What has to come first?
- Thread starter CHShawk
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clicheusername3
Banned
look around cbb and there are not many programs from the power conferences that go in to irrelevancy and come back. It takes a player or players....or a crazy good coach. The only example I can really think of right now is K-State. Huggins came in and boom, back on the map, boom, better players, boom, culture changed now theyre good every year. It has to be in year 1 or year 2 or its likely that it won't happen...huggins has always taken risks, and you have to take some risks, or even better, alot of risks, to get a program up. You don't have to break the rules but you better be bending them to the breaking point. Try to do things the "right way", or the "old way" as I like to call it, with a 3-5 year rebuild and the sport has already changed on you again and your back to square one.
DFaceHawkeye
Well-Known Member
the egg... uh, no it's the chicken. I give up!
BALDIES7980
Well-Known Member
Well it would be nice if Fran majically recruited 4-5* players the first season but I think thats not very likely.
He must first win and show his style and ability to coach the players then it will change.
He must first win and show his style and ability to coach the players then it will change.
SpecialKHawk
Well-Known Member
Fan support would go a long way also. I'm not sure how you recruit players when you have 2000 folks in the stands of staduim that holds 15,500 for games. If you don't think current and potential players notice you are kidding yourself.
This problem is a catch 22 also as many fans will come when the team is good.....
This problem is a catch 22 also as many fans will come when the team is good.....
I, think recruits are wanting to see how this season starts and progresses, especially IOWA kids before they committ. But, on the other hand why wouldn't an IOWA kid want to be able to say I helped rebuild that IOWA program. utoff and wiscky can take a fly------ we will beat there butts. Bo Ryans time is short lived tell him to enjoy the time he has left. Fran will out recruit him in the next couple years. IOWA is going to be back where we were when LUTE was our coach.
Smarthawk
Well-Known Member
Winning breeds more winning. If the kids start having fun, it's going to be easy to see. Players notice not only wins and losses and style of play but also are these guys having fun. The Iowa Hawkeyes have not had any fun for about 5 years now. They need to change that this year. When that happens, the tide will begin to change.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Both...Two things have to happen, get players that understand what it is to be a College athlete, I don't have a problem when players like Tucker leave the program. The other thing is get a coach that has passion and can create excitement even when he hasn't coached one game for the program yet, Iowa has done that. It is a wait and see on the players, but I don't see Coach Fran recruiting kids that may have character issues. If any issues come up we will see how Coach Fran handles it.
The image of Iowa basketball has been tarnished with the past two coaches, Coach Fran will change that, he already has in some respects. Give him a year to create some more excitement on the court and the players will come.
The image of Iowa basketball has been tarnished with the past two coaches, Coach Fran will change that, he already has in some respects. Give him a year to create some more excitement on the court and the players will come.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Agree with you on everything except I think it has been much longer than 5 years. There were a lot of issues when they were winning, but people put the blinders on. Players didn't qualify or were just as unhappy with playing time and left.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
This. People need to start going to the games again. I don't care if we aren't all that good right now. GO TO THE GAMES!!! Sure, you may not get your money's worth in entertainment right now, but showing recruits that Iowa City actually has a pulse in January could go a long way in helping the program in the long run. The culture has to change first, because you likely aren't going to get an elite recruit if your in our position. And the fans deciding to suck it up is a good place to start.
Make it five bucks a ticket and you might get some people to come. But asking us to pay 20 bucks a ticket or more for a bad product is not cool. But hey if you think that is the way things should be, I have a 2005 Chrystler Town and County you can have for $20,000, I also have a vacation home in Michigan that I will let go for a cool $200,000.
I get so sick of the argument that somehow the responsible party are the only ones not on scholarship or getting paid over a million bucks a year. Sorry, but it is not if you come they will build it.
I get so sick of the argument that somehow the responsible party are the only ones not on scholarship or getting paid over a million bucks a year. Sorry, but it is not if you come they will build it.
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tm3308
Well-Known Member
Hey, if you don't want to help out, that's fine. But don't bit*h and moan when the team is still bad. I'm not saying go get season tickets. Just make it a point to go to like 3 games a year. That's not a big deal, and if everybody would do that we'd have a crowd that looked like maybe it's not just Iowa City High class of '85, and they managed to go to the wrong building.
Fans ought to do their part to help the program out. It doesn't take all that much, but too many people aren't willing to do even the least that they could do. Yet those fans are always the first to complain.
burky247
Well-Known Member
Look, I was a season ticket through the Lickliter experiment. And I completely understand why people stopped showing up. People basically made a statement with their wallets that they wanted a different coach and a different style. Completely understandable.
But everyone got what they wanted. We got a new coach with a new style and a new beginning. If people are still going to throw a fit about ticket prices, I will have to question their passion for Iowa basketball. And I would rather not have them sitting next to me in Carver anyway. As was said, you don't have to go to every game if you don't want to spend a ton of money. They have plenty of package deals to accomodate most people.
