Fran McCaffery/Tom Davis

[Madman_1]

I liked Tom Davis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. However, I was not disappointed when he was forced out. 12 years of Dr. Tom had made a couple things evident:

1. Iowa would not defend the 3-point line. It didn't matter whether the opponent missed every attempt, or made every attempt, they would get all the wide open shots they wanted from 3.

2. Iowa would always play full court pressure. The other team could break it 5 times in a row for easy layups, Iowa would stay in the full court press.

After 12 years, I believe most thought that Iowa was at its peak with Dr. Tom. His best year was his first, with George Raveling's recruits. After that year, we took a step down and stayed there.

Now, it seems like Iowa has experienced the best it can achieve under Fran. This year's team has the talent to do better than the round of 32. Things that hold us back start with the poor defense. Illinois made us look bad, and Oregon made us look worse. Another thing: many people have been knocking JBO today, but I don't think we've used him properly his entire Iowa career. Iowa should have had multiple plays to free up Jordan for 3 point attempts. Instead, for most of his career, his open looks have come from defensive breakdowns. Iowa has faced opponents throughout the Big Ten wars that actively work to free their 3-point specialists, but Iowa itself does not. It's not just Bohannon, but also guys from past teams that would have been deadlier weapons had we worked harder to get them open.

I hope I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if I am. I just don't see Fran's system getting us any further than where we're at today.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

I liked Tom Davis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. However, I was not disappointed when he was forced out. 12 years of Dr. Tom had made a couple things evident:

1. Iowa would not defend the 3-point line. It didn't matter whether the opponent missed every attempt, or made every attempt, they would get all the wide open shots they wanted from 3.

2. Iowa would always play full court pressure. The other team could break it 5 times in a row for easy layups, Iowa would stay in the full court press.

After 12 years, I believe most thought that Iowa was at its peak with Dr. Tom. His best year was his first, with George Raveling's recruits. After that year, we took a step down and stayed there.

Now, it seems like Iowa has experienced the best it can achieve under Fran. This year's team has the talent to do better than the round of 32. Things that hold us back start with the poor defense. Illinois made us look bad, and Oregon made us look worse. Another thing: many people have been knocking JBO today, but I don't think we've used him properly his entire Iowa career. Iowa should have had multiple plays to free up Jordan for 3 point attempts. Instead, for most of his career, his open looks have come from defensive breakdowns. Iowa has faced opponents throughout the Big Ten wars that actively work to free their 3-point specialists, but Iowa itself does not. It's not just Bohannon, but also guys from past teams that would have been deadlier weapons had we worked harder to get them open.

I hope I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if I am. I just don't see Fran's system getting us any further than where we're at today.

Not sure about Fran yet, but I’d say you are right about JBo’s use. The problem is most teams would be able to supplement him with other athletic experienced players, not so with this Iowa team. KM is awesome-but we need about 3 more of him. Fingers crossed his brother can be one. Having said that, I am not ready to throw in the towel on guys like Joe t, Tony P, and TU.

 

[DewHawk]

I liked Tom Davis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. However, I was not disappointed when he was forced out. 12 years of Dr. Tom had made a couple things evident:

1. Iowa would not defend the 3-point line. It didn't matter whether the opponent missed every attempt, or made every attempt, they would get all the wide open shots they wanted from 3.

2. Iowa would always play full court pressure. The other team could break it 5 times in a row for easy layups, Iowa would stay in the full court press.

After 12 years, I believe most thought that Iowa was at its peak with Dr. Tom. His best year was his first, with George Raveling's recruits. After that year, we took a step down and stayed there.

Now, it seems like Iowa has experienced the best it can achieve under Fran. This year's team has the talent to do better than the round of 32. Things that hold us back start with the poor defense. Illinois made us look bad, and Oregon made us look worse. Another thing: many people have been knocking JBO today, but I don't think we've used him properly his entire Iowa career. Iowa should have had multiple plays to free up Jordan for 3 point attempts. Instead, for most of his career, his open looks have come from defensive breakdowns. Iowa has faced opponents throughout the Big Ten wars that actively work to free their 3-point specialists, but Iowa itself does not. It's not just Bohannon, but also guys from past teams that would have been deadlier weapons had we worked harder to get them open.

