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1986-1987

It was the fall of '85. That's when I knew what we had in football and basketball (wrestling was always great). I was in 8th grade and was really following Iowa sports closely. I thought that was going to be the usual. What a difference a few years makes. When I saw us lose that lead to UNLV, I knew Tom Davis wasn't going to work out.
You were in 8th grade and knew TD wasn't a good coach after his first year? Wow - maybe everyone should pay attention to your opinions - then again.......
 
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My goodness, you are one for the dramatics. The 86/87 team had a conference record of 14-4 and finished third, one game behind IU, the conference and eventual national champion. I see you also omit Davis' time at Boston College, where he had a 100-47 record with two trips to the NCAA tournament. Nine tourney appearances over the course of 13 years at Iowa is anything but average or below as it relates to Iowa basketball, especially since his departure. Attitudes like yours led to the karma gods giving us Alfraud and Lickliter and the basketball purgatory we were relegated to for so many years. So, for you to suggest Davis was average at best, and state it as a fact, is laughable and sad at the same time. You must really think Fran sucks. Lute Olson had a .562 conference winning percentage at Iowa...Tom Davis .550 fwiw.
126-104 in the Big Ten at Iowa. I don't even want to figure it after Raveling's recruits were gone. He'd have a losing record. He was 20-14 in the Big East. lets add it up, shall we?
20-14 (Boston College/Big east)
25-46 (Stanford/Pac 10)
126-104 (Iowa/ Big Ten)
171-164 for .510 win %
For shits and gigles
Lute Olson
91-71 (Iowa/Big Ten)
327-101 (Arizona/ Pac 10
418 -172 for .708 win %
Yeah......Tom Davis really tore it up.
 
You were in 8th grade and knew TD wasn't a good coach after his first year? Wow - maybe everyone should pay attention to your opinions - then again.......
I was in 10th grade at the time. I started following Iowa sports closely in 85. The UNLV game was in 87.
You can write down everything I say and pound it up your rear end, for all I care. Anyone that saw that game against UNLV, should have known. If that didn't clue people in, the ensuing recruiting classes should have been a good indicator. If that wasn't enough, the 89-90 season of 12-16 should have done it. you can't go from 30-5 to 12-16 in 4 seasons and not see a huge problem with it.
I feel pity for anyone that still defends his record, now that enough time has gone by to eliminate emotion from the equation and just look at the hard facts.
I mean, Lickliter went from 13-19 to 10-22 in 3 seasons and we couldn't get rid of him fast enough! But Tom Davis goes from 30-5 to 12-16 and he somehow gets a pass and is considered a great coach?
I now know of 1 person's opinion that I won't be paying attention to, in the future.
 
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126-104 in the Big Ten at Iowa. I don't even want to figure it after Raveling's recruits were gone. He'd have a losing record. He was 20-14 in the Big East. lets add it up, shall we?
20-14 (Boston College/Big east)
25-46 (Stanford/Pac 10)
126-104 (Iowa/ Big Ten)
171-164 for .510 win %
For shits and gigles
Lute Olson
91-71 (Iowa/Big Ten)
327-101 (Arizona/ Pac 10
418 -172 for .708 win %
Yeah......Tom Davis really tore it up.

I believe he was .500 after the BJ class was gone. He made many NCAA's but eventually we were snubbed from an invite after being warned to quit scheduling so many patsies. Dr. Tom also said publicly that fans shouldn't expect Big Ten Championships....that's where he lost me. But on hindsight, I wish we'd have kept him.
 
I believe he was .500 after the BJ class was gone. He made many NCAA's but eventually we were snubbed from an invite after being warned to quit scheduling so many patsies. Dr. Tom also said publicly that fans shouldn't expect Big Ten Championships....that's where he lost me. But on hindsight, I wish we'd have kept him.
He should have been axed after the 89-90, 12-16 season. Bowlsby should have come in and fired him right away, in 1990. It was a mistake.
 
With that roster? Turrible. It was beyond turrible to hand the keys of that roster over to a mid major coach that was coming off 4 seasons at Stanford with a 25-46 PAC 10/12 conference record! Sorry. Tom Davis was an average coach, at best. His record in the only 2 big boy conferences backs up that fact.

