Josh Dix

[onionman1]

I saw Ronnie play and he’s my favorite all time player. It’s hard to compare a point guard to a center. Ronnie was a floor general and made his teammates better with his threat to score or pass.

That said, what Garza did was extraordinary, he was a shot maker from anywhere on the floor even when he was double teamed. They’re both great players, I’d go with Garza but it’s obviously an apples to oranges comparison.

I feel that Ronnie was that Iowa GOAT. However, I also feel that it's hard to accurately compare players of different positions, so it's not inarguable. Comparing Ronnie to Luka isn't really fair to either player. In a sense, it's kind of like when Michael Jordan as asked if he was the GOAT ahead of LeBron. Michael replied that he can't say for sure, since he never had the chance to play against LeBron.

 

[Willin]

After 14 years, I no longer have any hope for that going forward under his leadership. Or does he have a Caitlin Clark type of player coming in that I haven't heard about, that's going to change the status quo?

Fran 's teams have been pretty consistently "just okay".

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I bet there are many programs that would love being "just okay" if that means finishing in the top half of their league year after year.

 

[LukaDuka]

Every team strives to win the NCAA tournament every year, but only one team does. That's hardly the standard of accomplishment. Nor is making the Sweet 16 the "be-all". Honestly, I cannot remember who made it last year. How many is it in the Big that haven't made the Sweet 16 during Fran's tenure? For sure not Rutgers, Minny, Nortwestern, Penn State, Nebraska. Maryland has made it only once in the last 20 years! OSU hasn't gone since 2013.

Personally, I appreciate the entire season as much as the finish. I appreciate finishing in the top half of the Big and (usually) making the NCAAs. I LOVE winning the BTT. Its a process. Those are all accomplishments. But I'm getting old and I used to think differently.

Mosty true. My biggest gripe with Fran his complete disregard for defense. Wasn't always this way with Woody, Gessell and those teams. The last game against Utah was a complete and udder embarrassment. I think it's 50% on Fran for defensive coaching and 50% on players either not giving a sh!t or just not capable... too slow. And that leads back to Fran's recruiting.

Hopefully they turn it around next year.

 

[HawkLogic]

I agree with everything you said. Sure, I'd love to see the Hawks advance further in March, and I'd love to see Fran put greater emphasis on D, recruiting more dawgs at the guard position, and playing 3 guards more often. But the fact is that Iowa under Fran is consistently good - .500 or better in conference 11 of the last 12 years. I doubt there are many programs in the nation with that level of conference success. I remain hopeful they'll break thru and advance to the 2nd weekend multiple times in the future. "Hope is a good thing."

You are cherry picking a particular stat that Fran is good wheras is detractors point out the areas he's not good at. Each person has right to value what they choose in a coach. Good for you---Fran is your guy. Fran is around 51% winning percentage in all Big10 basketball games over 14 years including BTT where he seems to often lose the 1st game. You of course know that 0.500 is the average of all teams, so that puts Fran in the Middle.

Yes he has been very good at avoiding the chitty seasons but he's also not done much special, especially in March. Was this past season a raging success? 10-10 in Big10 and then lost his 1st game in BTT....actual big10 record 10-11,. Previous year 11-9, loses 1st game in BTT, 11-10. Ohio State just fired a guy that had similar level of success as Fran. For Ohio St. the answer is no, not good enough. Iowa and OSU are neck and neck on long-term winning percentages with OSU 1777-1141 and Iowa 1753-1222.

Anyway there are two camps, those grooving on Fran and those not. Based on what happened with Women's B-ball, if Fran actually did something special he'd have overwhelming support and Carver would be sold out in Big10 games.

 

[iahawks10]

You are cherry picking a particular stat that Fran is good wheras is detractors point out the areas he's not good at. Each person has right to value what they choose in a coach. Good for you---Fran is your guy. Fran is around 51% winning percentage in all Big10 basketball games over 14 years including BTT where he seems to often lose the 1st game. You of course know that 0.500 is the average of all teams, so that puts Fran in the Middle.

Yes he has been very good at avoiding the chitty seasons but he's also not done much special, especially in March. Was this past season a raging success? 10-10 in Big10 and then lost his 1st game in BTT....actual big10 record 10-11,. Previous year 11-9, loses 1st game in BTT, 11-10. Ohio State just fired a guy that had similar level of success as Fran. For Ohio St. the answer is no, not good enough. Iowa and OSU are neck and neck on long-term winning percentages with OSU 1777-1141 and Iowa 1753-1222.

Anyway there are two camps, those grooving on Fran and those not. Based on what happened with Women's B-ball, if Fran actually did something special he'd have overwhelming support and Carver would be sold out in Big10 games.

Iowa and Ohio State are neck and neck, lol.

Ohio State has 22 B1G Championships to Iowa’s eight. Ohio State has had nine B1G Championships since Iowa’s last one in 1979. Again, Iowa has had eight in its 127 year history.

Ohio State has 11 Final Fours, four runners up, and a National Championship. Iowa has three Final Fours and a runner up. OSU has had three FF’s since Iowa’s last one.

OSU has an athletic budget of $275,000,000 compared to Iowa’s of $160,000,000.

You compared Iowa and OSU’s all time records, then have the audacity to accuse others of cherry picking stats. You can’t make this shit up.

