Hey, y'all...

[sienajay2009]

Popping my head in again after a while of still watching everything and chipping in my two cents (which don't add up to much anyway.)

I've been watching since Fran came over from Siena (hence my screenname, and please don't spell it like the crayon or van.) I've loved watching this team grow from day one since Fran got here, and I've been trying to explain Fran-ball the way it was at Siena and maybe the way it hasn't translated completely in the last 10 years. BUT! Tonight, and this last stretch, I feel shows a lot of what I've been looking for and trying to explain what he did back in the day and maybe hasn't translated until now - fast, pressing, closeouts, steals, sealing the lanes, switching (though they still give up too many wing threes that always go in) minimal turnovers, moving the ball, good shooting, driving, drawing fouls, being competitive and having heart.

For some reason, maybe the personnel on this team that we didn't expect to have it, maybe coaching, maybe just timing who knows, this team is gelling and playing in a way that I have not seen more talented Hawkeye teams play the way like I've seen the Siena teams play under Fran. It's exciting to me, it's fun, and I hope it's fun for you all. This team has so much heart and so much chemistry, I'm just so psyched to keep watching them play and see how far they can go. Long time since I've chimed in, I just really hope everyone's having fun, and I can't wait to watch this team play out the year, hopefully with a lot more wins. Cheers!

 

[DavidGraeberBullSheetJobs]

Wow! A really great post from someone with perspective. The fact that Fran took teams from a small program like Siena deep into NCAAs says a lot about Siena and about Fran.

It’s all clicking now and it’s beautiful.

thank you for your contributions and insight. Hope both programs do well.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Yes, Fran does seem to have a Siena like team.
Finally.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Thanks for finally coming back! Glad to hear your perspective.

 

[sienajay2009]

Yes, Fran does seem to have a Siena like team.
Finally.

Don't know if being sarcastic. There are a number of takeaways from that team that carry over here, but other than the water-bug we had at the point who was a pass first PG (and one who could still also score and made history with the 'onions, double order' moment against Ohio St. - and I guess we have Joe T who actually comps pretty well to Ronald Moore) it really was almost positionless basketball before it was even a thing. We had a center that could box out, score with his back and front to the basket, and still hit a jumper or a three before it was a thing, a power forward that could LITERALLY do everything, a wing that could press in the half court set then bring it up like Keegan and do everything from scoring on the drive to picking and popping and hitting threes, and an off-guard that was arguably our most talented player that just absolutely locked down on defense and scored in multiple tiers. And I can't emphasize this enough - those teams played defense, hard, and really well. I just see similarities now, and hope the team continues to succeed. I love this team in particular, and am being joyous watching them.

 

[sienajay2009]

Thanks for finally coming back! Glad to hear your perspective.

Always been here, just really enjoy watching the journey of the coaches and the players. I love this team and this program.

 

[hooper56]

Popping my head in again after a while of still watching everything and chipping in my two cents (which don't add up to much anyway.)

I've been watching since Fran came over from Siena (hence my screenname, and please don't spell it like the crayon or van.) I've loved watching this team grow from day one since Fran got here, and I've been trying to explain Fran-ball the way it was at Siena and maybe the way it hasn't translated completely in the last 10 years. BUT! Tonight, and this last stretch, I feel shows a lot of what I've been looking for and trying to explain what he did back in the day and maybe hasn't translated until now - fast, pressing, closeouts, steals, sealing the lanes, switching (though they still give up too many wing threes that always go in) minimal turnovers, moving the ball, good shooting, driving, drawing fouls, being competitive and having heart.

For some reason, maybe the personnel on this team that we didn't expect to have it, maybe coaching, maybe just timing who knows, this team is gelling and playing in a way that I have not seen more talented Hawkeye teams play the way like I've seen the Siena teams play under Fran. It's exciting to me, it's fun, and I hope it's fun for you all. This team has so much heart and so much chemistry, I'm just so psyched to keep watching them play and see how far they can go. Long time since I've chimed in, I just really hope everyone's having fun, and I can't wait to watch this team play out the year, hopefully with a lot more wins. Cheers!

