The Fran Conundrum

dwghawk said:
Sort of. Personally I think BJ Armstrong and Ronnie Lester were the best guards to ever play at Iowa. I'm sure I might get an argument from some of the old dudes from the Ralph Miller days though. I would love to see Iowa come up with another BJ Armstrong. I just think a good solid senior PG with some leadership ability could make a huge difference in this team. Wouldn't take a BJ Armstrong in my opinion. Fran needs to find that guy soon.
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Yep, I agree. The troops have no General.
 
BigD said:
Yep, I agree. The troops have no General.
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It's kind of "magical" thinking.
"If we just had this one guy things wouldn't be broken."
Well we don't, so they are.
You can't fix a program with one player. Especially if that player has a mentor who doesn't teach defense.
You can fix a program with one coach though. Lute and Hayden proved that.
 
thedukeofearl said:
Yeah, BigD......

I hope that none of our children or anyone of us has a brain tumor. The physical, emotional and psychological effects cannot be measured. Patrick McCaffrey has survived this deadly condition and is strong and talented enough to gain national recognition for his abilities. When I watch his video clips I don't think I am watching Fran and Marge's son. I see a very talented basketball player who still has another year in high school to refine and develop his natural talent......

Anyone who has even the slightest smidgeon of basketball knowledge would see that talent. He is obviously a serious threat offensively. He is extremely quick to the basket, although not as explosive as Tyler Cook. He will certainly help the Hawks. Tyler is the only one who can create his own shot right now. When Joe arrives we will have two explosive threats on the floor. A year later Patrick will arrive and we will be a force offensively.....

I was very impressed with the leadership and control of Connor when he was in the game, We were a different team with him running the show. He understands the game better than any other player on the roster right now. This was playing far from full strength. When he recovers and heals completely, he will make the Hawks a far better team. He is not an official point guard but is quite capable of playing that position, The ball moves when he is at the helm. He doesn't throw the ball away when no one is open. He dribbles around until there is an opening.....

His defense is solid as evidenced during one sequence in the Colorado game. He was covering their talented point guard very tightly so that he was unable to receive a pass. This is one of the most important aspects of playing D, covering your man so tightly that he is a nonfactor on offense because he doesn't have possession of the ball.....

As far as recruiting Luka and Jack. We had to take them when they were available. They will improve as they gain experience. Garza already is playing more comfortably, adjusting to his role on the team as shown in the Ohio State game. Jack is also coming along well, and is playing good D on the perimeter most times. Would I like to have a talented Official point guard? Of course, I would. That is the number position we need to fill. Perhaps DJ Carton will play for the Hawks. We better get him onboard. If we do, we will have a strong team that will contend for the Big Championship.....

Just a matter of time. I am just going to relax and watch for the current team to improve and enjoy the upsets coming up.....

Not certain that a victory looms at Maryland tonight though.....

Plus we do Not play well in Champaign.....

It is what it is.....

:cool:
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At this point this season is only about player development and getting better as a team on defense.
 
DJL said:
I shouldn’t post after watching Iowa this season. It’s just so bad. In year 8, this is ridiculous. Unacceptable. It’s time to move on.
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I would give Fran one more year after this season to right the ship. If we don’t bounce back next season then he has to go. I know it may sound crazy since I was one of the few that was hard on Fran about three or four years ago, but we may see a significant improvement next season. How could we not?

Here’s the unthinkable question........... If Fran doesn’t win a single conference game this year do you fire him? Do you think Barta will if that happens?
 
BigD said:
I would give Fran one more year after this season to right the ship. If we don’t bounce back next season then he has to go. I know it may sound crazy since I was one of the few that was hard on Fran about three or four years ago, but we may see a significant improvement next season. How could we not?

Here’s the unthinkable question........... If Fran doesn’t win a single conference game this year do you fire him? Do you Barta will if that happens?
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I think he gets 1 more year regardless of what happens this year.
 
DJL said:
I think he gets 1 more year regardless of what happens this year.
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I think he does too but Fran’s seat will be red hot the next season. I would also borrow Doyle to work with all of our bigs.
 
If he doesn't win a single conference game after all of the off season hype, he has to go. We can't tolerate that at Iowa. It's embarrassing to the university and the state.
 
