Just don't replace him with a sloth who took all the credit for one of his assistant's (Brad Stevens) efforts.
Fran please go
- Thread starter LarryMullenJr.
- Start date
There's risk and opportunity with every hire. We're at the point here soon where the Athletic Department has to decide if Fran is "coach for life" like KF or if they will move on.
I generally agree with the sentiment of posters that Iowa has peaked under Fran, and that several major contributors this year would not be on the rosters of most other B10-level teams. What makes changing coaches harder is that the bottom hasn't ever fallen out and we have a respectable high floor. The guys who make the big bucks get to make that decision, I know where I am on it but that does not matter.
At least Alford's teams peaked at the end of the year, Fran's teams usually tank.
Maybe there is one, but can anyone give example of Fran's teams peaking at the end of the year?
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Sounds like you expected a rebuild year. I think this team is better than expected. I think this team exceeds your 12 win ceiling.
Speak for yourself. He does not need to go. We lost two players to the NBA, one moving closer to home, one in the transfer portal that was a great shooter. We start three sophomore, and should probably start four. That is a young team and they do have talent. We'll take our lumps but this is a good nucleus to build on.
And that “loaded” team from last year was run out of the gym in the second round of the ncaa tournament. Again.
That is Fran’s ceiling.
Against a team with fresh legs whereas Iowa had played two days prior. Any team can beat any other on a given day if they are making shots and the other team is missing. It’s possible that last year was Fran’s high water mark. It’s also possible that he can field a team that will be clicking at the right time and go on a run.
You cannot possibly know one way or the other
If a bunch of 18-22 year olds can’t play two games in three days, then something is wrong. And the chasm between Oregon and Iowa last year wasn’t due to Iowa having played two days prior. It was due to scheme and athleticism.
Iowa’s lack of athleticism in the backcourt last year has been much discussed. However, if you can’t see the disadvantage of playing at your highest level and getting shots to drop in 2 out of 3 games versus 1 out of 3 games I don’t really know what else to say
Unbelievable the excuses that are made year after year.
If I got as sad as you do watching my favorite sports teams I’d stop watching
I don't want to fire McCaffery. I do want him to wake up to the ways that college basketball have evolved and quit ignoring the advantages that other teams are achieving by playing by the new rules. He needs to "adjust" his staff and add a bright young assistant who can connect with today's players and convince them that Iowa is an attractive destination for their talents.
So 2nd round isn’t pretty good? I would point out that JBo is the only real starter back from the beginning of last season. Last year was a damn good year IMHO. I know, you basketball experts, think a national championship or it’s a wasted season. If you don’t like the program Fran has built why follow or post here? It must be tough suffering your misery. I actually thought the football season was successful since we started only 1 senior. The basketball team will get better just in time for you to jump back on the bandwagon like you were always a believer.
It's not the "Sunshine Club" it is the realist club. Alford's disaster was far more than his record, which sucked. It was the drama, the arrogance, the failed expectations but mostly, the shitty record. The point of that very stupid Davis move was getting someone who could take Iowa to a new level. While Alford found a new level it wasn't the one he was hired to find.
Iowa had been in the NCAAs 17 of the 20 years before Alford. "Only" 22 years off the last title, 12 years from last Regional Final and 1 year off the last Sweet 16. That might not be Duke but what did McCaffery have to sell when he arrived? Start by adding 11 years to all of those accomplishments above. Now Iowa was losing 20+ games per season, reputation in the toilet, and the country's recruiting doors mostly closed.
Alford was nationally hailed as brilliant hire, the Can't Miss hire. Then, when we missed, we hired the anti-Alford. The NCoY, been to two Sweet 16s with a little school twice in the previous 6 years. His players loved him. Butler had the absence of Alford's drama. An absolute Can't Miss hire. The guy to restore all the prestige and good will Alford lost. But, but, but....it was a catastrophic miss.
Most change is typically not for the better. Until someone can identify a cannot miss hire, including someone that would be willing to coach at Iowa in addition to being able to produce better teams than McCaffery I'm thinking the status quo, frustrating and inexplicable as it sometimes is, is still the best option for Iowa.
Iowa had been in the NCAAs 17 of the 20 years before Alford. "Only" 22 years off the last title, 12 years from last Regional Final and 1 year off the last Sweet 16. That might not be Duke but what did McCaffery have to sell when he arrived? Start by adding 11 years to all of those accomplishments above. Now Iowa was losing 20+ games per season, reputation in the toilet, and the country's recruiting doors mostly closed.
