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If it were not for 2 incredibly invovled fathers, Fran would be gone by now.

If it were not for FG/KM being devoted as shit in the growth of their sons Fran would be gone by now

  • Totally agree

    Votes: 38 22.5%
  • Somewhat agree

    Votes: 31 18.3%
  • Somewhat disagree

    Votes: 23 13.6%
  • Totally disagree

    Votes: 77 45.6%

  • Total voters
    169
Ah, this again. Have you seen Carver other than the ISU game? It would appear plenty have chosen to do just that but you really shouldn't encourage it
It's to bad carver can't be like that ar least on the weekends during big season games. The women's team seems to be gaining good support and rightfully so. I remember c vivian stringer filling up the place. Even in the 90's during the big season it could get going. But i flipped a little today after to many hate posts to move on like i did with Lickliter. But as long as we are playing for post season and/or top 5 in the big I'm all in.
 
There is definitely some refereeing bias against Fran. At minimum refs don’t enjoy doing his games.
Maybe stalking refs into the tunnel while hurling insults at them after you just had a total meltdown can do that, along with all the other tantrums over the years. The memes and gifs other fans make of him are pretty funny TBH but he's kind of made his bed there if refs don't like him. That episode in Columbus kinda changed my outlook on the guy (game wasn't even close) but it's the shit defense and recruiting one dimensional stick figures as well as playing his sons over more talented, all around better players last 2 seasons that really kills my enthusiasm. I'll always respect the Murrays for not hitting the portal but I'm guessing dad was a factor there too.

I guess if you are going to be good on one side of the ball and incompetent on the other I definitely prefer Fran's way which is much less painful to watch than the football team in its current state and can be downright fun when the shots are falling. It's just hard to comprehend 2 guys that have dedicated their lives to their sports but are in their 60's and are still atrocious at such important aspects of the game. But I also think Fran isn't as bad on D as Kirk is at 0. In the end I know Fran will be here til Jack graduates and the last 4 seasons warrant the job security so I don't see the point in even thinking about a change. I also think Barta is scared of screwing up another hire like he did Lick. No for me
 
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I am pretty sure you can throw in a third father that has had a lot to do with the team being decent the last five years.

Like Fran or not...he has raised and taught two D1 players...and most likely a third. Not many fathers can say that.

I want to win as much as the next guy...but would rather be decent with a team full of kids I want to root for than great and having to grit my teeth to root for them.

We can be pissed at Alford and Pierce...then at the same time be upset our current coach goes for character first?

Imagine Pierce does not do the second stupid thing. That 2005-06 team was a fantastic supporting cast that got a third seed with out the player there were built around supporting.
 
My issues with McCaffery are well documented on here. My opinion was he should have been let go after the 2017-2018 season. I don’t believe you can fire him now, but we’ll see how the season pans out before we talk about how hot his seat is.

As to your OP, I think it’s a gross oversimplification. While it’s true that Garza and the Murrays have involved fathers, Fran deserves a lot of credit for recognizing their talents and offering scholarships, namely the Murrays. While IIRC Garza was a four-star, I don’t believe he had any real big offers outside of Louisville and Georgetown. So, yes, Fran gets credit for getting those three guys on the roster.

To your point about an underwhelming lack of talent overall, I agree with you 100%. It’s quite unfortunate too, because Fran does an excellent job of identifying serious talent right away before eventually getting the bridesmaid treatment in the end.

So, yes, to an extent, I understand what you’re getting at, I just think the premise is faulty (for the aforementioned reasons). As most know, I’m ready for the Fran era to be over. In my opinion, Fran has terribly mismanaged the talent he has brought in. Starting his 6’5 son at the 4 over a top five lottery pick was inexcusable, especially since Murray’s defensive versatility and athleticism were sorely lacking on that team. That pretty much ended all the goodwill I had toward Fran.

