Appreciate the write up and the fact someone still cares about Iowa men's basketball!
I have had the opportunity to sit behind/near the Iowa bench at several games this season, including within 10-12 feet of Fran in Moline. I can assure you, his intensity has not decreased. I do think he is leaning on the on-court leadership more and trying to control his temper with officials, which is a good thing overall.
I like the make up and effort of this team. Having been able to sit super close (thanks big donors who leave your cushy Carver seats empty!) there is a palpable difference in defensive effort and intensity from years past. Now, this will still be at best an average defensive team - they are a bit vertically and athletically challenged, particularly against Big 10 colleagues - but effort on D is more than half the battle.
If Iowa can go 4-2 in the pre-and-early Big 10 slate against NW, Michigan, Iowa State, New Hampshire, Utah and New Orleans - which I think is possible after last night's unlikely win, I think they can still be in pretty good shape for an NCAA tournament berth, particularly if they can get Traore and Koch healthy.
It’s also possible there’s news about blood pressure or risks or sons said, “I don’t want to see you so upset on the sideline every game so I’m going to Indiana.” Not as a threat, just as a partial reason. And Fran re-thought things.
These things happen to some people.
I think there is more change going on than that, though. Traore, Tadjo, and Diakite are not typical Iowa recruits. For the past 6-8 years, when push comes to shove, Iowa has recruited skill over athleticism. His kids, Sandforts, Bohannon, Garza, etc. it’s not a hard and fast rule, of course, and there’s a lot of circumstance built in, too. But I still think it was a general principle: get guys who can shoot and take care of the ball. We can mold them into an elite offense and maybe have a good D.
Three players is not a trend, and Iowa has always taken athletes, too (Aaron White is
one of the best athletes of the Fran era.) But I do wonder if Fran and the coaches just had a re-think about the program and are trying some different - and maybe that includes what you’ve seen, too.
I get the same feeling about Fran moving away from collecting more skilled to more physical presences - a smart move, actually - as while Patrick and the Sandforts are definitely skilled athletes, they're not ultra-skilled scorers OR shooters. Payton has long been over-hyped as a "great shooter" - he's as streaky as any other shooter; if he WERE elite, he'd already be in the NBA where 75% of players think they're "great" 3-point shooters.
Like you said Patrick: He knows he's nearing the end of his time here, his sons are no longer here - so he's really go nothing to lose by blending some differently-talented athletes (as tyger noted) that can't help but improve the defensive prowess from horrible to bad or even mediocre. He clearly doesn't a have a true go-to shooter (that's not based on rep) so being able to hang with teams more defensively is absolutely.
For awhile now, Iowa fans have joked about Fran being too stubborn to coach/preach defense and Kirk proud of his 3-and-out offenses, and both seem to have made some concessions this year (after forever and ever and ever of both proudly refusing to do so). We even saw a few concessions with Lester's motions / playcalling vs. Brian's, Greg's or even Ken's (though having a superstar RB makes lots of things look better - playcall sequencing, constraint plays and "eyeball setups" require actual feel for the game of which Brian didn't possess one microgram). Considering the roster size differences, I'd give Fran even more credit for turning over 25% this year with the 3 aforementioned newcomers - plus Dembele last year (who's a tweener at 6'8" of course - but more physical than most of the guys his size that Fran's brought aboard).
In the end, as long as they continue to develop an offensive identity, they should once again be pretty fun to watch but will drive us batty at some points too - which is what everyone has also said about Ferentz Football the past decade or so and have said about the future since it's "impossible" for Iowa to even compete for anything big anymore in football. They may or may not make the tournament or a tourney run - much like Iowa hasn't done much postseason-wise since 2015 or won a conference title in over 20.
Should be an interesting comparison on the sidelines in Carver and in Kinnick for two coaches very much at the end of their twilights - the similarities are already occurring. Would love to see both go out on high notes - even if Fran's pathway is quite likely more achievable at this point than Kirk's.
I had another thought, too, very similar to this one, after the first game of the season. I hadn’t previously seen that Connor had gone to Butler to work or that Jack had committed there. When Jess Settles mentioned on the broadcast that Fran and Margaret had met or spent time in Indiana. It got me thinking about Fran nearing the end of his time.
