How do we fix this team?

[Ladell-hawk]

The fix is by starting from scratch with a new head coach.
Freeman is almost certainly gone. Dix could get a good payday elsewhere, not much incentive for him to stick around. Outside of those 2 a total roster turnover would not be a bad thing.
New coach brings 3-4 guys with him. Then hits the portal hard. Any of a number of younger coaches at smaller schools who have had some success could fit that description.

I don’t know, seems like Freeman and Dix would be more likely to come back if Fran stays.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

The "problem" with this particular team is injuries,.. and "we" can't fix that.

Wrong.

It's true that Freeman has been out several games now and Thelwell has been a little dinged up lately, but other than that, the team has been pretty healthy most of the year. They weren't very good even with those guys.

 

[iahawks10]

Wrong.

It's true that Freeman has been out several games now and Thelwell has been a little dinged up lately, but other than that, the team has been pretty healthy most of the year. They weren't very good even with those guys.

Traore missed several games (a few weeks), Freeman and Mulvey both missed some due to “illness”. Mulvey multiple times. C Koch only saw limited action and is done for the year. Thelwell and Freeman you mentioned. Both Payton (shoulder and leg) and Dix (wrist) have had injuries to begin the season but I don’t believe either has missed time because of them.

Every team has injuries/illness, but I can’t remember an Iowa team with this many, one after another. I definitely wouldn’t say they’ve been pretty healthy.

 

[Bierhalter]

Traore missed several games (a few weeks), Freeman and Mulvey both missed some due to “illness”. Mulvey multiple times. C Koch only saw limited action and is done for the year. Thelwell and Freeman you mentioned. Both Payton (shoulder and leg) and Dix (wrist) have had injuries to begin the season but I don’t believe either has missed time because of them.

Every team has injuries/illness, but I can’t remember an Iowa team with this many, one after another. I definitely wouldn’t say they’ve been pretty healthy.

Not a response to you directly, but I've often wondered why injuries seem to plague Iowa players under FM. Sometimes the same players over multiple seasons. It could be just because I don't really follow other teams, but it strikes me as odd that seemingly every year there are Iowa players who miss significant amounts of time due to injury. Gesell being hampered by injuries for more than one season. Bohannon having to get hip replacements. CMac needing surgery. Nunge often injured, Fredrick having chronic issues. Is this just normal for a college program, or should something be changed in how FM handles strength and conditioning?

 

[Rifler]

Wrong.

It's true that Freeman has been out several games now and Thelwell has been a little dinged up lately, but other than that, the team has been pretty healthy most of the year. They weren't very good even with those guys.

This was at best a .500 team in conference play, so if you consider that to be not very good, then I can agree with that,.. Injuries, and there have been many, are the primary reason they aren't meeting that mark...

 

[ozzie8]

This was at best a .500 team in conference play, so if you consider that to be not very good, then I can agree with that,.. Injuries, and there have been many, are the primary reason they aren't meeting that mark...

As a full team this year, Iowa had 2 of the most pathetic efforts I’ve ever seen from any Iowa team, at Wisconsin and at Ohio State. This team was never sniffing .500 in the league at full strength.

 

[soybean]

I'm 74. I was a casual fan as a boy late 50's early 60's. I really began to focus during the George Peeples era. I fell hard when Sam Williams, John Johnson, Fred Brown, and personal favorite Ben McGilmer arrived. I have lived and died Iowa Basketball since then. I was heartbroken when Ralph Miller and Lute Olsen left us. And I felt sick when Tom Davis was done wrong. I suffered through the Alford and Lickliter debacles. I now find myself sitting on the fence over Fran. I could truly argue this one flat or round.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Traore missed several games (a few weeks), Freeman and Mulvey both missed some due to “illness”. Mulvey multiple times. C Koch only saw limited action and is done for the year. Thelwell and Freeman you mentioned. Both Payton (shoulder and leg) and Dix (wrist) have had injuries to begin the season but I don’t believe either has missed time because of them.