You must be forgetting his 100-47 record with Boston College in the Big East...which was a serious big boy conference back then.
 
I believe he was .500 after the BJ class was gone. He made many NCAA's but eventually we were snubbed from an invite after being warned to quit scheduling so many patsies. Dr. Tom also said publicly that fans shouldn't expect Big Ten Championships....that's where he lost me. But on hindsight, I wish we'd have kept him.

Well, he did take us to the Sweet16 during his final season AFTER Bowlsby pulled the rug out from under him.
 
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I was a freshman during that season, and as more of a basketball fan (at that time), it was amazing! It was fairly difficult to get tix but even watching the games at the ped mall (Vitos was a favorite spot) was incredible. The other thing to keep in mind was how fast paced and high powered our playing style was and realtive to that time it was pretty unique. Also, The top four teams in the B10 were really really good, all in the Top 10 nationally (Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana).

I was in California on Spring Break and watched the Elite 8 game in a bar near San Diego, so crushing as we dominted UNLV in the first half. One of the most disappointing outcomes of a game in my lifetime. But an amazing year and team nonetheless.
 
He was 181-98 after that 89-90 season.
He was .500 in the Big Ten conference. I'm not going to get into his OOC - Sisters of the Poor type teams we played on a regular basis and use that to pad his garbage record. The guy went 30-5 to 12-16 in his first 4 seasons! That kind of descent would make Isaac Newton blush.
 
You must be forgetting his 100-47 record with Boston College in the Big East...which was a serious big boy conference back then.
No. He didn't play 147 Big east conference games in 5 seasons. CONFERENCE GAMES.
Spare me the over all record. Mount Saint Union State, followed by Gardener Webb, followed by Murry State (LOSS), Followed by UiPUI, followed by Northern Atlantic State, followed by a good Power Conference opponent (LOSS), followed by The Sisters of the Poor State Tech, followed by the Soviet All Star 50+ team. followed by a .500 conference record = 20 - 10. Looks good in the stat sheet but when you really look at it, it's 10 garbage wins to pad the home slate and a 9-9 conference record.
 
With that roster? Turrible. It was beyond turrible to hand the keys of that roster over to a mid major coach that was coming off 4 seasons at Stanford with a 25-46 PAC 10/12 conference record! Sorry. Tom Davis was an average coach, at best. His record in the only 2 big boy conferences backs up that fact.

Tom Davis's system was exactly what led Iowa to those first 3 years....his system was awesome when talent was abundant, but as the years went by his recruiting couldn't keep up to Raveling's standards and even though TD's teams seemed to always make the NCAA tournament and win the first game the university was right in going in a different direction. Unfortunely, Iowa didn't go about it the right way in letting TD go and hired a coach that wasn't ready to coach at a power 5 school. As the years have gone by the criteria to make the NCAA tournament has become much tougher then during the 80's and 90's.....no longer can a school fatten up the schedule by playing cream puff's as TD's team seemed to do....;););)
 
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Tom Davis's system was exactly what led Iowa to those first 3 years....his system was awesome when talent was abundant, but as the years went by his recruiting couldn't keep up to Raveling's standards and even though TD's teams seemed to always make the NCAA tournament and win the first game the university was right in going in a different direction. Unfortunely, Iowa didn't go about it the right way in letting TD go and hired a coach that wasn't ready to coach at a power 5 school. As the years have gone by the criteria to make the NCAA tournament has become much tougher then during the 80's and 90's.....no longer can a school fatten up the schedule by playing cream puff's as TD's team seemed to do....;););)

That is how I felt back then. I must admit though that when you sat down to the pancakes....the batter wasn't better all all. Now...at last...lucky the diner stayed open this long.
 
