Sorry, guys...

[sienajay2009]

I feel like I sold you a sorely lacking bill of goods.

This is not the basketball I remember from Fran McCaffery coached teams, and I feel a lot of those things have been missing not only this year, but during many times of his 8 year tenure.

I'm still a Fran fan, and absolutely still a Hawk fan, but this is, obviously, beyond frustrating.

Sorry, buds.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Not your fault but can we still blame you just the same?!

 

[BirdistheWord]

Jay -
Is it as simple as the recruiting? Has anthing radically changed from a scheme or philosphy standpoint?

thx

 

[HawkLogic]

Thanks for the inputs......some of the problems seem so obvious, you wonder what Fran was thinking. He seems to be too stubborn to admit he made mistakes. Need better guard play and more focus on defense.

 

[Crazy Hawk]

Just like some guys are career coordinators or assistant coaches, Fran may be a guy who is best suited at a mid major type level. Really makes one wonder why he had the success that he did at the small schools and getting them all to the NCAA tournament and yet he never got a job before Iowa...especially with his resume.*

*Or maybe he did and didn't take them.

 

[ICWestfan]

No worries, Jay. I think Fran's biggest problem is a lack of athletic guards. He might have gotten away with that at Siena but it doesn't work when you play big boy basketball.

 

[QChawks]

Would Sienna take him back?

Maybe with a little cash in top?

 

[DodgerHawki]

No worries, Jay. I think Fran's biggest problem is a lack of athletic guards. He might have gotten away with that at Siena but it doesn't work when you play big boy basketball.

He didn't get away with it at Siena, he hasn't recruited guards as good as what he had at Siena. The Siena team that took down OSU in the NCAA tournament had tough, athletic quick guards. Iowa would kill for that backcourt now. It is the most confounding part of his tenure here.

 

[skydog0784]

He didn't get away with it at Siena, he hasn't recruited guards as good as what he had at Siena. The Siena team that took down OSU in the NCAA tournament had tough, athletic quick guards. Iowa would kill for that backcourt now. It is the most confounding part of his tenure here.

Exactly right on both counts, totally perplexing.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

He didn't get away with it at Siena, he hasn't recruited guards as good as what he had at Siena. The Siena team that took down OSU in the NCAA tournament had tough, athletic quick guards. Iowa would kill for that backcourt now. It is the most confounding part of his tenure here.

You’re exactly right. Go watch those Siena teams and they look nothing like this(Iowa). Athletic, tough and quickness everywhere on the floor.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Exactly right on both counts, totally perplexing.

I don't get it whatsoever. Either Iowa is just that terrible of a place to recruit to, we can't hire a coach who can recruit. I'm beginning to believe that it's a bit of both. Iowa is just so far off the beaten path from major metro areas that no good athlete with any other options will come here. Fran was here for 5 minutes and plucked Bryce Cartwright out of a JUCO, which gave Fran's first two teams the ability to be competitive. Cartwright wasn't great, but solid. It's not a stretch to think that at a minimum we should always have a PG equal to Cartwright's caliber, if not better.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

He didn't get away with it at Siena, he hasn't recruited guards as good as what he had at Siena. The Siena team that took down OSU in the NCAA tournament had tough, athletic quick guards. Iowa would kill for that backcourt now. It is the most confounding part of his tenure here.

It's the "Iowa" stigma.

It's still a real thing to young recruits. (I really didn't want to be as nice as I was there)

 

[SDHawkDoc]

You’re exactly right. Go watch those Siena teams and they look nothing like this(Iowa). Athletic, tough and quickness everywhere on the floor.

That's possibly the most interesting piece of information I've seen relative to the current situation.
So, what changed? If he saw the value of athletic guards there what happened?

 

[sm_hawkeye]

Hasnt frans record been pretty good against ohio state overall? Part of the difference at siena are less academic requirements.

