That game was my breaking point with Fran. I’ve never seen such a disengaged coach while the team is just getting their asses handed to them. At least look like you somewhat care
JR Koch, on fan support: "Honestly, it is sad reading all the comments."
- Thread starter Franisdaman
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That game was my breaking point with Fran. I’ve never seen such a disengaged coach while the team is just getting their asses handed to them. At least look like you somewhat care
You’re probably right about Fran hitting his ceiling, but his kids didn’t choose to go elsewhere because of him or the team’s recent NCAA history.
They chose to go to a different program. Right, wrong or indifferent, that makes their dad a lame duck coach. Doesn’t matter why they left, all that matters is they left. You’re the face of the program and your own kids don’t want to be here.
Who said they don't want to be there? Patrick was at Iowa for five years. Many (probably most) players who take a COVID year option go elsewhere. Now he's at Butler where his older brother is an assistant coach and he no longer has to deal with the negativity of the Iowa fanbase. Jack signing with Butler has absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to play for his father, but everything to do with the fans at Iowa. WE are the reason he is leaving town, not Fran.
Oh, so it’s all the fans fault? Interesting. Why the negativity from the fan base? Are we just so much different than the rest of the fan bases out there? Definitely none of it has to do with Fran, his coaching abilities, mannerisms, playing his own kids over future lottery picks, etc., that would be absurd to assume. I enjoy how you can believe our fan base is any different than the majority of other fanbases out there. Fran would have been let go at 95% of other P5 programs by this time, but not at Iowa, we are Iowa nice…until it comes to our unruly fan base lol.
He’s won 4 ncaa tournament games in 14 years. His BTT record stinks, he’s a .500 coach in the big ten. Yet our fans think the program is headed to lickliter depths if he leaves. Truly remarkable.
AMEN! So many of our "fans are waiting until we are "good" to enjoy them. They want to wait to see us win a few in the tournament. Well guess what, at that point the season will be over! Be grateful for what we have and be a part of the solution. Look in the mirror first. If you can't do that go cheer for Kansas. I like our team. We give good effort and have lots of local guys like usual! We are entertaining to watch.
JR is right, crybabies on here. These kids work hard and people who never or barely played bitch about it. Grow up, support them.
Actually, that isn’t true. He never took Siena to a Sweet 16.
100%. It’s the same situation with the offensive issues on the football team. Year after year of flat out refusing to fix a glaring issue is going to turn people off and no amount of rah-rah school spirit bullshit is going to fix that.
"Winning meaningful games in the tournament?" - after a 30+ game season, 1 or 2 more at then end is all that matters?
"Competing for a conference championship?" - if you're not "in it" the last week of the season, it wasn't worth it?
Yeah, that's all the wrong things
"Wanting a better home atmosphere?" - Isn't that on the fans?
Didn’t have time to read the entire thread, but will only say that it’s from a parent of a current player. Someone who has time on his hands to scroll social media and sees anonymous negative comments that he doesn’t appreciate.
Let’s hope the players block that crap out. If they can’t and let it sway them personally, they may either want to use it as motivation or try and find a program with an open roster spot where it’s all 🍭 and 🍬.
IMO, the only voices they should be concerned with are their coaches and to some degree the fans who show up to the arena and are cheering, chanting or booing.
Let’s hope the players block that crap out. If they can’t and let it sway them personally, they may either want to use it as motivation or try and find a program with an open roster spot where it’s all 🍭 and 🍬.
IMO, the only voices they should be concerned with are their coaches and to some degree the fans who show up to the arena and are cheering, chanting or booing.
The Iowa bball fanbase is definitely a bunch of crybabies. Read a game thread some time, just people bitching constantly. It comes back to the fact that a lot are Iowa fans, not basketball fans.
This thread is hilarious.
What a bunch of losers we are. I don’t give a rats ass if you bitch about the team/coach online. But then get your butt to the game first. If we bitch about the team and don’t support the team, then we’re just a crappy fanbase
- Former player and parent of a current player says that the current fan support is poor.
- The fans prove him wrong by continuing to bitch about the program and trying to justify not going to the games.