Alford was nationally hailed as brilliant hire, the Can't Miss hire. Then, when we missed, we hired the anti-Alford. The NCoY, been to two Sweet 16s with a little school twice in the previous 6 years. His players loved him. Butler had the absence of Alford's drama. An absolute Can't Miss hire. The guy to restore all the prestige and good will Alford lost. But, but, but....it was a catastrophic miss.
Most change is typically not for the better. Until someone can identify a cannot miss hire, including someone that would be willing to coach at Iowa in addition to being able to produce better teams than McCaffery I'm thinking the status quo, frustrating and inexplicable as it sometimes is, is still the best option for Iowa.
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I’d much rather be a part of the “Sunshine Club” than be a “Doom and Gloom” member! Enjoy your miserable life!
I think fans are wondering if Fran has been given enough time to show his best stuff and if we’ve seen it, then we don’t lose much by going after an up and comer. But the landscape is changing with NIL; can Fran adapt?
Fran is a great program turn around guy but is not a next level guy. Dude can see talent, can't close on getting the talent he wants to come here.
One of the worst defensive coaches I have ever seen and our teams take on his personality. Complain about calls, sulk, and don't know what to do and freak out in tough situations. I have seen enough and I am checked out from Fran ball. 11 years is more than enough to field a sweet 16 team at a school like Iowa.
One of the worst defensive coaches I have ever seen and our teams take on his personality. Complain about calls, sulk, and don't know what to do and freak out in tough situations. I have seen enough and I am checked out from Fran ball. 11 years is more than enough to field a sweet 16 team at a school like Iowa.
You are correct, sir. I've got to think that a good chunk of the negativity comes from closet Klownz and Debbies.
What a worthless bunch of assholes on this site. Please stop watching and shut the front door!! Have a nice day.
Dont' forget, Coach Otz is now 2-0 against Fran. His Jackrabbit team beat Iowa (with Garza) 80-72.
Whitey was a 6'6 PF when Fran offered as HS junior and whitey ended up 6'9 which changed him from a tweener to a guy with a position. I think Fran got a lucky with the growth spurt. When you are not able to recruit high ranked guys, you take recruiting gambles and sometimes you end up with Whitey or a Garza and sometimes you have a Dailey or a hutton or an ellingson or a dom uhl or a Myer..or name any of the busts Fran has recruited.
I personally think it is obvious Fran has huge bias towards the treatment/playing time of his too boys and I think awarding PT based on DNA instead of merit is unethical and unfair to the players passed over. If a neutral coach were in charge, PMAC would be playing behind both Murrays and CMAC would be deep bench guy barely seeing the court.
Fran is a mediocre coach. Yes, I fear last year was as good as it gets with Fran and in my opinion finishing 3rd in B1G with two NBA level players and then flopping in NCAA along with rest of the B1G was not an example of great coaching.
Isn’t that kind of how recruiting works? Isn’t every player a “gamble?” Seems like if you have to go all the way back to Dailey’s class in 2016 to find a guy that you can definitely say was a bust, then Fran must be doing alright recruiting. The only player on the current roster with bust potential is Ogundele, but even he looks like he could be a contributor at some point. Previously? Pemsl or Dailey would really be the only two that qualify as the next most recent
I’d like for you to elaborate more on Fran’s evident nepotism issues. In our three losses this season, Connor has played the third fewest minutes of any rotation player not named Josh Ogundele or Payton Sandfort. Iowa’s deficit in the Purdue game was a direct result of Bohannon playing PG early in the second half and was unrelated to Connor. The Illinois game we were neck and neck with them down the stretch and lost while Connor wasn’t in the game. Connor played 8 minutes in the Iowa State game and we got blown out. There is a more legitimate gripe with Pat’s minutes, given his mediocre defense and less than mediocre rebounding. He was, however projected to be the second best player on the team from pretty much everybody prior to the season, and his minutes have reflected that. If he doesn’t toughen up on the defensive side of the ball, he will begin to cede additional minutes to Kris
Last year may be as good as it gets under Fran. It may not. But as you said, it’s not like Iowa was the only team who flopped last year. Of all teams only Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16 or better, and the second best team in the tournament was arguably a mediocre Rutgers team. The bottom line is that any team that gets hot can make a run in the tournament. Iowa now has enough athleticism in its backcourt to make that happen if Bohannon doesn’t log heavy minutes in tournament time
I knew there was a reason why I stayed away from this board after the ISU game. Fran isn't going anywhere for at least two more years.