It's put up or shut up time for every facet of the Iowa program. Including our fanbase.
HawksnWhiteSox
Well-Known Member
You are absolutely right about the recruiting aspect and having a packed house helping the cause! Carver will not be as empty this year as it was the past couple seasons. Fran, imo, has gotten a large share of the Hawk fanbase believing he can make Carver again what it once was, including me. I have not been to a game in a few years, but I am going to make 2-3 trips over there this year regardless of them being 2-8 or 8-2 at the time.
This year needs to be a petient year for everyone, fans included. Unless some 7 footer from Argentina or Senagal ends up showing up on campus for fall enrollment, this team is going to get rolled in Big Ten play. Just not nearly enough size on the front line to play in this league. So you need to give the team a break and the fans as well. You really can only ask fans to watch so much losing, before it really becomes a bit sadistic.
I just don't understand the argument that we have to cut the team and coaching staff slack, but we can't do the same thing for the fans.
I just don't understand the argument that we have to cut the team and coaching staff slack, but we can't do the same thing for the fans.
I go back a ways so I look at the Lute Olson turnaround. It was all about Lute plucking a skinny kid out of Dunbar HS in Chicago...not a super bluechip recruit,but Lute spotted something in Ronnie Lester. I consider Ronnie the single most important recruit in Iowa bb post-Ralph Miller. Everything flowed from that point,but you needed the star. And that run sustained the program til 2007 really. We were top 25 in attendance every year since the end of the Ronnie run til 2007.
Now, fast forward to 2010. Fran needs a sleeper/star to kick start this deal. And he may already have him in Melsahn Basabe. I do think it is critical for momentum for Fran to sign a good class on November 15. Devin Coleman could be the Basabe of 2011. I also think that Iowa bb fans are so desperate for positive changes that even the presence of Basabe/Marble,and signing of a Coleman and Gipson/Travis/Katenda would all by itself bring back the fans for this year. Throw Iowa bb fans a bone right now and they will jump on board. I think the culture is changing already with the clear commitment from the administration in the form of the new facilities, and with Fran and his enthusiasm and recruiting work ethic. The style of play will futher accenuate that culture change.
So in short, the culture is changing but more evidence of that is needed in the form of exciting recruits. That goes back to Fran doing a Lute and finding that kid with something special,a sleeper perhaps, that sparks the roaring inferno...please be that kid or kids...Melsahn,Devyn,Devin....ect.
Now, fast forward to 2010. Fran needs a sleeper/star to kick start this deal. And he may already have him in Melsahn Basabe. I do think it is critical for momentum for Fran to sign a good class on November 15. Devin Coleman could be the Basabe of 2011. I also think that Iowa bb fans are so desperate for positive changes that even the presence of Basabe/Marble,and signing of a Coleman and Gipson/Travis/Katenda would all by itself bring back the fans for this year. Throw Iowa bb fans a bone right now and they will jump on board. I think the culture is changing already with the clear commitment from the administration in the form of the new facilities, and with Fran and his enthusiasm and recruiting work ethic. The style of play will futher accenuate that culture change.
So in short, the culture is changing but more evidence of that is needed in the form of exciting recruits. That goes back to Fran doing a Lute and finding that kid with something special,a sleeper perhaps, that sparks the roaring inferno...please be that kid or kids...Melsahn,Devyn,Devin....ect.
napleshawk
Well-Known Member
"I just don't understand the argument that we have to cut the team and coaching staff slack, but we can't do the same thing for the fans."
If we are indeed "fans" then we are fanatical about our Hawks...if this is so, then how much slack is needed to be willing to put on some black and gold and spring for a couple tickets this winter to prove it? A relatively small task compared to those required of the coaches and players. If we fans can even in a small way prime the pump for success in CHA, I submit it is not asking for much.
If we are indeed "fans" then we are fanatical about our Hawks...if this is so, then how much slack is needed to be willing to put on some black and gold and spring for a couple tickets this winter to prove it? A relatively small task compared to those required of the coaches and players. If we fans can even in a small way prime the pump for success in CHA, I submit it is not asking for much.
HaydensDad
Well-Known Member
Dude, the Horner, Bru, Haluska, DT, etc. teams were having fun and so was I. Jeeze man what more do you want? They had fun, I had fun. They finished 2nd in the B10 and won the B10 Tourny. Yeah they blew the NCAA game on a fluke shot, but c'mon that was a great year.
SirJamaLot
Well-Known Member
Agree, i live in the twin cities but i have already planned a road trip to see a home game next season. Fans have to support the team if they expect to develop a winning tradition, through good and bad. Fran's style will be fun to watch and I think the players will love pushing the ball and being more aggressive.
Has anyone heard if Barta is going to improve student seating so they can create more of a home court advantage simiar to MSU and Ill?
