A group of us went out to the W VA football game last fall and their fans are very easy to get along with. Understandably, they are still mourning the loss of Huggins but seemed to be willing to support DeVries.
DeVries tanking for Iowa?
- Thread starter Cyinthenorth
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You can't compare that becuase of the 2 vastly different programs at the time.
Fran stepped into a program that was Steve Prohm level bad and probably one of the worst Power 5 programs on college basketball at the time. Contrast that with Tom Davis who took over one of the most talented rosters in the country and went to an Elite 8 and Sweet 16.
You could make the argument that Davis had more tournament success, but if you take away when he had Ravelings players then all he has on Fran is the 1 Sweet 16 appearance in his final year.
They were both so close in numbers I just don't understand how you can call 1 a good coach and the other a bad coach.
They were both middle of the road Big 10 programs with a 2nd round ceiling a majority of their careers.
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Did those teams in Dr. Tom's first two years coach themselves? Not sure why they wouldn't count, just because he had a lot of talent on those teams. And if they don't count, then that's also a pretty massive indictment of Fran's years with Garza and the Murrays. Having multiple player of the year candidates and still not making it out of the first weekend? Tom Davis was able to take good players and parlay it into an elite 8 and a sweet 16. Fran took the Garza/Murray teams and farted out 2 round of 32 losses.
The other truth about Dr. Tom is he wasn't a complete **** on the sideline. Fran's little tantrums, running after refs, the stare downs, etc., don't lend themselves to positive opinions.
Fran had generational talent for Iowa standards and to not have a single Sweet 16 to show for it says all you need to know about Fran McCaffrey's teams. It is not a coincidence or "bad luck" that his teams flame out in the tournament - they play no defense and NCAA tournament teams are good.
Fran's major accomplishment is pulling Iowa out of the basement and made a laughing stock back into something respectable. But he's been leaning on those for the last 5-7 years.
It's been discussed in many WBB threads but Bill Fennelly's results over the last 15 years, outside of one Sweet 16 appearance, are very similar to Fran's. And I think most would call Bill at good coach. Same with Fran, in my opinion - good, not great or anywhere near elite.
Dr Tom also bult his resume in the old Big Ten. People forget how elite that conference once was. Fran has built his resume in a watered down conference with very favorable schedules. Fran is and always will be a fraud.
Huggy Bear, who was a good coach who had winning programs wherever he went, taught a very physical aggressive style of defense. It was so over the top physical that it intimidated the refs, along with Huggins. The synonym to thug is “violent” another is “bully”. First time I heard the word was on the elementary playground describing a big older kid who picked on weaker younger kids by intimidation physically.
I gotcha. That word does have a negative connotation to it, so I was just wondering. Iowa fans for years have used that essentially as a slur to talk about Iowa State's teams and they've used it because we've had black players.
