This is why Prohm must go........

[SolarGarlic]

We were ranked last season for 6 weeks during the year and ended up #24 in the final AP poll. All Steve's guys. Fred's first three years he was ranked #25 for only one week. The 2014-2015 team was ranked #9 to end the year but lost in the first round to UAB.

Don't blame Steve for having success with Fred's guys. He had the same amount of success that Fred had with those guys and Steve didn't have any sort of bench his first year coaching. Steve had this team playing at a high level last year and there were even some national media people having Iowa State in their Final 4. So the whole "media attention" thing can get thrown out the window as well. Also, Steve hasn't been great at Hilton but has been incredibly solid on the road, so all in all that's pretty equal.

College basketball fans and media wanted to watch ISU play when Hoiberg was here. We had College Gameday, we were routinely on ESPN. Now we're just another power conference team on ESPNU.

 

[SolarGarlic]

For the record, I've defended Prohm in the past, and I want nothing more than for him to shove all of this in my face in the next three months. It just feels like these code red episodes have happened more frequently than Hoiberg's tenure. It feels like the program is on shaky ground.

 

[Dingus]

This is exactly what I have been feeling for the past couple years. Fred has been viewed as this golden child for his time here and Prohm is fighting his ghost as it hangs over the program.

I dunno, it seems like 75% of the time Fred is brought up its by people defending Prohm. It’s the isu bb equivalent of “But Obama yada yada!”

 

[Statefan10]

We lived in the Top 25 during Hoiberg's tenure.

Hoiberg's first 3 years, we only were rated one total week.. #25. Fred's next two years, you're right, we did live in the top 25. Then Fred left. So for two years we were regularly ranked.

 

[Statefan10]

If you want to act like Hoiberg's players weren't the primary reason for Prohm's three NCAA tournament wins, you are free to do so.

Deonte Burton never played under Fred. Matt and Monte played just as many years under Prohm as they did with Fred.

 

[TheHonestCycloneFan]

My honest opinion was that people had a love affair with Fred Hoiberg. He was the golden child, the pretty boy.. The Mayor. There was blind optimism because people believed no matter the outcome of a game, Fred would fix the issues. People wouldn't blame Fred, they'd blame the team or give credit to the opposing team. They'd blame the other team's player for going off for 44, instead of blaming the defense that was being played. I would say we all fell into this trap of comfortability that Fred created.. We felt invincible.

Once Prohm came to Iowa State I think a lot of people, including me, instantly started to feel uncomfortable. Something felt off about the program. Sure we had the same players, but everything felt a little bit different. Because it felt different, we started to judge Prohm differently. We'd compare Prohm to Fred, compare the players we got to the players Fred had / was recruiting, the offenses and defenses he'd run, etc. We've now gotten to the point where people are starting to talk down some successful seasons because if "X" were coaching this team, we'd have a national championship appearance by now. Some fans are blaming the change of lights in Hilton to shooting performance, some are blaming not practicing in Hilton enough, some fans are even throwing in the towel ten games into a season, a season in which we are very young and have a lot of new people playing together (and have yet to lose to a bad team). People are saying Hilton Magic is dead.

You know what one of the first things Coach Prohm said when we won in KC last March? He said Iowa State University has the best fans in the nation and there isn't another program that comes close to being able to do what we do. He's so thankful for us fans and is crushed when his teams lose because he knows it crushes us fans to. Both him and Matt Campbell understand us and want to be in Ames and succeed. Hilton Magic isn't about who the coach is or who's playing but what the fans make it. I will back up Coach Prohm and hope that his team succeeds the rest of the way this year.

That was a great post. As someone who is not in love with Prohm, a lot of what you said not only makes sense but it is correct. One question I do have is, do you (or anyone else) feel like Prohm has yet to establish an identity with this program? I feel like with Fred, the program had an undeniable identity, being a high octane offense that could compete against anyone due to their ability to score. Maybe he has not had enough time to establish one, but his teams seem to lack a certain character about themselves.

 

[alarson]

Hoiberg's first 3 years, we only were rated one total week.. #25. Fred's next two years, you're right, we did live in the top 25. Then Fred left. So for two years we were regularly ranked.

Which is an upward trajectory. The trajectory we see now seems to be downward. Particularly if you forecast out this year and next year. That's the writing many see on the wall.

 

[srjclone]

We lived in the Top 25 during Hoiberg's tenure.

other than his last 1.5 years, no we did not. We were the spunky underdog who knocked off some ranked teams at home, we were not a mainstay in the top 25 until 1/3-1/5 the way through 13-14.

 

[Statefan10]

That was a great post. As someone who is not in love with Prohm, a lot of what you said not only makes sense but it is correct. One question I do have is, do you (or anyone else) feel like Prohm has yet to establish an identity with this program? I feel like with Fred, the program had an undeniable identity, being a high octane offense that could compete against anyone due to their ability to score. Maybe he has not had enough time to establish one, but his teams seem to lack a certain character about themselves.

No I don't think Prohm has been able to establish an identity. I think he wants to be a defensive team that runs & guns but there are games where his teams don't play to his style. It's definitely an issue that he needs to get better at.

