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Fran: "It's none of your business what the last play call was."

We all know what play Fran called. It happens every game. Gesell driving up the middle and throwing it up for a prayer. Seen it way too many times and it never works. I know Fran can't shoot the ball for his players, but his rotations and his play calling have been questionable the last half of this season, especially the rotations. As fun and exciting as Iowa was to watch the first half of the year, they've been just as disappointing the last half. Sigh...
 
Coming from a guy who boasted about Fran in close games after the Minnesota win.

I think and will continue to believe Fran puts his players in position to win every game.

Whether the players come through in crunch time, well....you see the results.

We won close games when Gatens was a Senior because he could handle the ball and make his FT's without pissing down his leg.

I remember Gatens beating Wisconsin at home close and away.

I remember seeing Iowa beat Virginia at their place close(we made our FTs) and Maryland close(clutch play by Eric May)

I know Fran isn't going to throw Mike under the bus and our fan base is collectively too stupid to see that Mike Gesell is not clutch and doesn't have the athletic ability to make a meaningful play to win a basketball game.

I'm done for today. Peace dunces.
 
I know Fran isn't going to throw Mike under the bus and our fan base is collectively too stupid to see that Mike Gesell is not clutch and doesn't have the athletic ability to make a meaningful play to win a basketball game..
Yet, Fran KEEPS on drawing up plays for Gesell to blunder at the end. That is amazing.
 
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It is sounding to me like Fran may soon be looking for another gig. He is showing the wear and tear of not being able survive in the Iowa fish bowl. Time will tell. He is one really angry man right now.
 
I think the question of "what was the play call with 4 seconds left" came from Dochterman of the CR Gazette.

Mike Gesell was going to answer the question but Fran cut Mike off. His reply was "It's none of your business what the last play call was. Period."

Uh oh. He doesn't want to give away the secret play. We're gonna see it again in the Tourney!
 
I'm not watching the Iowa tourney game. Yes, singular. Can't do it, cause you can book it that they will piss the game down their legs somehow. I remember watching the UNI ending...that bounce Washpun got, and thinking to myself, I don't believe we got "that bounce" once with this senior class. I don't remember any at all. It NEVER goes in for this team.

I'll do my best to watch one of the 3 others as well. This predictable train wreck is just so difficult to turn away!
 
I like Fran most of the time, but he's got a nearly unmanageable temper. It makes his players very tentative. They will never be loose in end of game scenarios. This end game pattern will not be broken with this coaching staff.

That's the issue with Iowa basketball at present.

Feel free to reference this post after a few more seasons.

The end game's problem has a name, Mike Gesell.
 
Just the sort of answer I'd expect when your team plays a listless 36 minutes, then puts exactly 2:15 together to somehow tie the game (believable, considering how bad Illinois is), then proceeds to AGAIN piss a game away the last 90 seconds.

Fran is a good basketball coach, but I suspect he's as exasperated as the fan base is. You just can't make this crap up any more.

If it went down as advertised, he's protecting Mike there...but still.

I'm not watching the Iowa tourney game. Yes, singular. Can't do it, cause you can book it that they will piss the game down their legs somehow. I remember watching the UNI ending...that bounce Washpun got, and thinking to myself, I don't believe we got "that bounce" once with this senior class. I don't remember any at all. It NEVER goes in for this team.

To be fair, to get that bounce you actually have to hit the rim. Clemmons air balled a three against Indiana, Mike somehow hit the backboard bit not the rim on basically a free throw, and the other times he turns it over.
 
again, what was wrong with the question?
He goddamn well needs to answer the question. Hawk fans have seen this rerun too many times. You think our opponents don't know what's coming?

I know Fran has been loyal to his seniors, but outside of JU, they simply have limited talent. None of the other three seniors even rise to the level of an "average" B1G player.

I sometimes see a look in MG's eyes that looks like straight up fear. It's like they KNOW the play call won't materialize.

Bring on next season!
 
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I think the question of "what was the play call with 4 seconds left" came from Dochterman of the CR Gazette.

Mike Gesell was going to answer the question but Fran cut Mike off. His reply was "It's none of your business what the last play call was. Period."

I think it was a bad answer to a bad question. Dochterman should know that nobody's going to tell you exactly what the play was. Gesell tried to answer democratically, he got asked again, and Fran blew up. Fran should have handled that a lot better. A simple "we can't say" would be more acceptable than "none of your business...period". Had Fran got asked a question attacking his decision making or a player like "why do you keep putting the ball in Gesell's hands at the end of games when never seems to get the job done?", then I'd understand a major blowup like that. As others have mentioned, Fran has been extremely chippy in the past month. Makes you wonder what else is going on behind the scenes in the locker room and off the court.
 
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The end game's problem has a name, Mike Gesell.

Oh yes, of course. Just like KOK was a bad offensive coordinator???

Sometimes the HC is in fact to blame for problems with the team.

Question really should be "does Fran have a 2.0?"

I won't blame a senior laden team that continually blew it in the same fashion.
 
The end game's problem has a name, Mike Gesell.
It's a question that should have been asked when every time that first Marble and then Gesell has handled that ball at the end of games that Iowa could have won but didn't in the last 4 years....McCaffery has to own up to the fact that it's all on him and his useless coaching staff. 6 years now and Iowa is as athletic as a bad mid major. Recruiting is the life blood of college basketball and so for our assistant coaches have shown me nothing....
 
It is sounding to me like Fran may soon be looking for another gig. He is showing the wear and tear of not being able survive in the Iowa fish bowl. Time will tell. He is one really angry man right now.

