Great win over a good big 10 team Friday night, but a problem I think Fran has that he has yet to figure out is who on his so-called deep roster to have on the court during critical moments and how to distribute those minutes to maximize victories. Fred seems to have this figured out-- whether it is because he has fewer choices or better talent, the result so far is we are undefeated!
Difference between Fred and Fran
- Thread starter gjbuck
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I think Mad Fran coaches just fine, he had ISU on the run for 37 minutes. What I think he doesn't have is more than one go-to shooter he can count on at the end of a game besides Marble. They are long and athletic, they move well without the ball, but other than Marble, nobody on that team can create their own shot off the dribble. You have to have that in tight games short on clock.
He had the right guys on the floor Friday night...Marble and Gassel are two guys who dont miss free throws. Hilton Magic won the game on Friday, not coaching.
Yep there is a reason Ejim, Hoiberg, Niang during their press conference then Doc Sadler and JP on twitter said that win was on the fans. There was nothing Fran could do to beat Hilton Magic..nothing.
Fred is a lot better spoken after a loss. Even after *games will not be mentioned* last year, he was obviously disappointed but still was very forthcoming. Not that Fran was terrible, but he had a lot of awkward looking down at the table and talking moments
The second best three point shooter in the B1G had an open look at the end of the game. Maybe that's not saying much, but the announcers repeated it often enough.
To me, it felt like Fran was furious with the officiating, and was staying quiet to not get in trouble. He was asked about the foul differential, and was fast to comment about it, and he had a quote on his post game radio interview saying he asked for a timeout on the last possession and the refs wouldn't give it to him.
Which is hilarious because Iowa has shot significantly more free throws than their opponents this year. Just mad to be on the other side of it for once.
I thought Fran actually outcoached Fred Friday night. Don't get me wrong, I'd MUCH, MUCH rather have Fred Hoiberg, but I thought Fran did a masterful job Friday night.
He got Iowa out and running on every opportunity and beat ISU down the court time after time. And defensively, he had them play physical, don't give up any easy baskets, contest every shot, and turn it into a slugfest to keep ISU out of rhythm.
And this strategy worked. Iowa had a 5 pt lead in Hilton with just over a minute left. Fran would have easily taken that going into this game I'm sure. And even in that last minute, Fran did basically everything right IMO. As he said after the game, there aren't two guys on his roster he'd rather have at the FT line down the stretch than Marble and Gesell. They just missed. Hilton Magic got to them.
And then to get a wide open look for your best 3 pt shooter to tie it... how can you do it any better than that? The only problem with that call was probably the fact that McCabe was having a bad night all night up until that point, so maybe it was asking a lot of him to finally hit one? But I'm sure ISU was covering Marble like crazy, so McCabe is really a good choice there.
And to the ISU fans who rip on McCabe, that's fine, but the dude can flat out shoot the ball. He's a VERY underrated shooter.
ISU was just really fortunate that Iowa missed those FTs and that final shot. That's what it came down to.
He got Iowa out and running on every opportunity and beat ISU down the court time after time. And defensively, he had them play physical, don't give up any easy baskets, contest every shot, and turn it into a slugfest to keep ISU out of rhythm.
And this strategy worked. Iowa had a 5 pt lead in Hilton with just over a minute left. Fran would have easily taken that going into this game I'm sure. And even in that last minute, Fran did basically everything right IMO. As he said after the game, there aren't two guys on his roster he'd rather have at the FT line down the stretch than Marble and Gesell. They just missed. Hilton Magic got to them.
And then to get a wide open look for your best 3 pt shooter to tie it... how can you do it any better than that? The only problem with that call was probably the fact that McCabe was having a bad night all night up until that point, so maybe it was asking a lot of him to finally hit one? But I'm sure ISU was covering Marble like crazy, so McCabe is really a good choice there.
And to the ISU fans who rip on McCabe, that's fine, but the dude can flat out shoot the ball. He's a VERY underrated shooter.