Tom Davis's system was exactly what led Iowa to those first 3 years....his system was awesome when talent was abundant, but as the years went by his recruiting couldn't keep up to Raveling's standards and even though TD's teams seemed to always make the NCAA tournament and win the first game the university was right in going in a different direction. Unfortunely, Iowa didn't go about it the right way in letting TD go and hired a coach that wasn't ready to coach at a power 5 school. As the years have gone by the criteria to make the NCAA tournament has become much tougher then during the 80's and 90's.....no longer can a school fatten up the schedule by playing cream puff's as TD's team seemed to do....;););)
I see it differently. The talent is what got Tom Davis those first 3 years. The over-substitution is what lead those rosters to accomplish less than they could have. When your starting 5 is better than almost any other starting 5 in the nation, you're only doing the other team a favor by taking them off the court for almost half the time, while you put in your second lineup, that isn't nearly as talented. It's the dumbest thing I'd ever seen in sports. Which team would you rather face?
BJ, Marble, Gamble, Wright, Lohaus.
Reaves, Moe, Jones, Horton, Lorenzen.
Seems like a no-brainer. The only 2 players that could be considered interchangeable is Wright/Horton. You're gonna play Gamble 24 minutes per game? Lohaus 27 minutes per game? The starting 5 should have all seen 30+ minutes per game. With the exception of Wright/Horton. They could have split the minutes at the 4. No other player would have got more than 6 or 7 minutes in the rotation.
 
Injuries to Bullard and Ingram plus losing talented team leader Ray Thompson is what doomed Iowa to 12-16 in '89-'90. That team beat a very good Cyclone team in Ames and UNC at home before Thompson's dismissal.

Thompson shot 53.6% from the field despite being a volume scorer, leading the team with over 19 per over the 10 games he played that season. He also lead the team in steals per game and was second in both rebounds and assists per game.

Just because he got fat down at Oral Roberts and blew his chance at the NBA doesn't take away from the talent he showed in his short time at Iowa.
 
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The UNLV loss in 87' is still the most lingering bad memory of a melt-down just above the loss to Louisville in the Final Four.

IF LESTER WOULD HAVE BEEN HEALTHY??

Fast forward to 2006 and the buzzer-beater that sunk us against Northwestern State is another tragedy that leaves a sick feeling in your gut!
My lingering bad memory, 1981 NCAA's - up 15 at half on Wichita St, didn't score again until they were behind then lost
 
It’s amazing how smart someone can claim to be using hindsight as their base argument. Sadly, his argument remains flawed and inaccurate.
It's not hindsight, genius. I knew it at the time. I already said as much. It's too bad you can't read, you might have something to add that worth discussing.
 
It's not hindsight, genius. I knew it at the time. I already said as much. It's too bad you can't read, you might have something to add that worth discussing.

You really need to relax. FYI, when my kids were in HS, they thought they knew everything too. I'm sure they'll claim they were right about things.

I was living those years at Iowa and I can tell you it was an exciting time. Do I wish the football and basketball teams won more, sure and it was even disappointing, but I'm also thankful for what TD did. It was fun to watch his teams. As much fun as sports were during that time, I've never once thought, boy I wish we had a different coach (for any of the teams).

It's really to bad that you feel so negative about those years when there are many on here posting about how great it was. You've missed out on some good memories.
 
It's not hindsight, genius. I knew it at the time. I already said as much. It's too bad you can't read, you might have something to add that worth discussing.

07d47b2227f592e9e53bbfe1fea7c0da1192205fb254416b66b1a80d0c25620f.jpg

.
 
You really need to relax. FYI, when my kids were in HS, they thought they knew everything too. I'm sure they'll claim they were right about things.

I was living those years at Iowa and I can tell you it was an exciting time. Do I wish the football and basketball teams won more, sure and it was even disappointing, but I'm also thankful for what TD did. It was fun to watch his teams. As much fun as sports were during that time, I've never once thought, boy I wish we had a different coach (for any of the teams).

It's really to bad that you feel so negative about those years when there are many on here posting about how great it was. You've missed out on some good memories.
Yes, it was exciting. I am relaxed. I grew up playing with 3 D-1 basketball players in my neighborhood. I knew the difference when one of them wasn't there and someone else took their place. I'd rather play 24 minutes against Gamble and 14 minutes against Moe VS 32 minutes against Gamble and 8 minutes against Moe. Id rather play 26 minutes against Lohaus and 14 minutes against Lorenzen VS 32 minutes against Lohaus and 8 minutes against Lorenzen.
That was true then and it's true now, 30 years later.
I'm not sorry if that hurts people's feelings about Tom Davis. Tom Davis was a great teacher of the game. He was a great guy. I have nothing but respect for the man himself. But he was a huge step down in recruiting and a poor in game coach.
 
