WOW! I truly didn't see this ending to a season coming from 100 miles away. I remember how excited I was watching Iowa play in the Battle for Atlantis thinking that this team was going to be down right nasty (pretty damn good!) when they got to BIG play. Instead, this team has gotten worse since the season began. Their fundamentals are horrible and unfortunately no one wanted to step up and actually LEAD this team. Where is the team that routed Michigan? Where is that effort night in and night out? I have to say, I haven't been this disappointed in an Iowa team in a very long time. I wish Fran would ditch the zone and manage his players' minutes a bit better (less McCabe please, more Gabe). Although we may back our way into the tourney this year, it is in no way a success and this team should not be commended for such a poor effort down the stretch.
Warning: Dumpster fire in progress
- Thread starter OKHawk
- Start date
SonofaSailor
Well-Known Member
On the positive side...at least there is something in the dumpster TO burn? It wasn't that long ago Iowa didn't even have a dumpster!
Very true. Although sometimes I think not having a dumpster may be a good thing! Last year I was jacked that we had an outside shot at making the dance but was thrilled at our run in the NIT. That run made me so excited for this season. This season finally arrives and this teams best/most exciting performances happened in the first 3 weeks of the season. This team is mentally and physically weak. Don't know why we don't go man to man with our "deep" bench or why our team lacks the basic fundamental skills needed to succeed. I guess coaching is the most obvious answer.
hawkforlife9
Well-Known Member
Step back off the ledge, we're probably going to finish in the top half of a very tough conference. Think Lick.
H
HawkBBFan
Guest
I think you mean they are lucky the Big ten season will end before they fall further in the BiG standings.
HawkMD2007
Well-Known Member
Let's put things in perspective...Nebraska sure seemed to improve over the season. They were really bad early. Iowa has seemed to go the wrong direction after a very good early season. I don't know what this means for the future but I am concerned.
i would agree here. Looking more and more like coaching is problem, and not just limited to Fran. Who is working with player development on an individual basis?
SonofaSailor
Well-Known Member
Although, I think it's time we forget Lick, Alford...etc...Fran is in his fourth year...he can now be judged solely on his own.
HawkeyeMike23
Banned
Alright fine, this season is going to be a success by any reasonable standard used to judge the Iowa basketball program for the last 25 years. 10-8 in the conference, NCAA tournament appearance. Continued improvement for the program.
SteveGarvey
Well-Known Member
Also seems like he gripes about the refs after every loss as well. That's starting to get old.
SonofaSailor
Well-Known Member
It's a trend I have noticed the Iowa fan base is picking up too...talk to some of our people and it seems that Iowa has never lost a game this year the refs didn't steal from us.
HawkMD2007
Well-Known Member
What are you talking about? I haven't noticed any extra complaining about the refs this year....
-o)SteveGarvey
Well-Known Member
It's in our DNA. We can't help it.
I would say defense is the problem, not coaching. Fran clearly taught them how to play good defense based on last year and the first 2/3 of this year. So unless Fran came up with some new method that is backfiring, I would say player effort is the problem.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
An untalented team doesn't take Villanova to overtime (and conceivably should have won it in regulation). An untalented team doesn't go into Columbus and beat OSU by double digits. An untalented team doesn't lead the outright conference champs by 30 points for most of the game and win going away.
We've got plenty of talent....just not much mental toughness or heart at this point.
Everyone talks about the BIG being this amazingly tough conference. It's definitely competitive but tough? This conference has a lot of parity...but there aren't any world beaters in this conference. Check the out of conference and tell me how many top 10 teams the conference has beaten (outside itself). There are a lot of teams that aren't good in this conference and a bunch of fairly decent teams. That's nothing to hang our hats on folks. A record of .500 in this league isn't magical for this team...it's disappointing. Had we not been so OVER hyped earlier in the season (top ten, final four talk, blah blah blah), this team would be firmly entrenched on the bubble right now, let's not kid ourselves here.
franstheman
Well-Known Member
Stop talking about this season like it's over. I think Fran will do what it takes to win in these tourneys. Even if it means shortening the bench. The player who is a mystery to me is Basabe. He is so productive but continues to lose big minutes in the second half to McCabe.
