22 wins....

[sober_teacher]

First, I like being right. Posted on the day of Iowa's elimination from the BTT last year that we'd win at least 22 games. It looked rough for a while but we got there.

Second, do the poor games wash away all the other good wins and total wins? Even on defense improved by 7 points a game and like double the forced turnovers/steals. The boys have already won 8 more and lost 9 fewer than last season. We finished 6th after being 13th last season and after being picked for an average of an 11th place finish.

While I fully believe that the NCAA will jump us for both tOSU and Indiana we should be in the field of 64- a huge improvement from the 14 win debacle last year.

If Cook and Moss stay we return the entire starting line up and add a high level 4* recruit that plays the same position as the only departing senior. Couple of interesting players returning. I look for closer to 25 wins next season.

25 games overall or regular season? I don't really expect Cook to be back next year, and for rotation's sake i kind of hope we lose a player or two to transfer...solely b/c I think Fran had one of his best rotations this year because he was almost forced to shorten the bench. At the moment we have two players redshirting/2 frosh incoming but only losing one player. At the moment I think Dailey and Connor would be most likely to lose minutes.

At minimum, this team should safely be in the NCAA field next year. Anything beyond that will depend on the conference slate/team health imo.

 

[LaQuintaHawkeye]

I don’t believe that is accurate. People (like me) who espouse the positive see the bad play, see the areas where improvement is needed, have a good understanding of where recruiting needs to improve, but realize that NO team-player-or coach is perfect...NONE. SO we can spend our time bitching if we choose (pounding Illinois last night and moronic fan spends time trashing Connor-freshman guard) or celebrating the win....

Sure, I see your point.

However, IMO, kool-aid drinkers are just as bad as the negative nellies.

Zealously defending the “hot mess” that this team devolved into (yet again) is even more annoying.

Not saying that specifically calling a kid out on an open message board is a good thing, but it’s not the worse thing frustrated fans could do.

Perspective.

 

[perryhawk]

Sure, I see your point.

However, IMO, kool-aid drinkers are just as bad as the negative nellies.

Zealously defending the “hot mess” that this team devolved into (yet again) is even more annoying.

Not saying that specifically calling a kid out on an open message board is a good thing, but it’s not the worse thing frustrated fans could do.

Perspective.

Reasonable discussion....and the term "perspective' is really the bottom line here.

My slanted view is that the negative posters (very general statement) live mostly in the moment...the negative moment, and when things go bad they are howling and trashing our own...they have these lofty expectations of nearly perfect basketball but seem to understand that players/teams aren't perfect but just can't resolve those two thoughts in their own heads...so they go with emotion and bitch (sometimes even when things are good).

The more positive posters seem to realize that their is a big picture...that when something goes bad it may or may not be a trend...it may or may not be fixable. So they look to the big picture. I use last year as an example. As a positive poster (with an unhealthy need for Iowa basketball and it's success) last year was torturous. It caused me serious doubt....but I looked to the long term evidence..and in hindsight the evidence says that last year was an anomaly. I can see that we don't yet know the ceiling for Fran's program.....I still have hope for the future. I KNOW that firing Fran is just as likely, if not more so, to set the Iowa program back than it is to move it forward or even maintain the current status. How many major D1 teams around the country hired a new coach in the last couple of years that has shown significant improvement? How many of those are now competing for conference championships (major conference like the B10) and have a shot at a deep NCAA tournament run?

 

[DewHawk]

That’s pretty rich, selecting the worst part of the season to concentrate on....instead of the 22 wins. You guys that want to live in the anxiety and turmoil go ahead....but I enjoy being a fan so I’ll go with those 22 wins.

People were focusing on the worst part of the season because they have been the most recent games IMO. And, the effort has been lacking in those games. Not hard to understand.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

I don’t believe that is accurate. People (like me) who espouse the positive see the bad play, see the areas where improvement is needed, have a good understanding of where recruiting needs to improve, but realize that NO team-player-or coach is perfect...NONE. SO we can spend our time bitching if we choose (pounding Illinois last night and moronic fan spends time trashing Connor-freshman guard) or celebrating the win....

I had to bite my tongue last night as I sat with a group of Hawkeye “fans” bashed Connor every minute he was in the game. He threw a bad pass for a turnover and they went berserk screaming about the nepotism and how “shitty” he is. Look the main two reasons for the improvement of this team from last year. 1. Joe Wieskamp and to lesser extent 2. Connor McCaffery. BTW after all their bitching last night Connor finished with 8 assists and 1 turnover.

 

[hooper56]

I had to bite my tongue last night as I sat with a group of Hawkeye “fans” bashed Connor every minute he was in the game. He threw a bad pass for a turnover and they went berserk screaming about the nepotism and how “shitty” he is. Look the main two reasons for the improvement of this team from last year. 1. Joe Wieskamp and to lesser extent 2. Connor McCaffery. BTW after all their bitching last night Connor finished with 8 assists and 1 turnover.

