Time for changes in Iowa Basketball

[iowahawkeyes89]

Its funny, but sad at the same time.

My old mans an absolute die hard hoops fan, and these past few years have just been killing him.

He use to have season tickets, but didn't renew his order this season, and likely wont next year. He's been to about two games all year, (Minnesota and UTSA, the worst possibly games)

I think a lot of people are in the same boat.

 

[Hooper]

Not sure why people think we will somehow get better THIS SEASON. It's not gonna happen. Until our players get older or we get more and better players into the system things won't change. Next year we should know. We should have a full compliment of players and some experienced Juniors.

 

[loesshillshawk]

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.It is stuff like this that just makes me sick to my stomach. This program has sunk to a low that has never happened in the history of Iowa basketball. I have Nebraska friends who laugh at our basketball program...Nebraska fans. It is somehow wrong for someone to boycott going to games because we don't like the direction of the program??? Why is this unamerican or something? Everyone has a right to not go to something...I am a big Hawkeye fan and I wouldn't spend any money going to watch this staff make a mockery out of something I remember as damn good. 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.I have seen flashes of nice 6th man kids trying to make a run at games that are totally out of control until we turn an 18-20 point game into a 10-8 point game in the last 3 minutes...we are not even in those games. It is a very very young team.YOUNG...we will be young again in year 4 of a coaching staff....don't buy it. We have nowhere to go but up. Todd Lickliter is a very intelligent basketball coach.Didn't look like it tonight...wonder if he knew Carmody teams backdoored? 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.You proved my point...he shouldn't have to. Who is to blame for that Steve Alford...the curse of Tom Davis???? 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.Tell me how you think that happens...going from the worst 3 year stretch to NCAA team in 2 years...with what recruiting class, 4 kids next year and 2 rides the next ? Thats my opinion. And you are entitled to it. But do not tell people to never come back because they don't support what is going on. There is no quick fix, to fire Lick now we'd probably be looking at 2-3 more dreadful years under another rebuilding process.I disagree, facility upgrades in the NOW, and I believe a recruiting staff can make it happen. MY OPINION...

 

[joemc1]

It is sad 89- I'm 1000 miles away- so I go to a few FB games each year, but BB is not practical. I honestly think if I were living in IC right now, I would be more likely to buy a ticket to see the Iowa women before the men. And I am in no way a big fan of WBB.

 

[HeneryHawk]

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.

With the above comments, its obvious you re a Cubs fan, used to losing and waiting/hoping for next year, and resigned to accept it.

 

[HeneryHawk]

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?

Matta was the lead recruiter at Butler for three years before he became HC, and Lickliter benefitted from that and experienced assistants on hand as he became HC at Butler. Take that and add it to your comments, and its pretty easy to understand why IOWA MBB is as it is. It sucks.

 

[burky247]

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. QUOTE]

This quote makes me laugh. You have absolutely no clue of some of the boosters and die hard fans who would fall into your definition of not being a "true fan". People who have been season ticket holders for years and years. People who have been boosters forever.

And a lot of them have had it. There soon may be very few people around who will meet your definition of a "true fan".

Myself, I'm not an important booster or anything. But I have been a season ticket holder for multiple years. And I am done until some kind of change is made. Not necessarily Todd's removal, but a shake up with the coaching staff at the least. I can be a fan and watch the games at home. But I'm not paying to watch losses mount up with this boring style of ball anymore.

 

[TChawk]

Not sure why people think we will somehow get better THIS SEASON. It's not gonna happen. Until our players get older or we get more and better players into the system things won't change. Next year we should know. We should have a full compliment of players and some experienced Juniors.

It won't happen period with Lick at the helm, the dumb excuses that we are to young are way to old. Sorry but that is nothing more than a cop out to the lick lovers. Lick is the only reason we are where we are right now and it is time to get his Bleep out of town and get somebody who actually knows HOW to coach and HOW to recruit in here becasue he can't do either.

