Time for changes in Iowa Basketball

[OO44]

Tonight is the worst performance ever by an Iowa basketball team. No offense, no defense and no brains. After a week off, they were totally unprepared. Changes must be made. At the very least, Gary Barta must force Todd Lickliter to make staff changes and bring in a lead recruiter. Basketball recruiting expert, Van Coleman, told the coach he had to hire an experienced lead recruiter during his first weeks in Iowa City. Lickliter had never been an assistant at a major D-1 basketball and had ZERO knowledge of what it takes to recruit at the high D-1 level. So he brought in two young assistants from Butler that knew exactly nobody and had no contacts(AAU, shoe companies, NBA agents and/or street pimps) Therefore, he was doomed before his first season started. Currently, Iowa’s lead recruiter is from that Mecca of basketball, Loras College.

Don't worry about losing the stellar recruiting class of next year. A friend of mine is the Guardian for the #1 basketball prospect in the nation in the 2013 class. The lead recruiter for Purdue told him this week that the best basketball recruiting class coming into the state of Iowa next year belongs to………..DRAKE. The last player the Bulldogs got was a “big timeâ€￾ guard from Champaign.

The season ticket sales for next year will go even lower. A football letterwinner friend of mine in Iowa City told me that he and many of his friends are done at Carver unless a change is made.

Iowa Athletic Director, Gary Barta, gave Todd Lickliter a SEVEN year contract. How much more of this can we take?

 

[83Hawk]

How much more can we take? At least one...probably two more years. Lick will not be fired either after this season or next, so get used to it.

 

[iahawk20]

I have said it for months, the Lickliter experiment should end now.

 

[sdol]

I wonder if Lick ever feels like he's stealing money

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

Carmody has been at NW for 10 years and have been worse than Iowa until recently. Now Carmody has his team looking at a bright future. Barta will look at Carmody and compare it to what he has in Lick. He will see how Carmody has finally found success and will base Lick's tenure on this comparison. This is why I believe Lick is our coach for at least another 8 years. So get used to it.

 

[iahawk20]

Carmody has been at NW for 10 years and have been worse than Iowa until recently. Now Carmody has his team looking at a bright future. Barta will look at Carmody and compare it to what he has in Lick. He will see how Carmody has finally found success and will base Lick's tenure on this comparison. This is why I believe Lick is our coach for at least another 8 years. So get used to it.

The NW basketball program is nearly the worst in the country all-time. We are talking about a team that has NEVER been to the NCAA tournament.

So if that is the measuring stick now, wow Lick has really lowered the bar!

 

[hawkytalk]

You are crazy if you think he gets 8 more years. If he loses one more player to transfer,the gate will hit him and his sons on the way out!

 

[ibahawkeye]

I kept from bashing Lick up until now...

2 games in a row the blame should be put on Lick. We should have won the Michigan game but the decision not to foul when up 3 against Michigan ended up costing the game. They should have put pressure on the ball and then fouled as they crossed half court after some time had run off the clock.

Tonight they went into the game with plenty of rest and layed an egg. That has to be put on the coach.

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

You are crazy if you think he gets 8 more years. If he loses one more player to transfer,the gate will hit him and his sons on the way out!

This is what many of us think SHOULD happen or maybe wish WOULD happen, however, I'm afraid there is no way Barta is even considering this. He is in with Lickliter for the long haul I believe. It isn't what a lot of us want to believe but Barta is someone that will compare Carmody's "system" and program to that of Lick's "system" and program.

 

[swanhawk]

Lick is not the answer and the w/l record proves it. The sooner we go in a different direction the better chance we have of improving. Say "hello" to 20 losses in a season!

 

[hawks263344]

I said we needed to fire him after last season when it was obvious it wouldn't work out. He darn well better get fired after this debacle of a season. I know I'm still not going to any games until he is gone.

 

[OO44]

I said we needed to fire him after last season when it was obvious it wouldn't work out. He darn well better get fired after this debacle of a season. I know I'm still not going to any games until he is gone.

