The Beat Goes On…

[RagnarLothbrok]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

 

[Max_Rebo]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

This is a pretty good summary of how I've been feeling about Iowa men's basketball. Sometimes good, sometimes not. I don't hate it, but I've seen this show before, and I know how it ends. Not much incentive to watch.

 

[Buffalo43]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

Especially on the road we are dreadful

 

[BrewHawk]

Just soft.

 

[QChawks]

we are in the midst of a normal Fran season, with 14 games left it safe to assume we'll win 17-19 games

first 7 years = 19.6 win average
last 7 years = 20.4 win average
last 2 years = 19.0 win average

2010-11	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	11​	20​	0.355​
2011-12	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	18​	17​	0.514​
2012-13	Iowa	Big Ten	38​	25​	13​	0.658​
2013-14	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	20​	13​	0.606​
2014-15	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	22​	12​	0.647​
2015-16	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	22​	11​	0.667​
2016-17	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2017-18	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	14​	19​	0.424​
2018-19	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	23​	12​	0.657​
2019-20	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	20​	11​	0.645​
2020-21	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	22​	9​	0.71​
2021-22	Iowa	Big Ten	36​	26​	10​	0.722​
2022-23	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	19​	14​	0.576​
2023-24	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2024-25	Iowa	Big Ten	17​	12​	5​	0.706​

 

[Hawksfor3]

we are in the midst of a normal Fran season, with 14 games left it safe to assume we'll win 17-19 games

first 7 years = 19.6 win average
last 7 years = 20.4 win average
last 2 years = 19.0 win average

2010-11	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	11​	20​	0.355​
2011-12	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	18​	17​	0.514​
2012-13	Iowa	Big Ten	38​	25​	13​	0.658​
2013-14	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	20​	13​	0.606​
2014-15	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	22​	12​	0.647​
2015-16	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	22​	11​	0.667​
2016-17	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2017-18	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	14​	19​	0.424​
2018-19	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	23​	12​	0.657​
2019-20	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	20​	11​	0.645​
2020-21	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	22​	9​	0.71​
2021-22	Iowa	Big Ten	36​	26​	10​	0.722​
2022-23	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	19​	14​	0.576​
2023-24	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2024-25	Iowa	Big Ten	17​	12​	5​	0.706​

Wow. Only one season with less than 10 losses.

 

[BrotherHawkeye]

They choose to be bipolar on defense, as you say. The one thing that a basketball team can do on a consistent basis is to play solid defense every game. They choose not to do so. Instead, they seem to rely on their offense, which is inherently inconsistent for all basketball teams. So, combining these two inconsistent elements will consistently lead to these results.

I am interested enough to read about the team, post my thoughts about the team on this board and (mostly) watch the games. But on a scale, I am much closer to indifferent than I ever have been. I am hardly alone in this, and the declining attendance at the games bears this out.

 

[Buckwatcher]

Why Not call a time out with 3 minutes left when you were down 5 or so. Doesn't make sense. Get regrouped and get a breather.

 

[HawkBall23]

Aside from the rare outlier, here and there - winning in East Lansing by 20+ one season, going into Bloomington and winning big another - Iowa has always massively underperformed on the road with Fran as the coach.

This is what makes things so frustrating with Fran McCaffery teams. Last night's game was a game they NEEDED to win, even on the road. But instead, they laid a giant egg until the deficit was too big to overcome. Which we see all the damned time in those types of situations.

 

[BrotherHawkeye]

we are in the midst of a normal Fran season, with 14 games left it safe to assume we'll win 17-19 games

first 7 years = 19.6 win average
last 7 years = 20.4 win average
last 2 years = 19.0 win average

2010-11	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	11​	20​	0.355​
2011-12	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	18​	17​	0.514​
2012-13	Iowa	Big Ten	38​	25​	13​	0.658​
2013-14	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	20​	13​	0.606​
2014-15	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	22​	12​	0.647​
2015-16	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	22​	11​	0.667​
2016-17	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2017-18	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	14​	19​	0.424​
2018-19	Iowa	Big Ten	35​	23​	12​	0.657​
2019-20	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	20​	11​	0.645​
2020-21	Iowa	Big Ten	31​	22​	9​	0.71​
2021-22	Iowa	Big Ten	36​	26​	10​	0.722​
2022-23	Iowa	Big Ten	33​	19​	14​	0.576​
2023-24	Iowa	Big Ten	34​	19​	15​	0.559​
2024-25	Iowa	Big Ten	17​	12​	5​	0.706​

And his Big Ten record is now 139-131.

 

[RocknRollface]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

Yep, it's just a shooting contest most nights besides the odd opponent that is poorly coached on how to deal with zone like IU.

Frans equation is that his shooters are better so he wants to have as many possessions as possible and he thinks he'll score the most points more often than not in a shoot out.

It works kind of.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

It works kind of.

Exactly.

 

[HawkLogic]

And his Big Ten record is now 139-131.

