Seth Davis Critiques UI Basketball Program
- Thread starter Ihawk209
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okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Typo, man. MSU and OSU have gone way up, Illinois has generally managed to stay good (but even they have tanked somewhat the past few years as Weber has sucked the life out of their program). Wisky has gone from cellar to decent. Northwestern even has some respectable teams every now and then. The conference is a zero sum game, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa have generally fallen because someone has to fall to make way for the three teams that have gotten better. The conference was pretty much there for the taking when Lute was around, not so anymore.
Alford did a helluva job keeping the wheels on given the changing landscape and kept us respectable. The coaches in the B10 top to middle are pretty damn good. Iowa's hopes to get back to the top 3 or 4 in the conference with any regularity hinge on (i) Illinois making a bad hire, (ii) Crean not performing up to expectations, (iii) one of Izzo or Matta retiring or leaving and (iv) Tubby not snagging any more really sick recruiting classes.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
GhostofBTT
Banned
I think Alford did a good job showing Kurt how NOT to handle a rapist on your team. I went to Iowa when that whole thing went down, and the BB team was a toxic asset. Only the most hardcore, backwards baseball hat, 2.1 gpa from Lin-Mar fans wanted to be seen in the student section.
EddyP
Well-Known Member
Yes they are and we have one of them. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Look, it worked out for your boy. He just wasn't a fit here and prolly was never gonna be. He's the man down there. Good for him. He was my idol growing up so I ain't gonna hate on him.
BradBanks02
Well-Known Member
This isn't the OVC, Princess.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
Like I said in an earlier post, Steve's "success" is not supported by facts. In addition, the Big 10 was there for the taking during the period of 1999-2007. There hasn't been a worse 8 years in the conference that I can recall than those 8 years. Especially when compared against the mid-80's to mid-90s period.
ameshawkeye
Well-Known Member
We have a winner! This was my exact thought. How convenient of him to forget to mention Iowa's record before he got there. Like 3 tournament appearances in 8 years is amazing at Iowa, gimme a break.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
I do think that Alford did not get a fair shake in regards to facilities, strength training, etc... He was behind the 8 ball on all accounts. That said, Lute and Mr. Davis were able to sustain success previous to Alford, so it makes this quote a head-scratcher:
How can you talk about Iowa's record before Alford and be taken seriously?
How can you talk about Iowa's record before Alford and be taken seriously?
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
Ok, I was one of the few "Alford apologists" left until his last season at Iowa, but this statement... just.... hmmm....
tm3308
Well-Known Member
This! x1000
Except for, you know, 12 more NCAA victories than Alford.
SwirlinLingerie
Well-Known Member
Perhaps it's true to an extent that Alford didn't have the best facilities, but I don't think it's as easy as saying he didn't get a fair shake.
Iowa didn't have the BEST facilities in the conference, but they weren't the worst either. And Bowlsby was willing to listen and eventually lay out a plan to upgrade facilities. It was simply going to take some time, and Alford made his boss' job that much harder by publicly supporting a player who sexually assaulted a student in the women's athletic program.
Hard to say Alford didn't have a fair shake at that point.
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Regarding 2006:
If we had been a 7-seed losing to a 10, or even a 6 losing to an 11, fan base might chalk it up to "lucky shot, tough loss". But as a 3-seed, and winning BTT, PLUS a couple throw-at-wall-and-see-what-sticks pundits naming us as a possible "upset" victim....PLUS having 15+-point leads in both first AND second halves....
The thing is, someone pointed out that 2007 may have been Alford's best "coaching job" while at Iowa. And that is not a bad argument. But on the heels of the way 2005-2006 season ended, it really didn't matter. If you leave all his seasons "as is", keep his (and his cronies) public comments "as is", but take the whole PP situation out of the equation? I still say fan base was not happy with him.
Conversely, if 2006 ends with a run to Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight, would 2007 have seen him leaving and/or fans calling for his job?
In other words, we can run the whole thing in circles and we're still left with the same results: Alford, Lick, Tom Davis are all gone. It's the FranMac Era, now!
Kinnickson
Well-Known Member
I guess he didn't get the message that WE ARE BAAACCKK!!!!
burky247
Well-Known Member
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
"We had seven winning seasons and we won two Big Ten [tournament] titles," he said. "If you look at the history of Iowa basketball, I think they've won four or five Big Ten titles of any kind. Yet, the perception is we weren't successful there."
Typical Alford.
Forget the fact that the Big Ten tournament began the year before he arrived at Iowa...and forget the fact that Iowa had been to 16 NCAA tournaments in the previous 21 years before he arrived (76.1% of the time), whereas he made it to just three in eight years (37.5% of the time).
Those numbers make this line from Davis' article laughable: If Alford were the coach at his alma mater, Indiana, and he took the team to the NCAA tournament three times in eight years and failed to reach the Sweet 16, that could rightly be characterized as a disappointment. At Iowa, however, that was very impressive.
He hangs his hat on the winning seasons. In this sport, success is defined first by getting to the tournament, then by what you do there. That's why its different than college football.
As for this line: "Remember, too, that Alford didn't get fired at Iowa. He voluntarily left for New Mexico. Why? In the first place, he was undercut by his then-athletic director, Bob Bowlsby, who refused to stand up to the message-board crowd in Alford's defense."
Seth, we understood Alford's dalliance with the open Indiana job. But the flirting with Mizzou on the heels of not getting that, game over.
Know that of which you speak.
Typical Alford.
Forget the fact that the Big Ten tournament began the year before he arrived at Iowa...and forget the fact that Iowa had been to 16 NCAA tournaments in the previous 21 years before he arrived (76.1% of the time), whereas he made it to just three in eight years (37.5% of the time).
Those numbers make this line from Davis' article laughable: If Alford were the coach at his alma mater, Indiana, and he took the team to the NCAA tournament three times in eight years and failed to reach the Sweet 16, that could rightly be characterized as a disappointment. At Iowa, however, that was very impressive.
He hangs his hat on the winning seasons. In this sport, success is defined first by getting to the tournament, then by what you do there. That's why its different than college football.
As for this line: "Remember, too, that Alford didn't get fired at Iowa. He voluntarily left for New Mexico. Why? In the first place, he was undercut by his then-athletic director, Bob Bowlsby, who refused to stand up to the message-board crowd in Alford's defense."
Seth, we understood Alford's dalliance with the open Indiana job. But the flirting with Mizzou on the heels of not getting that, game over.
Know that of which you speak.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
That said, Iowa was at a disadvantage facilities wise and I do understand why that chapped Alford, and why he wanted to be somewhere where basketball got the first fruits.