Anyone who does not think having Connor on the team is a tremendous asset, simply does not understand basketball and I am therefore not the least bit interested in anything further they might say.

 

[ZumaHawk]

I had to bite my tongue last night as I sat with a group of Hawkeye “fans” bashed Connor every minute he was in the game. He threw a bad pass for a turnover and they went berserk screaming about the nepotism and how “shitty” he is. Look the main two reasons for the improvement of this team from last year. 1. Joe Wieskamp and to lesser extent 2. Connor McCaffery. BTW after all their bitching last night Connor finished with 8 assists and 1 turnover.

I thought Connor played quite well actually. 1 TO and people went ballistic is uncalled for.

 

[Packer54]

Really bad move by Fran @Ohio State which hurt Iowa the next 2 games, big time. The unnecessary drama is really the only major blemish this year.

His son tends to bring the same drama

 

[Packer54]

Anyone who does not think having Connor on the team is a tremendous asset, simply does not understand basketball and I am therefore not the least bit interested in anything further they might say.

Tremendous asset?

 

[ChiPackHawk]

I think more importantly Fran does not recognize the signs of fatigue in his teams. Should have given the guys some days off and/or shoot around only work somewhere in there when the slide was evident.

And does anybody really know that he didn't?

 

[ChiPackHawk]

Tremendous asset?

He is a back up point guard that does a decent job of distributing the ball to his teammates. He also brings a red ass attitude that the vast majority of fans have been bitching that Iowa team's do not have enough of. Get past the fact he is the coach's son and you will notice he plays an important role for the team. Starters can't play every minute of every game!

 

[trippnschmidt]

Oh FFS. As someone said its all about perspective. The effort was severely lacking since we beat Michigan. Miracle wins against Northwestern and Rutgers are the only thing that kept this team afloat.

This is the first time in six years we are playing in the quarters on Friday in this tournament. Every single BTT has been there except us in that span.

It was a very satisfying win tonight. But let's not act like the ugliness can be washed away with one win over a team that won 12 games this season.

Keep on giving this effort and good things may happen. That's why people have been pissed. It seems the effort hasn't been there.

I'm going to let you in on a secret. If you follow sportsball teams, every. single. one. of. them. are going to have ups and downs throughout the season.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

I thought Connor played quite well actually. 1 TO and people went ballistic is uncalled for.

It wasn’t just them going berserk with the TO. They bitched about him being on the court every minute he was out there.

 

[IllQChawk]

25 games overall or regular season? I don't really expect Cook to be back next year, and for rotation's sake i kind of hope we lose a player or two to transfer...solely b/c I think Fran had one of his best rotations this year because he was almost forced to shorten the bench. At the moment we have two players redshirting/2 frosh incoming but only losing one player. At the moment I think Dailey and Connor would be most likely to lose minutes.

Actually, we have 3 players that are red-shirting: 6'11 Nunge, 6'8 Pemsl, and 6'4 C.J. Fredrick. Nunge and Pemsl will be expected to provide inside help especially if Cook leaves and Fredrick will provide depth at both guard positions and is an excellent 3 point shooter and loves to play defense. Taking a charge against Cook in preseason practice shows he's either very stupid or enjoys playing defense and doing the dirty work. He hasn't seen the floor yet and I'm already excited to see him in action.

 

[MeetTheFerentz]

For those keeping score at home, the most since 2006.

If you're talkin' pre-NCAA Tourney wins (and pre-NIT), that would be correct.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

25 games overall or regular season? I don't really expect Cook to be back next year, and for rotation's sake i kind of hope we lose a player or two to transfer...solely b/c I think Fran had one of his best rotations this year because he was almost forced to shorten the bench. At the moment we have two players redshirting/2 frosh incoming but only losing one player. At the moment I think Dailey and Connor would be most likely to lose minutes.

At minimum, this team should safely be in the NCAA field next year. Anything beyond that will depend on the conference slate/team health imo.

Very much 25 wins overall. I am one of those fans that would have seen a 20 win season and post season play as a big improvement over a 14 win, 13th place finish.

TC is the guy we can most afford to lose simply because that is the only position where there might be quality depth. If Cordell is healthy and has progressed his skills during this red shirt season we might get similar productivity with fewer mistakes and, of course, no spectacular jams.

Nunge might also improve sufficiently to be a quality player. Last season he was lost on defense. If fairness to the player, however, the coaches frequently had him guarding much quicker players on the perimeter. Its the rare 6'10" kid that can guard on the perimeter. If Nunge is playing only as a 4 I think his defense might become adequate or better.

