Alford's last season was probably his best coaching job at Iowa. Finishing 4th in the Big Ten after losing what he did, was very impressive.
Seth Davis Critiques UI Basketball Program
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Alford's last season was probably his best coaching job at Iowa. Finishing 4th in the Big Ten after losing what he did, was very impressive.
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
I have a few bones to pick with the comments from Seth Davis and Alford, but all in all, not that bad.
Alford says, "In this profession, it's hard to stay long-term at one place". I'll bite...er..Coach K, Bobby Knight, Ray Meyer, Billy Donavan, Lute Olson and a host of others.
He goes on to say, "...unless you're winning 20 games and advancing in the NCAA tournament every year". He's done that once, at Southwest Missouri State. Sure, he's won 20 games. And, in one season, he advanced past the secomd round of NCAAs. He's never done both, though.
I DO take issue with Seth Davis saying what he did at Iowa was "impressive". Sure, Alford DID take the program to the next level. It just wasn't the next level UP.
But, it's also fair to say people placed unrealistic expectations on him. Hell, Tom Davis NEVER lost in the first round, took us withina few whiskers of the Final Four, never got embarrassed in the first or second round of the NIT AND handled himself with great dignity during the worst tragedy that could have happened to a team when Christ Street was killed. Yet, many were quick to say his Final Four was with Raveling's recruits and he couldn't recruit.
In the end, this is the FranMac Era, baby!
Alford says, "In this profession, it's hard to stay long-term at one place". I'll bite...er..Coach K, Bobby Knight, Ray Meyer, Billy Donavan, Lute Olson and a host of others.
He goes on to say, "...unless you're winning 20 games and advancing in the NCAA tournament every year". He's done that once, at Southwest Missouri State. Sure, he's won 20 games. And, in one season, he advanced past the secomd round of NCAAs. He's never done both, though.
I DO take issue with Seth Davis saying what he did at Iowa was "impressive". Sure, Alford DID take the program to the next level. It just wasn't the next level UP.
But, it's also fair to say people placed unrealistic expectations on him. Hell, Tom Davis NEVER lost in the first round, took us withina few whiskers of the Final Four, never got embarrassed in the first or second round of the NIT AND handled himself with great dignity during the worst tragedy that could have happened to a team when Christ Street was killed. Yet, many were quick to say his Final Four was with Raveling's recruits and he couldn't recruit.
In the end, this is the FranMac Era, baby!
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Unfortunately, it came on the heels of the 2006 first-round crusher...
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
They had to split time w/ other sports just to practice, usually during awful times of the day.
The facilities were very poor for a Power 6 school.
Yeah I had heard Iowa, Northwestern and Michigan had the worst facilietes in the big 10 by far compared to the other programs.
I know Iowa and Michigan have fixed this and Northwestern is trying to address the issue but have more obsticles.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
Tyler Smith
Adam Haluska
Mike Henderson
Tony Freeman
Cy Tate
Justin Johnson
How many of those players played professionally after Iowa?
Additionally, if his last season he had such poor talent (I assume that's what you are eluding to), who's fault is that?
Not to mention the Big Ten was the 3rd or 4th best conf in the land that year.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
I can't fault Alford for this either.
His guys couldn't get in to shoot, they had highly irregular practice times, no committed S&C coach.
RoseBowlBound
Well-Known Member
Heard a story about Alford today. Friend told me that in Lickliters first player meeting with Tyler Smith, Tyler said " we gotta deal, I still want my money". Lick responds with "choose a school and ill sign your transfer papers." now this may be false but it wouldn't surprise me if alford is dirty. Looking back at his tenure ill i see is frustration with momentary happiness.
clicheusername3
Banned
More obsticles, less testicles
SwirlinLingerie
Well-Known Member
Sure, but this happened at other Big Ten schools, too. Not all of them, certainly not at the better programs, but at some of them. More than a dozen years after Alford started b*tching about these issues, Tubby has no practice facility and plays in a decrepit building.
I grew up with some kids whose parents worked in the athletic department, and the inside story I got was that Alford pretty much started demanding everything from day 1. Bowlsby was receptive to helping Alford so that he would be on a competitive footing with the top dogs in the conference.
However, ADs can't make funds appear overnight, and Alford's behavior negatively impacted Bowlby's ability to upgrade facilities for men's basketball.
Could be true.....
If you are going to pay someone at least make sure you win.
John Wooden paid guys, well he didn't but Sam Gilbert did and John Wooden knew.
HawkinGoferLand
Well-Known Member
I think MN is way down the list too, no practice facility and an 88 yr old arena that is nostalgic but crappy if you are an 18 yr old recruit.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Thanks for backing me up, JD. Had Alford had half the fan and financial support Fran has had, we would have some serious hardware.
clicheusername3
Banned
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Alford's record wasn't terrible...the on court activity was fine, it was everything else that surrounded the Iowa program...eligibility issues, players leaving, players getting kicked off, players getting arrested and did I mention in his tenure Iowa graduated 7 players that started at Iowa and finished at Iowa, how many years and freshman did he bring in over that time? The NCAA does not recognize transfers in (JUCO or otherwise) in the APR score. There were a lot of recruits that never made it to campus.
The PP situation told me a lot about Alford...I will just leave it at that.
The PP situation told me a lot about Alford...I will just leave it at that.
bcl20
Well-Known Member
Guys NBA career rests upon this game tomorrow night as well.
FBletterman
Well-Known Member
Real hard to argue with that piece. Alford's record prior and Alford's performance after Iowa, coupled by Iowas performance after he left is an absolutely damning statement. Alford's a good coach.
All you who love to quote the Tom Davis era fail to mention that during his tenure our faculties and support were unmatched in college Basketball. After Davis the arms race began in college and we kept up in football but fell way behind in basketball.
All you who love to quote the Tom Davis era fail to mention that during his tenure our faculties and support were unmatched in college Basketball. After Davis the arms race began in college and we kept up in football but fell way behind in basketball.
Tmoney12
Well-Known Member
Do you slick back your hair?
What does playing professionally have to do with how good someone is in college? Almost any major conference scrub can find some professional league to play in for a couple of years. Playing in the NBA is one thing, but making any professional league the cut off for college talent is idiotic.
That team had two better than average B10 players on it and a bunch of average at best role players. Any team that loses four of the top six guys off a 25 win squad is going to fall off. Iowa is never going to be a program that reloads every year, but he kept them more than decent after one of the best years in school history. Plus in Smith he had the kind of player you can build a big ten winner around and his recruiting was really picking up too.
If it wasn't for the lack of fan support, Iowa would have been on their way to continued success with, as Seth Davis so nicely put it, "one of the finest basketball coaches in America".