I've heard this 'Iowa City Fishbowl' brought up a lot over the years, probably dating back to Lute Olsen, but honestly how is it any more pressure, stress, etc. than another P5 school in basketball? Ok, mid to top tier power school? If he can't handle the Iowa City fish bowl, he might want to consider moving back to the MEAC. I'm not sure I buy the Iowa City fish bowl argument.

As much as I like Fran, he is one stubborn SOB. His refusal to use timeouts to either draw up good looks or give an exhausted team a chance to catch their breath and/or his inability to draw up good plays in end of game situations is beyond infuriating. Sure, some of this must be put on the players, but for years with Fran we've seen predictable meltdowns in end of game situations and poor decisions from the bench.

I thought we had turned the corner this year but I should have known better. Next year is going to be painful and we'll probably miss out on post season play altogether unless we have a cupcake non-conference schedule. I've sensed there were locker room issues the past couple years where perhaps players didn't care for some of the others based on body language on the floor. I'm seeing some of the same issues the past couple weeks...I don't know for sure if its just players pressing or if there is something going on behind the scenes because this team isn't playing for each other and they have no sense of urgency which is sad.
 
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Fran may have given a short, immature answer to the question, but let's be honest - the question was obviously designed to provoke Fran. I mean, what kind of dumb question is that? We saw how the game ended, so what good does that question do? It was designed to make him mad after a loss and that's what it did. Would you guys rather have Fran give a cool and collected "Coach speak" answer with no emotion? How about throwing Mike under the bus and pissing off his team? How about an outright lie? Personally I like the emotion. Nobody gives a sh*t about Fran's press conferences outside of you guys.
 
Just one of the reasons why I do not like Fran. For crying out loud Fran it is only a basketball game stop acting like you are dealing with National Security questions. If he is this way in public, I can only imagine what he is like in practice.
This flop has him on edge... again. Between a poor manager of time outs, not getting production from the bench, having only two scoring threats, no athleticism from the seniors, and getting pushed around under the rim... this team has a unusual amount of weaknesses.

So the question... was the first half results the real team or is the second half version the real Hawkeye team?

Either way... this team has lost all confidence and will be one and done team come next week.
 
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We saw how the game ended, so what good does that question do?.

My opinion is we saw a very dumb pass to a player that is NOT our best option. So the question is quite fair - what WERE you trying to do there? Because none of us want to believe your goal was Dom Uhl.

Note I didn't see Mike's answer before the question.
 
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I stated a couple of weeks ago that there was something going on internally with this team, and I still think this is the case.

I have supported Fran from Day 1. He had done a fantastic job turning the Iowa basketball program around, and will always be grateful for that.

But.....could it be possible he is a much better mid-major coach than a power conference coach? That he just isn't quite up to the pressure of competing against top-flight competition week in and week out over an entire conference season? That his talent level and coaching works better over the long haul against mid-majors than the "big boys"?

I'm beginning to wonder. There is certainly no shame in it. Alford is the same.
 
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I stated a couple of weeks ago that there was something going on internally with this team, and I still think this is the case.

I have supported Fran from Day 1. He had done a fantastic job turning the Iowa basketball program around, and will always be grateful for that.

But.....could it be possible he is a much better mid-major coach than a power conference coach? That he just isn't quite up to the pressure of competing against top-flight competition week in and week out over an entire conference season? That his talent level and coaching works better over the long haul against mid-majors than the "big boys"?

I'm beginning to wonder. There is certainly no shame in it. Alford is the same.

Seems like a reasonable question
 
One poster offered that Fran might have been thinking, "no need to tip my hand,' and another offered a tongue in cheek idea of the "secret play" for the NCAA's. But I don't happen to think that those answers are necessarily jokes - it may have been a great and unexpected play that they had really been working on for just such a situation, if it had been executed properly; and he might have wanted to keep it for the next time- in the NC 2A's. Add that to his post-game demeanor, and it might just have been a too-severe protective reaction. BTW - I'm not a Fran apologist. It's been my pleasure to meet Kirk, Dan Gable, Lisa and several others - but only Fran -down here at our Paradise Jam Caribbean basketball tournament - and Coach Dillard who was with him - ever treated me with total disdain and disrespect when I approached him and identified myself as an Iowa grad and an old coach. Didn't even bother to acknowledge me, other than flaring their nostrils and striding away. Every other Hawkeye coach or administrator (even athlete) I've ever met was terrific, personal, personable, warm, and made me feel like I was a part of the same thing they were a part of. Even mean old Barry Alvarez sat with me and talked over old Hawkeye experiences when the Badgers were down here for our tournament. And nobody was as great to everyone as Lisa Bluder's teams here. Maybe it's just not in Fran's DNA.
 
It is none of our business. Maybe I just think differently, but he is coaching a game, for student-athletes to participate in. He answers to Gary Barta and above, not the average fan and definitely not the media.

The guy makes in the ballpark of $2 million a year to coach a stupid children's game, which is more than the average resident of this state will make in several lifetimes, and the only reason is because this school has such a rabid and loyal fanbase that is willing to put up with his constant underachieving.

He damn well better answer any and all media inquiries about actual game situations that have just occurred, or he can take his short-tempered, petulant, whiny, crybaby little ass back to whatever jerkwater, mid-major hellhole that he came from.
 
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I remember watching the UNI ending...that bounce Washpun got, and thinking to myself, I don't believe we got "that bounce" once with this senior class. I don't remember any at all. It NEVER goes in for this team.

It happened in this very game, nimrod. Re-watch Baer's free throw to tie it at 66. The most ridiculous "bounce" you could ever have.

And we STILL lost.
 
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