I'm curious how hot McCaffery's seat is getting and whether it's coming from message board types or actual boosters with say. I think he's a really good coach to be honest, so I'd like to see him go. What do you guys think the problem is this year? Recruiting misses? Injuries? Did McCaffery lose his passion? Wasn't there an issue with his son a couple years ago (I say extremely respectfully)? Did that change his demeanor?
Hot seat?
- Thread starter shakes3858
- Start date
Its warm but not hot. I mean people are upset this year because his team is showing the lazy defense and poor rotations. Something that plagued Frans teams for years. I think people are upset at the lack of guards we have.
Recruiting is one issue, but I think it will straighten it self out. He has some nice players in the system, the problem is they are being forced to play too early. Need some times to adjust. These are not top 20 players who are ready to go, they need time.
McCaffery still has his passion (just got the boot last game). He's just trying to do the best with what he has. He knows we are down at the guard position and they are making adjustments.
Both his sons have health issues and one is red-shirting and the other is having a good year in High School. Both will be players for Iowa as long as Fran is here.
Agree with Haydenhawk. It’s a bit warm but not as hot as some on here make it out to be. I think he realizes (at least hope he does) he has a huge roster issue to deal with this year. Probably mostly his fault, but just bad luck losing Connor. He probably should not have counted on Williams staying. It would not be wise for him to publicly talk about their guard weakness or use it as an excuse at this time but I do think he and staff realize what this team lacks. It’s useless to start the “fire Fran” at this time of the season. Let the season play out.
He just needs to keep the guys playing hard this year and find a PG.
Of course they will be players. Whether or not they can make it as BIG players is the question.
His ass should smell like sizzling bacon
That is one of the major problems they do not play hard.and are lazy! Might be the worst P5 team in the country??
we'll need a rematch with isu on a neutral court to be sure
Seems they gave up a bit tonight! I absolutely hate to say it.
Next year will tell us a lot. If it looks like this year, then we have problems. Most teams have down years. We will have 3 more guards at our disposal next year (Connor,CJ,JW) and they all bring something different to the table. I think we will be much improved and challenge again for the dance.
The problems are much deeper than just a point guard I’m afraid. Our athleticism is inferior across the board with exception to Cook and his effort often negates what advantage he might possess. Even moss who had decent athleticism, is unable to drive by defenders with any regularity or create issues for the players he guards. I suspect Fran had better players and athletes in the backcourt when he was at siena compared to now and that just doesn’t make any sense. Wieskamp will be a nice addition but the addition of fredrick is a real head scratcher and doesn’t come close to addressing a need.
The majority of the roster would be fine as role players at this level if surrounded by starter type talent but put them together on one roster and it helps explain why our record is what it is. For a coach that proclaims to play fast, the majority of the roster doesn’t really fit that objective and that is the scary thing. Seriously, what has Fran been thinking the past three years on the recruiting trail? Really poor job of assembling a roster to fit what he is trying to do
I thought he was safe into next year, but games like tonight make me feel like there is no coaching going on. Pathetic effort, in all phases.
Connor would get the same treatment Bohannon is. He is too slow. Did you see how quick Rutgers' guards were? Sanders is an athletic freak, but their other guards, even off the bench, totally smothered Iowa's pseudo guards. There is a reason our offense sets up 25 feet from the basket, while other teams drive penetrate and dunk on us. It's called lack of athletes. Connor would be better than Brady, I will grant you that.
Fran totally miscalculated on Chris Williams who
left our program. Fran never imagined that his
son Conner would have health problems. In the
meantime the Hawkeyes struggle at point guard.
To save his job, he will need to recruit a Junior
College point who is really a dynamic athlete.
left our program. Fran never imagined that his
son Conner would have health problems. In the
meantime the Hawkeyes struggle at point guard.
To save his job, he will need to recruit a Junior
College point who is really a dynamic athlete.
This is 2018.
We are in Year 8 of Fran.
Tom Crean won the B1G Ten and got his ass canned a year later. That's college basketball. While I think some coaches getting a quick pink slip is extreme in certain situations, this Iowa team just isn't bad they are horrible. Youth, injuries, all bullshit excuses. This is Fran's baby and it reeks to high heaven. And there is no evidence of what ails this team being fixed any time in the near future.
Fran needs to go sooner than later. Barta first, though. That's whose seat needs to be blazing hot right now.
We are in Year 8 of Fran.
Tom Crean won the B1G Ten and got his ass canned a year later. That's college basketball. While I think some coaches getting a quick pink slip is extreme in certain situations, this Iowa team just isn't bad they are horrible. Youth, injuries, all bullshit excuses. This is Fran's baby and it reeks to high heaven. And there is no evidence of what ails this team being fixed any time in the near future.
Fran needs to go sooner than later. Barta first, though. That's whose seat needs to be blazing hot right now.
You really think Iowa's problems would be even slightly mitigated if Christian Williams had stuck around or Conner was healthy? Lol.