 

[ifollowthehawksfromalbany]

My recollection... and also some of the Siena alumni that I worked with over the years in the Albany area...was that Fran had a knack for finding Aaron White types every recruiting season...overlooked players who had a chip on their shoulder because maybe they considered themselves to be deserving of Power 5 conference offers (but didn't get any offers) with something to prove. It could also be that Siena's location in Albany...less than 200 miles from Metro NYC and Boston helped recruiting.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

I don't get it whatsoever. Either Iowa is just that terrible of a place to recruit to, we can't hire a coach who can recruit. I'm beginning to believe that it's a bit of both. Iowa is just so far off the beaten path from major metro areas that no good athlete with any other options will come here. Fran was here for 5 minutes and plucked Bryce Cartwright out of a JUCO, which gave Fran's first two teams the ability to be competitive. Cartwright wasn't great, but solid. It's not a stretch to think that at a minimum we should always have a PG equal to Cartwright's caliber, if not better.

Agree with some of what you're saying, but the answer to the first part is Iowa is not hiring coaches who can recruit.

Look at Iowa State. Do you think Ames is a more happening place than Iowa City? Lol.

People can get butthurt about what I'm about to say all they want, but there's a reason Iowa State passes on kids like Kriener, Baer, Bohannon, Nunge, Ellingson, etc. They aren't athletic enough or good enough to compete at this level. It's not even the race factor as much as these kids are Missouri Valley caliber players. Period.

Iowa needs to go out of state and find ballers who compete against top level competition in bigger cities. If that means getting more brothas on the team, I don't care, I'm all for it. And I don't care if that's politically correct or not. It needs to happen.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

Agree with some of what you're saying, but the answer to the first part is Iowa is not hiring coaches who can recruit.

Look at Iowa State. Do you think Ames is a more happening place than Iowa City? Lol.

People can get butthurt about what I'm about to say all they want, but there's a reason Iowa State passes on kids like Kriener, Baer, Bohannon, Nunge, Ellingson, etc. They aren't athletic enough or good enough to compete at this level. It's not even the race factor as much as these kids are Missouri Valley caliber players. Period.

Iowa needs to go out of state and find ballers who compete against top level competition in bigger cities. If that means getting more brothas on the team, I don't care, I'm all for it. And I don't care if that's politically correct or not. It needs to happen.

I agree w/you but then people complain that those guys go to UNI and are successful and beat Iowa.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

I'm too lazy to look it up, but think about all the guards Nebraska has had that were more athletic than ours and would you rather be in Lincoln or Iowa City?

 

[HawkLogic]

Nebraska has been a lot more athletic than Iowa for awhile now. Main problem they've had is attrition.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

No worries, Jay. I think Fran's biggest problem is a lack of athletic guards. He might have gotten away with that at Siena but it doesn't work when you play big boy basketball.

People keep spouting this and it's true to a degree but the biggest problem is team defense....they suck. Unathletic teams (Wiscy over the years) can be good at defense.

Teams score way too easily and a couple athletic guards will help but not solve our horrible D IMO.

 

[GenericHawk]

Another interesting thing that I remember sienajay always talking about is how Fran-coached teams get to the line early and often, and make their free throws at a high percent, and the ratio of FT between teams always favors Iowa, which then causes the opponent to get into foul trouble late in the game. I haven't seen those things happen here. Maybe in a couple of games it did - most recently, Illinois comes to mind where we finally showed that -but in general it doesn't happen. It just seems like maybe Fran came into the Big10 with the impression that he needed to change his game plan to be competitive in this conference, and maybe some of those choices were the wrong ones. We have to remember that Fran has his own ideas about what made him successful at Siena and his own ideas about what will make him successful at Iowa. Sometimes coaches just flat out get it wrong, but Fran is very stubborn and may just be digging himself a deeper hole.

Or the problem could just be recruiting, but I don't buy the idea that "Iowa is not sexy" and crap like that. Sure that's true in some ways, and Iowa often brings to mind images of corn and yokels, but the facilities are great, you're playing for a Big 10 team with rich basketball tradition, the Iowa campus is phenomenal, etc. I have to imagine once the players actually get on campus and live the life a little bit, many of them will want to come here. Our biggest disadvantage there is the lack of student support and the lack of loud, raucous crowds in Carver. We have been a morgue for the past decade. The last time I remember it getting TRULY LOUD in a packed stadium with a packed student section was in Alford's last year, maybe around 2006 or so. Unfortunately it's a catch 22 because we can't drum up the fan excitement without winning more and putting better, more exciting teams on the court. The crazy thing is you can go to a wrestling match and the people will be OUT OF THEIR MINDS and the excitement in the arena is palpable. The tension is so thick at times you can cut it with a knife. We need that back for basketball.

