time for change

Scott Leclair

Well-Known Member
Yes we run the risk of the disastrous Lickliter area. But Fran has taken Iowa as far as he can. Just like Kirk, Iowa needs young head coaches
 
Iowa has spent time in the top 25 at points of every season the last 5 years.

Iowa is eligible for it's 5th straight NCAA tournament. Which is tied for the longest streak of tournament appearances in school history. Iowa has only made 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances 2 other times in school history and those were both in the late 70's and early 80's

Iowa has produced it's 3rd candidate for NPOY in the last 3 seasons. All three players have different names and all 3 were on the last Wooden cut list.

Iowa has had 8 1st Team Conference players during Fran's era. Iowa had 8 1st team All B1G players under Raveling, Davis, Alford and Lick combined

Iowa has had 3 players drafted the past 2 years and have a 4th potential that has an outside chance to be a lottery pick.

Upper division finish in 10 of the last 11 years for Iowa (in the B1G).

My dude, these are the "good ole days" that people will talk about for Iowa Basketball for many years to come. We're in the midst of one of our more successful runs in college hoops ever.

But yeah sure.
 
Last edited:
Iowa has spent time in the top 25 at points of every season the last 5 years.

Iowa is eligible for it's 5th straight NCAA tournament. Which is tied for the longest streak of tournament appearances in school history. Iowa has only made 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances 2 other times in school history and those were both in the late 70's and early 80's

Iowa has produced it's 3rd candidate for NPOY in the last 3 seasons. All three players have different names and all 3 were on the last Wooden cut list.

Iowa has had 8 1st Team Conference players during Fran's era. Iowa had 8 1st team All B1G players under Raveling, Davis, Alford and Lick combined

Iowa has had 3 players drafted the past 2 years and have a 4th potential that has an outside chance to be a lottery pick.

Upper division finish in 10 of the last 11 years for Iowa (in the B1G).

My dude, these are the "good ole days" that people will talk about for Iowa Basketball for many years to come. We're in the midst of one of our more successful runs in college hoops ever.

But yeah sure.

Doesn't matter. The high water mark is all that matters. Maybe we could be a sleeper team in this tournament and avenge our championship game loss to Baylor and we can hang a new banner in Carver.

I could deal with the indignity of a few consecutive bad seasons if we get to hang that "2023 NIT CHAMPIONS" banner in Carver. I don't know why people are giving up hope. Bradley is tough, but I think we can take them down and they'll almost certainly be on our side of the bracket.
 
Doesn't matter. The high water mark is all that matters. Maybe we could be a sleeper team in this tournament and avenge our championship game loss to Baylor and we can hang a new banner in Carver.

I could deal with the indignity of a few consecutive bad seasons if we get to hang that "2023 NIT CHAMPIONS" banner in Carver. I don't know why people are giving up hope. Bradley is tough, but I think we can take them down and they'll almost certainly be on our side of the bracket.
What amount of money do you want to bet that Iowa isn’t in the NIT?
 
Iowa has spent time in the top 25 at points of every season the last 5 years.

Iowa is eligible for it's 5th straight NCAA tournament. Which is tied for the longest streak of tournament appearances in school history. Iowa has only made 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances 2 other times in school history and those were both in the late 70's and early 80's

Iowa has produced it's 3rd candidate for NPOY in the last 3 seasons. All three players have different names and all 3 were on the last Wooden cut list.

Iowa has had 8 1st Team Conference players during Fran's era. Iowa had 8 1st team All B1G players under Raveling, Davis, Alford and Lick combined

Iowa has had 3 players drafted the past 2 years and have a 4th potential that has an outside chance to be a lottery pick.

Upper division finish in 10 of the last 11 years for Iowa (in the B1G).

My dude, these are the "good ole days" that people will talk about for Iowa Basketball for many years to come. We're in the midst of one of our more successful runs in college hoops ever.

But yeah sure.
The good days were Lute Olson and Mr. Davis.....all those stats and zero Sweet 16s or better. It is like empty calories.....ok that is harsh compared to Alfraud/Lackluster......but a lot of things would look good standing next to those two bums.

