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Fran tells P-C he's "thinking about" changing the starting lineup

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Here's the link: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...hange-connor-mccaffery-likely-out/9310802002/

Fran admits the slow starts recently are an issue, but then he says while he's always thinking about changes, he's not sure the starting lineup really matters. Logic, then, would ask, "If it doesn't really matter, then why NOT change it?" :)

But there is thinking going on, so watch out, OSU.

Some of us have been clamoring for starting lineup changes for awhile and, again, here's the one I've been suggesting for a couple weeks:

Keegan
PMac
Kris
Sandfort
Joe T. *
*I wouldn't be opposed to starting Perkins and bringing Joe T. off the bench to further change things up.

Bench, depending on matchups: Rebraca, Perkins, Ulis, JBo, Josh O [CMac out with the injury]

The starters should play at least 30 minutes each and, instead of line changes, no more than two subs come in at once. Get some continuity. Give guys a chance to settle in and get into rhythm. Leave Sandfort out there except when he needs a rest. See what he can do with extended minutes. Playing a handful of minutes serves neither him nor the team well.

If this team is going to have a shot at salvaging an NCCA berth, it needs to register an upset tomorrow night in Columbus to help make up for the losses at Rutgers and PSU. How bad does this team want it? And can Fran actually try something different and give some other kids a chance? At least he admits he's thinking about it . . . not that it matters, of course. LOL

BTW: One other adjustment I'd like to see would be dropping back into a half-court press instead of the 3/4-court Iowa's been using. Pick 'em up at midcourt, then there's less room for the offense to exploit, and it's easier for the defense to drop back into its standard defense. You can always throw the 3/4-court press out there at times to surprise them at key moments and try for the 10-second violation. Not that it makes any difference, of course, it's just that I, too, have been thinking. :)
 
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Here's the link: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...hange-connor-mccaffery-likely-out/9310802002/

Fran admits the slow starts recently are an issue, but then he says while he's always thinking about changes, he's not sure the starting lineup really matters. Logic, then, would ask, "If it doesn't really matter, then why NOT change it?" :)

But there is thinking going on, so watch out, OSU.

Some of us have been clamoring for starting lineup changes for awhile and, again, here's the one I've been suggesting for a couple weeks:

Keegan
PMac
Kris
Sandfort
Joe T. *
*I wouldn't be opposed to starting Perkins and bringing Joe T. off the bench to further change things up.

Bench, depending on matchups: Rebraca, Perkins, Ulis, JBo, Josh O [CMac out with the injury]

The starters should play at least 30 minutes each and, instead of line changes, no more than two subs come in at once. Get some continuity. Give guys a chance to settle in and get into rhythm. Leave Sandfort out there except when he needs a rest. See what he can do with extended minutes. Playing a handful of minutes serves neither him nor the team well.

If this team is going to have a shot at salvaging an NCCA berth, it needs to register an upset tomorrow night in Columbus to help make up for the losses at Rutgers and PSU. How bad does this team want it? And can Fran actually try something different and give some other kids a chance? At least he admits he's thinking about it.
I agree with your starting lineup as long as you don’t put Perkins in for joe t. And I also agree that lineup should be playing a bulk of the minutes. Fran plays way to many players and spreads the minutes out way to much.
If trots out the same pathetic lineup, especially jblow. I think I might just shut the game off tomorrow. Tired of watching the same crap night in and night out and being pissed about how stubborn Fran is.
 
Knowing Fran hes probably planning on benching Toussaint in favor of Connor though.
Here's the link: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...hange-connor-mccaffery-likely-out/9310802002/

Fran admits the slow starts recently are an issue, but then he says while he's always thinking about changes, he's not sure the starting lineup really matters. Logic, then, would ask, "If it doesn't really matter, then why NOT change it?" :)

But there is thinking going on, so watch out, OSU.

Some of us have been clamoring for starting lineup changes for awhile and, again, here's the one I've been suggesting for a couple weeks:

Keegan
PMac
Kris
Sandfort
Joe T. *
*I wouldn't be opposed to starting Perkins and bringing Joe T. off the bench to further change things up.

Bench, depending on matchups: Rebraca, Perkins, Ulis, JBo, Josh O [CMac out with the injury]

The starters should play at least 30 minutes each and, instead of line changes, no more than two subs come in at once. Get some continuity. Give guys a chance to settle in and get into rhythm. Leave Sandfort out there except when he needs a rest. See what he can do with extended minutes. Playing a handful of minutes serves neither him nor the team well.