What a bunch of losers we are. I don’t give a rats ass if you bitch about the team/coach online. But then get your butt to the game first. If we bitch about the team and don’t support the team, then we’re just a crappy fanbase
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And btw, for all the fans claiming we need a better product before going to the games: the football team has trotted out a frustrating product for years and yet 60K+ still show up in mass on saturdays.
(and the football team hasn’t won a conference championship in 20 years)
People bitch about the football team online but they still support the team. People bitch about the basketball team online and then DONT support the team. That’s why it’s so much harder for the basketball team to recruit.
It’s time for us to quit lying to ourselves: lots of things need to change, and fan support is one of them.
(and the football team hasn’t won a conference championship in 20 years)
People bitch about the football team online but they still support the team. People bitch about the basketball team online and then DONT support the team. That’s why it’s so much harder for the basketball team to recruit.
It’s time for us to quit lying to ourselves: lots of things need to change, and fan support is one of them.
Stuff cost money. Entertain me or it goes somewhere else.
I don’t buy pickled herring. Because I don’t like it.
Football is different because of tailgating and the all day experience. Basketball you have to win, nothing else matters.
I don’t buy pickled herring. Because I don’t like it.
Football is different because of tailgating and the all day experience. Basketball you have to win, nothing else matters.
I'd be more concerned with lack of people in the seats than online chatter.
yep, I should just suck it up and deal with a coach that will absolutely not address his weaknesses. The problem here is not understanding the man vs the coach. By all accounts Fran is a great guy, his coaching has a gigantic hole in it that he refuses to fix.
I would JR to address, since he wants to do it publicly, what he thinks of the defense. Why should we accept the effort given in the wisconsin/nebraska game compared to the ISU game.
I don't care what the score of the ISU game was, the effort was there. There is absolutely no denying the body language and effort in the nebraska game. So the: "people were so negative in the game thread" people need to understand there was 100% reason to react to that game in the way people did, it was unacceptable.
Defense travels..... Iowa only plays well when they shoot well. Their effort increased when shots fell. A great college coach gets the effort out fo their plays far more often because they use their ultimate weapon, the bench, when players don't give effort.
Fran never benchs people for defense and effort. He benches them for lack of conservative play handling the ball and overly aggressive offense. Look at the box scores from really good college teams the assist to turnover ratio isn't what the typical iowa fan thinks it is. Sometime when you are aggressive, mistakes happen, it's how you grow.
I would JR to address, since he wants to do it publicly, what he thinks of the defense. Why should we accept the effort given in the wisconsin/nebraska game compared to the ISU game.
I don't care what the score of the ISU game was, the effort was there. There is absolutely no denying the body language and effort in the nebraska game. So the: "people were so negative in the game thread" people need to understand there was 100% reason to react to that game in the way people did, it was unacceptable.
Defense travels..... Iowa only plays well when they shoot well. Their effort increased when shots fell. A great college coach gets the effort out fo their plays far more often because they use their ultimate weapon, the bench, when players don't give effort.
Fran never benchs people for defense and effort. He benches them for lack of conservative play handling the ball and overly aggressive offense. Look at the box scores from really good college teams the assist to turnover ratio isn't what the typical iowa fan thinks it is. Sometime when you are aggressive, mistakes happen, it's how you grow.
Ignoring reality is no solution. I agree that this board was WAY too negative after that great comeback win over Nebraska, and probably severely overreacted to one bad game @ Wisconsin. Most teams in the BIG and around the country get blown out now and then. Nebraska got blown out worse by Michigan State than Iowa did to Wisconsin, but after upsetting an overrated UCLA team, people were suggesting Nebraska was a top 25 team.
But overall, the thing with Iowa is that the criticism is neither sudden nor unwarranted. Fran's teams, for fifteen years, haven't played much defense and haven't done much on the boards. That's simply not good basketball, and for fans to ignore that or support that approach to the game is unintelligent and unproductive.
And where are the fans? When Iowa built Carver about 40 years ago, many fans wanted it to seat at least 20,000. Can you imagine if it did? There were about 5,000 people to see Iowa vs. Nebraska, an unimaginable figure not so long ago. Attendance is down in many places for a variety of reasons, but Iowa is in the doldrums by any measure. A new, dynamic young coach who demands defense and rebounding is a key to reviving the enthusiasm that's been missing in Iowa City for far too long. Those are just the facts. Pollyanna may not want to admit it, but the facts don't care.