 

[TripleD]

I hate to throw the guy under the bus but I am pretty sure that Mr. Davis could take this roster and put a product on the floor that we could still cheer for. Its getting pretty tough.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

Not sure why people think we will somehow get better THIS SEASON. It's not gonna happen. Until our players get older or we get more and better players into the system things won't change. Next year we should know. We should have a full compliment of players and some experienced Juniors.

Gee, I don't know maybe because ITS HIS THIRD FREAKING YEAR with the program?

Like it or not, people can expect us to be competitive this year considering this is Lickliters third season. Its his responsibility to have the players in place to make us a competitive team.

hooper you and bud should start your own forum and just go back and fourth with apologies for Iowa basketball.

 

[BA96MA99]

I hate to throw the guy under the bus but I am pretty sure that Mr. Davis could take this roster and put a product on the floor that we could still cheer for. Its getting pretty tough.

Interesting. I think Mr. Davis could probably do that.

Here's a challenge: give me a list of 5 other Div I coaches, past or present, from any school, that could take this roster and have a winning conference record.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

Interesting. I think Mr. Davis could probably do that.

Here's a challenge: give me a list of 5 other Div I coaches, past or present, from any school, that could take this roster and have a winning conference record.

I don't. We have possibly the worst bench of any BCS school. With Mr. Davis's pressing style we would get killed with Bawinkle or Lickliter trying to press and we would just wear out the rest of the guys on the team. I don't think there are five coaches who could have a winning conference record with this team. It's not like we're close most games and just barely lose, we are very far away from being a winning Big Ten team.

 

[busabus114]

No coach could win with this roster in the Big Ten this year. The problem is we should have a much better roster. I think the next Iowa bball coach needs to be one hell of a recruiter.

 

[NewMexHawk]

Bud...you don't know that. That is speculation just like everything else on this board. To say Iowa would be looking at 2 to 3 more dreadful year is just pure speculation. To keep Lickliter another 2 to 3 years and tell everyone that he will be successful based on what we have seen and what little progress we have seen, a 7th rated class in the Big 10 coming in, an empty arena getting emptier every year, fans getting more disgusted with the product that Lickliter is putting on the floor after 3 dreadful years, absolutely no consistent play from game to game, nothing but excuses from the coaching staff, doublespeak from the coaching staff, offense/defense that never changes regardless of game situations, a team that is slow and that does not match up with almost every other team in the Big 10 (and THAT is not going to change), --that is not speculation now is it?

Let me ask this one question:

If Carver were packed (15,500) the last 3 years and Lickliter was putting the same product on the floor and his record was the same, do you think Barta would even be at press conferences talking about supporting Lickliter and the future of Lickliter? Barta would take the full house as a sign of ABSOLUTE support for Lickliter and his program. He would blow off any other complaints.

A fan has one way to show his/her displeasure with a program and that is with their wallet and support. When pledges and ticket sales drop, that is the only way that the AD and the Athletic Dept knows that the fans are unhappy. And right now Barta knows that Iowa BB fans are very unhappy with Lickliter and Barta is treading some very dangerous water IMO.

The big donors Barta has to keep happy. When they become very unhappy with Lickliter and start withholding money, then Barta has big big big problems and probably cannot ignore that. He knows Lickliter HAS to win and win soon beginning next year. Will .500 do it, I doubt it, especially if they just water down preseason. Lickliter HAS to win in the Big 10, THAT is where he HAS to begin winning. Just to win a couple more games in the Big 10 is not going to cut it. If they water down preseason and win a couple more games in the Big 10 and then brag about winning 15 games overall, what have they TRULY accomplished? Not much...they will still be one of the basement dwellers in the Big 10 and fans are not going to fill Carver. So if Barta stays with Lickliter that would be a huge mistake in my book because it would just be a smokescreen because Lickliter padded his wins with cupcakes WITH an experienced team! At that point I would hope even MORE people would stay away from Carver and talk with their pocketbook and force Barta's hand or even the University's hand and force them to get rid of Lickliter AND Barta.