I hope I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if I am. I just don't see Fran's system getting us any further than where we're at today.

I have lived thru both and agree with your post.

 

[GOHOX69]

Well you have plenty of time to find out, as Fran has an extension.

 

[dekhawk]

Not sure about Fran yet, but I’d say you are right about JBo’s use. The problem is most teams would be able to supplement him with other athletic experienced players, not so with this Iowa team. KM is awesome-but we need about 3 more of him. Fingers crossed his brother can be one. Having said that, I am not ready to throw in the towel on guys like Joe t, Tony P, and TU.

How can we not be sure about Fran yet, it’s year 11?

 

[hawkifann]

How can we not be sure about Fran yet, it’s year 11

In my opinion, we know who Fran is - he’s a good coach. You don’t take 4 programs to the NCAA tournament if you’re a bad coach, but he’s not a great coach.

I’m really interested to see A) if Weiskamp stays and B) how Iowa looks next year with what should be much-improved athleticism. Fran could absolutely make a Sweet 16. Worse coaches than him have been to the Sweet 16 and beyond. What teams really need is to be in the field consistently. If you’re in consistently, you’re going to have exits like this, but over time, you should also have a couple times where things break right and you move on.

What’s a little bit astonishing to me is how often over 35 years Iowa very rarely exceeds seed level.

Raveling

• 8 seed with a 1st round loss
• 11 seed with a 1st round loss

Davis

• 2 seed to the Elite 8
• 5 seed to the Sweet 16 (technically exceeding seed)
• 4 seed losing in the 2nd round (technically missing seed)
• 7 seed with a 2nd round loss
• 9 seed with a 2nd round loss (technically exceeding seed)
• 4 seed with a 2nd round loss (technically missing seed, this was also year Street died)
• 6 seed with a 2nd round loss
• 8 seed with a 2nd round loss
• 5 seed to the Sweet 15 (technically exceeding seed)

Alford

• 7 seed with a 2nd round loss
• 10 seed with a 1st round loss
• 3 seed with a 1st round loss (big miss)

McCaffrey

• 11 seed with 1st round loss
• 7 seed with 2nd round loss
• 7 seed with 2nd round loss
• 10 seed with 2nd round loss (technically exceeding seed)
• 2 seed with 2nd round loss (big miss)

If you call 8-9 games, 7-10 games and 4-5 games basically toss-ups, Iowa has not played above their seed one time in 19 NCAA tourneys over 35 years. On the flip side, using the same logic, they’ve only had 2 real misses (2006, 2021). It’s a little astonishing that over that time window, across 4 coaches, that they’ve never just even lucked into an above-seed run - no early opponent suffers an upset, no team with a critical injury, no team that just lays an egg,

 

[longliveCS40]

I liked Tom Davis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. However, I was not disappointed when he was forced out. 12 years of Dr. Tom had made a couple things evident:

1. Iowa would not defend the 3-point line. It didn't matter whether the opponent missed every attempt, or made every attempt, they would get all the wide open shots they wanted from 3.

2. Iowa would always play full court pressure. The other team could break it 5 times in a row for easy layups, Iowa would stay in the full court press.

After 12 years, I believe most thought that Iowa was at its peak with Dr. Tom. His best year was his first, with George Raveling's recruits. After that year, we took a step down and stayed there.

Now, it seems like Iowa has experienced the best it can achieve under Fran. This year's team has the talent to do better than the round of 32. Things that hold us back start with the poor defense. Illinois made us look bad, and Oregon made us look worse. Another thing: many people have been knocking JBO today, but I don't think we've used him properly his entire Iowa career. Iowa should have had multiple plays to free up Jordan for 3 point attempts. Instead, for most of his career, his open looks have come from defensive breakdowns. Iowa has faced opponents throughout the Big Ten wars that actively work to free their 3-point specialists, but Iowa itself does not. It's not just Bohannon, but also guys from past teams that would have been deadlier weapons had we worked harder to get them open.

I hope I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if I am. I just don't see Fran's system getting us any further than where we're at today.

I would agree with everything you said. I hated the way Dr. Tom was let go but was not upset that we were moving on.

