The Alford Stuff

DodgerHawki said:
I love what Fran is doing, but you do realize that the only decade Iowa has made 8 out of 10 NCAA tournaments is the 1980s? The rise of the MSU, OSU, Wisconsin programs since Iowa's heyday in the 1980s and the favorable skew toward getting mid-majors as at-large teams in the tournament make it extremely difficult for Iowa to have another 10-year run where they make the NCAA tournament 8 times.
Not saying it's impossible, just that making the tournament 80% of the time is a marker I'm not sure can be reasonably reached by a coach at Iowa. I'll be thrilled if Fran coaches at Iowa 10 more years and in that time we make the tourney 6 times. After making it 2 times in the last 10 years and 3 in the last 14 years, just getting there 2 years in a row and actually winning a game will be a huge first step.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. The strength at Wisconsin is a big problem and Izzo's greasiness exceeds Heathcote's by 1000x. OSU has come a LONG way under Matta. We got pushed down in the conference and I don't know that any coach could have really changed that trajectory. Couple that with the mid major love (and the fact that the mid majors now each have a couple of guys who could be on BCS conference teams who wanted early PT or who were late bloomers) and we have a recipe for a middle of the pack B10 program like Iowa to get shuffled out of the mix. It sucks, but that's the landscape nowadays. Saint Frances is turning it around to the point that now even I have hope for the future, but even I'm not expecting him to get us back to '80's level of success.
 
Iowa wants to be a premier top tier basketball program and it struggles to get to the middle of the conference each year. We were pretty hard on Alford in allot of ways. He couldn't recruit and bring talent to Iowa City. He only had one losing season if you look at over all non-conference but he sucked in conference with only 3 out of 8 seasons where he won more then he lost. It seems to me our expectations have gone down for what we expect out of Iowa basketball because I'm not seeing much out of Fran that would convince me to keep him around much longer. It doesn't matter at this point what Alford "thinks" or tells his buddies and then they spew it back out via Dakich or whoever, his current record speaks for itself and were left back in the frozen tundra twiddling our thumbs and mad because we didn't get an NCAA bid !
Alford_zpscf6720c8.jpg
 
The exit of Mr Alford was beneficial to both parties. It was obvious that Mr Alford lacked the abilities to be a successful Big Ten basketball head coach. He was a "BUT" coach. " "BUT" for this or that I would have succeeded." Always an excuse rather than admit personal responsibility.

I always felt sorry for his immediate family in the latter days. In the days before he headed off to Lobo land the animosity that had been created was getting ugly. The remnants of it still exist or we would not be talking about it. It has been six years since he departed and WE; I include myself, are unable to resist commenting on Mr Alford. It is why I hope Fran can have NCAA success in the near future. The Iowa fan base can move on once that occurs. It is the validation that needs to occur.
 
DodgerHawki said:
I love what Fran is doing, but you do realize that the only decade Iowa has made 8 out of 10 NCAA tournaments is the 1980s? The rise of the MSU, OSU, Wisconsin programs since Iowa's heyday in the 1980s and the favorable skew toward getting mid-majors as at-large teams in the tournament make it extremely difficult for Iowa to have another 10-year run where they make the NCAA tournament 8 times.
Not saying it's impossible, just that making the tournament 80% of the time is a marker I'm not sure can be reasonably reached by a coach at Iowa. I'll be thrilled if Fran coaches at Iowa 10 more years and in that time we make the tourney 6 times. After making it 2 times in the last 10 years and 3 in the last 14 years, just getting there 2 years in a row and actually winning a game will be a huge first step.
Click to expand...


You do realize that the only time DUKE has made the NCAAs more than 3 times in a DECADE has been since Mike Krzykewski arrived, right?
 
ssckelley said:
Iowa was already getting to the NCAA tournament before Alford got here, and on a more regular basis with a lot more success than Alford ever had (Davis never lost in the first round). The next level was supposed to be Elite Eight, Final Four appearances, shots at the National Championship which was something Davis did not do (1 Elite 8 appearance). Don't tell me how great everything was while Alford was here, he set the program back a notch and then bailed once his seat started to get a little warm. Not only did he set the program back but he also managed to upset the fan base, and most importantly, the students by protecting a rapist. The biggest deush bag Iowa has ever had as a coach in any sport.
Click to expand...

