How good has Fran been this year?

[K OKeefe]

Serious question.

Never been a huge fan of Mr. McCaffery; however, this season may have been the best coaching I have witnessed from him during his tenure at Iowa. The Minny game should have been a loss. Instead, Fran kept the guys focused- playing stout defense throughout the game. Every time Minny looked like they might put the game away Fran rallied his team. His decision late in the 2nd to put Luka back in, after Minny went up by 8 and had momentum, was perfect. Iowa went on a run and Minny never scored again.

 

[StormHawk42]

He who shall not be named is apparently back...

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

He who shall not be named is apparently back...

?

 

[WolfeHawk]

I noticed that as well StormHawk...

 

[HawkAssassin]

Locker room management - 10/10. Plenty of opportunities for players to put their head down or point fingers. Hasn’t happened.

Player development - 9/10. Luka obviously. Turned CJ into an all-frosh team player in redshirt year. Steady improvements from most players.

Ingame adjustments - 7/10. It’s hard to get the perfect minute distribution. There is plenty to nitpick in the game plan in some games, but there’s a lot of good too. There are still some issues that we haven’t figured out. Pretty much all those issues can be exploited by Sparty Tuesday. He’s had enough time to look at film to see the problems. I almost look at Tuesday as a final exam to see if he has better answers to bump this grade (or tank it).

Have to learn to stop a team who plays through their PG, matchup better in transition, and rebound a little better.

 

[KcTo]

It's his best coaching job at Iowa. He's managed a ton of attrition, injuries, and a really tough schedule, and as of Feb. 20 he's got Iowa playing for seeding.

This whole season it has seemed like we're one step ahead of the reaper. But when adversity strikes, the team finds a way and keeps on going. After CJ goes down in a loss to PSU, it seemed like everything was collapsing with the Nebraska loss. Then we turn around and whip Maryland. Lose CJ again, and we beat Minnesota on the road and #25 OSU at home.

This team is tough and resilient. It's awesome to watch.

You almost have to ask yourself why does Iowa’s best wins, as you point out, come without CJF on the floor?

 

[kzoohawk80]

The injuries have taken away his biggest weakness as a coach which is playing too many guys and the wrong guys together. Besides the 4 guard lineup it's still the same Fran. In my opinion everything falls on the head coach. He's recruited the players to fit his system. This year he's got his toughest team combined with a player of the year candidate and he deserves all the credit for it.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Fran has been a B-/C+ coach most of his time at Iowa. Not bad, but coming into this season probably most fans would be indifferent if he moved on for any reason. Not a great place to be with the arrow neither pointing up or down.

The final grade for the season has yet to be determined, but he has things pointed towards an A with the arrow pointed up for the future.

B-/C+ lol

 

[Gilligan222]

looking at the player rankings
Toussaint 4* by ESPN 3* by Rivals
CM 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* outside Rivals top 100
JW 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* #42 by Rivals
LG 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* outside Rivals top100
Jordan 4* by ESPN 3* not even top 150 by Rivals
Patrick 4* top 100 by both
that makes 6 4* players and 4 top 100 prospects by ESPN
4 4* 2 Top 100 by Rivals

all recruited by Fran maybe he actually he has a very talented team?
OTHER players
Fredrick Gatorade POY in Kentucky, Kentucky State Championship Game MVP who as a SR scored over 900 points making 102 3's on 48% shooting from 3.

Nunge 1st Team All state as a JR and SR Finalist/runner up in the Indiana Mr. BB. not sure about the rest of you but Fran can get these type of players out of BB rich Indiana every year.

even JT was rated the #1 PG out of NYC by NYCHoops named the NYC Championship Game MVP, the was rated the #2 player in the state of NY by NYCHoops.

suffered a shoulder injury right before the AAU season nobody saw him healthy to judge him, the shoulder injury hurt his shooting. but he is starting to show his range, give him another summer of shooting and working out and he will just keep getting better,

after the game vs OSU his 3 point % improved from 20.1 to 26.7%. yes the 3 TO's were not good but these offset those
9 points, 3 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
going 2-2 from 3, 1-1 from the FTL. in 19 minutes. give me that from here out and Iowa will be in good shape.

 

[RocknRollface]

Coaching wise, what has he done this year that he has not done in previous years?

Impossible to say without knowing everything he has done in previous years and this year in practice film ect.

Obviously not allot of overall philosophical changes.

We do know hes had pretty good teams fall apart before and this team is getting better in February not worse.

If you are insinuating that the improvement is most likely due primarily to better more mentally tough players that is probably accurate. But if he takes the blame for bad years he gets the credit for good ones.

 

[Ballhawk1221]

You almost have to ask yourself why does Iowa’s best wins, as you point out, come without CJF on the floor?

We lost to Nebraska without him, too. What do you make of that one?

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

You almost have to ask yourself why does Iowa’s best wins, as you point out, come without CJF on the floor?

Iowa is a better basketball team with CJ on the floor. IIRC, Iowa's first game without CJ was the egg they laid at Nebraska.

What you're implying is ridiculous.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

looking at the player rankings
Toussaint 4* by ESPN 3* by Rivals
CM 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* outside Rivals top 100
JW 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* #42 by Rivals
LG 4* Top 100 by ESPN 4* outside Rivals top100
Jordan 4* by ESPN 3* not even top 150 by Rivals
Patrick 4* top 100 by both
that makes 6 4* players and 4 top 100 prospects by ESPN
4 4* 2 Top 100 by Rivals

all recruited by Fran maybe he actually he has a very talented team?
OTHER players
Fredrick Gatorade POY in Kentucky, Kentucky State Championship Game MVP who as a SR scored over 900 points making 102 3's on 48% shooting from 3.