I am hearing that comment a lot.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

This is what many of us think SHOULD happen or maybe wish WOULD happen, however, I'm afraid there is no way Barta is even considering this. He is in with Lickliter for the long haul I believe. It isn't what a lot of us want to believe but Barta is someone that will compare Carmody's "system" and program to that of Lick's "system" and program.

You are correct. Sorry, I don't have the link, but I read a Barta quote in an article a week or two again saying "I have no intention of changing coaches." Maybe he meant THIS YEAR, but the point is, that Barta is nowhere near making a coaching change.

I tell you one thing, if Barta allows this to continue for much longer, he won't have a fanbase left. Is he going to ride the program and fanbase completely into the ground just to stick by his man?

 

[TChawk]

The biggest problem is more and more people are coming to the conclusion that they don't want to have anything to do with the Iowa BB program as long as this thing you call a coach is running it.

 

[bud2380]

If you are truly boycotting games until a change is made, then do us all a favor and never come back. If that is your attitude then you are not a true fan. You are a bandwagon fan. Pathetic. I thought we had a better fan base than this, but obviously I am sorely mistaken. I'm not happy with where the program is at right now, but we have seen flashes of improvement from this team. It is a very very young team. We have nowhere to go but up. Todd Lickliter is a very intelligent basketball coach. I am confident he will turn this program into a winner. It's just unfortunate that he has had to start over each year with so many defects. A lot of that I blame on him though. So if we have mass defections again this year, then I may agree he needs to go, but as long as he can keep this team intact, we will have a better season next year and challenge for an NCAA run in 2 years. Thats my opinion. There is no quick fix, to fire Lick now we'd probably be looking at 2-3 more dreadful years under another rebuilding process.

 

[joemc1]

Bud; I guess when you want a good steak, you go to Golden Corral. Sometimes I wish I could put up with mediocrity, failure, and apathy. I was going to say that is what Lick has brought to the Iowa BB program, but now that I think of it: mediocrity would be giviing him way too much credit.

 

[bud2380]

When did I say I'm ok with mediocrity? I don't recall saying that. You seem to be under the delusion that making a change guarantees success. Barta has to weigh which route is most likely to result in the better outcome. 1) Keep Lick at least one more year and see if we make strides. Or 2) Fire the whole staff and start over again while still paying Lick's salary. I think the obvious answer is #1. Obviously many people disagree. I believe starting over right now will not put us in a better position. I would like to see Lick get one more year to start making significant improvements (which I would define as .500 or above next year and 6-8+ Big Ten wins). I think starting over would only set us back further at this point.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

I don't think it can get any worse then it currently is. (god help us it better not)

A change is needed, I'm not sure who would want to inherit this mess right now though.

 

[joemc1]

The only way that hiring a new coach would set us back is if we hired Woopi Goldberg- now that I think of it, she was a pretty good coach in that movie. Sorry attempt at humor; but if you can't laugh at this situation; it is really bad.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

When did I say I'm ok with mediocrity? I don't recall saying that. You seem to be under the delusion that making a change guarantees success. Barta has to weigh which route is most likely to result in the better outcome. 1) Keep Lick at least one more year and see if we make strides. Or 2) Fire the whole staff and start over again while still paying Lick's salary. I think the obvious answer is #1. Obviously many people disagree. I believe starting over right now will not put us in a better position. I would like to see Lick get one more year to start making significant improvements (which I would define as .500 or above next year and 6-8+ Big Ten wins). I think starting over would only set us back further at this point.

I really think it would be much harder for us to be set back more than we already are at this moment in time.

That said, I'm not opposed to ONE more year to see if Lickliter can produce a significant improvement. If not, then pull the plug. At that point, the new practice facility will be done or close to it, not sure about the exact timing on the construction. But it will be an enticement for a new coach, and (hopefully) a full roster to inherit as well. Also one less year to buy out on the contract.

I'd say we have to do better than .500 or 6-8 conference wins next year. I'm thinking more like OVER .500, with 17-18 wins, and closer to .500 in conference - 8 or 9 wins.

15-15 with a 6-12 record isn't going to cut it, IMO. That's really no better than anything Lickliter has done so far at Iowa if you go back and look at the first two years records. He went 6-12 in the Big Ten in year 1, and won 15 games in year 2.