Fran needs to figure out how to fix the defensive rebounding problem, or this year is not going to go well. That has been absolutely pathetic the last two games. The shooting in the ISU game was so bad, I wondered if maybe they had altered the height of the baskets or something. ISU is impressive on defense, but there were more bricks by almost everyone than I can remember. We normally can shoot, but the rebounding problem concerns me.
Fran needs to figure out how to fix the defensive rebounding problem, or this year is not going to go well. That has been absolutely pathetic the last two games. The shooting in the ISU game was so bad, I wondered if maybe they had altered the height of the baskets or something. ISU is impressive on defense, but there were more bricks by almost everyone than I can remember. We normally can shoot, but the rebounding problem concerns me.
By next level guy you mean like Alford? That was the rationale behind chasing off Dr. Davis.
Multiple things can be true at the same time. Fran took over Iowa's program at a very low ebb. Has done a good job overall. In the last 8 years, he has made 6 NCAA tournaments (I will count 2019-2020 season as NCAA tournament appearance as team was in before COVID cancelled it). 6 in 8 years is good at Iowa given the 20 years prior to when he took over.
Fair or not, basketball teams and coaches are largely judged on what happens in March, as well as if they get any regular season hardware. So far, he's not hit on those things. Never making it to the finals of the BTT or the second weekend of the NCAA tournament is also on the resume. It is what it is. I do have some concerns that in the last 2 years he's had a player of the year on his roster (Garza), another NBA player who would have come to Iowa no matter who the coach is (Wieskamp), what looks like another NBA player who was overlooked and a Hawkeye legacy (Keegan Murray) and what he's got to show for it is a 3rd place finish in the league and two round of 32 exits in the tournament. Feels like there is some money being left on the table. That's why fans have some angst.
I still like Fran and the last couple years (including pandemic year) has been pretty good. I like that standard. Of course, we just won 10 games in football too and all I read is bitching. I like that standard too
Kirk may have done his best coaching job considering our inexperienced OLine and the youth on this team! If Fran gets to be a bubble team in the NCAA this might be his best coaching job as well. Lost virtually four starters and two of those to the NBA.
Kirk may have done his best coaching job considering our inexperienced OLine and the youth on this team! If Fran gets to be a bubble team in the NCAA this might be his best coaching job as well. Lost virtually four starters and two of those to the NBA.
Our fanbase is like the worst girlfriend you can possibly imagine.
I love getting high and reading through Iowa forums.
"ISU killed us, Fire Fran!"
"ISU hasn't beat us for 4 years." Oh wait.
"Wait, it was supposed to be a down year for Iowa."
"ISU used the portal to turn it around."
Ya, fire Fran and Barta
"Fran fade, I forgot about that." He sucks.
"Murray's, Perkins, Ulis will be a good core."
Wait, you are right.
"Two NBA draft picks, and Murray and they still can't get it done."
Ya Ferentz sucks too.
"ISU killed us, Fire Fran!"
"ISU hasn't beat us for 4 years." Oh wait.
"Wait, it was supposed to be a down year for Iowa."
"ISU used the portal to turn it around."
Ya, fire Fran and Barta
"Fran fade, I forgot about that." He sucks.
"Murray's, Perkins, Ulis will be a good core."
Wait, you are right.
"Two NBA draft picks, and Murray and they still can't get it done."
Ya Ferentz sucks too.
Some have said he is here for two more years. Like it ir not, I think he is here as long as he wants to stay at Iowa. I think Jack is a freshman in h.s. Right? At the moment it looks like Jack is going to be a helluva a player. Maybe, probably the best of the McCaffrey boys. I think he will be a Hawkeye. So what is that, 7 more years?
They are going to get Pryce Sanford, will have Bowen, eventually Jack McCaffrey and we’ll see how the younger Wieskamp kid develops. They’ll have to find some power forwards and some 5’s to fill in the roster, but it is my prediction that after this group, Fran’s tenure will be coming to a close.
They are going to get Pryce Sanford, will have Bowen, eventually Jack McCaffrey and we’ll see how the younger Wieskamp kid develops. They’ll have to find some power forwards and some 5’s to fill in the roster, but it is my prediction that after this group, Fran’s tenure will be coming to a close.
yep shows you are a true Hawk fan. any of the haters on here remember the slow paced non competitive basketball before Fran came?