BigD said:
I think he does too but Fran’s seat will be red hot the next season. I would also borrow Doyle to work with all of our bigs.
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The overall lack of defensive effort at times is frustrating. But it’s not just a will issue, it’s also a skill issue. Scary that this far into his tenure, Fran has a roster so void of athletes.
 
DJL said:
The overall lack of defensive effort at times is frustrating. But it’s not just a will issue, it’s also a skill issue. Scary that this far into his tenure, Fran has a roster so void of athletes.
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The closest thing he has to athletes is, Cook, Moss, and Dailey. If all three can improve their outside shooting then all three could be damn good. If only ifs and buts were candy and nuts what a wonderful world this would be.
 
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If we win zero conference games and Fran is still there I’m done financially supporting Iowa Athletics until Barta is gone. I live 5 hours, one way, from Iowa City and I still go to 4-5 sporting events per year and usually take my whole family of 5 so that’s 20-25 tickets plus hotel rooms, food, gas, etc. I’m already not going to a basketball game next year. My kids said they don’t want to. Tired of seeing the Hawks lose to bad teams (UNO and PSU). May not go to a football game either if Barta doesn’t show he has a pair.
 
There is no reason to keep him if he doesn't win another game. Next year would be impossible to bounce back far enough to be worth keeping him after next year. I think he needs to win at least 4 games to come back next year.
 
It would be insane if he didn't get fired after going 0-fer in the BIG. That said, I think we win a few which should make the final decision interesting.
 
CJHawkeye said:
If we win zero conference games and Fran is still there I’m done financially supporting Iowa Athletics until Barta is gone. I live 5 hours, one way, from Iowa City and I still go to 4-5 sporting events per year and usually take my whole family of 5 so that’s 20-25 tickets plus hotel rooms, food, gas, etc. I’m already not going to a basketball game next year. My kids said they don’t want to. Tired of seeing the Hawks lose to bad teams (UNO and PSU). May not go to a football game either if Barta doesn’t show he has a pair.
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Who can blame you? Iowa’s athlestic program is a total joke right now. I am beginning the see a lot of similarities between the way Iowa and Iowa State fans like to rationalize every thing. Embarrassing.

Go Bulldogs and crush Bama!!!
 
homes said:
The chance of Barta doing anything about the basketball program is zero. Zero. There is no conundrum in Barta's mind.
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Are you sure? Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't Fran have just two years left on his contract? If so then why hasn't Barta extended? Especially after Patrick and Weiscamp have committed.
 
Gohawks123 said:
It would be insane if he didn't get fired after going 0-fer in the BIG. That said, I think we win a few which should make the final decision interesting.
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Tonight there was times when I saw a flicker of hope and thought we will can beat these guys at home and maybe another team or two. Your right though 3-13 in the B1G will give Barta something to think about. O fer 16 might give Barta a few restless nights of sleep.

Did everyone look at the faces of the crowd in Robs last article. Those are the seat along the courtside or your money guys and none of them looked to damn happy.
 
Joshbrown said:
It's kind of "magical" thinking.
"If we just had this one guy things wouldn't be broken."
Well we don't, so they are.
You can't fix a program with one player. Especially if that player has a mentor who doesn't teach defense.
You can fix a program with one coach though. Lute and Hayden proved that.
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I think BJ Armstrong would go a long ways in fixing this program.

I do want to make it clear that Im not saying Bohannon isn't a good player and couldn't become the solid PG Iowa needs. First off he has a shooting guards mentality. Secondly as a sophomore he should be playing behind a senior learning the position. The recruiting situation at Iowa was left in such a mess by Lick it was impossible to set up the natural progression from freshman to senior at most of the positions, especially PG. Iowa has suffered over the last 2 or 3 years because of it. IMO Iowa hasn't had a true PG since he has been at Iowa. Thats why I'm saying Fran needs to find a PG or two that can start to get that progression going. Bohannon will be a junior next year and I see nobody behind him that I think has true PG ability/mentality. Maybe a good Juco prospect to help fill the immediate need and a high schooler for the future.

I do like Fran. He took over a total shit show left by the combination of the 10 + years of Alford and Lick. In my mind Iowa is still suffering from that decade of doom. The question is, How much time do you give a coach to fix the total mess the Iowa basketball program was in?
 
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