Signing a JUCO PG or a grad transfer PG won't magically convert this roster into High D-1 athletes. Nor will it make this team play better defense.
What astounds me is more Iowa fans do not get that.
They think once Joe Weiskamp and PMac get here all will be well with Iowa basketball.
I don’t think it makes Iowa a threat to win the B1G but I do believe a quality PG would make everybody better. And that right there could translate to another 5+ wins over the year.
If said point guard plays lock-down defense and inspires others to give a rat's ass on the defensive end, perhaps.
You know in the NFL when a head/coach GM proves incapable of doing both jobs, so the guy admits he should just be coach instead of doing both? It’s happened to many talented men. That’s what needs to happen if Fran is to keep his job. He is incapable of building a balanced roster. Someone needs to build his roster for him. Seems every year Iowa has too much of this, not enough of that, yet he still runs a rotation of 8-10 guys. Not sure how tall, slow white guys make sense for his system. Gabe Olaseni made sense. Still haven’t seen a point guard who made sense. About 50 dudes playing the 2-4 spots could’ve made sense if the 1 and 5 spots weren’t so mismanaged.
So it’s a players responsibility to demand and inspire others to play D? Good coaches don’t delegate that to a player, they demand it themselves or players would be sitting next to the coaches. For a team that is allegedly the deepest of frans career, it’s remarkable he doesn’t demand more effort and intensity. Then again I’ve never seen a college team with worse defensive fundamentals in my life. Guys loaf around the court without their hands up...Y league coaches of 5th graders demand more. Beating our zone doesn’t take much, route the ball from side to side a couple times then simply drive and watch our defense collapse because our guys up top can’t keeps ball handlers in front of them and kick it out for a wide open look from 18-21ft. Rinse and repeat
I 100% agree with you. I was being facetious in my response to him.
This roster needs to be scrapped in the off season. 4 or 5 players need to go and the other 8 players need to understand that if they aren't going to play defense, they can pack their bags too.
This coaching staff needs to be scrapped too. If any of these assistants thought these players were capable of becoming a BIG caliber basketball team, they can pack their bags. Fran needs to find someone that can coach defense and give them half of every practice to do that.
The Hawks still have 12! games left this year. You better believe his seat will be scorching hot by the end of the season if they don’t show any improvement. Iowa fans aren’t stupid. They see very little effort and coaching out there. The fans aren’t showing up to the games and season ticket sales next year are going to plummet to Lickliter levels.
I do, but doubt that we wouldn't be drastically better,... With a healthy Williams and/or McCaffrey I'd expect us to be sitting on 3-4 more wins right now...
Fran's not on the hot seat yet, but he's getting close. This year is obviously a dumpster fire. My concern is that next year will be as well, because Fran has not addressed the glaring weaknesses of the team with his recruiting. The team needs a legitimate pg would can run the offense and set up players for good shots. The team also needs at least one additional 2/3 type player who is athletic and can defend.
Wieskamp is a nice piece and I believe he'll start from day 1. However, this doesn't really address the weaknesses listed above.
Fredrick.....no way should he have been recruited. This is not a slam on him, but his skill set is not what the team. Huge mistake by Fran.
Fran needs to find a way to open up two more scholarships (encourage Ellingson to go grad transfer and then have one of the bigs move on). Then go out and get two athletes (a PG and a 2/3 player).
Wieskamp is a nice piece and I believe he'll start from day 1. However, this doesn't really address the weaknesses listed above.
Fredrick.....no way should he have been recruited. This is not a slam on him, but his skill set is not what the team. Huge mistake by Fran.
Fran needs to find a way to open up two more scholarships (encourage Ellingson to go grad transfer and then have one of the bigs move on). Then go out and get two athletes (a PG and a 2/3 player).
Yea Jon Miller is trying to talk fans in to being less critical. Brings up that Matt Painter struggled two season starting in year 8, but in that stretch he had already been to 3 Sweet 16s along with a few more NCAA first rounds.
If you further argue Purdue is a much more attractive program because... history, can't Iowa fans at least argue that it's not too much to want one sweet 16 appearance in 10 years?
I liked Frans journey of the turn around, but once he got things rolling his weaknesses seemed to bring Fran and the program back down to earth. Frans play style is to dominate off press and fast break.
Who has he recruited that is actually fit to excel in his actual play style? You don't turn away talents like Cook. But wings players that play good defense in press and finish in transition is what helped Fran turn this around, no?
Seems like most of our roster is geared towards playing in paint or chucking up threes. None of them are really effective in the press, Christian Williams likely would have needed to start eventually if he was still here, as I'm betting he would have been our best defender.
If you further argue Purdue is a much more attractive program because... history, can't Iowa fans at least argue that it's not too much to want one sweet 16 appearance in 10 years?
I liked Frans journey of the turn around, but once he got things rolling his weaknesses seemed to bring Fran and the program back down to earth. Frans play style is to dominate off press and fast break.