 

[Garzatough85]

If Fran can real in at least 2 guards that can play both guard positions and can beat out Brock for a starting position, experience is a valued commodity in college basketball. It could only make Iowa a better team and that's the bottom line, isn't it?

If my aunt had balls…..

 

[Willin]

You are cherry picking a particular stat that Fran is good wheras is detractors point out the areas he's not good at. Each person has right to value what they choose in a coach. Good for you---Fran is your guy. Fran is around 51% winning percentage in all Big10 basketball games over 14 years including BTT where he seems to often lose the 1st game. You of course know that 0.500 is the average of all teams, so that puts Fran in the Middle.

Yes he has been very good at avoiding the chitty seasons but he's also not done much special, especially in March. Was this past season a raging success? 10-10 in Big10 and then lost his 1st game in BTT....actual big10 record 10-11,. Previous year 11-9, loses 1st game in BTT, 11-10. Ohio State just fired a guy that had similar level of success as Fran. For Ohio St. the answer is no, not good enough. Iowa and OSU are neck and neck on long-term winning percentages with OSU 1777-1141 and Iowa 1753-1222.

Anyway there are two camps, those grooving on Fran and those not. Based on what happened with Women's B-ball, if Fran actually did something special he'd have overwhelming support and Carver would be sold out in Big10 games.

Never said Fran is my guy. I said his teams have been consistently good. I didn't say great. 11 of 12 years of .500 or better. You shouldn't really include Fran's first two years records as the cupboard was bare and there was no portal and Fran's approach has never been to "Crean" players. You said I'm cherry picking. I suppose that's true to an extent, but those saying Fran's a horrible coach for one reason - no Sweet 16s - are doing the same.

 

[IllQChawk]

Mosty true. My biggest gripe with Fran his complete disregard for defense. Wasn't always this way with Woody, Gessell and those teams. The last game against Utah was a complete and udder embarrassment. I think it's 50% on Fran for defensive coaching and 50% on players either not giving a sh!t or just not capable... too slow. And that leads back to Fran's recruiting.

Hopefully they turn it around next year.

It's 100% on Fran for getting Krikke from the portal and starting the season with Krikke and Patrick in the starting lineup. Promising as much minutes as Krikke could handle so he would come to Iowa is something that he has done before. (Think Rebraca) Both are gone now. Better days for Iowa basketball are ahead of us. Maybe the defense won't be to every ones liking, but it won't be as bad as this past year either. Addition by subtraction....

 

[LukaDuka]

It's 100% on Fran for getting Krikke from the portal and starting the season with Krikke and Patrick in the starting lineup. Promising as much minutes as Krikke could handle so he would come to Iowa is something that he has done before. (Think Rebraca) Both are gone now. Better days for Iowa basketball are ahead of us. Maybe the defense won't be to every ones liking, but it won't be as bad as this past year either. Addition by subtraction....

Can't be 100% Fran if the players don't take some personal pride and put in the effort on defense. Defense is 90% effort, heart & mental toughness. The other 10% is physical ability, too slow or too soft & out muscled & out hustled. Players need to be accountable as well.

 

[coorsoriginal02]

It's 100% on Fran for getting Krikke from the portal and starting the season with Krikke and Patrick in the starting lineup. Promising as much minutes as Krikke could handle so he would come to Iowa is something that he has done before. (Think Rebraca) Both are gone now. Better days for Iowa basketball are ahead of us. Maybe the defense won't be to every ones liking, but it won't be as bad as this past year either. Addition by subtraction....

Yeah, Ok…

All signs very clearly point to significant improvement starting YEAR 15……..

 

[coorsoriginal02]

This is what I make exception to in this post. If you're an Iowa fan and I have no doubt that there are many, if you watched Wieskamp, Bohannan, Garza, the Murray brothers, White, Marble, Basabe, Woodbury, Gesell, Cook, Baer, Jok, May, Gatens, Sandford, and yes Perkins, if these young men didn't excite you and provide you with lots of great memories during their time at Iowa, I'm not sure that Iowa making the 2nd week is going to move the needle.
As I've said before, making the 2nd week in the NCAA tournament is nothing but a crap shoot with a little luck added for good measure. There are tons of teams that had the talent to advance and we all know that Iowa falls under that premise, but it hasn't happened yet. I get it, but during the last 14 years there have been lot's of memorable games and individual accomplishments that make Iowa fans proud to be IOWA FANS!
Sometimes the wait can be unbearable, I get it, but I have faith in the roster that Fran has put together. Maybe it will happen and then maybe it won't, but I'm willing to wait it out.
If it doesn't happen, Fran is still the best coach Iowa has had for a long time and he deserves the right to leave on his own accord.

Caitlin Clark:

People will remember we were in the Final Four twice, but people aren't going to remember my buzzer-beating shots versus whoever. That's not going to matter to people in the end.

"I hope they remember how we made them feel, how we brought joy to their lives, how we gave their families something to scream about on the TV on the weekends. I hope those are the biggest things people remember.

Exactly.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Can't be 100% Fran if the players don't take some personal pride and put in the effort on defense. Defense is 90% effort, heart & mental toughness. The other 10% is physical ability, too slow or too soft & out muscled & out hustled. Players need to be accountable as well.

The general once said something along the lines of sitting on the bench will make you accountable.