that didn't last long before wolves would start howling.

redhawk55

Banned
players can't play defense, coaches can't coach or recruit, some on other sites are calling for a complete cleaning house of all coaching staff including the BB coaches.
if Iowa lose to either ISU or UNI it will get worse
 
I think some people's expectations jumped an extra notch in hopes that the basketball team would fill a void football couldn't. I can't say that my expectations were very high, but thought we would split the WSU and VT games. Now that we lost those games, I can still say that I think this team will be just fine. These young guys will start to feel more comfortable. There is a lot of season left and I believe we got some good days ahead.

EDIT: My expectations weren't extremely low either. Kind of expected same as last year maybe a little better. With young players it's hard to predict.
 
I predicted 17-18 wins and I think we get there. I do think we will lose to UNI and ISU tho...this team will be better in March than December and that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone
 
Freshmen guards and center. What did people expect? NBA caliber play with in six or seven games? I chose to be optimistic before the season started knowing with so much youth there would be bumps along the way. I am still very high on this team. If we get to the big ten tournament and we haven't seen any improvement then you might start to question some things. If I have a concern at this time it would be over how easy other teams are finding it to drive right to the front of the basket. That needs to improve.
 
Can you at least go to a community college and take some writing courses so I know what the hell your saying.
 
I predicted 17-18 wins and I think we get there. I do think we will lose to UNI and ISU tho...this team will be better in March than December and that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone

Bingo. That was my call as well. I do think that overall we'll be a better team than last year, but everyone else in the Big 10 improved as well, so I think the record stays about the same and the NIT comes calling again at season's end.
 
Let's be fair here. The defense sucked last year, too. And the year before that. Concern that the defense will continue to suck is a valid one, IMO. We've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that it will be a solid defensive unit this year, and Fran has yet to have a solid defensive team at Iowa.
 
Let's be fair here. The defense sucked last year, too. And the year before that. Concern that the defense will continue to suck is a valid one, IMO. We've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that it will be a solid defensive unit this year, and Fran has yet to have a solid defensive team at Iowa.

If we want to be 'fair' let's point out that he inherited a roster largely devoid of athleticism and that was not capable of competing at this level even if John Wooden rose from the grave and took the job. It is hard to have a good defensive team with vastly inferior athletes. Today we have a much more athletic(but young) roster with more skilled players who have a chance, not a guarantee, to ultimately compete successfully at the B1G level. NIT is a reasonable expectation for this team although we can all hope they do better. If they are .500 in the B1G Fran should be unanimous coach of the year.
 
TM3308 makes a great point I think it is OK to raise questions when glaring issues aren't addressed through recruiting and aren't going to be addressed by anyone on the current roster. Fact: We have been terrible defensively and it appears that trend is going to continue. Fact: We get dominated physically by teams with size and athletes, which is most of the big ten. Olaseni, Woodbury, Basabe and McCabe aren't on the same level physically as what we saw against WSU and VT and will see against most of the big ten. I like McCaffrey, think he has done a nice job of upgrading the talent, but I can't say I would give him an A at this point for addressing key needs. When this staff came to IC, we heard about McCaffrey's east coast ties, Speraw's ties to juco programs in the southeast and Dillard's ties to Texas. Thus far, the staff has done a nice job of finding some overlooked guys, but you have to be extremely lucky to build a NCAA tourney qualifying team with overlooked guys. To get to the next tier of talent, we need to be relevant in March, so it is a catch 22.
 
Freshmen guards and center. What did people expect? NBA caliber play with in six or seven games? I chose to be optimistic before the season started knowing with so much youth there would be bumps along the way. I am still very high on this team. If we get to the big ten tournament and we haven't seen any improvement then you might start to question some things. If I have a concern at this time it would be over how easy other teams are finding it to drive right to the front of the basket. That needs to improve.

Agree. Speaks alot to the lack of help defense, specifically the guys like Woodbury, Basabe, etc who's jobs are to man the lane and hoop. It aint happening much right now. But...let's not jump off the cliff yet. It's only been 7 games.
 
Let's be fair here. The defense sucked last year, too. And the year before that. Concern that the defense will continue to suck is a valid one, IMO. We've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that it will be a solid defensive unit this year, and Fran has yet to have a solid defensive team at Iowa.

The D hasn't been great. We obviously miss Matty G more than just for his scoring. He really turned into a good defender his SR year. Fran needs to get someone in the middle with an attitude; a Reggie Evans type player. Though rebounding numbers were somewhat even, it sure feels like we got killed on the glass the last few games.
 
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