Does that include BTT? I think he's around 3 games under 0.500 in BTT play and around 6-12 in NCAA play. He's about as close to a Coin Flip coach and you will get vs Big10 opponents. The Fran Fade for February is not really a thing, but March's haven't been kind outside the lone BTT title.

He's not terrible and he won't be fired, but it looks like his contract extension is not in the Bank yet.

 

[BrotherHawkeye]

Does that include BTT? I think he's around 3 games under 0.500 in BTT play and around 6-12 in NCAA play. He's about as close to a Coin Flip coach and you will get vs Big10 opponents. The Fran Fade for February is not really a thing, but March's haven't been kind outside the lone BTT title.

He's not terrible and he won't be fired, but it looks like his contract extension is not in the Bank yet.

Conference play only, does not include the BTT. Each can draw his or her own conclusions. I will add my two cents, his deserved credit for bringing Iowa back from the Lickliter Cliffs is not that relevant today, but it keeps him from being fired.

 

[Fan In Black]

I am indifferent. It's not going to change. Dont even care about making them making the tourney.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

I am indifferent. It's not going to change. Dont even care about making them making the tourney.

This, unfortunately, is where I am at as well.

 

[eyesofhawk]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

Was there a head-scratching loss that prompted this post?

 

[TampaHawkfan]

I don't view the Fran era so much as bipolar.. That was the Alford era. Where they could beat a ranked team, then turn around and lose to a cellar dweller.

Fran seems to pretty much always beat the teams he's supposed to, and does pretty well in home games against similar competition. Outside of that? Not so hot. In March, it's been ugly.

 

[Slim45]

Yep, it's just a shooting contest most nights besides the odd opponent that is poorly coached on how to deal with zone like IU.

Frans equation is that his shooters are better so he wants to have as many possessions as possible and he thinks he'll score the most points more often than not in a shoot out.

It works kind of.

Bingo. Fran being labled as some kind of “offensive guru” is ridiculous. His teams score points because they don’t play much defense and they play at a fast pace driving up the amount of possessions. Watch the half court offense, it’s freakin streetball most of the time

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Was there a head-scratching loss that prompted this post?

 

[sm_hawkeye]

Bingo. Fran being labled as some kind of “offensive guru” is ridiculous. His teams score points because they don’t play much defense and they play at a fast pace driving up the amount of possessions. Watch the half court offense, it’s freakin streetball most of the time

I do agree. Any credit that really should be given is to leaps in development some players have made to him. But so much of what looks good statistically is inflated during blow out wins vs lesser talent.

With the right roster he’s put together decent presses and use to be fairly good at designing and call plays for inbounding. But I don’t think he does anything special for half court offense that can be adjusted from game to game. Pretty run of the mill motion offense and hasn’t really risked making changes in last decade.

 

[ICWestfan]

Why do you even bother?

 

[SDHawkDoc]

It's been more of the same with Fran for years.
Like many others I've lost interest knowing that they'll go nowhere when it really matters in March.
I still love college ball and look forward to the NCAA tourney. I spend more time paying attention to what other teams who are potential tourney contenders are doing. There's no shortage of ball to watch.

 

[eyesofhawk]

It was a simple question.

I get as frustrated as the next guy about Iowa basketball. Probably more, which is why I'm rarely posting on the basketball board. Nobody needs to hear my complaints.

Just not sure where OP is coming from. Is it the USC loss you find head scratching? That would be head scratching to me because USC was favored to win the game. Iowa basketball, at some point must have earned a high opinion in your mind, for you to see USC as a head scratching loss. Something doesn't add up.

On a side, you could see the look in USC's eyes before the game that it was a very important game to them, given the recent tragedies in LA

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Bingo. Fran being labled as some kind of “offensive guru” is ridiculous. His teams score points because they don’t play much defense and they play at a fast pace driving up the amount of possessions. Watch the half court offense, it’s freakin streetball most of the time

That’s…that’s not how offensive efficiency is measured. Virginia was #1 one year in efficiency. That certainly didn’t have anything to do with pace or lack of D. Now if you’re talking about ppg…well you’re talking a language smart people really don’t use in 2025.

 

[TheRealHerky]

Watching Iowa State play defense, rebound and score tonight is making me ill. They play a totally different sport than Fran ball.

 

[PRPcoach]

I used to think it was the players that Fran was able to recruit to Iowa was most of the defensive problems, but I have changed my premise.
Besides the Sandfort’s, this team should be able to guard well, but they are awful.
Never anyone in help position, no plan to push or guide the ball handler to a particular side or area of the court, and to top it off, most of our team struggles with defensive footwork and boxing out when rebounding.
Some coaches I know, at the college level, still work on these fundamentals almost daily, yet Iowa players seem like these are foreign concepts.

I enjoy watching Iowa ball and have become a big fan of the program (wife is an Iowan), but I also know what I’ve gotten myself into. Unlike football (KF is still getting it done IMO), a change isn’t a must, but would be welcome to me to see what might happen.