Nunge 1st Team All state as a JR and SR Finalist/runner up in the Indiana Mr. BB. not sure about the rest of you but Fran can get these type of players out of BB rich Indiana every year.

even JT was rated the #1 PG out of NYC by NYCHoops named the NYC Championship Game MVP, the was rated the #2 player in the state of NY by NYCHoops.

suffered a shoulder injury right before the AAU season nobody saw him healthy to judge him, the shoulder injury hurt his shooting. but he is starting to show his range, give him another summer of shooting and working out and he will just keep getting better,

after the game vs OSU his 3 point % improved from 20.1 to 26.7%. yes the 3 TO's were not good but these offset those
9 points, 3 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
going 2-2 from 3, 1-1 from the FTL. in 19 minutes. give me that from here out and Iowa will be in good shape.

oh lawd

 

[ccrawford117]

Locker room management - 10/10. Plenty of opportunities for players to put their head down or point fingers. Hasn’t happened.

Player development - 9/10. Luka obviously. Turned CJ into an all-frosh team player in redshirt year. Steady improvements from most players.

Ingame adjustments - 7/10. It’s hard to get the perfect minute distribution. There is plenty to nitpick in the game plan in some games, but there’s a lot of good too. There are still some issues that we haven’t figured out. Pretty much all those issues can be exploited by Sparty Tuesday. He’s had enough time to look at film to see the problems. I almost look at Tuesday as a final exam to see if he has better answers to bump this grade (or tank it).

Have to learn to stop a team who plays through their PG, matchup better in transition, and rebound a little better.

Final exam to bump or tank his grade? Playing at East Lansing?? WTF. Not many coaches will look good playing on the road at the Breslin Center. What are you expecting to see Tuesday? That game would be a bonus win, but not an indictment of any kind if we get beat (even badly).

 

[HawkAssassin]

Final exam to bump or tank his grade? Playing at East Lansing?? WTF. Not many coaches will look good playing on the road at the Breslin Center. What are you expecting to see Tuesday? That game would be a bonus win, but not an indictment of any kind if we get beat (even badly).

It’s not about the result. Show me that you’ve seen the issues and have a plan to adjust. If they lose by 10 but I see promising changes, I’ll bump his grade gladly.

I’m not going to criticize him for problems that aren’t fixable. For example, I’m not going to get mad that teams target Kriener/Pemsl on the wing in the zone. We’re stuck with the pros and cons of the 3 guard lineup right now.

I will come after him when I think he has personnel to improve certain facets. I shouldn’t see a guy like Cowan roaming free all day when we actually have the personnel to stop him now. How do we get Toussaint to play to his defensive potential? It’s one of many questions.

We’re going to be playing for the sweet 16 a month from now. No time to mess around.

 

[Gilligan222]

It’s not about the result. Show me that you’ve seen the issues and have a plan to adjust. If they lose by 10 but I see promising changes, I’ll bump his grade gladly.

I’m not going to criticize him for problems that aren’t fixable. For example, I’m not going to get mad that teams target Kriener/Pemsl on the wing in the zone. We’re stuck with the pros and cons of the 3 guard lineup right now.

I will come after him when I think he has personnel to improve certain facets. I shouldn’t see a guy like Cowan roaming free all day when we actually have the personnel to stop him now. How do we get Toussaint to play to his defensive potential? It’s one of many questions.

We’re going to be playing for the sweet 16 a month from now. No time to mess around.

how many college or NBA teams have you coached to justify your passing judgement on Fran?

JT is playing just fine as he is leading the team in steals @1.3 spg with 54 total the best start by any PG under Fran
Cartwright RSJR 1st year starter 28 steals
Gesell FR 59 steals in 34 games
JB FR 29 steals

now you are belly aching just to belly ache.

 

[KcTo]

Iowa is a better basketball team with CJ on the floor. IIRC, Iowa's first game without CJ was the egg they laid at Nebraska.

What you're implying is ridiculous.

Let me clarify and let me know if your agree....

The 2Big lineup w/ out CJF > The 4G lineup w/ CJF.
The 2Big lineup w/ CJF > the 2B lineup 2/ out CJF.

Do you agree with this...?

 

[KcTo]

We lost to Nebraska without him, too. What do you make of that one?

When Kriener starts (5x), with or without CJF, Iowa is 4-1, including 4 of their best 6 wins..

When Iowa is in the 2B set, with out CJF ( vs MD, tOSU ( Iowa’s 2 best NET wins) and @MN their 5th best win) Iowa is 3-1.

The only aberration, is Nebraska, a game where JoeTO, the undisputed worst offensive player, was allowed to play 35m, and shoot more times that POY Garza, and TO 4x, had JoeTO played 10m, and given those minutes to Pemsl and Kriener, Iowa wins going away, a lot fewer 3’s, and more inside FGA.

Again, That’s not JoeTO’s fault, that’s on Fran...
Again, Iowa is > with CJF, but < with 4G w/ CJF

 

[Gilligan222]

oh lawd

pissed that Fran is actually bringing in 4* talent with some of them being top 100 4* players?

just so you can't keep trashing Fran for not recruiting better players?