On your JBo point, I couldn't agree more. The kid is a shooting guard. Prior to the hip surgeries, he had the quickness to be a decent point guard but afterwards he simply did not. We should have been playing Joe T or Perkins at the point with JBo at the two all year long. ESPECIALLY after CJF's injury.

With Fran, I guess I see his ceiling about the same as Dr. Tom. I think he's a better recruiter than Dr. Tom was but I think Dr. Tom was a better Xs and Os in-game coach. (Aside, as you said, from being unwilling to pull the press when Iowa would get torched at times.)

In the end, perhaps this is Iowa's ceiling because of the lack of in-state talent, lack of winning history/prestige to attract better coaches/players, and lack of booster support to put forth the kind of money it would take to attract people to the program like we have in football.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Dr. Tom and Fran seem to be a pretty good comparison at this point, in terms of productivity, for sure. Always good competitive teams, but never usually enough to get us higher than about 3/4 in the conference standings, or past the first weekend of the dance.

As with Davis after a decade, I sense there will be more and more growing frustration with Fran after today's ugly loss. Does/did either coach deserve to be fired? IMO, no, but I personally am starting to feel the same frustration with Fran as I did with Davis in the late 90's. Next level? Why can't we get to the Sweet 16? etc. etc. Feels like the same situation brewing all over again about the same point in each coach's tenure. Things will certainly threaten to become stale.

Unless I totally miss my guess... History tends to repeat itself.

 

[dekhawk]

Dr. Tom and Fran seem to be a pretty good comparison at this point, in terms of productivity, for sure. Always good competitive teams, but never usually enough to get us higher than about 3/4 in the conference standings, or past the first weekend of the dance.

As with Davis after a decade, I sense there will be more and more growing frustration with Fran after today's ugly loss. Does/did either coach deserve to be fired? IMO, no, but I personally am starting to feel the same frustration with Fran as I did with Davis in the late 90's. Next level? Feels like the same situation brewing all over again with the fan base. Things will certainly threaten to become stale.

Unless I totally miss my guess... History tends to repeat itself.

Spot on

 

[Rambler Hawk]

How can we not be sure about Fran yet, it’s year 11?

I meant in reference to the comparison to Dr. Tom in general - probably a wash all things considered...

 

[icwesthawk]

The 2nd round loss is water under the bridge in my opinion. We now have to figure out how we keep the momentum moving in the right direction. The sheer lunacy of having a policy, if in fact Fran does, that will not look at the transfer market unless there was a previous connection is beyond reasonable. The college basketball world is changing and maybe not for the better but Fran needs to get on board with this change.

 

[icwesthawk]

FWIW, Fran and the good Dr seem very similar to me. Like them both and what they did and have done for the University of Iowa. Was not disappointed when Dr Tom was let go, what was disappointing was Alfraud and his inability to get us over the next hump and in turn putting us behind.

 

[IamHawkeye]

The 2nd round loss is water under the bridge in my opinion. We now have to figure out how we keep the momentum moving in the right direction. The sheer lunacy of having a policy, if in fact Fran does, that will not look at the transfer market unless there was a previous connection is beyond reasonable. The college basketball world is changing and maybe not for the better but Fran needs to get on board with this change.

Not for the better. Might as well be pro.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

The "JBo was underused" or "poorly utilized" is wrong, IMO. He NEVER was able to create his own shot. Using other players to get JBO shots? Why? Wieskamp creates his own shots. Ditto Luka, Keegan, Nunge, Patrick, Joe T, et. al.

JBo was a whiny, coddled kid for 5 years. His social media whining and complaining at the start of the tournament could have been disruptive, save for the fact he didn't even show up.

I DO, though, have an issue with Fran's handling of JBo. A truly good coach would not have allowed his continued self-entitlement crap.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

I like to be optimistic... I think that Fran is setting the FLOOR right now. The finish to this season was a disappointment and now an NCAA tournament birth and one win is the minimum we expect.

The key is to KEEP getting to the tourney and get a minimum of a 6 seed. Then you just need to have the right matchup. Oregon was a BAD matchup for our guard play, especially when Oregon was absolutely on fire.

I think the young core of this team has the talent to make a run in the tournament before their careers are done.

 

[Hawkdome]

I was upset when tom was let go. I was even more upset when Alford was hired. I could see that he was no improvement.