ISU was just really fortunate that Iowa missed those FTs and that final shot. That's what it came down to.
Iowa was very aggressive going after blocked shots while we were not. I also though we attacked the basket a lot more. I would be mad if ended up have an equal amount or more fouls in that game. Also he said he tried calling timeout with 1.4 seconds left. White went for the tip and Uthoff got the rebound and instantly shot it right back up. Does he really think he they should have given him the timeout there? It was a poor play by Uthoff for shooting the put back and not trying to call timeout.
On "depth", they have very different perspectives. Fran takes a mid-major approach to the rotation, playing all the guys he can. Fred has an NBA rotation with 7 or 8, he always has and always will. Depth to Fred is having guys ready to step into that rotation, if needed.
I agree with the first parts, but I do remember him giving Chris Allen a piece of his mind a few years ago. Fred doesn't ever look anywhere near as angry though
There are plenty of people who can disagree calmly, or even when angry, with respect. It's about self-control and regard for the person with whom you are trying to communicate. Fred seems to be one of those people. Fran does not.
Honestly, I think Fran has a little bit of the GMac syndrome. He still recruits and coaches like he is a mid-major coach. This year he looked like he was close to getting a major player in Tyler Ulis, yet lost him to Kentucky about a week after he made his official visit to Iowa.
Like GMac, Fran has talent on the floor, but I don't think he gets the most out of his players all the time. Frankly, I would not start the same team that he does, but I can see why he does it. It allows him to have at least 3 good players on the floor at all times, with a couple of marginal players. I think the problem with doing that is that there is just too much time that you do not have your best team on the floor. Yeah, you go 10 deep, but if those are not 10 quality guys, then what does it gain you? If your starters can not play for 32-35 minutes per game, then you have a conditioning problem, or they have been trained wrong.
I think Iowa runs a very structured offense and defense, which works for them. Fred allows much more freedom for his players to play their game. Fred's offense is space things out, move the ball, create as many mismatches as possible, find the open man and shoot when you are open. The set plays for him come out of the time-outs, or when the ball is taken out-of-bounds.
Like GMac, Fran has talent on the floor, but I don't think he gets the most out of his players all the time. Frankly, I would not start the same team that he does, but I can see why he does it. It allows him to have at least 3 good players on the floor at all times, with a couple of marginal players. I think the problem with doing that is that there is just too much time that you do not have your best team on the floor. Yeah, you go 10 deep, but if those are not 10 quality guys, then what does it gain you? If your starters can not play for 32-35 minutes per game, then you have a conditioning problem, or they have been trained wrong.
I think Iowa runs a very structured offense and defense, which works for them. Fred allows much more freedom for his players to play their game. Fred's offense is space things out, move the ball, create as many mismatches as possible, find the open man and shoot when you are open. The set plays for him come out of the time-outs, or when the ball is taken out-of-bounds.
Biggest differences are:
1. Fred has 2 NCAA appearances and 2 wins while Fran has zero and zero. (last 4 years)
2. Fred is wildly outrecruiting Fran for high school talent, he's on a different planet if you include transfers.
3. Fred is a cool guy which is part of why #2 is happening.
4. Fred's teams pull out some big victories at home and on the road while Iowa seems to continually come up just short.
1. Fred has 2 NCAA appearances and 2 wins while Fran has zero and zero. (last 4 years)
2. Fred is wildly outrecruiting Fran for high school talent, he's on a different planet if you include transfers.
3. Fred is a cool guy which is part of why #2 is happening.
4. Fred's teams pull out some big victories at home and on the road while Iowa seems to continually come up just short.
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I agree somewhat but GMac had a stud team with Brackins/Garret/Gilstrap as the core that went nowhere. Fran would have made the dance with that team. Fran does have legit talent this year, but Marble and White weren't even on the radar when they were brought in, people were universally more enamored with Basabe than either of them. He developed all 3 of them very well. Uthoff is more of an obvious talent from day one than any of those three and will be interesting to see how he develops.