So what is going to take to win at Iowa

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
The first thing that comes to mind is recruit some top players on a consistent basis. Really the only great recruiter we have had was Raveling. Miller did a good job of recruiting the JCs but that was a different era. Lute really never recruited great players except Lester which turned out to be the difference along with the fact that Olsen was a great coach and knew how to play with the players he had. Davis was a decent coach who got a few "good" players but really never did much after the Raveling group was gone
McCaffrey has pretty much proven that he is not a good recruiter and that goes for his staff who are still all with him and not coaching their own program which says a lot
So how can it happen? You have to get lucky with a player or two like Olsen with Lester and then you have to really do a good coaching job with the players you have and start winning and hope that helps open up recruiting. I don't like to be pessimistic but I think that's not likely with this coaching staff Hope i am wrong I think this year will tell
 
I still feel that Fran really dropped the ball a few years ago with those late season collapses. One year, ranked #10 in January, then tanked and lost in the first-four game to Tennessee.

Two years later, was ranked #3 in January, projected as a 1 seed, then melted down and tumbled all the way to a 7 seed.

Those two years, the team had a chance to get a nice seed and make a good NCAA run, which IMO would've helped turn some heads. The NCAA invites were fine, but losing in the First Four and getting our doors blown off in second round games a couple times didn't really do much to improve our "status" IMO, the way deeper runs may have. Just really a huge missed opportunity to start developing a reputation as a basketball program and boost recruiting.

Now, here we are, coming off a 19 loss season, and wondering why we can't keep the state's top talent from going elsewhere.. It's not hard to figure out.

Just my opinion, though.
 
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Being realistic?

Hiring a dirt bag coach a la Calipari or Pitino to pay one & dones to come here and play a year.
 
The right fit I suppose at coach. I really thought Fran was that. It's appearing he's not. There's something so entirely stale about the program right now that I feel like is becoming so insurmountable to over come now for the current staff. WI didn't have a dirt bag coach (debatable). Creighton doesn't have a dirtbag coach. Those programs aren't getting a lot of one and dones? I don't have the answer, I just want Iowa to be good.
 
A better home court, with a better atmosphere with less seating. The whole thing is stale.But how do you bring the crowd with out the wins? Fran needs to win, period.
 
I wouldn’t say Fran can’t recruit. He’s shown the ability to land some pretty good players from out of state and lock down the majority of the instate talent. He certainly had his recruiting failures which have been well documented around here. (I don’t care for a huge discussion here we’ve been there before)

Last year to me was not a talent issue, it was bad roster construction, poor team chemistry, and bad coaching issue.

In order for Iowa to have success we first must find a way to consistently make the dance. If we can do that hopefully we can start landing some of these bigger recruits. With some decent players coming in from out of state and when the instate recruiting is fruitful we should be able to build a team that can compete for a B1G title and make a solid NCAA run.

Is Fran the guy to do that? I’m not sure, it’s looking more unlikely by the day, but if you would have asked that after 3 strait dances and Tyler Cook coming in, our mindset would have been different. He’s gotta get this thing back on track in a hurry or it will be time to move on.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I wouldn’t say Fran can’t recruit. He’s shown the ability to land some pretty good players from out of state and lock down the majority of the instate talent. He certainly had his recruiting failures which have been well documented around here. (I don’t care for a huge discussion here we’ve been there before)

Last year to me was not a talent issue, it was bad roster construction, poor team chemistry, and bad coaching issue.

In order for Iowa to have success we first must find a way to consistently make the dance. If we can do that hopefully we can start landing some of these bigger recruits. With some decent players coming in from out of state and when the instate recruiting is fruitful we should be able to build a team that can compete for a B1G title and make a solid NCAA run.

Is Fran the guy to do that? I’m not sure, it’s looking more unlikely by the day, but if you would have asked that after 3 strait dances and Tyler Cook coming in, our mindset would have been different. He’s gotta get this thing back on track in a hurry or it will be time to move on.
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100% agree with this take. What is Iowa's back up plan for this news? Where else do we go now in 2019?
 
InGoodCo said:
100% agree with this take. What is Iowa's back up plan for this news? Where else do we go now in 2019?
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Well Plan A was Carton and Plan B was Terry and they are both committed elsewhere. I still think we need to bring in a PG in the 2019 class so hopefully they can figure something out.

What if we tried to flip Locure and redshirt him first year on campus to get him acclimated to the college lifestyle? If that’s the concern with him give him a chance and if he doesn’t cut it freshman year as a redshirt he will likely be gone one way or another.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
Well Plan A was Carton and Plan B was Terry and they are both committed elsewhere. I still think we need to bring in a PG in the 2019 class so hopefully they can figure something out.

What if we tried to flip Locure and redshirt him first year on campus to get him acclimated to the college lifestyle? If that’s the concern with him give him a chance and if he doesn’t cut it freshman year as a redshirt he will likely be gone one way or another.
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That's what I was wondering - is the door completely shut on TL? Also - I heard we were possibly in on a 3 star PG from Buffalo? Unsure of his name. I am hopeful that with DJ letting Iowa know now that they at least have targets they haven't been offering because they were showing him the love.
 