 

[mooresville hawk]

I like to be optimistic... I think that Fran is setting the FLOOR right now. The finish to this season was a disappointment and now an NCAA tournament birth and one win is the minimum we expect.

The key is to KEEP getting to the tourney and get a minimum of a 6 seed. Then you just need to have the right matchup. Oregon was a BAD matchup for our guard play, especially when Oregon was absolutely on fire.

I think the young core of this team has the talent to make a run in the tournament before their careers are done.

I would agree with this. I am not sure why fans say the team has peaked under Fran. They just had their best season and were top ten most of the year. The tournament was a major disappointment, but it does not take away from the rest of the season.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I would agree with this. I am not sure why fans say the team has peaked under Fran. They just had their best season and were top ten most of the year. The tournament was a major disappointment, but it does not take away from the rest of the season.

And this IS the first season under Fran with fewer than 10 losses. Last game notwithstanding, along with the Michigan game, the Hawks were competitive throughout the season.

I just fear the talk of "next year will be better", and "go to the portal, players will WANT to come here, now", etc. Expectations can be a brutal thing.

Fran is clearly doing good things. But he's also in a conference that is damn competitive, and has a few other rising-star coaches, too. He hasn't developed any "superstar" players beyond Luka, per se, but you can also say he has absolutely maximized what he has had. Given what he had to work with on arrival, he has done a good job. Right or wrong, people "expect" more. But it's probably going to be baby steps, i.e., what we saw in Davis's first year, whether or not his own recruits, won't be an annual thing. That's is probably the case under any coach Iowa hires.

 

[hawk_a_holic]

I liked Tom Davis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. However, I was not disappointed when he was forced out. 12 years of Dr. Tom had made a couple things evident:

1. Iowa would not defend the 3-point line. It didn't matter whether the opponent missed every attempt, or made every attempt, they would get all the wide open shots they wanted from 3.

2. Iowa would always play full court pressure. The other team could break it 5 times in a row for easy layups, Iowa would stay in the full court press.

After 12 years, I believe most thought that Iowa was at its peak with Dr. Tom. His best year was his first, with George Raveling's recruits. After that year, we took a step down and stayed there.

Now, it seems like Iowa has experienced the best it can achieve under Fran. This year's team has the talent to do better than the round of 32. Things that hold us back start with the poor defense. Illinois made us look bad, and Oregon made us look worse. Another thing: many people have been knocking JBO today, but I don't think we've used him properly his entire Iowa career. Iowa should have had multiple plays to free up Jordan for 3 point attempts. Instead, for most of his career, his open looks have come from defensive breakdowns. Iowa has faced opponents throughout the Big Ten wars that actively work to free their 3-point specialists, but Iowa itself does not. It's not just Bohannon, but also guys from past teams that would have been deadlier weapons had we worked harder to get them open.

I hope I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if I am. I just don't see Fran's system getting us any further than where we're at today.

You did not mention Tom's second best season was his last taking us to the Sweet 16 as an outgoing coach thus making Bowlsby kind of look like an ass at the time. I think with Fran you finally have more of the type of player he likes, deers who are athletic and run the court as well as long. Keegan, Pat, Nunge, Kris, Perkins, Ulis will offer length and/or athleticism. Then you have CJ who can defend and shoot when open. He can also hit that dribble in 10 footer well. I think we will see good defense again. Scoring will dip which of course it will given what we will lose but we will gain on the defensive end. I think there are plenty of points to go around (mid to high 70s) and that should be plenty. We will have several guys rise up in the pecking order this year. It will be fun.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Fran's 12 years have resulted in forgettable NCAA tourney performance.
If that's your main measuring stick, as it is mine, then you aren't impressed.

Fran will be here for at least a few more years, thanks to the stellar leadership of the AD. At this point I'd say it's more likely than not that the sweet 16 will continue to elude Fran. At least the brand of ball he plays is watchable.

 

[blhawk]

I would agree with this. I am not sure why fans say the team has peaked under Fran. They just had their best season and were top ten most of the year. The tournament was a major disappointment, but it does not take away from the rest of the season.

They are saying it has peaked because it was by far his best season as far as rankings/seed go and it took a generational NPOY for that to happen, and now that guy is leaving. To not expect a dropoff is delusional, would love to be surprised though