I’m also tired of Fran’s teams consistently playing trash defense and just trying to outscore people. Yes, it’s fun and entertaining when 3s are falling and everything is clicking, but Fran doesn’t have the talent to make his system work like he wants. Fans can get butthurt all they want about this, but the truth is Fran recruits too many tall, lanky white kids with limited athletic ability. I mean, Fran’s teams are about a mirror image of Wisconsin’s. The difference is Wisconsin doesn’t try to get in a track meet with superior athletic teams. That’s why Iowa gets run out of the gym when they get in the tournament and play teams like Villanova, Gonzaga, Oregon, etc.

In short, yes, Fran’s last few teams would have been pretty mediocre without Garza and the Murrays. It’s just not saying as much as you think it is because a lot of coaches would be screwed if you removed three outstanding players from their roster. Give Fran credit for landing Garza and taking a chance on the Murray twins, especially considering several in the fan base became unglued by the Murray offers.

Jesus dude no one is reading all that
 
Out of season is when 99.9% of the players are going to get better. It is up to the player how much better they get. Both Luka and the Murrays have an advantage do to their dads playing at a high level. They both know what it takes to get to a high level.

Luka was a different individual all together. His work ethic is second to none. There was no way anyone was going to outwork him in the off seasonith. Did his dad help him by being there during his workouts, absolutely, but Luka had to be willing to put in the work. Were they doing the workouts the Iowa staff gave Luka or did Luka and his dad do their own thing?

I would say the same for the Murrays. The only difference, Kenyon didn't self-promote what his kids were doing like Frank did. I don't know if anyone knows what type of workouts they did in the offseason. Probably a lot of the same type of stuff. The only exception would be they might not have worked on post moves as much as Luka.

To say the Iowa staff basically had nothing to do with their success is ludacris. I don't know what the staff's restrictions are out of season but they spend a lot of time, when they are allowed to, developing the players.

I am not saying the other players don't put in a lot of time in in the offseason, but they might not have the resources that Luka and the Murrays have or the same type of dedication.
 
Fran can be a dick. His personallity is not warm and fuzzy. However, he recruits good kids. There have been almost no problems with the law. Kids seem to be legimate college students. Basketball recruiting is as crooked as hell and has been for a long time. Fran seems to be above board and his teams are usually fun to watch. If Alford taught me one thing it is be careful about what you wish for.
His personality on court vs off is totally different. But the rest of it I agree 👍
 
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So there is a fire fran, we hit the ceiling sect. And a future is looking bright with the recruits coming and i think a big from the portal this year. I'm glad im in the latter. Games must suck for you others. Why even watch basketball anymore? I get excited for every game and expect to win every game. Especially when we get back to healthy. And Fran being intense coaching and a great guy off the court is what we should want and expect. I felt like that during Lickliter. I quit watching and posting about basketball. After you btch about the exact same thing over and over again just walk away. I'm sick of hearing about it. Jfc same thing over and over and over.
Sorry, i lost it a bit. But i did take a break from Lickliter and the basketball board until fran was hired. He gave me back Hawkeye basketball and a team i could root for. I walked away from Hawkeye basketball after 30 to 40 years. Fran has more time from me and I'll be rooting for them every game this year and the next and the next. I personally thank Fran for giving me back something i cherish.
 
Maybe stalking refs into the tunnel while hurling insults at them after you just had a total meltdown can do that, along with all the other tantrums over the years. The memes and gifs other fans make of him are pretty funny TBH but he's kind of made his bed there if refs don't like him. That episode in Columbus kinda changed my outlook on the guy (game wasn't even close) but it's the shit defense and recruiting one dimensional stick figures as well as playing his sons over more talented, all around better players last 2 seasons that really kills my enthusiasm. I'll always respect the Murrays for not hitting the portal but I'm guessing dad was a factor there too.

