Fran McCaffery Lacks Discipline

[stanzithemanzi12]

He lacks it himself, and he doesn't demand it from his teams. The entire Fran era has lacked good defense and rebounding. I've never seen a team so poor at simply blocking out and rebounding. He tries to compensate for it by recruiting length which has often meant slower players who can't defend.

Last year we had, arguably, two of the better players (NBA prospects) Iowa has seen in the last 25 years playing at the same time on the same team and we were blown out in the second round of the NCAA tournament. We've already seen the peak. It's the round of 32.

There's really nothing the entire Fran era can hang it's hat on other than getting us back to at least an NCAA tournament appearance contender. There's no foundation. Iowa Basketball is a mid 600 credit score with a time share, new car leases, and lots of credit card debt. It's not a winning culture.

 

[HawkGem10]

Lacks coaching ability also.

 

[BrewHawk]

On a national scale, he's best known for this...

 

[iahawkeyes17]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

He lacks it himself, and he doesn't demand it from his teams. The entire Fran era has lacked good defense and rebounding. I've never seen a team so poor at simply blocking out and rebounding. He tries to compensate for it by recruiting length which has often meant slower players who can't defend.

Last year we had, arguably, two of the better players (NBA prospects) Iowa has seen in the last 25 years playing at the same time on the same team and we were blown out in the second round of the NCAA tournament. We've already seen the peak. It's the round of 32.

There's really nothing the entire Fran era can hang it's hat on other than getting us back to at least an NCAA tournament appearance contender. There's no foundation. Iowa Basketball is a mid 600 credit score with a time share, new car leases, and lots of credit card debt. It's not a winning culture.

Okay, I’ll admit to not being a Fran fan, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, but how in the world can you claim to know how disciplined Fran is or isn’t?

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

This is exactly right.

 

[Crazy Hawk]

He lacks it himself, and he doesn't demand it from his teams. The entire Fran era has lacked good defense and rebounding. I've never seen a team so poor at simply blocking out and rebounding. He tries to compensate for it by recruiting length which has often meant slower players who can't defend.

Last year we had, arguably, two of the better players (NBA prospects) Iowa has seen in the last 25 years playing at the same time on the same team and we were blown out in the second round of the NCAA tournament. We've already seen the peak. It's the round of 32.

There's really nothing the entire Fran era can hang it's hat on other than getting us back to at least an NCAA tournament appearance contender. There's no foundation. Iowa Basketball is a mid 600 credit score with a time share, new car leases, and lots of credit card debt. It's not a winning culture.

This credit score comparison is one I've never seen before and as comical as it is....it is pretty spot on.

There is a reason why Iowa was his first big shot and it took him three (?) mid-major turnarounds to get it. He is lucky he is at a place where Barta is willing to put up with his antics/baggage because if he was in a majority of other Power 5 schools he'd be gone.

 

[TRHawkeye145]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

Good post - I mentioned this exact thing in the game thread.

Dillard and Speraw may be good coaches at practice (behind-the-scenes) but they look completely disinterested during the games. It might be a Fran decision wanting to do all the in-game coaching himself... no idea.

They almost look afraid to say anything or provide any feedback to Fran. There are times I see them whisper in Fran's ear.... so there is some communication going on between the 3 of them lol

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

It took exactly 1 season for T.J. Otzelberger to turn ISU around from being a doormat.

There goes all the arguments for giving a coach 3-4 seasons.

Otzelberger ran off half of last years team that would not play his style of basketball. Defend, rebound, and physical.

That style of play, think Wisconsin & MSU, year in year out will win them a lot of games.

They already won a game this year going 1/20 from three point land. Practically unheard of.

Iowa Basketball fans better be prepared to be second fiddle in the State for a long time to come. He isn’t leaving any time soon.

 

[Hans81]

It took exactly 1 season for T.J. Otzelberger to turn ISU around from being a doormat.

There goes all the arguments for giving a coach 3-4 seasons.

Otzelberger ran off half of last years team that would not play his style of basketball. Defend, rebound, and physical.

That style of play, think Wisconsin & MSU, year in year out will win them a lot of games.

They already won a game this year going 1/20 from three point land. Practically unheard of.

Iowa Basketball fans better be prepared to be second fiddle in the State for a long time to come. He isn’t leaving any time soon.

We’ll see, lots of variables for isu’s future. For instance, time will tell if isu players stay eligible, or if TJ’s demeanor might lead to high blood pressure/health problems...who knows?

 

[fivecardstud14]

It took exactly 1 season for T.J. Otzelberger to turn ISU around from being a doormat.

There goes all the arguments for giving a coach 3-4 seasons.

Otzelberger ran off half of last years team that would not play his style of basketball. Defend, rebound, and physical.

That style of play, think Wisconsin & MSU, year in year out will win them a lot of games.

They already won a game this year going 1/20 from three point land. Practically unheard of.

Iowa Basketball fans better be prepared to be second fiddle in the State for a long time to come. He isn’t leaving any time soon.