If this team is going to have a shot at salvaging an NCCA berth, it needs to register an upset tomorrow night in Columbus to help make up for the losses at Rutgers and PSU. How bad does this team want it? And can Fran actually try something different and give some other kids a chance? At least he admits he's thinking about it . . . not that it matters, of course. LOL

BTW: One other adjustment I'd like to see would be dropping back into a half-court press instead of the 3/4-court Iowa's been using. Pick 'em up at midcourt, then there's less room for the offense to exploit, and it's easier for the defense to drop back into its standard defense. You can always throw the 3/4-court press out there at times to surprise them at key moments and try for the 10-second violation. Not that it makes any difference, of course, it's just that I, too, have been thinking. :)


Gee, Fran, you think?
 
I think Sandfort has earned a minute increase, but if we’re being realistic and knowing Fran

1. Joe
2. Kris/Pat
3. Kris/Pat
4. Keegan
5. Filip

OR

1. Joe
2. Jordan
3. Pat
4. Keegan
5. Kris

I don’t think the change will be as drastic as many of us would like, but Kris would undoubtedly enter the starting lineup
 
If there is a change to the starting lineup (which I still doubt) and it turns out to be Ulis replacing Joe I'm done for the year.

curious, while I am overall happy with Ulis off the bench, but don’t think he’s ready to start, why are you so down on him?
 
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Starting line up should be the guys that give you a good chance at a good start, without completely cannibalizing the 2nd unit. You don't want to start the game fast only to give it back when the 2's come in.

Personally I don't care a whole lot about starters, but I do care about minutes.

And, I firmly believe that if things aren't working well, mix it up.
 
Knowing Fran hes probably planning on benching Toussaint in favor of Connor though.
Fran's hand is tied now that his favorite son is unavailable for a couple of weeks at least (we know for a fact that injuries are the only reason he makes changes to his lineups) so I'm guessing that 1. JBO is going to be replaced by either Kris or Tony. 2. Payton and Ulis will be seeing more minutes, 3. what effect is the sprained ankle that Patrick occurred late in Mondays game have on his ability to shoot and drive to the basket and 4. will Josh or Riley see any minutes at all now that the season is on the brink. Inquiring minds are stoked to find out.
 
curious, while I am overall happy with Ulis off the bench, but don’t think he’s ready to start, why are you so down on him?
I'm not necessarily down on Ulis, but he's been the worst shooter on the team in conference play with an EFG% of 29%. Joe hasn't been lights out but he's the best PG on the team and IMO one of the best players on the team this year. If anything he should be getting more minutes, not less. This would be flat out dumb relative to other changes that could be made.

The data tells us that Kris is the second best player on the team. He would be getting 30 minutes on this team from pretty much any coach not named McCaffery. If there were a change in the starting lineup that didn't involve Kris, that alone would be ludicrous.

The worst metrics on the starting 5 are by far JBo's. Any change to the starting lineup that doesn't involve JB is almost as ludicrous as leaving Kris out.

So if I had to guess what Fran does, the easy (wrong) thing to do is stay status quo. Maybe with the losses piling up he's finally feeling some pressure to go with the numbers and not his head. We'll have to see. He has less of a history with Rebraca so if we see a change it will most likely be him as a sacrificial lamb being replaced by Kris for the sake of change more than anything else. It would not in my opinion be the change that provides the most improvement in the results. That involves removing Jbo, moving Pmac to the 2 and Kris to the 3.
 
Starting line up should be the guys that give you a good chance at a good start, without completely cannibalizing the 2nd unit. You don't want to start the game fast only to give it back when the 2's come in.

Personally I don't care a whole lot about starters, but I do care about minutes.

And, I firmly believe that if things aren't working well, mix it up.
Agreed but if we ditch the line-change practice, then the drop should go away.
 
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Starting line up should be the guys that give you a good chance at a good start, without completely cannibalizing the 2nd unit. You don't want to start the game fast only to give it back when the 2's come in.

Personally I don't care a whole lot about starters, but I do care about minutes.

And, I firmly believe that if things aren't working well, mix it up.
There is no 2nd unit!!!!
 
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Fran's hand is tied now that his favorite son is unavailable for a couple of weeks at least (we know for a fact that injuries are the only reason he makes changes to his lineups) so I'm guessing that 1. JBO is going to be replaced by either Kris or Tony. 2. Payton and Ulis will be seeing more minutes, 3. what effect is the sprained ankle that Patrick occurred late in Mondays game have on his ability to shoot and drive to the basket and 4. will Josh or Riley see any minutes at all now that the season is on the brink. Inquiring minds are stoked to find out.
I'll believe Fran benching a made man when I see it.
 