Who has he recruited that is actually fit to excel in his actual play style? You don't turn away talents like Cook. But wings players that play good defense in press and finish in transition is what helped Fran turn this around, no?
Seems like most of our roster is geared towards playing in paint or chucking up threes. None of them are really effective in the press, Christian Williams likely would have needed to start eventually if he was still here, as I'm betting he would have been our best defender.
I think Fran's future relies on what he does this off-season. If he thinks he can keep the same roster for next year and be successful he's gone after next year. I just do not see it with this current group and I know we are adding 3 players (JW, CJ, and CM). But those 3 are not going to come in and take Iowa to the tournament. They will all be "role" players next year. This current roster w/those 3 additions will be a .500 ball club.
Fran has to hopefully crean 1-2 players this off-season. he has to go the "grad transfer" route and find a guard or SF to come in and play. He has way too many post players on the roster. I get you want to recruit "big" players, but they can't physically match-up with the smaller/quicker guards in the Big Ten.
I am praying that Fran can turn it around and get this team playing better, but I just do not see it. Their effort last night showed a team that has given up or is not interested in playing for him or the team. It seems to be a bunch of "hero" ball being played out there.
Fran has to hopefully crean 1-2 players this off-season. he has to go the "grad transfer" route and find a guard or SF to come in and play. He has way too many post players on the roster. I get you want to recruit "big" players, but they can't physically match-up with the smaller/quicker guards in the Big Ten.
I am praying that Fran can turn it around and get this team playing better, but I just do not see it. Their effort last night showed a team that has given up or is not interested in playing for him or the team. It seems to be a bunch of "hero" ball being played out there.
A
anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba
Guest
A "down" year, sure, that can happen. But this team can't/won't play defense. A former player says Fran almost never practices D, which comes as no surprise when you see Iowa play. In all but two or three games, the Hawkeyes look like they'd rather be bagging groceries or working in a coal mine than hustling up and down a basketball court.
Rutgers and Illinois and Penn State, to name a few, are losing a lot of games, but they play hard and are almost always competitive. Iowa, on the other hand, goes through the motions and is regularly getting blown out...even by the aforementioned Rutgers.
I can't think of anything good to say about this season. And again, at most schools, Fran would be on his way out unless Iowa wins out and makes the Big Ten tournament championship game. And we all know how likely either of those things is.
Rutgers and Illinois and Penn State, to name a few, are losing a lot of games, but they play hard and are almost always competitive. Iowa, on the other hand, goes through the motions and is regularly getting blown out...even by the aforementioned Rutgers.
I can't think of anything good to say about this season. And again, at most schools, Fran would be on his way out unless Iowa wins out and makes the Big Ten tournament championship game. And we all know how likely either of those things is.
based on the limited videos I've watched of Frederick, he does seem to have a better skill set than Ellingson. Better handles, better passer and perhaps slightly superior foot speed. However, this still does not fit a need and its perplexing why he was offered the first available scholarship in the first place. Pemsl seems like a nice kid, but he is 5 not a four and certainly not a 3 as some suggested in the off season. It doesn't make much sense to have three fives on the roster that are all limited and don't excel in running the floor when we are supposed to play fast. This has been beaten to death, but Fran came to Iowa and suggested his style would be pressing, fast paced and aggressive. He has recruited the exact opposite of that for the past three or four years.
Out of 15 recruits between the 2013 and 2016 classes, at least 9 were complete misses with a few others that are probably good fits to be role players or specialists, but due to the current roster composition, they are forced to be starters and premiere players on this squad. The 2015 class while strong in numbers is turning out to be a complete disaster and plays a large role in our struggles right now. Fran has had imbalanced classes dating back to 2012 and took on a player or two that really wasn't necessary. He signs two pg in that class and as a result we miss out on a couple PG's the following year that likely would have come here an excelled. He repeats this mistake with the 2015 class and takes Williams late when that scholarship could have been banked or used on a true PG. Same with the 2016 class, we take Dailey late instead of creating balance on the roster and really don't fill a need with that offer. Just so many decisions made that in hindsight look terrible. Everyone is going to make mistakes, especially in the game of recruiting, but Fran has repeated his mistakes three times over if you include the class of 2012. Ingram was supposed to be a fairly good defender but he was a 6'2 forward and a huge reach for this level.
Its a shame my interest, along with many others, has plummeted to the degree it has in the past year. Fran had this fan base ready to explode, but he has lost all momentum with his questionable decisions and poor roster management. For a coaching staff that has so much experience on paper, its pretty incredible they've allowed this to happen, not sure if he can turn this around without a major roster overhaul and immediate infusion of talent. If Fran comes back next year with basically the same roster, I don't see how the results will change much and I'm not sure its worth keeping him just to get his son on the roster. As we've seen with Connor on the roster, Fran will struggle to recruit players at similar positions and I'm not sure the positives outweigh the negatives. I hope I'm wrong, but this has all the signs of ending quite ugly.
