Opinion of Prohm

[Clones8686]

I think we are in the frustrating position of not having enough information to know exactly what we're getting with Prohm. I would not be surprised if he went on to have great success, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he struggled and we turned into a mediocre program. We just have to give him a couple more years I think and hope that when he has everything in place that he will succeed.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I think it's ******* silly to have this conversation right now.

Kind of like the poster who was making fun of KU fans for being jacked up about the win. Newsflash- if the fans of the #1/#2 team are excited about beating you by 4 points, your team might be way better than you think they are. It's called perspective.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

Yes you can. That is part of what irritates me. The ball moved significantly better with plenty of these players when Fred was here. That has to be a coaching issue for me.

Sure we aren't tall and didn't have any post depth last year, but that weakness is generally overstated.

Did you not watch last season?

We don't miss Fred, we miss guys like Nader and Georges.

 

[bos]

Yes you can. That is part of what irritates me. The ball moved significantly better with plenty of these players when Fred was here. That has to be a coaching issue for me.

Sure we aren't tall and didn't have any post depth last year, but that weakness is generally overstated.

You see it happen, then you dont. Thats on the players. We saw plenty of run n chuck basketball under Fred and plenty of dumb losses under that very same man. We also played behind FREQUENTLY under FH. With much more talented roster.

 

[Malone]

He needs time.

I think he's able and willing to learn from everything, and he'll need to. His in-game strategy is not great right now, but Scott Drew has shown us that it's possible to become a significantly better coach. He'll never be a savant, and that's ok --- as long as the recruiting keeps up (especially getting some big guys!)

Being reactive to him after last night - after seeing Burton and Babb and Naz guarding Landon Lucas - is a bit idiotic. What does one expect to happen when guys significantly shorter are forced into that? He's so limited by the bodies on this roster.

 

[isufbcurt]

Yes you can. That is part of what irritates me. The ball moved significantly better with plenty of these players when Fred was here. That has to be a coaching issue for me.

Sure we aren't tall and didn't have any post depth last year, but that weakness is generally overstated.

No that's a player issue. If the players are cutting off plays/motions early that is on the players for not continuing to do what they are supposed to. Bench the players you'll say, but then you'll be up in arms complaining that Monte, Deonte and Naz are all sitting on the bench and we are getting blown out.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

Yes you can. That is part of what irritates me. The ball moved significantly better with plenty of these players when Fred was here. That has to be a coaching issue for me.

Sure we aren't tall and didn't have any post depth last year, but that weakness is generally overstated.

We've had times where we've moved the ball well this year and times Fred's last year where the ball didn't move at all. Heck, as great as the comeback against OU was a few years ago that was pretty much entirely isolation basketball with very little passing and movement off the ball.

I also think Niang/McKay was underappreciated from a defensive standpoint. Niang may not have been the biggest or most athletic dude, but he was pretty much always in a good position defensively.

 

[acgclone]

Better than Hoiberg, but he needs to do better in his stop-gap recruiting. Granted the pipeline he inherited had a major hole, but almost all of his moves backfired.

Overall, I don't think he's better than Fred. That isn't to say that he can't develop to where he's better, but overall I'd give the nod to Fred.

Prohm is better at:

-Emphasizing defense
-HS recruiting

(not terribly high bars set by Fred)

Fred is better at:

-Offensive game planning
-Scoring after time outs
-End of game situations (confidence may play a roll)
-Transfer recruiting

 

[bos]

He needs time.

I think he's able and willing to learn from everything, and he'll need to. His in-game strategy is not great right now, but Scott Drew has shown us that it's possible to become a significantly better coach. He'll never be a savant, and that's ok --- as long as the recruiting keeps up (especially getting some big guys!)

Being reactive to him after last night - after seeing Burton and Babb and Naz guarding Landon Lucas - is a bit idiotic. What does one expect to happen when guys significantly shorter are forced into that? He's so limited by the bodies on this roster.

Great example. Has become a stellar recruiter as well.

 

[jkclone]

You see it happen, then you dont. Thats on the players. We saw plenty of run n chuck basketball under Fred and plenty of dumb losses under that very same man. We also played behind FREQUENTLY under FH. With much more talented roster.