NEIChawk said:
And a damn good string of point guards
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Not necessarily. I think people are putting too much on this point guard topic. Iowa scored enough pts. to win games last year, and enough to get into the tournament. The team clearly lacked defense, which has happened other years as well. This team did not make the tournament because of the complete lack of an effective defense, not because of lack of point guard play.

A true point guard will be a bonus on this team. Getting a true point guard who is also great lock down defender is key to this team, again, going back on the defense point.

Iowa shores up its defense as a team, then Iowa succeeds.

No true penetrating PG on last years team was ever going to score enough to make up for the difference in points from lackluster defense, it just wasn't!! People are getting blinders on about this need for a true PG discussion. Iowa gets the points from the PG position and has a PG that is a threat shooting the 3. Again, it's the defense at that position that is the culprit.
 
InGoodCo said:
That's what I was wondering - is the door completely shut on TL? Also - I heard we were possibly in on a 3 star PG from Buffalo? Unsure of his name. I am hopeful that with DJ letting Iowa know now that they at least have targets they haven't been offering because they were showing him the love.
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Not sure on Tyreke, I would think the draw of playing in the B1G would be a good selling point but who knows. Side note, would be interesting if D.J. and Tyreke matched up against one another this year.

Noah Hutchins is the PG from buffalo who seems like the next target.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Not necessarily. I think people are putting too much on this point guard topic. Iowa scored enough pts. to win games last year, and enough to get into the tournament. The team clearly lacked defense, which has happened other years as well. This team did not make the tournament because of the complete lack of an effective defense, not because of lack of point guard play.

A true point guard will be a bonus on this team. Getting a true point guard who is also great lock down defender is key to this team, again, going back on the defense point.

Iowa shores up its defense as a team, then Iowa succeeds.

No true penetrating PG on last years team was ever going to score enough to make up for the difference in points from lackluster defense, it just wasn't!! People are getting blinders on about this need for a true PG discussion. Iowa gets the points from the PG position and has a PG that is a threat shooting the 3. Again, it's the defense at that position that is the culprit.
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This! Good god people.

Iowa had the number 3 offense in the B1G last year and was only out of first by .7 pts. That's correct; less than a free throw.

Iowa was 19th in the entire country in offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions). Not just P6 schools, the entire country.

That's how horrifically bad our defense is. You folks out there whining about losing this point guard or that point guard like it's going to cancel the season or something, need to wake up and look at recruits who can stay in front of shooters, box out, and rebound the basketball. Those types of guys will actually hurt to lose.

Bohannon will be fine if [fill in the blank] can actually draw a defender or two and keep J-Bo from the desperation passes and shots. Offense isn't the issue here.
 
QuadCityHawkeye said:
Iowa will never get 4 and 5 start recruits year in and year out. To win at Iowa you need guys to get better along the way and stay healthy. Fundamentals are key and mixing in a 4 star kid here and there will help.
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Pretty good points. Rare is an Iowa teams that brings in a class that absolutely blows people away. But I think they do need to up the recruiting game.

Not sure WHAT went wrong with Carton. Then again, not sure why he seemed to be the only "answer". Losing in-state guys to ACC and blue-bloods is one thing, but losing them to other B1G schools is definitely problematic. IF it becomes a trend, definite change is needed on the sidelines.
 
Fryowa said:
This! Good god people.

Iowa had the number 3 offense in the B1G last year and was only out of first by .7 pts. That's correct; less than a free throw.

Iowa was 19th in the entire country in offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions). Not just P6 schools, the entire country.

That's how horrifically bad our defense is. You folks out there whining about losing this point guard or that point guard like it's going to cancel the season or something, need to wake up and look at recruits who can stay in front of shooters, box out, and rebound the basketball. Those types of guys will actually hurt to lose.

Bohannon will be fine if [fill in the blank] can actually draw a defender or two and keep J-Bo from the desperation passes and shots. Offense isn't the issue here.
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In this particular instance, it's losing an in-state guy to other B1G schools that concerns me. It's one thing if they go to a blue-blood/ACC school, etc., but when they are going other state schools in the B1G, THAT is worrisome.
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
In this particular instance, it's losing an in-state guy to other B1G schools that concerns me. It's one thing if they go to a blue-blood/ACC school, etc., but when they are going other state schools in the B1G, THAT is worrisome.
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It shouldn't be surprising though. Iowa is a less than mediocre basketball school. It's been 20 years since the Hawks went deeper than the 2nd round of the tournament and in that span they've only qualified 6 times (5 if you think the play-in game is bullshit, like me). Iowa State eats our lunch in both of those categories and they have two conference wins.

ISU, UNI, and Creighton (I know it's not Iowa, but come on...) have all made more NCAA tournaments than us, gone deeper, and had more conference titles. I know UNI and Creighton are MVC schools, but they also don't have anywhere close to the resources Iowa does to recruit and get on TV in a major conference.

We need to face it that Iowa is a small fish now, and it's been a small fish long enough for that description to stick. This ain't Tom Davisland anymore. 5 star guys, even in-state ones, aren't going to come here if they don't feel like they can play post season ball and win games. Iowa has to give them a reason other than where they were born.
 
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