 

[ChickenRancher]

We can't afford to can him now. Because our team is so young we need him to get another recruiting class in so that if he fails next year the new coach will have something to work with. If we can him now we risk losing the recruits and that will set our program back 2 more years of rebuilding.

If next year if we start off like we did this year I say we can him right away so we can get the coaching search underway (which I think it already is)

My "realistic" vote for a new coach is Lon Kruger at UNLV. He can recruit and coach!

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Not sure why people think we will somehow get better THIS SEASON. It's not gonna happen. Until our players get older or we get more and better players into the system things won't change. Next year we should know. We should have a full compliment of players and some experienced Juniors.

Have you ever heard the quote that is something along the lines of "At this point in the season there are no freshmen?" This year is almost over. Has this full year's experience for several of our freshmen not made them older and more experienced AT ALL?

 

[FreddyBrown]

I'm resigned to the virtual certainty that Lickliter will get another year. What really concerns me is the possibility that he might get a fifth season no matter what happens next year, or that merely by "showing improvement" he'll get a fifth or even an extension.

By the fourth season we need to be in some kind of postseason play, whether it's the NIT or the CBI or whatever. That's how I saw it when the guy was hired, and nothing has happened that should change that expectation. He has to own the condition of the program, period. For whatever reasons players left, they needed to be replaced by much better recruiting than we've seen.

But we get this ridiculous statement from Barta that as far as he's concerned this is year one of Lickliter's tenure, and I wonder if all of us have gone through the rabbit hole with Alice. Are we going to be sitting at or under .500 overall at this time next season and still staring at an extension of the Lickliter debacle?

 

[IowaFanSince82]

I really think a change is needed. I sat there and cried into my beer last night because it is seriously pathetic to watch that team on the floor. I seriously do not even know where to begin, our team is the joke of the big ten!

Here are my top 5 complaints from this year and maybe some of you can agree with or disagree:

1. Change defenses? Does lick ever change defenses. I have never once seen us go to a 1-3-1, 2-3, 1-2-2 press. Seriously we play half court man and that's it! It is seriously a joke, mix it up a little bit! Teams have to look at us and just laugh because they know exactly what we are going to do. If anything it will catch them off guard, plus by playing zone we don't get so worn out. I loved how some teams just have a guy come in and run circles around to wear our guys out!

2. Assistant Coaches: Get out and try to find a High School coach or someone who has ties to inner-city chicago or st louis. We need to start recruiting some pure athletes and combo players. No more of these 6-8 tweeners. Guys who are too small to play the post or to big to play outside. Or these 6-1 PG's who can't shoot.

3. Offense: why do we run ball screen after ball screen? Why is there no movement away from the ball. I have yet to see Iowa run a play where someone without the ball gets a screen to get open. All we ever try to do is ball screen, and it is a joke of an offense! That crap belongs in the YMCA leagues.

4. In-Game Changes: Why do we never change anything through out the game? We seriously have 1 game plan and that's all we do. We never switch things up during the game. I love how NW & Mich changed their defenses on us from time to time, it got our guys out of whack! Why can't we do that to the other team.

5. How much longer? Seriously how much longer can we sit here and watch this crap! Our arena sits empty, no one comes to the games, we are getting made fun of by Nebraska fans, who have the worst bball team in the Big XII. I would think by year 3 a coach should have a good grasp of his players and we should see improvements. Instead we are seeing a team go the other direction.

I am just so upset because I think there is some talent on this team, but until we get a little more creative, we are not going to be very good!

 

[1977Hawkeye]

If we can him now we risk losing the recruits and that will set our program back 2 more years of rebuilding.

You will be able to say that no matter when you make a coaching change.

Besides, and I could be wrong on this, but I thought the incoming class had already signed their LOI's and are essentially committed for next year?

On the flip side, how successful will recruiting be if all potential recruits are wondering if Lickliter is only a year or so away from getting the axe?

 

[djwoody98]

This is really depressing. I miss Iowa Basketball.