There was a significant drop from Hoiberg to Prohm. I put it on Hoiberg's ability to instill confidence in his players.

 

[mdk2isu]

A consensus top 15 roster? Sure we didn't have a lot of post depth or young people, but he has significantly underachieved IMO. It also isn't so much the results, but the failure to show competent in game coaching.

A consensus top 15 roster LAST YEAR where the best player and key cog of the entire offense was a senior? And the 2nd best playmaker (Nader) was also a senior? And the other post was a senior who was a head case half the season? And the team had no post depth beyond the 2 seniors. But it still ended up in the Sweet 16 but somehow he has underachieved?

 

[MeowingCows]

Great example. Has become a stellar recruiter as well.

He's been a decent recruiter for a while, I always thought that he and Travis Ford were the World Champions at doing less with more talent. It seems that Drew may have figured his end of it out, finally.

 

[CycloneBBFan]

I like Steve Prohm. I also like Cincinnati's coach Mick Cronin's quote BEFORE the Cincinnati - ISU game.

"Most people don't realize Steve Prohm is one of the best defensive coaches in America. If he had just one 6'10" shot blocker the Cyclones would be undefeated. Nobody could beat this team".

 

[isufbcurt]

You see it happen, then you dont. Thats on the players. We saw plenty of run n chuck basketball under Fred and plenty of dumb losses under that very same man. We also played behind FREQUENTLY under FH. With much more talented roster.

Oh come on, you know when Fred was here we never lost a game, won National Championships, never got out rebounded, were always ranked high in defensive efficiency and ran set plays every time on offense.

Sad thing is some of these posters really believe what I just typed.

We were lucky that we had Georges. Look back to the Oklahoma come back game at Hilton, we ditched the offense and ran iso's, yes the same iso's that everyone is now ******** about.

 

[Incyte]

How ******* stupid are some of you? For **** sakes we arent firing a coach who went to the ncaa tournament his first two years. What a stupid post.

 

[CloneIce]

So far - Meh.

We need to reach the tournament this season, or this season is a failure. Especially given that next year is likely to be a rebuilding year. We can still get that done.

 

[WastedTalent]

A consensus top 15 roster? Sure we didn't have a lot of post depth or young people, but he has significantly underachieved IMO. It also isn't so much the results, but the failure to show competent in game coaching.

"In game coaching" is a terrible barometer to be firing a head coach, especially from a fan perspective. I'm not saying you don't know anything about basketball, and in game strategy, but I am saying you have no idea what's going on in practice, or in the huddle.

Plus, he's still a young coach. The only way to get better is repetition. It takes a little time. Every coach that has been through Iowa St, I'm sure has been questioned early about their strategy, but then the good ones start to win games, and those questions go away.

Yes, Prohm does things different, but are you really wanting to fire him for things like his timeout usage?

 

[NoCreativity]

You must be talking about last year's Sweet 16 team?

He actually inherited a roster built to win a Big 12 championship last year. Two first team all Big 12 players returning, the defending Big 12 defensive player of the year, a top transfer that could provide some spark off the bench.

I dont know what more you could ask for coming into a new situation. Yeah, we had no depth, but alot of that also was because Naz couldnt play. Its a year and a half later and we still have no depth.

Also, the Sweet 16 was nice, but who did we really beat to get there?

 

[isutrevman]

Thus is the formula for top-15 teams to disappear.

Although, I also think his X's/O's prowess hasn't been showing lately, either. I actually thought we should take a page out of KU's book and run our halfcourt offense like they do with their guards -- move and pass often around the perimeter until something opens up, be it an outside shot or a hole/pass to the lane. Our ISO-style offense is just too stagnant, we do best when we toss the ball around a lot. What they ran was very simple yet reasonably effective (granted, their post advantages helped that out, too).

Pretty much just this.

 

[CyTwins]

Overall, I don't think he's better than Fred. That isn't to say that he can't develop to where he's better, but overall I'd give the nod to Fred.

Prohm is better at:

-Emphasizing defense
-HS recruiting

(not terribly high bars set by Fred)

Fred is better at:

-Offensive game planning
-Scoring after time outs
-End of game situations (confidence may play a roll)
-Transfer recruiting

Fred was heavily criticized on here for his end of game situations