Yeah, Sweet 16 & Elite 8 appearances DO matter.
What, finishing 3rd & 4th each one year? And it wasn’t even that close to 1st..
Fan apathy due to knowing how it ends virtually every year?
The Garza, Weiskamp, Murray (not to their faults) years left a very sour taste. Fans gave it their all in that stretch.
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Let's not act like the nebraska game is something to stick your chest out about.
We played sloppy, questionable subs, poor effort, poor rebounding, we got all the calls from the refs, and it still took the worst call in college basketball this season to win the game. That double dribble was an embarrassment to the officiating profession.
Yes we won the game but it is nothing to crow about.
We played sloppy, questionable subs, poor effort, poor rebounding, we got all the calls from the refs, and it still took the worst call in college basketball this season to win the game. That double dribble was an embarrassment to the officiating profession.
Yes we won the game but it is nothing to crow about.
This of course ignores that Nebraska also had some iffy calls go their way during the game.
Almost like college officiating has a problem…
And yet still people get into pissing matches/calling each other names between each other not remembering taking things to seriously.Forums are usually places that allow people to vent their feelings and/or get news about their teams. Most people on the forum have a pretty good idea of the positives and negatives of most of the coaches and their teams. The comments made in forums gets some interesting interactions exchanged but have little influence on coaching changes or how they do their jobs. The big money donors and attendance have much more influence on changing things. That and what the expectations the AD feels are important. Forums are no different that radio call-in shows...a chance to vent or jump on the bandwagon when things are going well.
Bottom line is don't take anything too serious that you read here, it's just another form of entertainment!
People will forget it's entertainment and usually lash out at another's opinion.
A couple of thoughts.
First, He's probably right.
Second, You recruited these guys, and hired your assistants.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$&&&&&&&&& no other program wants him but dumba$$ Barta rewarded him with a golden parachute of a buyout. I hate that guy.
I don’t think you get fans support by telling them how to behave. Every player should understand past results and consistency can drive support. It’s freaking cringe expecting the world to constantly be positive cheerleaders regardless of what happens.
You have a coach that was passionless in Madison, the fans are suppose to be more supportive than him lol? There’s just no good to come from trying to have these conversations. Earn support, don’t complain about it…
You have a coach that was passionless in Madison, the fans are suppose to be more supportive than him lol? There’s just no good to come from trying to have these conversations. Earn support, don’t complain about it…
other thoughts,
he may have addressed this with his kids multiple times and this was the last straw, I/we have no idea. Poor form, yes but who knows what's be done/addressed.
Everyone of those kids are probably compensated better than 90% of their fan base. At this point, I don't care if he cuts them tomorrow. If people want college sports to be a professional organization well, here you go.
You can/must recruit talent, but you also have to recruit character. For all of the faults, real or imagined, Iowa coaches recruit character (in the main).
I agree with that statement. Their batting average for recruiting good people is very high all things considered.
Enough with the hyperbole ("we got all the calls...", "worst call in college basketball..."). And you don't know that Nebby wins if double dribble is called. We were ahead at the time.
Something to crow about was the comeback, and then domination in OT.
Didn't Jack accidentally kill someone on a bicycle last year? I'd think that might be a factor as well in him wanting a change of scenery along with a fanbase that believes that Fran favored his sons over more deserving players.
Yup, at the entrance to finkbine lot if I recall right.
Between that, seeing how fans treated his brothers, and heck, he’s 18 years old - get away from home!…I have zero issues with him and don’t think it reflects negatively on Fran at all.
A majority of the fanbase doesn't even care about basketball anymore.
That is the biggest issue.
And the next coach comes in and gets 3-5 players from the portal. You can turn a program around with the right coach in 2 seasons or less. I wouldn't be surprised to see Freeman go elsewhere for a great NIL deal playing for blueblood.
Actually, it is true. His tournament wins at Siena are far more impressive than at Iowa.
No it is NOT true. He made the 2nd round at Siena twice but never further than that.
