Schwartz: Iowa Hoops Sees Slide Amid Success Story

InGoodCo said:
I like how if you say "I think Connor played well yesterday, I'd like to see him start or play more"

You immediately get the "woah buddy, we aren't gonna be tearing down the nets anytime soon" Guy

Also, if you say "they are young", and they are ... then you get "wait this is year 8 why aren't we better we were young last season stop making excuses" guy.

yeah we know - Iowa hasn't played well this season, they aren't going to the NCAA - but some of us still would like to talk about this team without firing the coach or dumping on the program or players every chance we get. We get it, Iowa isn't good. We know the faults of this season, we're watching. Can we still discuss the team or no?
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Its how the world works today. Look at how many new coaching hires are happening this year in college football. its insane. About half the teams go under .500 every year and fans of those teams want their coach immediately fired.

What I find even funnier is a lot of the same people who want Fran/Kirk gone then reminisce to the days of Hayden Fry and Tom Davis. Its hilarious. Those two coaches would get absolutely murdered on the Iowa forums if they coached today. The 'member berries are strong, todays kids aren't as tough as they used to be, grass is always greener, blah blah etc.
 
mopkins said:
Its how the world works today. Look at how many new coaching hires are happening this year in college football. its insane. About half the teams go under .500 every year and fans of those teams want their coach immediately fired.

What I find even funnier is a lot of the same people who want Fran/Kirk gone then reminisce to the days of Hayden Fry and Tom Davis. Its hilarious. Those two coaches would get absolutely murdered on the Iowa forums if they coached today. The 'member berries are strong, todays kids aren't as tough as they used to be, grass is always greener, blah blah etc.
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I get it, it's being a fan. I get that they're all pathetic, slow and un-athletic with no talent because they didn't come out of the gates with their hair on fire. I'm disappointed too. I also get that this season is not going great. I do however remain a fan and still want to see improvement as the season goes. I know they won't make the tourney. But... it would however not be impossible to fathom that this team might gel and play better down the stretch and maybe turn some heads and have it rolling in late February instead of the opposite trend that we've seen teams do. Instead of tanking and running out of gas, I am hoping we see the team surge and maybe take advantage of other teams that are failing down the stretch.
 
I don't think Fran is a very good tactical coach...

I don't think Fran is very flexible as a coach...

I don't think Fran's court side personality helps the team...

I don't think Fran and his staff develop talent very well...

That said, he took over a pathetic program...

With a couple of good players coming in (and maybe a PG or two) I still don't want to see him gone.
 
revkev73 said:
I don't think Fran is a very good tactical coach...

I don't think Fran is very flexible as a coach...

I don't think Fran's court side personality helps the team...

I don't think Fran and his staff develop talent very well...

That said, he took over a pathetic program...

With a couple of good players coming in (and maybe a PG or two) I still don't want to see him gone.
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I don't disagree with much of this, I do think he's good at developing talent. What talent do you think he's whiffed on? He's made 4 straight All B1G players who were 3 star type players when they got here.
 
If we can't even make the NIT this season I think we could let Fran go and upgrade our coaching staff while still keeping Weiskamp. If that makes me negative than I am 100% negative. We all know Fran isn't going to go after a graduate transfer or JUCO point guard this off season because he's too stubborn while we could bring in a new coach who would.
 
Hawk5656 said:
If we can't even make the NIT this season I think we could let Fran go and upgrade our coaching staff while still keeping Weiskamp. If that makes me negative than I am 100% negative. We all know Fran isn't going to go after a graduate transfer or JUCO point guard this off season because he's too stubborn while we could bring in a new coach who would.
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He doesn't have a scholarship open.
 
PCHawk said:
He doesn't have a scholarship open.
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There are plenty of ways to fix. You could also upgrade to a coach who will maximize getting talent on the roster instead of giving out scholarships to a buddies nephew. Plus Fran is only on contract through 2019-20 so you're at a point you either need to extend him or make a change. There is no way you could justify extending him now.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
When it comes to Iowa hoops, I've learned to stop counting any chickens before they hatch. I've been disappointed far too many times... I can't just assume they're dancing the next couple years. The only way for me to stay sane is to take it as it comes, and then evaluate.

But IF Fran makes the tournament the next 2 years, 4 out of 10 isn't that great (or 5 out of 10) but that would be 4 out of 6 or 5 out of 7 depends on where you stand regarding the play in game. That looks a whole lot better and indicates general upward movement as a program.

I also take into account Fran's first few years and the rebuild he had on his hands, which is why I wont be calling for his head just yet. But I agree that we're out of "rebuild" mode and it's HIS program now.. The next couple years are going to tell the story IMO.
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Oh yea you definitely don't want to count yiur chickens before they hatch.

What bugs me tho is people always say "it's year 8, we shouldn't be talking about Lick anymore". That's true for how he is doing this season. But it's not true when saying he's only made the tourney 3 out of 8 years. No matter how many years go by, he should still get a pass for the first 2 or 3 years.
 
PCHawk said:
Oh yea you definitely don't want to count yiur chickens before they hatch.

What bugs me tho is people always say "it's year 8, we shouldn't be talking about Lick anymore". That's true for how he is doing this season. But it's not true when saying he's only made the tourney 3 out of 8 years. No matter how many years go by, he should still get a pass for the first 2 or 3 years.
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So take away his first two years and you think 2 NCAA appearances and a play in game in 6 years is acceptable? I think that is below average in my opinion.
 