 

[RocknRollface]

I used to think it was the players that Fran was able to recruit to Iowa was most of the defensive problems, but I have changed my premise.
Besides the Sandfort’s, this team should be able to guard well, but they are awful.
Never anyone in help position, no plan to push or guide the ball handler to a particular side or area of the court, and to top it off, most of our team struggles with defensive footwork and boxing out when rebounding.
Some coaches I know, at the college level, still work on these fundamentals almost daily, yet Iowa players seem like these are foreign concepts.

I enjoy watching Iowa ball and have become a big fan of the program (wife is an Iowan), but I also know what I’ve gotten myself into. Unlike football (KF is still getting it done IMO), a change isn’t a must, but would be welcome to me to see what might happen.

Yeah , I think most people have realized its mostly Fran not the players.

They're obviously not coached to play defense the way the majority of other teams are.

I honestly think he's not worried about the opponent scoring. I think he thinks they'll miss enough shots on their own and he doesn't want to slow the game down with defense.

 

[eyesofhawk]

I do agree. Any credit that really should be given is to leaps in development some players have made to him. But so much of what looks good statistically is inflated during blow out wins vs lesser talent.

With the right roster he’s put together decent presses and use to be fairly good at designing and call plays for inbounding. But I don’t think he does anything special for half court offense that can be adjusted from game to game. Pretty run of the mill motion offense and hasn’t really risked making changes in last decade.

Bingo. Fran being labled as some kind of “offensive guru” is ridiculous. His teams score points because they don’t play much defense and they play at a fast pace driving up the amount of possessions. Watch the half court offense, it’s freakin streetball most of the time

You guys couldn't be more off here.

If you want to criticize Fran's D, that's one thing, although I don't understand the need to publicly complain about it.

But Fran is an excellent offensive coach. Period

 

[littlez]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

It’s pretty incredible that you can go on the road and shoot 54%, make 11 3’s and only turn the ball over 9 times and also score 88 pts. Thats a sign of a sure winner right? Oh, the other team scored 99 and outrebounded you 37-20? Well maybe not.

 

[MikeyHawk]

Was there a head-scratching loss that prompted this post?

So, you act the same in regards to basketball

 

[MikeyHawk]

It was a simple question.

I get as frustrated as the next guy about Iowa basketball. Probably more, which is why I'm rarely posting on the basketball board. Nobody needs to hear my complaints.

Just not sure where OP is coming from. Is it the USC loss you find head scratching? That would be head scratching to me because USC was favored to win the game. Iowa basketball, at some point must have earned a high opinion in your mind, for you to see USC as a head scratching loss. Something doesn't add up.

On a side, you could see the look in USC's eyes before the game that it was a very important game to them, given the recent tragedies in LA

could just see the look in their eyes. Did you watch a lot of USC games prior to last night?

 

[Fan In Black]

the thing that is mind bottling is there is zero evidence that this approach can be successful in today's game. It's like running the wishbone in the NFL. lol

 

[eyesofhawk]

could just see the look in their eyes. Did you watch a lot of USC games prior to last night?

Well, I was confident enough in what I saw to have wagered on USC the moment I saw it.

Was it not evident to you that USC was able to tap into their optimal level of play last night? They played pretty darn well at Illinois too

 

[RocknRollface]

the thing that is mind bottling is there is zero evidence that this approach can be successful in today's game. It's like running the wishbone in the NFL. lol

Frans the smartest guy in the room. He's zagging when everyone else is zigging lol.

But , yeah, the college game is generally going to favor the more physical team.

 

[BlkNGld71]

Watching Iowa State play defense, rebound and score tonight is making me ill. They play a totally different sport than Fran ball

Iowa State men's bball and football have passed us by, and too many people seem unfazed by that. That makes me ill.

 

[littlez]

Iowa State men's bball and football have passed us by, and too many people seem unfazed by that. That makes me ill.

To be fair our fans love to talk down to “little brother “ while they pack the arena and have a good chance to make the Final 4.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Iowa State men's bball and football have passed us by, and too many people seem unfazed by that. That makes me ill.

Does reality make you ill too?

Because ISU's current football coach is 2-6 vs Iowa

 

[Macbride79]

Iowa State men's bball and football have passed us by, and too many people seem unfazed by that. That makes me ill.

Iowa State men's bball and football have passed us by, and too many people seem unfazed by that. That makes me ill.

Spot on

The Iowa media deserves blame for never confronting Fran in 15 years over a lack of defense and especially for their absence of criticism when Gary Barta gave Fran a contract extension in March 2021 (before
the tournament) through 2028 with a high buyout.

Iowa basketball is mired in mediocrity with an older coach who still has years on his contract (thus has all the power over the new AD).

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

This is what you get with Fran ball.

You have to accept the good with the downright dreadful. It’s incredibly bipolar basketball, yet easily predicted.

I don’t care who’s in the lineup or whatever player rotations get discussed. Player additions/subtractions will also yield the same results—many thrilling wins, head-scratching defeats, and early to mid-March season endings. Rinse and repeat.

As long as Fran is here, you can either accept that, drive yourself crazy, or become indifferent, because with shit defense you’re never going to see anything remotely consistent besides that.

Early in the season the D was surprisingly solid. Now it’s back to baseline.