I think you are exactly right. Having Luka was great but it did mean we had to play a little differently. I love the way our offense flows now. We are really hard to guard. And the way we switch screens on defense makes us hard to score on. And we are getting better.

 

[waterboy4582]

Wow! A really great post from someone with perspective. The fact that Fran took teams from a small program like Siena deep into NCAAs says a lot about Siena and about Fran.

It’s all clicking now and it’s beautiful.

thank you for your contributions and insight. Hope both programs do well.

Deep?

 

[goodbyebobby]

Don't know if being sarcastic. There are a number of takeaways from that team that carry over here, but other than the water-bug we had at the point who was a pass first PG (and one who could still also score and made history with the 'onions, double order' moment against Ohio St. - and I guess we have Joe T who actually comps pretty well to Ronald Moore) it really was almost positionless basketball before it was even a thing. We had a center that could box out, score with his back and front to the basket, and still hit a jumper or a three before it was a thing, a power forward that could LITERALLY do everything, a wing that could press in the half court set then bring it up like Keegan and do everything from scoring on the drive to picking and popping and hitting threes, and an off-guard that was arguably our most talented player that just absolutely locked down on defense and scored in multiple tiers. And I can't emphasize this enough - those teams played defense, hard, and really well. I just see similarities now, and hope the team continues to succeed. I love this team in particular, and am being joyous watching them.

Agreed. Took a long, long time. Lol

 

[DavidGraeberBullSheetJobs]

Don't know if being sarcastic. There are a number of takeaways from that team that carry over here, but other than the water-bug we had at the point who was a pass first PG (and one who could still also score and made history with the 'onions, double order' moment against Ohio St. - and I guess we have Joe T who actually comps pretty well to Ronald Moore) it really was almost positionless basketball before it was even a thing. We had a center that could box out, score with his back and front to the basket, and still hit a jumper or a three before it was a thing, a power forward that could LITERALLY do everything, a wing that could press in the half court set then bring it up like Keegan and do everything from scoring on the drive to picking and popping and hitting threes, and an off-guard that was arguably our most talented player that just absolutely locked down on defense and scored in multiple tiers. And I can't emphasize this enough - those teams played defense, hard, and really well. I just see similarities now, and hope the team continues to succeed. I love this team in particular, and am being joyous watching them.

No I wasn’t being sarcastic, and no, I really don’t know very much about Siena other than what I vaguely remember being discussed when Fran was hired. So this further explanation clarifies things for me. The main thing I remember about Siena basketball and his strategy was more or less positionless basketball, and that’s something that he was trying to build all along at Iowa but couldn’t always get seven top guys to do that and make it work, and then we had to build a team around Garza, which is a good problem to have, but now it seems like we really do have a talent to play the kind of game that he wants. I’m curious to know whether at Siena his teams defended well or was that sometimes a liability.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

I think you are exactly right. Having Luka was great but it did mean we had to play a little differently. I love the way our offense flows now. We are really hard to guard. And the way we switch screens on defense makes us hard to score on. And we are getting better.

Which is exactly why I thought this team had a chance to be a little better than last year.

 

[hawkjt]

Hey Jay...welcome back.
Lot of water over the bridge since a desperate Iowa fan base were clinging to the hope that Fran was going to rescue the Hawks from BB oblivion. Your positive posts fed that hope that we would get"mad again" on a regular basis.

Well, Fran has had us in the Dance in 7 of 9 years so you were proven true. But Iowa fans expectations have changed ; human nature has kicked in and some fans are clamoring for more.
Maybe this could be that year when no one expected us to make any noise.
All things considered Siena's loss was Iowa's gain.

 

[hooper56]

Fran did Siena a small favor by sending them Michael Baer who I understand has played well this year.

 

[HawkLogic]

Wow! A really great post from someone with perspective. The fact that Fran took teams from a small program like Siena deep into NCAAs says a lot about Siena and about Fran.

It’s all clicking now and it’s beautiful.

thank you for your contributions and insight. Hope both programs do well.

Fran has not made a sweet16 in 37 years of coaching----I don't think winning a first round game in NCAA is taking Sienna or Iowa "deep" into the NCAA tourney.

This Iowa team might be the 1st Sweet16 for Fran...let's hope so.