Moss, although not as good as TC, will be much harder to replace because everything behind him is either unknown (CJ) or a long way from showing the skills to start on a good team. C McC is not the answer at this point (great pun) and neither is Maishe.

We need all five starters to return. If so I think we'll have our first real shot at the Sweet 16 in more than 20 years.

Then again, there is the curse.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

It wasn’t just them going berserk with the TO. They bitched about him being on the court every minute he was out there.

The complaints arise from the way the offense freezes up when Connor is at point. Hitting that three will affect the defense, they might not leave him five feet open. But C's a freshman, a highly ranked recruit and he will get better.

If Moss leaves the question is will C get better fast enough to help the team win and not just putting in time. His hideous shot form needs to improve or we will see a lot of missed front ends of 1 and 1s.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

The complaints arise from the way the offense freezes up when Connor is at point. Hitting that three will affect the defense, they might not leave him five feet open. But C's a freshman, a highly ranked recruit and he will get better.

If Moss leaves the question is will C get better fast enough to help the team win and not just putting in time. His hideous shot form needs to improve or we will see a lot of missed front ends of 1 and 1s.

I don’t really see the offense “freeze up” with Connor at point. I see the offense freeze up with Connor at point WHILE Maishe is at the 2......... What makes you think Connor will shoot FTs any worse than say Mike Gesell? He has gone to the line over 100 times this year and shot 75%. Not great and hasn’t shot as well as he did earlier in the season but I wouldn’t expect him to get worse from the line next year. Don’t want to sound like I’m pushing for Connor to be starting pg or even play more minutes. I think his best role is a backup pg.

 

[perryhawk]

The complaints arise from the way the offense freezes up when Connor is at point. Hitting that three will affect the defense, they might not leave him five feet open. But C's a freshman, a highly ranked recruit and he will get better.

If Moss leaves the question is will C get better fast enough to help the team win and not just putting in time. His hideous shot form needs to improve or we will see a lot of missed front ends of 1 and 1s.

I don’t really see the offense “freeze up” with Connor at point. I see the offense freeze up with Connor at point WHILE Maishe is at the 2......... What makes you think Connor will shoot FTs any worse than say Mike Gesell? He has gone to the line over 100 times this year and shot 75%. Not great and hasn’t shot as well as he did earlier in the season but I wouldn’t expect him to get worse from the line next year. Don’t want to sound like I’m pushing for Connor to be starting pg or even play more minutes. I think his best role is a backup pg.

Agree with this

 

[hooper56]

Tremendous asset?

What would you call 8 assists?

 

[HawkRugged17]

What would you call 8 assists?

Very helpful ...

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Like most things... Its about perspective.

Pre-season. All would have been THRILLED to get 22 wins and an NCAA tournament trip.

But then when you are sitting at 21-6. With some winnable games remaining... Everyone wants more and to lock up a better seed.
Plus the effort hasn't looked great during the losing streak.

It's all in the past now. Just keep winning hawks. Still a chance to improve seeding!

Exactly.

Pre-season picks are meaningless. It all comes before you've seen the team even play a game.

In a vacuum, this is a pretty good season, but the Hawks really blew a chance at a much better seed (again). The late-season meltdowns have gotten old.

Let's see what they can salvage from it, but Iowa has likely played themselves into a situation where they'll get drilled by Duke or Kentucky in the 2nd round.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

I don’t really see the offense “freeze up” with Connor at point. I see the offense freeze up with Connor at point WHILE Maishe is at the 2......... What makes you think Connor will shoot FTs any worse than say Mike Gesell? He has gone to the line over 100 times this year and shot 75%. Not great and hasn’t shot as well as he did earlier in the season but I wouldn’t expect him to get worse from the line next year. Don’t want to sound like I’m pushing for Connor to be starting pg or even play more minutes. I think his best role is a backup pg.

First, Mikey G is not a helpful player for purposes of your example. Think back on how many close games were lost where Mikey missed either the front end of a 1 and 1 or at least shot no better than .500 in the final five minutes.

Second, C's form is atrocious. He jerks with his wrist and puts no upper body or hips into his shot. Its the same bad shooting form that makes him such a poor jump shooter. This is especially odd since his father's a coach who should have taught him the basics of good shooting.

Third, actual performance. That .750 (on 96 FTs) is inflated by 4 non conf games where he shot 31 of 37. C had two 3/4 outings in the Big Ten games and was at or below .500 in 18 of the 20 Big Ten games.

Closing out games at the line is an enormous component of a winning point guard, especially since C will never be surrounded by 5* talent. Jobu, on the other hand, is a 91% shooter from the line, has missed only 7 times in Big Ten play.

