Where did you expect Iowa to be at this point of the season?
- Thread starter Chishawk1425
- Start date
They are probably slightly better than I expected this year. However, I see no deep tournament runs in our future and have felt that way for a long time with Fran at the helm. The program badly needs life invigorated into it in the form of a new coach.
That's not how it works and you know it.
A waste of two future nba players that if used correctly would have afforded Fran a great way to beat teams that play big slow centers.
We are small. Put Nunge on this team top 20. Win at Penn State and in good shape still considering everything.
What people excepted before the season is irrelevant. I cannot stress this enough. Completely irrelevant.
No one knew either Keegan or Kris could be this good.
The reality is Fran is not even close to putting his best possible product on the floor.
No one knew either Keegan or Kris could be this good.
The reality is Fran is not even close to putting his best possible product on the floor.
Fran thought they could be this good. You are missing a massive and relevant point. Not giving him credit for offering them when everyone freaked out why cancels out any point you try to make.
If Fran doesn’t start playing Kris and Keegan together a majority of the time this season is a waste.
Theres still time for him to swallow his feelings and save the season but its running out of time.
I don't think he will do it. Hes to proud and stubborn.
You're failing to make a coherent point.
Offering players has nothing to do with how well a coach actually coaches his team.
Yes I give Fran credit for offering them and I give him blame for not playing them nearly enough.
I think this is what makes me the most angry. I thought 18 wins was a reasonable goal prior to the season. Squarely on the bubble.
I was EXTREMELY optimistic about the defense improving based on player personnel alone. I was excited about Perkins, Ulis, Joe, Murray's and to see where Pat improved. The defense, and rebounding, stink. It's not a fluke that guys like Thompson score 18 after averaging 5. You pick your poison and defend those guys hard. The problem is our other defenders can't defend the "other" guys that you dare them to beat you.
I was really looking forward to some exciting ball that wouldn't be so dependent on the 3 and better defense. Just bummed to see how we lose some of these games.
I agree.
Doesn't have anything to do with how he's currently handling playing time and matchups.
K. He's loyal to a fault at times. Once again, win Sunday and in great shape.
At some point it has to become obvious who the best players are and what the best strategy is given a small team in a big conference.
About where they’re at right now. None of the losses are unexpected (in my opinion). No unexpected wins either (one could argue Virginia on the road).
They are exceeding my expectations. Last night, they just played a better team. I’m actually surprised Purdue has lost three games. They have talent galore.
So it stands to reason that last year you must have posted exactly the opposite of this, decrying the UNDERachievement of the team. Right?? After all, we HAD Nunge, we HAD Weezy (one of the best players in America as evidenced by his being drafted into the NBA), and we HAD the consensus national player of the year, and yet still won exactly nothing (didn't win regular season Big Ten or Big Ten Tournament and got steamrolled by Oregon in the dance).
In fact, invoking last year's team to explain away unrealistic expectations for this year's team actually shines a glaring spotlight on the fundamental coaching issue. If Fran couldn't win at a very high level with THAT team, then he simply isn't capable of winning at a high level. He will never have a better collection of talent 1-5 than he had in 20-21, and yet that team did nothing of import.
Yes what exactly is other poster trying to say? We all credit Fran for identifying talent. I don't doubt that whatsoever. Now that he has said talent on the team, not playing both of those players as much as he possibly can is mind-boggling. We all get that Fran got a bad break in Nunge leaving and the reasons behind it. But for the roster, THIS SEASON, play your 2 best players as many minutes as they can handle. Fill in the rest of the players on the floor to give you the best chance to win.
Iowa plays two FCS cream puffs at home every season?
Weird, Iowa has played a total of two FCS teams in the last six seasons and one of those FCS teams was NDSU. Obviously, a known cream puff. You have to go back four seasons to find the last time Iowa played a non FBS school. Hawk Illogical at its best.
This. How we're losing is what's frustrating. Exact same theme during the football season.
Especially since Iowas only chance to compete with these big teams is to force their bigs outside the paint on defense.
And you have to have all shooters on the floor to do this.
Rebraca is too small on defense and then he puts no pressure on the opponent on offense other than a few screens.
Against teams like Purdue or Illinois Iowa has to make it a race to see who can force fouls faster. That's the only shot they have.