Some strong self-reflection might indicate that he took the team about as far as he could using his system. He had the best player in the country, the highest NBA draft pick in the program’s history, and another first round NBA pick, all on the same team (though not at their personal highs talent-wise at the same time), and they did well (BTT champs), but hardly anything nationally.
And so maybe it’s also just a bit of “eff it” and let’s see what else we can try.
I hope he and the team stick around for another year. Like you, I think this year’s team has some interesting potential. They need to get the turnovers sorted and the interior D improved, but those are both doable to degrees. I think Payton can be replaced with his brother, Dix, Koch, but Thelwell will be hard to replace defensively. But if they can keep everyone from leaving (bring great and going pro (Dix and Freeman) or transferring), next year’s team could really be awesome.
I’m totally convinced his boss had a talk with him after his major blowout against (I believe) Iowa State last year. From that point on he’s behaved himself. I don’t for a second think he’s not engaged. If that was the case he’d be in Indy where his two older boys are with the third to follow.
Or he's headed to Indy next year to join them. Kirk has mentioned a number of times how important it was for him to be at a place where all of his kids could graduate from the same high school. And I think that's a desire a lot of coaches have. But once Jack graduates from West, what is really keeping the McCaffreys in Iowa? None of them are "from" here, and indeed have much stronger ties to the state of Indiana (Margaret played at ND after all where Fran was an asst coach at the time) and the East Coast.
This past off-season, there were rumors of varying degree of believability that Fran was seeking a contract extension from Iowa and/or in discussions with other schools to coach there. Maybe none of that was accurate, and the result is certainly that he is still here. But the 30,000 foot view I take of all this is that he's looking to move on from Iowa. And that's probably fine. He's certainly restored the program from the depths of the Lickliter years, but he's also never really taken the program to that "next step".
Iowa athletics is famously--maybe notoriously--incredibly resistant to change. Stability and continuity are the norm, often to a fetishized degree. But the simple fact remains that major change is coming to the major programs in the near future. Kirk is 69 (nice) and Fran is 65. Both are above "retirement age". It's entirely plausible that Fran does see this season as one last run before he steps aside, particularly since so many of his family connections are no longer in IC.
Appreciate the write up and the fact someone still cares about Iowa men's basketball!
I have had the opportunity to sit behind/near the Iowa bench at several games this season, including within 10-12 feet of Fran in Moline. I can assure you, his intensity has not decreased. I do think he is leaning on the on-court leadership more and trying to control his temper with officials, which is a good thing overall.
I like the make up and effort of this team. Having been able to sit super close (thanks big donors who leave your cushy Carver seats empty!) there is a palpable difference in defensive effort and intensity from years past. Now, this will still be at best an average defensive team - they are a bit vertically and athletically challenged, particularly against Big 10 colleagues - but effort on D is more than half the battle.
If Iowa can go 4-2 in the pre-and-early Big 10 slate against NW, Michigan, Iowa State, New Hampshire, Utah and New Orleans - which I think is possible after last night's unlikely win, I think they can still be in pretty good shape for an NCAA tournament berth, particularly if they can get Traore and Koch healthy.
It’s also possible there’s news about blood pressure or risks or sons said, “I don’t want to see you so upset on the sideline every game so I’m going to Indiana.” Not as a threat, just as a partial reason. And Fran re-thought things.
These things happen to some people.
I think there is more change going on than that, though. Traore, Tadjo, and Diakite are not typical Iowa recruits. For the past 6-8 years, when push comes to shove, Iowa has recruited skill over athleticism. His kids, Sandforts, Bohannon, Garza, etc. it’s not a hard and fast rule, of course, and there’s a lot of circumstance built in, too. But I still think it was a general principle: get guys who can shoot and take care of the ball. We can mold them into an elite offense and maybe have a good D.
Three players is not a trend, and Iowa has always taken athletes, too (Aaron White is
one of the best athletes of the Fran era.) But I do wonder if Fran and the coaches just had a re-think about the program and are trying some different - and maybe that includes what you’ve seen, too.
I get the same feeling about Fran moving away from collecting more skilled to more physical presences - a smart move, actually - as while Patrick and the Sandforts are definitely skilled athletes, they're not ultra-skilled scorers OR shooters. Payton has long been over-hyped as a "great shooter" - he's as streaky as any other shooter; if he WERE elite, he'd already be in the NBA where 75% of players think they're "great" 3-point shooters.