Every team has injuries/illness, but I can’t remember an Iowa team with this many, one after another. I definitely wouldn’t say they’ve been pretty healthy.

Forgot about Traore, but looks like the only game Iowa lost where he didn't play was @Michigan. Maybe he makes the difference in that one?

Freeman missed a couple of games in the non-con, but those were against cupcakes where Iowa won easily anyway.

Mulvey.. Meh. Hardly a key player on this team. He had been pretty far down the bench.

Sandfort and Dix maybe a bit dinged up at times, but as you said, healthy enough to be out there for the most part.

True on Koch.. But as a true freshman, would he be a major contributor? Maybe, maybe not. We can only speculate.

 

[DewHawk]

Not a response to you directly, but I've often wondered why injuries seem to plague Iowa players under FM. Sometimes the same players over multiple seasons. It could be just because I don't really follow other teams, but it strikes me as odd that seemingly every year there are Iowa players who miss significant amounts of time due to injury. Gesell being hampered by injuries for more than one season. Bohannon having to get hip replacements. CMac needing surgery. Nunge often injured, Fredrick having chronic issues. Is this just normal for a college program, or should something be changed in how FM handles strength and conditioning?

I watch a lot of BBall and it is not uncommon for players to miss time and sometimes all season. But Iowa does not appear to have much of a weight training program if you compared to other teams' players. JMO

 

[RocknRollface]

I don’t know, seems like Freeman and Dix would be more likely to come back if Fran stays.

Sure but the problem with those guys coming back for Fran is that Fran would be their coach so it wouldn't amount to anything just like every other year.

There will have to be short term losses in order move on.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Fran: likes long, versatile players. Puts skill over athleticism. High 3 point shooting volume. certainly does not seem to prefer average to shorter height guards). Does not seem to emphasize strength/power. Obviously huge emphasis on offense, virtually none on defense.

We seem to have locked in as an always good, never great team with above strategy.

Ready for something different. We need a great recruiter. Has to be more offense/defense balance. Need better athletes.

 

[kwik44]

Short answer: NO. Fran is a mediocre coach at best as seen by our deep runs at NCAAs with some of the stud players we've had through the years. Oh wait, we've never had any deep runs under Fran. In fact have we ever made the Sweet 16 under Fran? Maybe? No?

Fran is ultra-safe. We need to get away from ultra-safe and move on to someone who wants to make some things happen!!

It was the Barta way.

Win. Graduate. Do it Right.

Except that went more 20/40/40.

 

[doughuddl2]

It was the Barta way.

Win. Graduate. Do it Right.

Except that went more 20/40/40.

So you are in favor of cheating/paying players under the table the last 15 years?

 

[Packer54]

The marketing by Iowa’s athletic department is horrible and has been for years. I majored in Marketing at Iowa over 40 years ago. Never worked a marketing job. I’m old, retired, and I could STILL do a better job promoting U of I basketball than whoever is supposed to be doing it now.

And so could most of the people on this board.

Seems like we can produce good Marketing elements for football. I can't believe the same people are Marketing basketball as well because it is a tomb.

 

[kwik44]

So you are in favor of cheating/paying players under the table the last 15 years?

It’s legal now, and programs got a slap on the wrist before? Why not?

 

[SDHawkDoc]

It’s legal now, and programs got a slap on the wrist before? Why not?

Yes.
College basketball has been a wink-wink "amateur" sport with "student-athletes" for decades. It was an open secret that players were being paid at some programs.
Now it's clearly pro sports. These are paid individuals. There is no going back.
The sooner they start managing the program like the pro sports franchise that it is the better.
Coaches get fired for perpetually missing the playoffs or underperforming if they get there. Players are cut from the franchise if they aren't meeting performance expectations. This is what upper level D1 bball has become. We may not like it, but it's now time for them to adapt or die.