Lol at you putting Wisconsin & Michigan State equally. I can see you wanting the Hawks to play like Wisconsin; dribble for 29 seconds then throw up a prayer at the buzzer. Try to win 53-49. Yeah real cool.

 

[BrewHawk]

Okay, I’ll admit to not being a Fran fan, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, but how in the world can you claim to know how disciplined Fran is or isn’t?

 

[Incredible Hawk]

Iowa Basketball fans better be prepared to be second fiddle in the State for a long time to come. He isn’t leaving any time soon.

Had the same thought after last night's game - this is gonna be a pretty lopsided series for the foreseeable future.....

 

[83Hawk]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

There were a LOT of folks on this board that were calling for Speraw to be hired after Lick was fired.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Lol at you putting Wisconsin & Michigan State equally. I can see you wanting the Hawks to play like Wisconsin; dribble for 29 seconds then throw up a prayer at the buzzer. Try to win 53-49. Yeah real cool.

I say defend, rebound, and physical…and you bring up offensive style. 🤡 🤡 🤡

 

[iowa surfer]

Lacks coaching ability also.

No "defense"! is a Bit risky also. Fran great family coach ect. What he is, is Obvious. Like wise the Cap.

 

[Sett1997]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

How about replace Fran with a hungry young guy?
Fran is the problem, he's in charge.
Just like Kirk, it's not the OC, it's the HC.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

The stats are telling. Iowa is 87th in FG %, 102 in in 3-point FG% and 163 in total rebounds. This for a team that wants to play fast and shoot 3's. Fran can't recruit the talent to play this style and looks silly trying against teams with a pulse and won't change anything.

ISU without Brockington is likely 5-4, but they have him and are 9-0. We have nobody close to that caliber, never have and never will.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

No "defense"! is a Bit risky also. Fran great family coach ect. What he is, is Obvious. Like wise the Cap.

Anyone have their Fruity Pebbles decoder ring to tell me what this says?

 

[HawkeyeGenius]

Fran needs to shake up his staff. Any game you watch his assistants sit there the whole game and do nothing. Dillard and speraw are a bunch of old yes man. Fran needs to bring on some younger guys who are hungrier than these complacent has beens.

Ever think he wants yes men and not dissent in the ranks?

 

[Tfxchawk]

It took exactly 1 season for T.J. Otzelberger to turn ISU around from being a doormat.

There goes all the arguments for giving a coach 3-4 seasons.

Otzelberger ran off half of last years team that would not play his style of basketball. Defend, rebound, and physical.

That style of play, think Wisconsin & MSU, year in year out will win them a lot of games.

They already won a game this year going 1/20 from three point land. Practically unheard of.

Iowa Basketball fans better be prepared to be second fiddle in the State for a long time to come. He isn’t leaving any time soon.

That doesn't strike anyone as off? One year and all these players want to play for the man after a 2 win season? No one looks at that and has any doubts? I mean if he built into it over a few years I would get it but one year?

I prefer our coaches to not have doubts. Fran isn't the best coach in the land but he most certainly runs a great and clean program. Just needs to teach them to rebound

 

[intrepodor]

That doesn't strike anyone as off? One year and all these players want to play for the man after a 2 win season? No one looks at that and has any doubts? I mean if he built into it over a few years I would get it but one year?

I prefer our coaches to not have doubts. Fran isn't the best coach in the land but he most certainly runs a great and clean program. Just needs to teach them to rebound

It's not in his DNA aka "style ".

 

[CO_hawk]

I'd extend Fran, in the hopes some fans die off in the process.

 

[HawkLogic]

Okay, I’ll admit to not being a Fran fan, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, but how in the world can you claim to know how disciplined Fran is or isn’t?

Throwing a chair one season and yelling at refs after your son gets a T and saying the refs stole the M'efing game instead of acknowledging you didn't play defense...those are some signs of lack of discipline or at least lack self control.

 

[bozotheclown]

That doesn't strike anyone as off? One year and all these players want to play for the man after a 2 win season? No one looks at that and has any doubts? I mean if he built into it over a few years I would get it but one year?

I prefer our coaches to not have doubts. Fran isn't the best coach in the land but he most certainly runs a great and clean program. Just needs to teach them to rebound

I normally don't reply to many posts since id say i am a 'guest' on this board but seriously you're implying TJ is cheating to get the team he has now? not saying I know he has never done anything wrong, I don't really know but look at who is playing.
Holdovers
Conditt and Trey Jackson, both hold-overs from Prohm both playing better

Freshman Tyrese Hunter. Had signed with Prohm and TJ convinced him to stay

Transfers none of them were considered great where they were as far a I know, maybe Brockington
Enaruna sounded like Self at Kansas said transferring might be a good idea
Kalushcur wasn't shooting well at Minnesota, and still seems to struggle
Kunc - was a sixth man at Washington or Washington State I think
Brockington probably was the strongest one of all but I don't think considered a super star at Penn St
Grill - was recruited by TJ when he was ISU, followed him to UNLV and when TJ came to ISU followed him again, i think he is a big TJ fan. Again he is not great but works hard.
So he got them all playing hard together, I am sure they won't win the big 12 but should be respectable, but I don't see anything about these guys that says there has to have been some shady stuff going on. I think the transfers just all saw the chance for playing time. It has worked out better than expected by a large margin. Maybe it won't last, maybe it was luck, maybe hard work and coaching.. cheating seems way down the list.

