When Roy Williams comes to your house in Sioux City and flashes his national championship hardware and the tradition of the Dean Dome and Carolina Blue and the ACC, and two days later you say, "No thanks, Coach Williams. I'm heading over to Iowa City to play some Fran ball" -- yah, I think that's a pretty super-sized story...
Now if only we could get Fran to convince Kirk it's OK to be flashy, aggressive and not just talk about playing to win, but actually DO something that shows you're playing to win, that might be almost as big a story.
Right there.
For me and maybe others, the incredible underachievement of 2010 + watching the same tired, predictable coaching blunders deny the Hawks one more
chance at a W have taken a toll. (Don't spew muck about "odds" or "what ifs" - everyone watching
that game at that time knew OT heavily favored ISU. Kirk not only dropped his sword, he picked it up and handed it to Rhoads.) There are times, situations and places to take smart risks -- 2 opportunities to do so at ISU -- but more often than not, this staff seems oblivious to the situation and / or cowers away from it.
You know that ISU is not the first and far from the last time that those decisions / strategies will turn a possible W into an absolute L. You realize that, if Iowa can only muster 7 wins with 1/3 of its starting roster consisting of NFL caliber talent, championships are pretty much a pipe dream. You start putting the pieces together and see that Kirk Ferentz led Iowa football has peaked. What you've
seen is what you will get, nothing more.
This is no indictment of KF, just a conclusion. This is not hopelessness, just acceptance. I LOVE Iowa football and am a fan of Kirk Ferentz, the man. Reality is, his overall success here will be only above average.
Guess what I'm saying is, while football is still #1 by a wide margin, it is stagnant. Yes, we are proud of our coaches as ambassadors and for their integrity. Yes, we appreciate that Iowa is a "program". Yes, we get excited about and expect to win 7-8 games every year. As long as we have a respectable late December vacation to 75+ degree weather to play a team that everyone knows who the mascot is.
Again, I'm not whining -- most of us are pretty satisfied with this -- I'm just describing.
On the other hand, basketball is dynamic right now. You've got obvious progression in both the style of play, talent of players and, most importantly, a head coach who is unashamedly boisterous about winning. We've already seen evidence of adaptability on both ends of the court. Something tells me Fran would never vary from his attack in order to protect a lead or out of fear of a turnover in the final seconds that might give the opponent a chance.
It's a matter of KF plays to win until he gets a 2-score lead, then plays not to lose it. Fran plays to win, then keeps playing that way
because it allowed him to get a lead. KF tends to operate under a philosophy that is derived from football theory. Fran tends to operate under the circumstances of the particular game situation, flow and opponent.