I guess if you are going to be good on one side of the ball and incompetent on the other I definitely prefer Fran's way which is much less painful to watch than the football team in its current state and can be downright fun when the shots are falling. It's just hard to comprehend 2 guys that have dedicated their lives to their sports but are in their 60's and are still atrocious at such important aspects of the game. But I also think Fran isn't as bad on D as Kirk is at 0. In the end I know Fran will be here til Jack graduates and the last 4 seasons warrant the job security so I don't see the point in even thinking about a change. I also think Barta is scared of screwing up another hire like he did Lick. No for me
Those refs deserved it that game. Maybe not the thing to do and he did his apologies and hasn't repeated it. In fact until just recently this has been a very chill Fran although I've seen him chew some players out but not over the top
 
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I've always liked Fran, but frankly I couldn't care less if he's a super nice guy or a raging douche. When it's all said and done, it's results that matter to me.

Fact is, Fran has won 4 NCAA games in his first 12 years. Ok, I'll forgive the covid year where the tournament was cancelled. So make it 11. If you want to talk "trajectory", it's only 2 out of the last 6 (5 with the covid cancellation).

We'll see about this year. Are you guys happy with these results? I can't say I'm jumping up and down about it.

Fran did a nice job of making this program competitive again, but Lickliter has long since ceased to become relevant. It's Fran's program, and has been for a long time.

The way I see it, Fran has been a lousy tournament coach. Outside of the NIT run early on, and the BTT last year, his teams haven't done much in March. Right or wrong, that's a big part of how a coach is judged.

As for this poll, who can say for sure, but the last few years wouldn't look so great without Luka or the Murray boys. Would Fran still be here? Beats me.
 
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I've always liked Fran, but frankly I couldn't care less if he's a super nice guy or a raging douche. When it's all said and done, it's results that matter to me.

Fact is, Fran has won 4 NCAA games in his first 12 years. Ok, I'll forgive the covid year where the tournament was cancelled. So make it 11. If you want to talk "trajectory", it's only 2 out of the last 6 (5 with the covid cancellation).

We'll see about this year. Are you guys happy with these results? I can't say I'm jumping up and down about it.

Fran did a nice job of making this program competitive again, but Lickliter has long since ceased to become relevant. It's Fran's program, and has been for a long time.

The way I see it, Fran has been a lousy tournament coach. Outside of the NIT run early on, and the BTT last year, his teams haven't done much in March. Right or wrong, that's a big part of how a coach is judged.

As for this poll, who can say for sure, but the last few years wouldn't look so great without Luka or the Murray boys. Would Fran still be here? Beats me.
Yea. Winning one combined game in the tourney when you are a two and a five seed these past two years is frustrating. It’s not really fair but people remember what happens in late March.
 
I care what he's like outside of basketball. I think Ben Jacobsen is a great coach and even better human being. Makes uni look better and the same for Fran and the Hawks
 
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The guru’s on this board hatred when scholarships were given to the Murray’s. J Bo was just another Iowa kid we didn’t need. Jok was a gamble given his injury. Fran is amazing at identifying talented recruits. We don’t always get them, but nobody gets them all.

Fran has done a pretty amazing job on offense, but I’ll give you defensive failures. He’s totally changed the style of Iowa BB back to a high paced fun style to watch, which was a key need when he was hired.

He’s not perfect, but he’s getting good kids who play hard and represent the university well. Iowa could do a lot worse. Personally I like his enthusiastic style of coaching.
 
Poll question to add your opinion to this statement.



If you look at Frans Tenure it's good not great anyway you cut it and I can't think of a single player, not named McCaffrey, Fran made better. Luka and the twins got better because of the work they put in on the off season, if "Bill" was the coach they could have done that. Even a guy like jbo was a notorious gym rat.
Im luke warm on Fran at best but to say players haven't gotten better at Iowa is obviously stupid.

The overwhelming majority of Frans players have improved every year.

Marble. Uthoff, Jok, White Weiskamp, Perkins. Name any player and they probably got better.

Most players get better in the off season. Thats normal.

Arguing that those teams wouldn't have been very good without those star players is a completely different point.

You can't hold recruiting good players against a coach. Thats stupid.

If doing the what if game, how much better would last years team have been with Nunge, Fredrick and Weiskamp?
 
Because dad's that are totally involved in their adult sons college athletic careers so totally works on usually and is absolutely what college coaches recruit for....especially with kids that weren't heavily recruited elsewhere and yet will end up in the NBA.
 
