Our new claim to fame

[FreddyBrown]

We are a "bad loss."

Seth Davis on the Ohio St.-Illinois postgame said "everyone wants Northwestern to get in (the NCAA tournament), but that loss to Iowa really hurt them."

The day after the NW game, it was on the topic list on PTI and Tony K used it to pimp Northwestern grad Michael Wilbon.

It's becoming less of a joke and more of a sad reality to point out that young would-be Iowa fans may not even recall that there was a time, a decade or more ago, when we weren't a joke in the national basketball discussion but were regularly on the list of teams that would likely be in the tournament.

It's also becoming less of a joke and more of a sad reality for those of us old enough to have seen the good Hawk teams of the late 60's and beyond to wonder if we'll even live long enough to see that become the norm again--or maybe more to the point, whether it'll happen soon enough for us to still care.

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

Agree. I saw this as well and laughed. I think some have failed to see how much of a joke we have become and not realize how much it is going to take to change this. Yet there are those fans that are delusional and have apparently accepted this. Hey at least we are getting mentioned during March Madness time!! That is something we never got with Alford!! So I guess Lick IS taking us to the next level!

 

[vbeachawk]

Freddy, I agree with you. The state of Iowa basketball is truly depressing and I'm afraid we may never see a resurgence in our lifetime. Iowa probably has probably officially joined Northwestern and Penn State as the perrenial bottom feeders of the Big 10 for our lifetime, if not forever.

 

[seepig]

My bigger question is why won't we spend the money to get a top flight coach....I don't get it. Is it better to hire a Lickliter and have to GIVE tickets away for free? Which in essence is like paying fans to come in and watch the games. Having said that if in Gatens Senior year they don't make it to the NCAA tournament Lickliter has to go and we can call it for what it will be a FAILURE.

 

[CalvaryHawk]

My bigger question is why won't we spend the money to get a top flight coach....I don't get it. Is it better to hire a Lickliter and have to GIVE tickets away for free? Which in essence is like paying fans to come in and watch the games. Having said that if in Gatens Senior year they don't make it to the NCAA tournament Lickliter has to go and we can call it for what it will be a FAILURE.

Name the top flight coach who wants to come to Iowa. What exactly are you saying to this person to persuade them to take this challenge on? The money we can pay they can get about anyplace. Is it the proud tradition? The facilities? The loyal fans? The weather? The rich recruiting ground? We are going to have to either win with Lick (likely?) or luck out on an unknown quantity (ala Ferentz). Just my opinion, anyway.
-Greg

 

[cubbyhawk2]

Freddy, I agree with you. The state of Iowa basketball is truly depressing and I'm afraid we may never see a resurgence in our lifetime. Iowa probably has probably officially joined Northwestern and Penn State as the perrenial bottom feeders of the Big 10 for our lifetime, if not forever.

Cripes, have an ounce of faith.............forever is a long time, unless you are pushing 90+ as of this posting.

 

[bud2380]

The knee-jerk reaction of our fan base is SO comical to me. Exactly 4 years ago (not exactly a generation ago), Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten regular season, won the Big Ten tournament and was a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament. I don't have the memory I used to, but I can remember back 4 years ago. Apparently most of the rest of us can't. We underachieved under Alford in several seasons, but we were not terrible. We are terrible now, but that doesn't mean we will stay there. And it really hasn't been that long since Iowa was a Big Ten contender. It can/will happen again. Some of you need to stop and think a little bit before you post.

 

[FreddyBrown]

Bud, thanks for the sage advice, but Iowa basketball has stunk for ten years, and the stench hasn't emanated entirely from the record. Ten years may be nothing on your calendar, but it's a big chunk on mine.

 

[tm3308]

Bud, thanks for the sage advice, but Iowa basketball has stunk for ten years, and the stench hasn't emanated entirely from the record. Ten years may be nothing on your calendar, but it's a big chunk on mine.

But you have to agree Freddy, 10 years isn't even an eye blink in the context of forever. People need to calm down a little. Yes the program has stunk for ten years, though not always with the record. But that's it in a nutshell. This problem does not fall squarely on Lick's shoulders. Alford had a large hand in it as well. I agree that things need to step up soon. If we don't make significant strides next year in the win column, then I will lay off the support and want Lick out. But I think it's premature to call for his head right now, and not just because it won't do any good.

 

[HeneryHawk]

Sad.

And it seems to go lower by the day.

Sometimes, it seems we are on a beach, full of sand, as we need a lot of it for all those who have their heads in it(and their rears up in the air).

After reading Barta's comments in HawkCentral, I dont think it will change very soon. Plus, he seems to have got his sights set on Lickliter some time ago while he was in Wyoming(since Fennis Dembo, the level of basketball must be pretty low, and he states that Butler was "exciting" while in Wyoming), so to scare away Alford and install this new exciting brand of ball must have been on his mind from the get go.