C will become a better player but he's never going to be a good bet at the foul line without improving his technique.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

First, Mikey G is not a helpful player for purposes of your example. Think back on how many close games were lost where Mikey missed either the front end of a 1 and 1 or at least shot no better than .500 in the final five minutes.

Second, C's form is atrocious. He jerks with his wrist and puts no upper body or hips into his shot. Its the same bad shooting form that makes him such a poor jump shooter. This is especially odd since his father's a coach who should have taught him the basics of good shooting.

Third, actual performance. That .750 (on 96 FTs) is inflated by 4 non conf games where he shot 31 of 37. C had two 3/4 outings in the Big Ten games and was at or below .500 in 18 of the 20 Big Ten games.

Closing out games at the line is an enormous component of a winning point guard, especially since C will never be surrounded by 5* talent. Jobu, on the other hand, is a 91% shooter from the line, has missed only 7 times in Big Ten play.

C will become a better player but he's never going to be a good bet at the foul line without improving his technique.

I think Gessell is better to compare him with than Bohannon. No, he won’t be JoBo. That’s why I brought Gessel up. His struggles late in games frustrated me as well.I also realize C’s FT % was bolstered by the games with Oregon, UConn and Iowa State where couldn’t miss but don’t think you can just not count those games. Connor’s senior year of HS he short nearly 100 FTs making 88%. I don’t necessarily like to compare HS stats to D1 but FTs shooting does seem to translate. I guess his form (while yes not pretty it’s not the ugly stroke of lefty pg Noel Eastern at Purdue) is not as much of a concern to me as it is young don’t expect too see any change in his form. I trust him more than Cook or Baer in crunch time. I’m just glad we don’t have to watch Ahmed Wagner breaking backboards from the line any more and a little more concerned about Joe Troussaint being a 56% FT shooter in HS.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

It was great to see Iowa have a strong performance in the BTT. But it was against Illinois. So I think we need to keep it in perspective.

Fran is not a bad coach. But he is seriously flawed. We can dissect the positives and negatives endlessly but this really boils down to two things: One) Are you happy with the overall results? Two) Do you believe Iowa can get a better coach?

From what I've observed, if you believe the answer to the latter to be no, then you seem more satisfied with the former. And vice versa.

Personally, I think Iowa can do a little better than Fran.

 

[hooper56]

It was great to see Iowa have a strong performance in the BTT. But it was against Illinois. So I think we need to keep it in perspective.

Fran is not a bad coach. But he is seriously flawed. We can dissect the positives and negatives endlessly but this really boils down to two things: One) Are you happy with the overall results? Two) Do you believe Iowa can get a better coach?

From what I've observed, if you believe the answer to the latter to be no, then you seem more satisfied with the former. And vice versa.

Personally, I think Iowa can do a little better than Fran.

We have only had one coach better in terms of number of wins. Fran is my man.

 

[perryhawk]

It was great to see Iowa have a strong performance in the BTT. But it was against Illinois. So I think we need to keep it in perspective.

Fran is not a bad coach. But he is seriously flawed. We can dissect the positives and negatives endlessly but this really boils down to two things: One) Are you happy with the overall results? Two) Do you believe Iowa can get a better coach?

From what I've observed, if you believe the answer to the latter to be no, then you seem more satisfied with the former. And vice versa.

Personally, I think Iowa can do a little better than Fran.

Who do you think we could get that would be better?

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Who do you think we could get that would be better?

With Barta as AD, great question.

He's the first one who needs to go.

 

[Suterman]

It was great to see Iowa have a strong performance in the BTT. But it was against Illinois. So I think we need to keep it in perspective.

Fran is not a bad coach. But he is seriously flawed. We can dissect the positives and negatives endlessly but this really boils down to two things: One) Are you happy with the overall results? Two) Do you believe Iowa can get a better coach?

From what I've observed, if you believe the answer to the latter to be no, then you seem more satisfied with the former. And vice versa.

Personally, I think Iowa can do a little better than Fran.

You may be right but we have also seen with Lick that we can do a helluva lot worse. Now is NOT the time to replace Fran for a lot of reasons.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

You may be right but we have also seen with Lick that we can do a helluva lot worse. Now is NOT the time to replace Fran for a lot of reasons.

I agree.

Barta needs to go first. Get a competent AD before you worry about Fran's future.

 

[sober_teacher]

Actually, we have 3 players that are red-shirting: 6'11 Nunge, 6'8 Pemsl, and 6'4 C.J. Fredrick. Nunge and Pemsl will be expected to provide inside help especially if Cook leaves and Fredrick will provide depth at both guard positions and is an excellent 3 point shooter and loves to play defense. Taking a charge against Cook in preseason practice shows he's either very stupid or enjoys playing defense and doing the dirty work. He hasn't seen the floor yet and I'm already excited to see him in action.

Thanks for reminding me, totally forgot about CJ.