I have to disagree.. I would rather watch Lick style basketball if it produces wins, rather than Fran's style of it doesn't. Winning basketball is the most entertaining style of basketball to me. Sure, I'd rather it be up-tempo, without a doubt, but W/L trumps all.
We can also speculate that Brad Stevens had as much to do with Butler's success as Lick did, if not more. Lick is currently coaching Marian U, and Stevens is coaching the Celtics, if that tells you anything. Iowa may have hired the wrong Butler coach.....
As for style of play - I think Fran's system is generally going to be far more attractive to recruits. Most good athletes would rather get up and down the floor so that they can show their stuff. Plus, Fran has fire (maybe a bit too much sometimes) and is a great talker. So Lick didn't have that going for him, but as you stated, Wisconsin hoops is not exactly "fun" to watch, but it doesn't stop Bo Ryan from winning. There must be other factors.
Was Lick the workhorse that Fran is on the recruiting trail? Could he relate to his players and keep them in the program? Hard to do much when you're essentially starting over with a fresh roster every year, playing a lot of freshmen & sophomores - ones who weren't overly talented at that. Was he great salesman for the program? I look at Lick - good guy, but he came across more like a pastor than a basketball coach, but maybe that was "Public Lick" and he was different behind the scenes. I couldn't really say.
I believe there are a lot of reasons Lick didn't win at Iowa, not any single one thing.