I'll believe Fran benching a made man when I see it.
That's what I'm thinking too. Fran is more likely to swap Kris for Rebraca. That way he relieves the heat he's getting for not starting Kris and everyone he cares about remains in place. It's his easiest move to make it look like he's doing something.
 
Jordan should be the 2022 version of Jeff Moe. Coming off the bench, hitting 3’s, and playing with hustle. Sadly he’s not doing any of that currently.

Fran’s loyalty won’t allow him to outright bench and not play him so we’re stuck. Sandfort/Perkins should be getting those minutes, or Kris if we want to go big. And maybe we should since renouncing is a huge issue this year.

Joe T
Sandfort
Kris
Keegan
Filip

Keegan and Kris should be getting 30+ minutes each. Optimally they are on the floor together 80% of the time. When Filip needs to rest, slide K&K down to PF and C respectively and you go smaller for a spell.

The hockey line changes don’t make sense and need to stop. Play your best 7 consistently the majority of the minutes. I do understand that our guards have consistency issues so it may take a while in an individual game to sort that out.
 
Anything that gets Jbo out of the starting lineup is a plus.

Id prefer

5. Keegan
4.Kris
3. Pat
2. Perkins
1. Toussaint

Kris and Sandfort are the two that need the biggest increase in minutes imo.
I think I'd go with

5. Rebacca
4. Keegan
3. Kris
2. Ulis
1. Toussaint

Ulis needs to gain some confidence shooting. He was pretty good in HS and I think he just needs to gain some confidence back to regain his form.
 
My starting lineup would be…

1. Joe T
2. Kris
3. PMac
4. Keegan
5. Filip

More Sandfort & Perkins, about the same for Ulis depending on how he and Joe T are doing in any given game, and less JBo and CMac.
 
I think I'd go with

5. Rebacca
4. Keegan
3. Kris
2. Ulis
1. Toussaint

Ulis needs to gain some confidence shooting. He was pretty good in HS and I think he just needs to gain some confidence back to regain his form.
That’s probably the best D/rebounding lineup. We’d have to live with some sagging defenses unless Joe/Ulis showed enough confidence to pull the trigger. We just have too many one dimensional players. But, yeah, not a bad lineup at all.
 
I think I'd go with

5. Rebacca
4. Keegan
3. Kris
2. Ulis
1. Toussaint

Ulis needs to gain some confidence shooting. He was pretty good in HS and I think he just needs to gain some confidence back to regain his form.

Think I’d start Perkins over Ulis.
 
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Fran has Kris, Keegan and Pmac. Beyond these 3 you are looking at a bunch of chairs with 1 or 2 legs missing. Sandfort gets a pass because he is a freshman, but Fran is doing his best to screw him up. Jbo, Ulis, and Perkins have underwhelmed and that is being kind. Rebraca is a nice 7th or 8th guy, but unfortunately he is the starting 5. Josh and Mulvey are major projects.

It's another example of what bad recruiting year after year does to a program. With the exception of the 3 mentioned above, the rest of the team has the exact same deficiencies--no offense. This from a coach who wants to run and shoot 3's. Makes perfect sense. So Fran can swap one guy who can't shoot for another who can't shoot, but the it won't change the results.
 
Doesn't really matter who exactly is in the starting line up - too much - if Fran insists on keep doing the 'line change' thing, even if the starters are playing really well.

How many good starts have we seen wasted in that fashion? Full 'line changes' make sense when the starters are stinking up the joint, but not otherwise.


And, crazy as it seems, I almost wish Keegan didn't start games simply because of Fran's stubborn - and wrong - insistence that every time he picks up a 2nd foul (sometimes around the 10 minutes, or more, left mark in the first half), we don't see him on the floor again until the second half begins.
 
Made no sense having Ulis in for Joe T in overtime.
Well, in slight defense of AU, I think he was perfect on his FTs on Monday night .........

But yeah, I'd much rather have Joe T taking those shots and such instead of Ulis in most of that 2OT situation.
 
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Well, in slight defense of AU, I think he was perfect on his FTs on Monday night .........

But yeah, I'd much rather have Joe T taking those shots and such instead of Ulis in most of that 2OT situation.
He missed a crucial ft in ot1. Believe Keegan missed a crucial one as well. Joe won us the game at VA, and now doesn’t even get the chance to see the floor at the end of games. Makes very little sense in my mind. I could understand if he was given the chance some game and blew it…but since the VA game he hasn’t really even been given the opportunity.
 
