and have tuned out that only a few "die-hards" are left. The few that no matter what, even if they are only one of three people in CHA, will continue to say "let's be patient," and "just give him some more time," and "Look what he did at Butler," and "Lick will get it done," ... and on and on ...
Reality is Lick will get another year at least ... But an NCAA tourney appearance is doubtful ... Is 14 wins considered a success? And maybe in four more years we get up to 23 wins?? When does it stop? Where does it end?
I keep going back to this one simple question that, I think, provides the answer to how Lick is doing ... "Is the Iowa basketball program in better shape today than it was three years ago?"
In the end its about wins and losses folks ... Not about how nice the players are or the flashes they show or the near-misses or the buzzer beaters or what could have been ... This is about wins on the court ... This is about fans in the stands ... For the minority who like to refer to frustrated fans as bandwagon fans and to just give Lick more time ... You have to understand ... fans lost patience with Iowa basketball starting about eight years ago ... Expectations and hype that never came to be ... You aren't dealing with a fan base that has turned South in just three years ... This is a fan base that has been patient for eight seasons ... And they are not seeing a better product on the floor in Year No. 3 of the Lick regime ... So why continue the trend ... Iowa notches 15 wins next season ... Does Lick get another year and then another ... until maybe by 2017 we get up to 24 wins? When is enough, enough?
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