 

[perryhawk]

I feel like I sold you a sorely lacking bill of goods.

This is not the basketball I remember from Fran McCaffery coached teams, and I feel a lot of those things have been missing not only this year, but during many times of his 8 year tenure.

I'm still a Fran fan, and absolutely still a Hawk fan, but this is, obviously, beyond frustrating.

Sorry, buds.

I very much appreciate your input.....I think you look at this Iowa thing with a degree of objectivity and that is tough for us, especially now.

I don't think our problem this year is as much talent as it is execution. We continue to make dumb turnovers....I don't understand why that is not getting fixed through practice and in game coaching? Defense the same....I look at our team and their performance and there are limited spots where they execute. Then there are long stretches where they don't. I am a big supporter of Fran and hope he has great success (for his benefit as well as ours)........but for some reason he is not reaching this team.

Did you ever see anything like that at Siena?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Through the ups and downs of his first 7 seasons, I was behind Fran. He's a fighter, a decent recruiter, a good coach for the program. The program seemed to be growing.

In year 8, something has gone terribly wrong. The team looks like, and plays like, a high school team for much of the game. Players look lost on offense, and are clearly lost of defense. I don't see any energy or enthusiasm.

Then, I look at Uhl and Wagner - players that seem to have regressed. Moss is not improving like you would expect. The team has good players, but it has been poorly assembled. Fran had two lost recruiting years and that has really taken a toll.

The program is no longer growing, The players look bored, or sick of BB, or tired of Fran.

I'm ready for Iowa to move on. I just don't see it happening.

 

[Fan In Black]

The Siena team that I watched in NCAA had a jet at PG. So frustrating.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Agree with some of what you're saying, but the answer to the first part is Iowa is not hiring coaches who can recruit.

Look at Iowa State. Do you think Ames is a more happening place than Iowa City? Lol.

People can get butthurt about what I'm about to say all they want, but there's a reason Iowa State passes on kids like Kriener, Baer, Bohannon, Nunge, Ellingson, etc. They aren't athletic enough or good enough to compete at this level. It's not even the race factor as much as these kids are Missouri Valley caliber players. Period.

Iowa needs to go out of state and find ballers who compete against top level competition in bigger cities. If that means getting more brothas on the team, I don't care, I'm all for it. And I don't care if that's politically correct or not. It needs to happen.

My guess is it both a coach and administration thing. Iowa touts the "do it right" as being on equal footing with winning. Does Iowa want to really win at basketball, or is being squeaky clean more important than winning? Like it or not, the world of basketball recruiting isn't for the faint of heart.

 

[anon_bb9wlf9kj42py]

It's the "Iowa" stigma.

It's still a real thing to young recruits. (I really didn't want to be as nice as I was there)

Honest question, why doesn't it effect ISU as much?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

My guess is it both a coach and administration thing. Iowa touts the "do it right" as being on equal footing with winning. Does Iowa want to really win at basketball, or is being squeaky clean more important than winning? Like it or not, the world of basketball recruiting isn't for the faint of heart.

Winning vs. Clean is not an alternative, IMO. The baseline is that you want to run a clean program, and you go from there. I don't think it's impossible to be successful and run a clean program at Iowa, but if it is, I choose clean over winning all day.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Agree with some of what you're saying, but the answer to the first part is Iowa is not hiring coaches who can recruit.

Look at Iowa State. Do you think Ames is a more happening place than Iowa City? Lol.

People can get butthurt about what I'm about to say all they want, but there's a reason Iowa State passes on kids like Kriener, Baer, Bohannon, Nunge, Ellingson, etc. They aren't athletic enough or good enough to compete at this level. It's not even the race factor as much as these kids are Missouri Valley caliber players. Period.

Iowa needs to go out of state and find ballers who compete against top level competition in bigger cities. If that means getting more brothas on the team, I don't care, I'm all for it. And I don't care if that's politically correct or not. It needs to happen.