Here's the thing. TD's "system" had flaws, ones that as a coach myself, I had fundamental issues with. But there were also plenty of things that I really liked as well and incorporated them with my own philosophy. All coaches steal :)

But to totally discredit what he did or how he did it is just silly. He taught a system and had decent success with it. On top of that, he was a very good teacher of the game AND he did it with 100% class at all times.
 
When ya got nothin, post gifs and lol.

I've got plenty, however the gif perfectly summed up my feelings towards your claims and opinions shared throughout this thread. You claim that as an 8th grader you knew Tom Davis was a failure after losing a hearbreaker of a game in the Elite 8 prior to becoming the National Coach of the Year. You claim growing up around 3 D-1 players somehow afforded you the unique and rare ability to spot talent and coaches that were failures despite a proven track record of success, on and off the court...more BS. You are so full of yourself...do you have one of these hats?

150423_2861312_Discriminating_Gentlemen.jpg
 
I've got plenty, however the gif perfectly summed up my feelings towards your claims and opinions shared throughout this thread. You claim that as an 8th grader you knew Tom Davis was a failure after losing a hearbreaker of a game in the Elite 8 prior to becoming the National Coach of the Year. You claim growing up around 3 D-1 players somehow afforded you the unique and rare ability to spot talent and coaches that were failures despite a proven track record of success, on and off the court...more BS. You are so full of yourself...do you have one of these hats?

150423_2861312_Discriminating_Gentlemen.jpg
You obviously can't read. That's a tragedy.
 
Here's the thing. TD's "system" had flaws, ones that as a coach myself, I had fundamental issues with. But there were also plenty of things that I really liked as well and incorporated them with my own philosophy. All coaches steal :)

But to totally discredit what he did or how he did it is just silly. He taught a system and had decent success with it. On top of that, he was a very good teacher of the game AND he did it with 100% class at all times.
Agreed. He was a mid major coach with a mid major system. He should have never been hired and handed that roster. It cost all of us, as Iowa fans. It cost the University.
 
Yes, it was exciting. I am relaxed. I grew up playing with 3 D-1 basketball players in my neighborhood. I knew the difference when one of them wasn't there and someone else took their place. I'd rather play 24 minutes against Gamble and 14 minutes against Moe VS 32 minutes against Gamble and 8 minutes against Moe. Id rather play 26 minutes against Lohaus and 14 minutes against Lorenzen VS 32 minutes against Lohaus and 8 minutes against Lorenzen.
That was true then and it's true now, 30 years later.
I'm not sorry if that hurts people's feelings about Tom Davis. Tom Davis was a great teacher of the game. He was a great guy. I have nothing but respect for the man himself. But he was a huge step down in recruiting and a poor in game coach.

I think almost everyone is able to tell who the better players are in any neighborhood. Go to any elementary playground and kids will know who the better athletes are.

There more factors in deciding who plays what minutes. Maybe Lohaus/Gamble are less effective as they get tired. In TD's system, the players would go all out and be pressing. It made sense that people were shuffled in and out. When a team has depth, they tend to play more people. You probably shouldn't watch to much Iowa BB this year because you're going to see many different players on the court.
 
Agreed. He was a mid major coach with a mid major system. He should have never been hired and handed that roster. It cost all of us, as Iowa fans. It cost the University.
Gary Williams at MD ran the "55" system and won a NC with it. I didn't love the system but it can work.
 
Gary Williams at MD ran the "55" system and won a NC with it. I didn't love the system but it can work.
I think Tom Davis would do well with the roster we have right now, honestly. Can you imagine our front line if TD was teaching them rebounding in practice every day?
 
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He had a 26-45 PAC 10 conference record when we hired him.
Iowa basketball has been in a 30 free fall since the 86-87 season.

So you're blaming the last 30 years on TD? Now you're just coming across as someone who's bitter about something.
 
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