 

[Tfxchawk]

I normally don't reply to many posts since id say i am a 'guest' on this board but seriously you're implying TJ is cheating to get the team he has now? not saying I know he has never done anything wrong, I don't really know but look at who is playing.
Holdovers
Conditt and Trey Jackson, both hold-overs from Prohm both playing better

Freshman Tyrese Hunter. Had signed with Prohm and TJ convinced him to stay

Transfers none of them were considered great where they were as far a I know, maybe Brockington
Enaruna sounded like Self at Kansas said transferring might be a good idea
Kalushcur wasn't shooting well at Minnesota, and still seems to struggle
Kunc - was a sixth man at Washington or Washington State I think
Brockington probably was the strongest one of all but I don't think considered a super star at Penn St
Grill - was recruited by TJ when he was ISU, followed him to UNLV and when TJ came to ISU followed him again, i think he is a big TJ fan. Again he is not great but works hard.
So he got them all playing hard together, I am sure they won't win the big 12 but should be respectable, but I don't see anything about these guys that says there has to have been some shady stuff going on. I think the transfers just all saw the chance for playing time. It has worked out better than expected by a large margin. Maybe it won't last, maybe it was luck, maybe hard work and coaching.. cheating seems way down the list.

I said it is off and it is off. It doesn't happen often at all. If it really as easy as hitting the portal we would see all kinds of teams do it and have the same result as ISU right? I don't know if he is cheating or if he is just that good but it is a strange thing to turn a program that fast.

 

[83Hawk]

I said it is off and it is off. It doesn't happen often at all. If it really as easy as hitting the portal we would see all kinds of teams do it and have the same result as ISU right? I don't know if he is cheating or if he is just that good but it is a strange thing to turn a program that fast.

I always thought Fred was a little shady in his recruiting.

You have to wonder how ISU has been able to bring the talent in that they have over the years.

 

[isuisshit]

I always thought Fred was a little shady in his recruiting.

You have to wonder how ISU has been able to bring the talent in that they have over the years.

this is like saying there's something a little shady about Epstein's "suicide".

 

[IllQChawk]

Fran doesn't know how to switch gears, playing fast is his preference, but his teams should also be able to slow things down and run the offense like a surgent performs an operation. That is his teams kryptonite along with the lack of playing defense and the inability to consistently rebound effectively. Did I miss anything?

 

[Herky T Hawk]

I said it is off and it is off. It doesn't happen often at all. If it really as easy as hitting the portal we would see all kinds of teams do it and have the same result as ISU right? I don't know if he is cheating or if he is just that good but it is a strange thing to turn a program that fast.

The thing is, with NIL and the current transfer rules, there is no more cheating in recruiting. The NCAA basically said go to town. The schools don’t have to give money to kids when they can get a booster to do it for them easily. About the only thing that is potentially cheating is tampering with another school’s player. But, as we saw this year you can easily work around that by having a family member do the discussions as a proxy for the player.

Some coaches are taking advantage of that. Others aren’t. Fran is going old school and not taking advantage of the new rules. That is going to cost him dearly in career success. Just because you don’t like the rules doesn’t mean that you should stick your head in the sand. I also find it a bit hypocritical that he doesn’t like the way transfers have gone in college when he was a transfer player himself.

There is a right way to do things with the transfer game for a school that struggles to get 4 star players like us. Recruit high school and judo players but try to bring in one or two proven transfers every season to fill gaps. Doing that should prevent a true rebuilding season.

 

[Ronman]

You people complaining about McCaffery's court antics are way off base in my estimation. It seems as though the past few years, probably since Patrick's cancer scare, McCaffery has been no worse than most B1G coaches and better than a lot of them when it comes to being a ranting presence on the sidelines. Do you want him to just sit there with his head in his hands when the team is getting reamed by one sided calls?

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Throwing a chair one season and yelling at refs after your son gets a T and saying the refs stole the M'efing game instead of acknowledging you didn't play defense...those are some signs of lack of discipline or at least lack self control.

Yes, I agree he lacks self control at times from what we’ve seen during games.

That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s undisciplined.

 

[e720718998]

This credit score comparison is one I've never seen before and as comical as it is....it is pretty spot on.

There is a reason why Iowa was his first big shot and it took him three (?) mid-major turnarounds to get it. He is lucky he is at a place where Barta is willing to put up with his antics/baggage because if he was in a majority of other Power 5 schools he'd be gone.

I'm not sure what you mean by baggage...yeah he gets mad. Sure he frustrates me to at times but let's face it they have lost to a 3 ranked teams and 2 of those could end up in the final 4 . Fran is worth keeping.

 

[Zarkus Ali]

I always thought Fred was a little shady in his recruiting.

You have to wonder how ISU has been able to bring the talent in that they have over the years.

Albaugh is probably paying them to be stable boys.