Fran would do himself some good to get the monkey off his back. But, it is hard to envision that happening this tournament unless the boys are scorching the nets.
 
Yes we run the risk of the disastrous Lickliter area. But Fran has taken Iowa as far as he can. Just like Kirk, Iowa needs young head coaches
Fran took Iowa as far as he could Marble's senior year when he back doored into our first tournament appearance in a long time. Then he took them as far as he could Uthoff's senior year when he got us to number 3 in the country. Then he took us as far as he could when he got us to a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Then he took us as far as he could when he won a Big 10 tournament title last year.

I'm in the camp that it will be difficult to win anything really big with his all offense and no defense mindset. But not many coaches that are willing to come to Iowa can take us farther than he does anyway. And more than likely, their highest highs, their middles, and their lowest lows will all be worse than Fran.
 
The good days were Lute Olson and Mr. Davis.....all those stats and zero Sweet 16s or better. It is like empty calories.....ok that is harsh compared to Alfraud/Lackluster......but a lot of things would look good standing next to those two bums.

Fran would do himself some good to get the monkey off his back. But, it is hard to envision that happening this tournament unless the boys are scorching the nets.
Why is it hard to envision this team randomly scorching nets? That's what they've done all year. Randomly play good. Just get hot 2 games in a row from 3. Or get lucky and get to face a 2nd round upset. This team is more than capable of winning 2 games in a row. As long as they aren't an 8 or 9 seed anyway. That said, I sure wouldn't bet on it.
 
I'm disappointed with how the season is ending but if Murray hadn't come back the record would look a lot worse. To play defense it takes a different type of athlete than is currently on the roster. It was noticeable today vs OSU. Without naming names there were individuals on the floor today that could not stop the dribble drive and not quick or fast enough to guard the perimeter. I'm not sure there is a coach out there that can overcome the difficulties Iowa has being competitive in the Big Ten and beyond.

I'm not sure Fran can continue trying to develop a team with his type of recruit. There are programs that will raid development programs after all the hard work is done. I personally believe Perkins will be pursued hard to be a transfer. I think he has to listen because next year will be much like Garza's 4 and 14 year. Fran's 62 and he is smart enough to change his recruiting but will the transfer pool listen? Based on the past there hasn't been much interest.
 
Iowa has spent time in the top 25 at points of every season the last 5 years.

Iowa is eligible for it's 5th straight NCAA tournament. Which is tied for the longest streak of tournament appearances in school history. Iowa has only made 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances 2 other times in school history and those were both in the late 70's and early 80's

Iowa has produced it's 3rd candidate for NPOY in the last 3 seasons. All three players have different names and all 3 were on the last Wooden cut list.

Iowa has had 8 1st Team Conference players during Fran's era. Iowa had 8 1st team All B1G players under Raveling, Davis, Alford and Lick combined

Iowa has had 3 players drafted the past 2 years and have a 4th potential that has an outside chance to be a lottery pick.

Upper division finish in 10 of the last 11 years for Iowa (in the B1G).

My dude, these are the "good ole days" that people will talk about for Iowa Basketball for many years to come. We're in the midst of one of our more successful runs in college hoops ever.

But yeah sure.
I'm not quite sure where Hawks are at. Each side has good data to back up we're watching "just as good as it's ever been" and / or an underachieving "as good as it gets".

You really have to applaud all the accolades you site - particularly the numerous "national caliber talent" type stuff - but that is EXACTLY why I have the inkling toward perpetual underachievemnt. I mean, with so much to work with - more than many teams and, certainly, more than adequate to be successful - how in the world has Iowa NOT made a Sweet-16? How in the world has Iowa NOT been in that perennial top 4 / 5 B14 finishers (like Wisconsin's run)? How in the world has Iowa managed to suffer SO MANY bad uspets and consistently suffer SO MUCH inconsistency when the "lights" are on and it's just up to them to play as they're capable and take care of YOUR business?