Hawk5656 said:
If we can't even make the NIT this season I think we could let Fran go and upgrade our coaching staff while still keeping Weiskamp. If that makes me negative than I am 100% negative. We all know Fran isn't going to go after a graduate transfer or JUCO point guard this off season because he's too stubborn while we could bring in a new coach who would.
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The thing is...why let Fran go now? It makes no sense at all...

Fran still has 2 seasons left on his contract, Fran already has his 2018 players signed for next year and his only 2019 commit is Patrick who is currently a top 50 prospect. If you fire Fran now, you payout his remaining two years ($4,000,000), you watch Patrick walk away, you watch Connor quit basketball and go to baseball, you risk Wieskamp bolting for Iowa State, Wisconsin or Creighton, and your 2019 class is a barren wasteland.
 
mopkins said:
The thing is...why let Fran go now? It makes no sense at all...

Fran still has 2 seasons left on his contract, Fran already has his 2018 players signed for next year and his only 2019 commit is Patrick who is currently a top 50 prospect. If you fire Fran now, you payout his remaining two years ($4,000,000), you watch Patrick walk away, you watch Connor quit basketball and go to baseball, you risk Wieskamp bolting for Iowa State, Wisconsin or Creighton, and your 2019 class is a barren wasteland.
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I think there is a decision that has to be made at the end of the year either way since his contract is only through 2019-20. If he doesn't get extended it's only going to make recruiting harder in the future. I think Wieskamp will be a Hawkeye no matter who the coach is and losing Fredrick isn't going to hurt and will open up a scholarship to get a point guard. You can't hold on to a coach because his son is a pretty good prospect as a high school junior. We're not talking about the Porter brothers here.
 
Hawk5656 said:
So take away his first two years and you think 2 NCAA appearances and a play in game in 6 years is acceptable? I think that is below average in my opinion.
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Acceptable? Yes. At least for now. Below average? In a vacuum, yes. But considering where our program was, I would say average. If his next 6 years has the last 6 years results, I will be pissed that he got 6 more years.
 
Hawk5656 said:
I think there is a decision that has to be made at the end of the year either way since his contract is only through 2019-20. If he doesn't get extended it's only going to make recruiting harder in the future. I think Wieskamp will be a Hawkeye no matter who the coach is and losing Fredrick isn't going to hurt and will open up a scholarship to get a point guard. You can't hold on to a coach because his son is a pretty good prospect as a high school junior. We're not talking about the Porter brothers here.
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Maybe your biggest problem (other than being a cyclone) is you think the highest rated recruit since rivals started is just "pretty good".
 
Hawk5656 said:
So take away his first two years and you think 2 NCAA appearances and a play in game in 6 years is acceptable? I think that is below average in my opinion.
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Take away Tom Davis' first 2 years and do you think 1 sweet 16 in 11 years is acceptable? Just curious where the bar is at here...
 
Hawk5656 said:
I think there is a decision that has to be made at the end of the year either way since his contract is only through 2019-20. If he doesn't get extended it's only going to make recruiting harder in the future. I think Wieskamp will be a Hawkeye no matter who the coach is and losing Fredrick isn't going to hurt and will open up a scholarship to get a point guard. You can't hold on to a coach because his son is a pretty good prospect as a high school junior. We're not talking about the Porter brothers here.
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I think you let Fran ride it out. His contract currently runs for 2 years. So Fran's not even guaranteed to be there when Garza/Nunge are Seniors or Wieskamp is a Junior. Doesn't seem to matter to them.

Fran's final contract year Bohannon/Cook/Moss/Pemsl/Kriener/Dailey are Seniors, Garza/Nunge/Connor are Juniors, Wieskamp is a sophomore, Patrick is a Freshman. If Fran can't do anything with that roster he built...then yeah...everyone needs to move on.
 
Hawk5656 said:
If we can't even make the NIT this season I think we could let Fran go and upgrade our coaching staff while still keeping Weiskamp. If that makes me negative than I am 100% negative. We all know Fran isn't going to go after a graduate transfer or JUCO point guard this off season because he's too stubborn while we could bring in a new coach who would.
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So, we need to go after a grad transfer or JUCO point guard in the off season..... regardless of whether or not we have a scholarship to offer (which we don't). I think we keep Wieskamp even if Fran leaves, but calling Fran stubborn because he doesn't go after a grad transfer or JUCO point guard is a little stubborn on your part, isn't it? After all, you are the one who is constantly telling everyone on this board who hasn't blocked you that we need to get a grad transfer or JUCO point guard for a few years now. And just which one of the players are you going to ask to surrender their scholarship to this point guard?

One more thing to keep in mind: we have gone after a JUCO point guard in the past; a JUCO All-American point guard as a matter of fact, ranked the #1 JUCO point guard that year. How did that work out? I am reminded of the old Russian adage: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
 
ibahawkeye said:
Let’s slow down a bit on Connor. He’s played 1 game against a bad team.

I think he can Gelp the team but I’m also not ready to throw him into the starting lineup either.
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go re-watch the game. I did it today. the ball was moving crisply and to the open man when Conner was in there. both commentators spoke about it, also. it was clear, to me, that the offense was much more crisp with Conner at the point. Re-read my post. I didn't say Conner was the second coming, or even an elite player. I actually said his ball handling was only better than JBo's. And on a relative comparison of Conner and JBo as point guards, I believe Conner is the better.

Let me ask you: do you want JBo playing pg or SG where he'll get more shots per game?
 
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