Like you said Patrick: He knows he's nearing the end of his time here, his sons are no longer here - so he's really go nothing to lose by blending some differently-talented athletes (as tyger noted) that can't help but improve the defensive prowess from horrible to bad or even mediocre. He clearly doesn't a have a true go-to shooter (that's not based on rep) so being able to hang with teams more defensively is absolutely.
For awhile now, Iowa fans have joked about Fran being too stubborn to coach/preach defense and Kirk proud of his 3-and-out offenses, and both seem to have made some concessions this year (after forever and ever and ever of both proudly refusing to do so). We even saw a few concessions with Lester's motions / playcalling vs. Brian's, Greg's or even Ken's (though having a superstar RB makes lots of things look better - playcall sequencing, constraint plays and "eyeball setups" require actual feel for the game of which Brian didn't possess one microgram). Considering the roster size differences, I'd give Fran even more credit for turning over 25% this year with the 3 aforementioned newcomers - plus Dembele last year (who's a tweener at 6'8" of course - but more physical than most of the guys his size that Fran's brought aboard).
In the end, as long as they continue to develop an offensive identity, they should once again be pretty fun to watch but will drive us batty at some points too - which is what everyone has also said about Ferentz Football the past decade or so and have said about the future since it's "impossible" for Iowa to even compete for anything big anymore in football. They may or may not make the tournament or a tourney run - much like Iowa hasn't done much postseason-wise since 2015 or won a conference title in over 20.
Should be an interesting comparison on the sidelines in Carver and in Kinnick for two coaches very much at the end of their twilights - the similarities are already occurring. Would love to see both go out on high notes - even if Fran's pathway is quite likely more achievable at this point than Kirk's.
I had another thought, too, very similar to this one, after the first game of the season. I hadn’t previously seen that Connor had gone to Butler to work or that Jack had committed there. When Jess Settles mentioned on the broadcast that Fran and Margaret had met or spent time in Indiana. It got me thinking about Fran nearing the end of his time.
Some strong self-reflection might indicate that he took the team about as far as he could using his system. He had the best player in the country, the highest NBA draft pick in the program’s history, and another first round NBA pick, all on the same team (though not at their personal highs talent-wise at the same time), and they did well (BTT champs), but hardly anything nationally.
And so maybe it’s also just a bit of “eff it” and let’s see what else we can try.
I hope he and the team stick around for another year. Like you, I think this year’s team has some interesting potential. They need to get the turnovers sorted and the interior D improved, but those are both doable to degrees. I think Payton can be replaced with his brother, Dix, Koch, but Thelwell will be hard to replace defensively. But if they can keep everyone from leaving (bring great and going pro (Dix and Freeman) or transferring), next year’s team could really be awesome.
I’m totally convinced his boss had a talk with him after his major blowout against (I believe) Iowa State last year. From that point on he’s behaved himself. I don’t for a second think he’s not engaged. If that was the case he’d be in Indy where his two older boys are with the third to follow.
Or he's headed to Indy next year to join them. Kirk has mentioned a number of times how important it was for him to be at a place where all of his kids could graduate from the same high school. And I think that's a desire a lot of coaches have. But once Jack graduates from West, what is really keeping the McCaffreys in Iowa? None of them are "from" here, and indeed have much stronger ties to the state of Indiana (Margaret played at ND after all where Fran was an asst coach at the time) and the East Coast.
This past off-season, there were rumors of varying degree of believability that Fran was seeking a contract extension from Iowa and/or in discussions with other schools to coach there. Maybe none of that was accurate, and the result is certainly that he is still here. But the 30,000 foot view I take of all this is that he's looking to move on from Iowa. And that's probably fine. He's certainly restored the program from the depths of the Lickliter years, but he's also never really taken the program to that "next step".
Iowa athletics is famously--maybe notoriously--incredibly resistant to change. Stability and continuity are the norm, often to a fetishized degree. But the simple fact remains that major change is coming to the major programs in the near future. Kirk is 69 (nice) and Fran is 65. Both are above "retirement age". It's entirely plausible that Fran does see this season as one last run before he steps aside, particularly since so many of his family connections are no longer in IC.