These are the truly inexplicable questions I have in every single season because the results just seem so incompatible with your data.
 
Why is it hard to envision this team randomly scorching nets? That's what they've done all year. Randomly play good. Just get hot 2 games in a row from 3. Or get lucky and get to face a 2nd round upset. This team is more than capable of winning 2 games in a row. As long as they aren't an 8 or 9 seed anyway. That said, I sure wouldn't bet on it.
An 8-9 seed is probably the best we can hope for. If we win the first game, that most likely means a second round game against a 1-2 seed. I don't see us getting through a game against a 1-2 seed.
 
Why is it hard to envision this team randomly scorching nets? That's what they've done all year. Randomly play good. Just get hot 2 games in a row from 3. Or get lucky and get to face a 2nd round upset. This team is more than capable of winning 2 games in a row. As long as they aren't an 8 or 9 seed anyway. That said, I sure wouldn't bet on it.
You are right they have been doing it all year, but I have never seen a Fran team do it in the NCAAs....string some wins together. Could they do it....sure. Will they do it, not holding my breath. Unfortunately, I think we are on the down rollercoaster....for whatever freaking reason.
 
An 8-9 seed is probably the best we can hope for. If we win the first game, that most likely means a second round game against a 1-2 seed. I don't see us getting through a game against a 1-2 seed.
I dont think we can beat a 1 or 2 either. There's always a chance with the 3 point line tho.
 
You are right they have been doing it all year, but I have never seen a Fran team do it in the NCAAs....string some wins together. Could they do it....sure. Will they do it, not holding my breath. Unfortunately, I think we are on the down rollercoaster....for whatever freaking reason.

There is still This Year

And, of course, Next Year and then

There is always Next Year

:cool:
 
You are right they have been doing it all year, but I have never seen a Fran team do it in the NCAAs....string some wins together. Could they do it....sure. Will they do it, not holding my breath. Unfortunately, I think we are on the down rollercoaster....for whatever freaking reason.
"Stringing wins together" only means 2 games for Iowa to finally get the monkey off their backs.
 
I'm not quite sure where Hawks are at. Each side has good data to back up we're watching "just as good as it's ever been" and / or an underachieving "as good as it gets".

You really have to applaud all the accolades you site - particularly the numerous "national caliber talent" type stuff - but that is EXACTLY why I have the inkling toward perpetual underachievemnt. I mean, with so much to work with - more than many teams and, certainly, more than adequate to be successful - how in the world has Iowa NOT made a Sweet-16? How in the world has Iowa NOT been in that perennial top 4 / 5 B14 finishers (like Wisconsin's run)? How in the world has Iowa managed to suffer SO MANY bad uspets and consistently suffer SO MUCH inconsistency when the "lights" are on and it's just up to them to play as they're capable and take care of YOUR business?

These are the truly inexplicable questions I have in every single season because the results just seem so incompatible with your data.
We've been in the top 5 in seeding the last 4 or 5 years I think.
 
I wonder what the pulse of this board is?

Let's say Fran decided to bolt to Notre Dame after this tournament. Say, they go nowhere in this tournament.

Are you:

A. Devastated
B. Relived/at peace

I think this reaction would be different if it was a Sweet 16 or better for sure. No question.


My vote would be B.
 
"Stringing wins together" only means 2 games for Iowa to finally get the monkey off their backs.
I know, crazy isn't it....and Fran has never done it. He (along with past Iowa coaches) can't even catch a break with an upset of a higher seed. Of course, the past should not be able to win or lose games for you......but then again there is something to be said about programs looking down at their jerseys and knowing who they are and overcoming adversity.

Fran teams piss their pants when the lights are on.
 
Winning non-important games, that's what Fran will be known for. Iowa under Fran has wilted more often than not even with a NBA first rounder. I at this point, don't have any strong feelings about which way Iowa goes with coaching. I was not happy with the release of Mr. Davis. He had good success in the tourney and won some Big games. Fran hasn't built that loyalty in me.
 

Latest posts

Top