He missed a crucial ft in ot1. Believe Keegan missed a crucial one as well. Joe won us the game at VA, and now doesn’t even get the chance to see the floor at the end of games. Makes very little sense in my mind. I could understand if he was given the chance some game and blew it…but since the VA game he hasn’t really even been given the opportunity.

I love how that doesn’t get talked about, like at all. If anything Jbo has been heralded in the past for “winning” us that game because it’s the only time this year he’s done jack shit. He also got owned on defense several times if my memory serves me correctly. Joe absolutely needs more chances to prove himself, thy means more minutes, not just starting. I feel for him and his tiny leash, it seems Fran legitimately wants to force him out of this program.
 
Starting line up should be the guys that give you a good chance at a good start, without completely cannibalizing the 2nd unit. You don't want to start the game fast only to give it back when the 2's come in.

Personally I don't care a whole lot about starters, but I do care about minutes.

And, I firmly believe that if things aren't working well, mix it up.
I know you don't mean it in a bad way, but I hate the fact that Fran treats the bench as a "second unit." This is not the NBA, with 48 minute games and 82 games in a season. It's college basketball with 2 games in a week. Play your best 8 players. I don't want to see platoon subbing. Mix in your bench guys so that at all times in the game you have some of your best players on the floor.

The issue is really that Iowa doesn't have enough really good players. Hawks have 1 great player (Keeg. Murray) another really good player who doesn't get enough minutes (Kr. Murray) and then a bunch of guys who have some strengths but also have big holes in their games. So it's not 100% clear on who should be playing the most minutes beyond the first 2.
 
I know you don't mean it in a bad way, but I hate the fact that Fran treats the bench as a "second unit." This is not the NBA, with 48 minute games and 82 games in a season. It's college basketball with 2 games in a week. Play your best 8 players. I don't want to see platoon subbing. Mix in your bench guys so that at all times in the game you have some of your best players on the floor.

The issue is really that Iowa doesn't have enough really good players. Hawks have 1 great player (Keeg. Murray) another really good player who doesn't get enough minutes (Kr. Murray) and then a bunch of guys who have some strengths but also have big holes in their games. So it's not 100% clear on who should be playing the most minutes beyond the first 2.

So far this season has been about what I expected after losing Garza and Wieskamp to the NBA, and Frederick and Nunge to the transfer portal. We’ve overall been a bit better offensively than I thought we’d be, tho 3 pt shooting has been inconsistent-not unexpectedly losing 3 40% shooters. Defense has been better I think, but the numbers look worse because of the rebounding struggles, which I didn’t anticipate.

Right now, we appear to be in the right side of the bubble, but by no means are we safe.
 
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So far this season has been about what I expected after losing Garza and Wieskamp to the NBA, and Frederick and Nunge to the transfer portal. We’ve overall been a bit better offensively than I thought we’d be, tho 3 pt shooting has been inconsistent-not unexpectedly losing 3 40% shooters. Defense has been better I think, but the numbers look worse because of the rebounding struggles, which I didn’t anticipate.

Right now, we appear to be in the right side of the bubble, but by no means are we safe.
I agree with you except this team is on the outside looking in at the tournament right now. They will need 1 or most likely 2 key wins to get back in the hunt.
 
I agree with you except this team is on the outside looking in at the tournament right now. They will need 1 or most likely 2 key wins to get back in the hunt.
Did the loss to Penn State drop them that far? Last I saw we were hovering around 30 in the NCAA NET rankings, which should have us in.

after all the attrition from last year, the NCAAs would be a bonus this year, so it won’t break me if they are out, but i expect improvement for next year.
 
I don't understand why so many include Pat in the top 5. He may be worse than JBO on defense, is a poor rebounder, drives to the basket are nothing more than TOs, has no dependable outside shot....
Where is his value?

Compare him to Aaron White. Same size, both have decent handles, neither have dependable outside shot, BUT White rebounded and when he went to the basket it was almost aways a basket or free throw (and he was much better at that) or both. He was an impact player. Pat, not at all.
 
I don't understand why so many include Pat in the top 5. He may be worse than JBO on defense, is a poor rebounder, drives to the basket are nothing more than TOs, has no dependable outside shot....
Where is his value?

Compare him to Aaron White. Same size, both have decent handles, neither have dependable outside shot, BUT White rebounded and when he went to the basket it was almost aways a basket or free throw (and he was much better at that) or both. He was an impact player. Pat, not at all.
You mean we can get Aaron White to replace Patrick in the lineup? Cool! I'm down with that! I don't think Fran would be though.
 
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