Prohm's first two years he essentially ran what Fred ran. He didn't want to throw those guys off of what they were used to doing / very good at doing. I think Prohm is a very good recruiter who still has to work on the X's and O's. If he can do that, which I think he will and will it get easier as more guys stay longer in his program, he'll go from a good coach to a great coach and the success will follow.

 

[SCyclone]

This is exactly what I have been feeling for the past couple years. Fred has been viewed as this golden child for his time here and Prohm is fighting his ghost as it hangs over the program.

I will guarantee you Prohm knew this would happen, too. Which speaks volumes for his ability to ignore it and succeed, anyway.

And yes, I'm counting his years here as a success. Just my opinion......

 

[Statefan10]

Which is an upward trajectory. The trajectory we see now seems to be downward. Particularly if you forecast out this year and next year. That's the writing many see on the wall.

I mean we were in the top-25 essentially the entire last third of the season last year.. We'll be 8-4 going into conference play and 19 games left. Go .500 and you're in the tournament.

 

[Statefan10]

I will guarantee you Prohm knew this would happen, too. Which speaks volumes for his ability to ignore it and succeed, anyway.

And yes, I'm counting his years here as a success. Just my opinion......

If people out there are saying Steve doesn't get credit for the first two years, then those year never counted. This is his 3rd year as the Iowa State basketball coach.

 

[NoCreativity]

Also, Steve hasn't been great at Hilton but has been incredibly solid on the road, so all in all that's pretty equal.

Incredibly solid on the road? He's 12-24 on the road in the Big 12 so far, lost both road games to Iowa, 1-2 on the road in the SEC challenge? 12 games under .500 is incredibly solid?

I think you have mistaken winning in Lawrence, then Manhattan and Lubbock last year to being "incredibly solid" on the road. Facts say this is a ridiculous statement.

 

[TheHonestCycloneFan]

Prohm created an even bigger problem when he kept telling Lindell and the media that he was going to get him into the starting lineup but then didn't. I also think people and Prohm really put too much into a wins against Illinois and SDSU. Those weren't good teams and they hadn't beaten anyone good with Lindell out but people were acting like they were playing so well.

I believe we all agree Lindell should not be running point guard but Prohm not being transparent about Lindell's role upon his return lead to him pressing and forcing things when he got back into the rotation.

 

[Statefan10]

Incredibly solid on the road? He's 12-24 on the road in the Big 12 so far, lost both road games to Iowa, 1-2 on the road in the SEC challenge? 12 games under .500 is incredibly solid?

I think you have mistaken winning in Lawrence, then Manhattan and Lubbock last year to being "incredibly solid" on the road. Facts say this is a ridiculous statement.

Last year he went 5-6 on the road total correct?

 

[Dingus]

Hoiberg: Two Big 12 Tournament Titles, One Sweet-16 Appearance, 4 NCAA Tournament wins

Prohm: Two Big 12 Tournament Titles, One Sweet-16 Appearance, 3 NCAA Tournament wins

May need to check my glasses, but I believe these look pretty similar.

If you want to compare coaches, IMHO the simplest way to sum up seasons is with seeding:
Big 12
Hoiberg: 12, 3, 5, 4, 2
Prohm: 6, 4, 10, 5

NCAA
Hoiberg: x, 8, 10, 3, 3
Prohm: 4, 5, X, 6

So far, like you said, pretty darn similar, though I think it's fair to give Hoiberg a pass on year 1 given what he walked into. If we miss the tournament this year they'll be an awful lot of pressure for next year- missing 3 out of 4 years will not look good.

 

[NoCreativity]

Last year he went 5-6 on the road total correct?

Yeah, they looked good last year on the road at times. They got completely blown out though their last 2 games against bad teams on the road. His overall road record sucks, you guys act like he's some huge road warrior so the blowouts in Hilton don't matter, but a simple look at his road record proves otherwise.

 

[FinalFourCy]

I believe we all agree Lindell should not be running point guard but Prohm not being transparent about Lindell's role upon his return lead to him pressing and forcing things when he got back into the rotation.

That was McD level (bad) locker room management imo. February really marred what should have been a great year.

 

[awd4cy]

Hoiberg's first 3 years, we only were rated one total week.. #25. Fred's next two years, you're right, we did live in the top 25. Then Fred left. So for two years we were regularly ranked.

This is pretty dumb. Fred had to build the program from ruins. Prohm took over a team that started preseason top 10.

 

[ISUChippewa]

Incredibly solid on the road? He's 12-24 on the road in the Big 12 so far, lost both road games to Iowa, 1-2 on the road in the SEC challenge? 12 games under .500 is incredibly solid?

I think you have mistaken winning in Lawrence, then Manhattan and Lubbock last year to being "incredibly solid" on the road. Facts say this is a ridiculous statement.

Dude, you are on record as stating that you feel a season in which we lost to a #14 seed in the NCAA tournament was a better season than when we went to the Sweet 16.

You don't get to judge a single damn soul on what's ridiculous or not.