This thought occurred to me too - that Alford inherited a program that was in far better shape than it was where Fran inherited it. Yes, I realize that Alford did not inherit much from that Sweet 16 team from 1999, but in 1999, as a PROGRAM, "Iowa Basketball" had a certain reputation. That changed pretty drastically between 1999 and 2010.

When Alford was hired - the previous three coaches were Lute, Raveling and Davis. When Fran was hired, the previous two coaches were Alford and Lick. So tell me which coach walked into a better situation - Fran or Alf - and which coach do you think will end up producing more results at Iowa?
 
Last edited:
TChawk said:
Well at least he got us to the NCAA tourny, that is more than you can saw for the last 2 coaches so far.
Click to expand...

Iowa was already a regular participant in the NCAA when he got there. Fran will be there next year.

If that is all you got in response to the next level...wow low expectations?
 
99topdawg said:
Are you implying that you think he has a current or former boss that is giving him a bad reference so he won't leave?
Click to expand...

No, he's implying Neal can't get hired because, well,

Put it this way. Every staff has at least one guy that does the dirty work to varying degrees to get players.

And Jon would be correct in his insinuation.

JonDMiller said:
Funny that, isn't it, that no one has hired Neal even when he's tried hard to get hired?
Click to expand...
 
Skeets77 said:
Iowa wants to be a premier top tier basketball program and it struggles to get to the middle of the conference each year. We were pretty hard on Alford in allot of ways. He couldn't recruit and bring talent to Iowa City. He only had one losing season if you look at over all non-conference but he sucked in conference with only 3 out of 8 seasons where he won more then he lost. It seems to me our expectations have gone down for what we expect out of Iowa basketball because I'm not seeing much out of Fran that would convince me to keep him around much longer. It doesn't matter at this point what Alford "thinks" or tells his buddies and then they spew it back out via Dakich or whoever, his current record speaks for itself and were left back in the frozen tundra twiddling our thumbs and mad because we didn't get an NCAA bid !
Alford_zpscf6720c8.jpg
Click to expand...

Iowa was an elite basketball program under Lute Olsen, George Raveling, and Mr. Davis Davis. Lute took Iowa to the Final 4 and Sweet 16 after taking over a program that was junk. Raveling had us in the NCAA tournament 2 out of 3 years (66%) and was the best recruiter that Iowa will ever see. Mr. Davis Davis took Iowa to the Elite 8 and two Sweet 16s and made the NCAA tournament 9 out of 13 years. Over a twenty year span from 1978 to 1998, Iowa made the NCAA tournament 16 times and the NIT twice. A Final 4, an ELITE 8 and 2 SWEET 16 appearances puts a program up there among some of the best in the country.

Then Bowlsby decides not to extend Dr Toms contract and he coaches his lame duck season. Recruiting took a huge hit because quite frankly there was no recruiting during that year. Then wonderboy took a 12th seeded SW Missouri St team to the NCAAs for his one and only legit tournament run and beat the 5 seed Wisconsin, 4 seed Tennessee and eventually lost the 1 seed Duke in the Sweet 16. He was the flavor of the month, which apparently we liked to hire (alford and Lackluster). He comes to Iowa with a bunch of hype. His first legit recruiting class included Reggie Evans and a college transfer by the name of Luke Recker. He couldn't figure out how to manage egos that were the size of his. There wasn't enough room in the gym for the players and the coaches. He was a terrible Xs and Os coach and was even worse at building relationships with his players. Transfers ensued and continued and continued until finally Noodle$ came along and was able to create the right atmo$phere at Iowa. Tyler Smith comes to Iowa and saves aflords *** for a short period of time. Then Tyler gets tired of steves BS and was going to transfer at Chiristmas break - this little tidbit is often glossed over or completely forgotten by some. Noodle$ convince$ him to $tay and finish out the season. It was at that point that alford's agent started reaching out to other programs and through his friend Bobby Knight, landed the job at NM.
 