Total troll poll. Took all of three seconds to think of one player that improved under Fran. And no doubt there are others, lol.

Jarrod Uthoff -- 7.6 PPG in first year, to 18.9 PPG in final year.​

 
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Total troll poll. Took all of three seconds to think of one player that improved under Fran. And no doubt there are others, lol.

Jarrod Uthoff -- 7.6 PPG in first year, to 18.9 PPG in final year.​

It took you "3 seconds" to find a guy who graduated 7 years ago and after a couple cups of coffee with NBA teams now finds himself in the Japenese B league.
..... your kinda proving what I'm saying.


Look at the names being discussed, it's a handful of guys over a decade.


It isn't a troll poll, it's actually given us numbers to discuss instead of the usual threads where the 60% tells the 40% they are Singulair in their beliefs and hush them out the door. More people believe this than the "60%" want to admit.
 
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So roughly 40% think it is likely he would be gone.
The question doesn't make sense.

Are you asking if Fran would be fired if those players didn't come to Iowa?

Or is the hypothetical that they still came to Iowa and just weren't as good because their dads didn't help them as often?

The implication being that they would have just been average players if not for their dads help?

Kris and Keegan made their biggest improvements at prep school, which is a pretty normal thing for late bloomers.

If you took Frank and Kenyon out of the equation and still put Luka and Keegan at Iowa they almost certainly would have still been all conference players.

You don’t go from non factor to all American just based on work outs with your dad, any one who thinks that's the case is an idiot. Talent is the primary ingredient.

You should have asked whether Fran would already be fired without Garza and the Murrays coming Iowa.
 
The question doesn't make sense.

Are you asking if Fran would be fired if those players didn't come to Iowa?

Or is the hypothetical that they still came to Iowa and just weren't as good because their dads didn't help them as often?

The implication being that they would have just been average players if not for their dads help?

Kris and Keegan made their biggest improvements at prep school, which is a pretty normal thing for late bloomers.

If you took Frank and Kenyon out of the equation and still put Luka and Keegan at Iowa they almost certainly would have still been all conference players.

You don’t go from non factor to all American just based on work outs with your dad, any one who thinks that's the case is an idiot. Talent is the primary ingredient.

You should have asked whether Fran would already be fired without Garza and the Murrays coming Iowa.
You should take your opinions and start your own thread on what I should have done. I did what I did and you're finding other shit to talk about.
 
Poll question to add your opinion to this statement.



If you look at Frans Tenure it's good not great anyway you cut it and I can't think of a single player, not named McCaffrey, Fran made better. Luka and the twins got better because of the work they put in on the off season, if "Bill" was the coach they could have done that. Even a guy like jbo was a notorious gym rat.
Aaron White, Matt Gatens, Peter Jok, Ryan Kriener, Aron Ulis, Tony Perkins, Devin Marble, Gabe Olaseni... the list is long. I try not to be mean on the internet but this is an incredibly poor post with an extreme lack of perspective. Hopefully you realize that considering the voting results.
 
Aaron White, Matt Gatens, Peter Jok, Ryan Kriener, Aron Ulis, Tony Perkins, Devin Marble, Gabe Olaseni... the list is long. I try not to be mean on the internet but this is an incredibly poor post with an extreme lack of perspective. Hopefully you realize that considering the voting results.
Naming players is not the same as naming players that saw tools added to their game. Example: Did "Jok" really add tools or did he get better at what he already was because a D1 athlete has scheduled practice times and all coaches can offer that. Did Fran add something to Jok or did 4 more years with a focus on basketball add something.




Hopefully you realize 38ish percent find some merit in the question and maybe there is more truth in the middle than you care to admit.
 
You should take your opinions and start your own thread on what I should have done. I did what I did and you're finding other shit to talk about.
You asked a question that was not clear enough to answer.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask a person who posts a question to the board to clarify what they were actually asking.

Whats the point of asking a question that isn't clear?
 