 

[FreddyBrown]

But you have to agree Freddy, 10 years isn't even an eye blink in the context of forever. People need to calm down a little. Yes the program has stunk for ten years, though not always with the record. But that's it in a nutshell. This problem does not fall squarely on Lick's shoulders. Alford had a large hand in it as well. I agree that things need to step up soon. If we don't make significant strides next year in the win column, then I will lay off the support and want Lick out. But I think it's premature to call for his head right now, and not just because it won't do any good.

The original post had nothing to do with firing Lickliter. I don't advocate firing him now, both because it simply isn't going to happen and because I think he still might turn it around. The original post was to highlight how we're now viewed in the world of college basketball, and how long it's been that way.

As for whether ten years is a long time, I don't know about you, Count Dracula (LOL), but most of us don't have "forever" to wait for consistently good basketball to find its way back to Iowa City.

 

[bud2380]

Saying the basketball program has stunk for 10 years is your opinion. On the court we most certainly have not stunk for 10 years. We had some very solid teams under Alford. Obviously you care about more than just wins and losses, and that's fine. But to make a blanket statement that we have stunk for 10 years is just an opinion and you are treating it like a fact.

 

[JHHawk]

We were 44-5 in Carver the last three years of SA...that is not stinking.
We had winning Big Ten records in 3 of the last 4 years of SA...not stinking.
We had the most wins in the BTT of any team in the league over the last ten years...not stinking.
We had 7 consecutive winning seasons under SA...not stinking.

Great? No. but there is a lot of difference between the SA record and the Lick record at this point. And there is really not that much diff between Mr. Davis and SA in league play in Dr Toms last ten years and SA's 8 years...

Again, in the modern college bb fan,it seems nothing matters outside of two weekends in march...the rest...irrelevant and insignificant...which is why I pray college fb never gets a playoff of its own,or fall saturdays will be rendered meaningless also.

 

[FreddyBrown]

We were 44-5 in Carver the last three years of SA...that is not stinking.
We had winning Big Ten records in 3 of the last 4 years of SA...not stinking.
We had the most wins in the BTT of any team in the league over the last ten years...not stinking.
We had 7 consecutive winning seasons under SA...not stinking.

Great? No. but there is a lot of difference between the SA record and the Lick record at this point. And there is really not that much diff between Mr. Davis and SA in league play in Dr Toms last ten years and SA's 8 years...

Again, in the modern college bb fan,it seems nothing matters outside of two weekends in march...the rest...irrelevant and insignificant...which is why I pray college fb never gets a playoff of its own,or fall saturdays will be rendered meaningless also.

I agree with Bud that to some extent it's a matter of opinion, but here are the reasons I think the SA years stunk out loud:

1. One NCAA win in seven years.

2. PP.

3. SA.

4. BB.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, I loved many of the players in that era, especially on the Brunner/Horner teams.

On the other hand, while I thought the Tom Davis years (and the tenures of Lute and George) were just fine, there were many fans who thought those years stunk enough to justify running the coach off. I wonder how many of those people still think that kind of performance wasn't good enough. Probably not many would now dare to admit they'd like to have that level of performance back again.

 

[JHHawk]

I do think fans get tired of coaches after awhile. I admit I was tired of Mr. Davis's lack of recruiting to his system...which I liked. What I did not like is trying to press quick michigan and MSU teams with slow local kids,and getting shredded. Remember the Georgia NIT game in CHA?...it was bad. They ran us outta there.

Ricky and Deano's frosh years, we were pretty bad,then Ricky left, and the following year we made the sweet sixteen in Dr. Toms swan song,but I was like a lot of fans...just wanted a more energetic recruiter who would get the quick players that would have excelled in Toms system.
While I did not lobby to oust him, I was ok with the contract not being renewed,but I was very ****** when admin let him stick the lame duck year...which killed recruiting for essentially two years,which set up SA to fail..which has now rolled into lick.

 

[lazerhawk]

Cripes, have an ounce of faith.............forever is a long time, unless you are pushing 90+ as of this posting.

This statement coming from a Cubs fan is classic!

 

[atxhawk]

The knee-jerk reaction of our fan base is SO comical to me. Exactly 4 years ago (not exactly a generation ago), Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten regular season, won the Big Ten tournament and was a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

And promptly lost to Northwestern State in what had to be the worst coached and worst played tournament game I've ever seen.

 

[kuhntz]

Whenever you are a bubble team and you have a loss against a sub .500 team that is a bad loss. This is no surprise....or shouldn't be to anyone who's watched college Bball in the last 25 years.

If Iowa continues to play hard and compete....call us whatever you want. I'll take the signs of improvement and have hope for next season as a turnaround year.