Skeets77 said:
Iowa wants to be a premier top tier basketball program and it struggles to get to the middle of the conference each year. We were pretty hard on Alford in allot of ways. He couldn't recruit and bring talent to Iowa City. He only had one losing season if you look at over all non-conference but he sucked in conference with only 3 out of 8 seasons where he won more then he lost. It seems to me our expectations have gone down for what we expect out of Iowa basketball because I'm not seeing much out of Fran that would convince me to keep him around much longer. It doesn't matter at this point what Alford "thinks" or tells his buddies and then they spew it back out via Dakich or whoever, his current record speaks for itself and were left back in the frozen tundra twiddling our thumbs and mad because we didn't get an NCAA bid !
Alford_zpscf6720c8.jpg
Click to expand...


Those two post-season resumes look pretty similar don't they? I don't give a rip about the regular season records.. The numbers look gaudy, but those wins did not come in the Big Ten. Apples & Oranges.

Alford continues to fall on his face in the post-season at UNM exactly the way he did at Iowa.

If anything, Alf is continuing to earn the name "The Fraud" even more at UNM when you look at those regular season records. Alot like Alf's 2005-06 season: 25 wins, and a 1st round loss to a 14 seed. Same coach, same crap, different program.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
Iowa was an elite basketball program under Lute Olsen, George Raveling, and Mr. Davis Davis. Lute took Iowa to the Final 4 and Sweet 16 after taking over a program that was junk. Raveling had us in the NCAA tournament 2 out of 3 years (66%) and was the best recruiter that Iowa will ever see. Mr. Davis Davis took Iowa to the Elite 8 and two Sweet 16s and made the NCAA tournament 9 out of 13 years. Over a twenty year span from 1978 to 1998, Iowa made the NCAA tournament 16 times and the NIT twice. A Final 4, an ELITE 8 and 2 SWEET 16 appearances puts a program up there among some of the best in the country.

Then Bowlsby decides not to extend Dr Toms contract and he coaches his lame duck season. Recruiting took a huge hit because quite frankly there was no recruiting during that year. Then wonderboy took a 12th seeded SW Missouri St team to the NCAAs for his one and only legit tournament run and beat the 5 seed Wisconsin, 4 seed Tennessee and eventually lost the 1 seed Duke in the Sweet 16. He was the flavor of the month, which apparently we liked to hire (alford and Lackluster). He comes to Iowa with a bunch of hype. His first legit recruiting class included Reggie Evans and a college transfer by the name of Luke Recker. He couldn't figure out how to manage egos that were the size of his. There wasn't enough room in the gym for the players and the coaches. He was a terrible Xs and Os coach and was even worse at building relationships with his players. Transfers ensued and continued and continued until finally Noodle$ came along and was able to create the right atmo$phere at Iowa. Tyler Smith comes to Iowa and saves aflords *** for a short period of time. Then Tyler gets tired of steves BS and was going to transfer at Chiristmas break - this little tidbit is often glossed over or completely forgotten by some. Noodle$ convince$ him to $tay and finish out the season. It was at that point that alford's agent started reaching out to other programs and through his friend Bobby Knight, landed the job at NM.
Click to expand...

Iowa wasn't elite by the time we were operating with solely Mr. Davis's players. Mr. Davis was like a slightly better Bruce Weber - could win with the other coach's guys, but never got that blockbuster recruiting class to get him back to the top. However, in Mr. Davis's defense, the death of Street really changed the trajectory of the program and rumors were that Raef was leaning heavy toward Iowa due to Street, but that disappeared when Street passed. That one event honestly could have changed the course of Mr. Davis's career pretty drastically. I was at the game where the '87 team was honored last season and the love for Mr. Davis when he was announced was simply amazing. It takes a big man to walk back into that arena after the way he was treated at the end and Mr. Davis was that big man. I don't know if we'll ever see another coach like him.
 
Wait just a damn minute. Was that a positive post by okeefe? Wtf? Someone call someone. This may be a cry for help or something. Something's not right.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top