Exactly. If you can recruit to ISU you can recruit to Iowa. Just look at ISU's roster the past few years compared to ours. Night/day difference in athleticism. People talk about the academic standards.. Whatever. Iowa isn't exactly Harvard, for crying out loud.

Iowa just needs to hire a coach who can really RECRUIT. We always hire all these "right way" guys.. Which basically translates to "he can't recruit". That doesn't mean I'm suggesting flat out cheating, but need to hire a guy that isn't afraid to play rough and push the envelope. Recruiting is a brutally competitive business.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Winning vs. Clean is not an alternative, IMO. The baseline is that you want to run a clean program, and you go from there. I don't think it's impossible to be successful and run a clean program at Iowa, but if it is, I choose clean over winning all day.

I'm gonna go against the grain, here.

I don't think it's possible at Iowa either, or at least highly unlikely.

I don't get much enjoyment out of watching a team lose, just because it's done the right way. If our coach gets his hands a little dirty, then so be it. What's it to me? It's only basketball.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Winning vs. Clean is not an alternative, IMO. The baseline is that you want to run a clean program, and you go from there. I don't think it's impossible to be successful and run a clean program at Iowa, but if it is, I choose clean over winning all day.

I hear you. I'm not talking about cheating. I'm talking about being able to go to places Iowa doesn't seem comfortable going. What would be the reaction if a player were living in an off-campus apartment, and if noise complaints to the police were routed to the coach to handle? In Ames, the complaints from neighbors about Bryce Dejean-Jones were sent to Fred to take care of. What would the reaction be if that was happening with Fran? Note, I'm not saying Iowa State did anything illegal. But in recent years Iowa has shown no willingness to do anything similar (since allowing Pierre Pierce to redshirt and stay on the team, which was a wrong choice).

I do think it's very difficult to not ever approach the gray lines or push the envelope or and win at a place like Iowa. Iowa wasn't like that in the 1980s, and it so happened to be the decade of the most success in the hoops program ever.

 

[JRHawk2003]

I don't get it whatsoever. Either Iowa is just that terrible of a place to recruit to, we can't hire a coach who can recruit. I'm beginning to believe that it's a bit of both. Iowa is just so far off the beaten path from major metro areas that no good athlete with any other options will come here. Fran was here for 5 minutes and plucked Bryce Cartwright out of a JUCO, which gave Fran's first two teams the ability to be competitive. Cartwright wasn't great, but solid. It's not a stretch to think that at a minimum we should always have a PG equal to Cartwright's caliber, if not better.

Is it really that hard to get a guard who is primarily a ball handler and not a shooter? I see about every team we play, or even Mid Majors that have a point guard type of player.

I just don't get his recruiting at all. Its like not recruiting QB's in football and just letting RB's play the position. I realize he likes swing type players, but someone has to handle the ball.

Even teams we played like Southern or Northern IL had a guy on their rosters who would help our team right now from that perspective.

 

[C/Seahawk]

Through the ups and downs of his first 7 seasons, I was behind Fran. He's a fighter, a decent recruiter, a good coach for the program. The program seemed to be growing.

In year 8, something has gone terribly wrong. The team looks like, and plays like, a high school team for much of the game. Players look lost on offense, and are clearly lost of defense. I don't see any energy or enthusiasm.

Then, I look at Uhl and Wagner - players that seem to have regressed. Moss is not improving like you would expect. The team has good players, but it has been poorly assembled. Fran had two lost recruiting years and that has really taken a toll.

The program is no longer growing, The players look bored, or sick of BB, or tired of Fran.

I'm ready for Iowa to move on. I just don't see it happening.