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Naming players is not the same as naming players that saw tools added to their game. Example: Did "Jok" really add tools or did he get better at what he already was because a D1 athlete has scheduled practice times and all coaches can offer that. Did Fran add something to Jok or did 4 more years with a focus on basketball add something.




Hopefully you realize 38ish percent find some merit in the question and maybe there is more truth in the middle than you care to admit.
So the criteria is a player has to add "tools" but not in the offseason and not during practice and it can't be somethin they were already good at?

Im not sure what you're looking for is even possible.

Does Matt Gatens becoming a good defender his senior year count?

Id be curious to know what new "tools" you think Luka and Keegan added in their offseasons that weren't already in their games?
 
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I care what he's like outside of basketball. I think Ben Jacobsen is a great coach and even better human being. Makes uni look better and the same for Fran and the Hawks

Strange how random fans can come to conclusion a guy is great human being based solely on how they view him from sidelines or some brush in person. Alford by most accounts is a DB...my Bro in law ran into him in Maui and said he was a great guy in that brush.. Bo Ryan was an even better human being than a coach, according to a Wisconsin poster that once posted here....of course it later came out that Grandpa Bo was banging some strange on the side...but yeah, a great human being otherwise.
 
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Strange how random fans can come to conclusion a guy is great human being based solely on how they view him from sidelines or some brush in person. Alford by most accounts is a DB...my Bro in law ran into him in Maui and said he was a great guy in that brush.. Bo Ryan was an even better human being than a coach, according to a Wisconsin poster that once posted here....of course it later came out that Grandpa Bo was banging some strange on the side...but yeah, a great human being otherwise.
I hear you. I'd heard the stories of Alford being a db too. Probably to quick to label a guy good or bad. Most of us fall in between. One thing i know is we have to win some games. And our defense has got to improve over the entire season.
 
Strange how random fans can come to conclusion a guy is great human being based solely on how they view him from sidelines or some brush in person. Alford by most accounts is a DB...my Bro in law ran into him in Maui and said he was a great guy in that brush.. Bo Ryan was an even better human being than a coach, according to a Wisconsin poster that once posted here....of course it later came out that Grandpa Bo was banging some strange on the side...but yeah, a great human being otherwise.
And anyone that told me Bo was a good guy i probably wouldn't believe them. I really didn't like him!
 
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Are there any extra perks to joining the Swarm?
They have a tailgate thing in cr that is pretty cool i hear. I don't want to go to cr to tailgate. But i will next season. You can bring someone who isn't a donor and they have good food and people of course.
The tailgate is actually right across from Kinnick on the rooftop of that new hotel that was built. You also get some merch with the swarm logo plus it gives you discounts at a good number of businesses in the Iowa City area.
 
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The tailgate is actually right across from Kinnick on the rooftop of that new hotel that was built. You also get some merch with the swarm logo plus it gives you discounts at a good number of businesses in the Iowa City area.
I got 2 shirts and am surprised avout the tailgate. I had info they were at a hotel in cr once so assumed that was the location. Ill have to come though since its in IC. Thanks for the info!
 
The tailgate is actually right across from Kinnick on the rooftop of that new hotel that was built. You also get some merch with the swarm logo plus it gives you discounts at a good number of businesses in the Iowa City area.
Honestly my wife is the one who set this up for me. I'm not sure i could do anything without her
 
IDK about the future - maybe some new coach can break through.

But if you take out the 3 magical years that Tom Davis got to coach George Raveling recruits, the Hawks have made it to the Sweet 16 ONCE in 40 years. In the decade before that they made it to ONE Final Four and ONE Sweet 16.

And in those 50 years, Iowa has tied for the B1G regular season championship once - in 1978/79. No outright titles.

Ralph Miller won the B1G twice, but that was over 50 years ago.

Legendary HC Lute Olsen won 20 games 6 times in 9 seasons (66.7%). Fran has won 20 games 8 times in 12 years (66.7%).

For the most part, Fran is simply replicating Iowa Basketball history.
Yep. Good as it gets. Maybe we should try to get Alford back. Or the dude who came after him whose name I have carefully forgotten.
 
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