It is obvious to anyone who's taking an objective view of things. Of course it's obvious to Fran as well. Fans defending it like he's some evil genius are the only ones that don't get it. He plays the players he wants to play.
That's assuming he was getting enough minutes to make a difference, and there's no guarantee of that given Fran's unpredictable lineup decisions.
Nunge didn't leave at the last minute, you all understand that, right? Fran had ample time to find a capable replacement for Nunge but failed to do so. Rebraca is not a center in this league, maybe at North Dakota St but not here.
Time and time again Fran is forced to play either Keegan or Kris at the center position because Rebraca can't handle guarding taller players then himself.
A perfect scenario would have had Fran find a 6-10 shot blocker in the mold of Eric Hansen, but because he already had Ogundele and Mulvey on the roster he opted to bring in Rebraca and ultimately failed. Guess where Purdue went to when they needed to score as the shot clock was winding down....right down the middle for either an easy layup or short jumper in the lane. Easy Peezy.
Here's another thing to think about. Everyone is saying that no one knew how good Keegan or Kris would turn out going forward. I beg to differ, You can't convince me that Fran and his incapable staff didn't see this coming being with these kids for the last 2 years. If you think they didn't, and they truly didn't, they don't belong at this level of coaching PERIOD!
And one more thing before I go, playing Connor & Jordan any minutes from this point on only convinces me that Frans plan is to play in the lesser "Not In Tournament", which is on coarse, is right up his alley.
Going forward, the starting lineup should be both Murrays, Patrick, Perkins, and Toussaint, or Payton, both Murrays, Patrick, and Toussaint. Take your pick, and add Rebraca, Ulis, Bohannan, and Mulvey if needed off the bench. Connor needs to start baseball practice as soon as possible and only see time with Austin Ash which is another failed scholarship, which is a nice story but not if your program is trying to win a Big Ten Championship for the first time in 40 some years....oh wait, we're not..
Time and time again Fran is forced to play either Keegan or Kris at the center position because Rebraca can't handle guarding taller players then himself.
A perfect scenario would have had Fran find a 6-10 shot blocker in the mold of Eric Hansen, but because he already had Ogundele and Mulvey on the roster he opted to bring in Rebraca and ultimately failed. Guess where Purdue went to when they needed to score as the shot clock was winding down....right down the middle for either an easy layup or short jumper in the lane. Easy Peezy.
Here's another thing to think about. Everyone is saying that no one knew how good Keegan or Kris would turn out going forward. I beg to differ, You can't convince me that Fran and his incapable staff didn't see this coming being with these kids for the last 2 years. If you think they didn't, and they truly didn't, they don't belong at this level of coaching PERIOD!
And one more thing before I go, playing Connor & Jordan any minutes from this point on only convinces me that Frans plan is to play in the lesser "Not In Tournament", which is on coarse, is right up his alley.
Going forward, the starting lineup should be both Murrays, Patrick, Perkins, and Toussaint, or Payton, both Murrays, Patrick, and Toussaint. Take your pick, and add Rebraca, Ulis, Bohannan, and Mulvey if needed off the bench. Connor needs to start baseball practice as soon as possible and only see time with Austin Ash which is another failed scholarship, which is a nice story but not if your program is trying to win a Big Ten Championship for the first time in 40 some years....oh wait, we're not..
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I thought Chis's political takes were terrible until I realized he was a basketball fan also.
I always thought NIT was likely, now I think we have a better than even shot to make the NCAAs, so on the whole I’m pleased. I I know everyone is upset about losing to a top 10 team, but I’m really pretty happy about the progress we are making. I think there is a lot of room for improvement. First and foremost, Kris is finally getting the minutes he deserves and is responding well. Toussant is playing very well and smartly. And now PMac is developing a mid range shot and not tossing up runners.
Ironically, we all bitched about being an inside oriented team that wasnt built to win in the NCAAs after we lost to Oregon last year. I think this team is built to do better in the tournament and I think the twin Murray horses will make this team better the more they play together. Don't sleep on this team.
Ironically, we all bitched about being an inside oriented team that wasnt built to win in the NCAAs after we lost to Oregon last year. I think this team is built to do better in the tournament and I think the twin Murray horses will make this team better the more they play together. Don't sleep on this team.
Finally,?????? This is not the norm, they don't get the minutes they deserve. kris could get 10 min next game and conner 25
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