Moss is in his third year on campus and it doesn't seem like he has spent more than 3 minutes in the weight room during that time. I get the sense these guys like to get their shots up, but I'm not sure I've seen much skill development. Moss still struggles to break down defenders with the dribble, Uhl in year four continues to utilize the wrong pivot foot when in possession of the ball on the wing, Wagner is not capable of playing the wing as he lacks the ability to threaten defenses with the dribble...its hard to point to anyone that has really improved over the past year or two and that used to be something we could count on when we saw clear progress from guys like White, Olaseni and Marble. Then again, it could simply be a case of those guys actually having a much higher ceiling and motivation to work on their own and become better players. You look at Pemsl and i'm sorry, but that kids ceiling is low...same goes for Kriener, Wagner, Ellingson, etc. Its up and down the roster unfortunately.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

I agree w/you but then people complain that those guys go to UNI and are successful and beat Iowa.

Lol, true, but they're beating Iowa because they have identical players who are better coached.

 

[goodbyebobby]

You’re exactly right. Go watch those Siena teams and they look nothing like this(Iowa). Athletic, tough and quickness everywhere on the floor.

I was at the NCAA games in Dayton when Fran beat fOSU and had a shot at 15 second Ricky that Sunday. You're exactly right, those teams look nothing like the 8th grade squad we're putting on the floor right now.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Moss is in his third year on campus and it doesn't seem like he has spent more than 3 minutes in the weight room during that time. I get the sense these guys like to get their shots up, but I'm not sure I've seen much skill development. Moss still struggles to break down defenders with the dribble, Uhl in year four continues to utilize the wrong pivot foot when in possession of the ball on the wing, Wagner is not capable of playing the wing as he lacks the ability to threaten defenses with the dribble...its hard to point to anyone that has really improved over the past year or two and that used to be something we could count on when we saw clear progress from guys like White, Olaseni and Marble. Then again, it could simply be a case of those guys actually having a much higher ceiling and motivation to work on their own and become better players. You look at Pemsl and i'm sorry, but that kids ceiling is low...same goes for Kriener, Wagner, Ellingson, etc. Its up and down the roster unfortunately.

Agree completely.

Another problem with the guys you mentioned .... a lot of guys just don't perform well when they play only a few minutes a game. But, last night we saw a guy from Rutgers playing in HIS FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON, and he actually contributed!

I've been a fan of Ellingson, probably because he gets beat up a lot here. But, he just isn't going to contribute in 3-5 minutes of action. I hope he transfers somewhere for his senior season where he can start and play 25-30 min a game. I think he would emerge as a really good player.

I wish we could combine Moss and Wagner into one player. Wagner seems to work his butt off, but has limited skills. Moss seems to glide through the game, but probably has the most talent on the team.

 

[sienajay2009]

I very much appreciate your input.....I think you look at this Iowa thing with a degree of objectivity and that is tough for us, especially now.

I don't think our problem this year is as much talent as it is execution. We continue to make dumb turnovers....I don't understand why that is not getting fixed through practice and in game coaching? Defense the same....I look at our team and their performance and there are limited spots where they execute. Then there are long stretches where they don't. I am a big supporter of Fran and hope he has great success (for his benefit as well as ours)........but for some reason he is not reaching this team.

Did you ever see anything like that at Siena?

The turnover things is really perplexing. Was never an issue at Siena. I don't know what the problem with it is this year.

 

[Maddux04]

Biggest issue I see is this team is playing as individuals and not as a team. No ball movement, no help defense... It's about me, myself, and I. The young kids have no leaders to look up to on the team. I hear about our best athlete, but he is one of the issues as well. It don't matter if you are athletic and only use it when you have the ball in your hands.

Beyond that you have a coach who thinks he is 11 deep, but in reality it's 7 or 8. He has to know where the root cause of bad chemistry is on the team... but it's not being addressed. The roster make up sucks... but, playing with 100% effort on D will keep you in games. That isn't happening.

 

[Hawksfor3]

No ball movement

Remember before Connor went down ill? He made crisp, quick passes and kept their defense trying to stay with it? Have you heard anything about a redshirt for him?

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Are people really this naive?

Read this board. Look at the crowd. Read social media. Our fans SUCK.

Nebraska has a full house tonight. iowa state damn near this year even though they are bad. I can’t believe that our fans act the way they do and then wonder why we can’t recruit.

 

[Loveblackandgold]

Maybe I am simplifying things........but what point guard was going to commit to Iowa and compete against the coaches son for a starting role?

We knew Conner was coming here when he was 15. I presume so did everyone else.