Debit One
Chad
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2007
- Messages
- 30,532
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There was quite a heated discussion in chat after yesterday's game about the job that The Criminal is doing. The chat format, and the fact that the game had just concluded, was not very conducive to having a rational discussion on the topic. I thought that maybe we could try it again today.
I'll start by saying that 1.5 years is too quick to judge any college head coach unless you're seeing an abundance of in game horrible coaching moves or off the field/court issues. Their recruits are sophomores at most, and they are working with a mix of players who may or may not fit well into their schemes as half of them were recruited by someone else.
Last season was going to be horrible no matter who was coaching that team. There was very little talent returning, and the recruiting class of Kelly, Cole and Peterson is absolutely nothing special. No way that team was going to have a winning Big 10 record.
Unfortunately, this season's team being the above squad, minus Gorney, Looby and Johnson, and Cole coming off of his injury, Iowa was going to suck once again (no matter who the coach is) unless there were a group of impact freshman arriving. The Criminal then made the decision to run off Freeman (yes, he ran him off), further reducing the talent level on this team. However, one could reasonably question whether it would have made any significant difference in this season's results.
IMO this season's team was destined to be no more than a 6 Big 10 wins team from the get go. I know that some had higher expectations, but I think those were never realistic. You had the following players coming back:
Tate (reasonable Big 10 big man)
Cole (coming off of significant injury)
Palmer (having proven nothing)
Kelly (coming off OK freshman season)
Angle (zero)
Peterson (questions whether or not he is a legit Big 10 PG)
That's it. As I said above, unless you're bringing in a group of impact freshmen that team isn't going to fare well in conference.
OK, now we come to the recruiting question. The Criminal's recruits:
Peterson (last minute signing right after Lick was hired - emergency PG)
Gatens (was going to Iowa no matter who was coaching)
Tucker (has shown that he can play, but questions obviously remain)
Fuller (he's going to be a solid player)
Brommer (nothing yet, but I'm not going to write off a big man during his freshman season)
Bawinkel (don't see it in him - waste of a scholarship)
Davis (emergency PG #2)
and four high schoolers who we have not yet seen (May, Cougill, Creekmur and Larson)
I understand the Peterson signing. He desperately needed a PG.
Gatens, Tucker, Fuller and even Brommer I understand and don't have a problem with. Bawinkel I don't get, and unfortunately Davis was yet another emergency signing due to the failure to land a PG recruit.
My problem with The Criminal's recruiting at this point is the continuing failures to be able to attract a quality PG to the program. I will say that were I a PG who wanted to run the floor, Iowa and The Criminal's system would not be attractive to me. Will this be a continuing issue? I guess that we will see.
What I see after 1.5 years is a plan in place, with it being too early to determine whether or not that plan is going to work. What I don't see is enough evidence as of yet to support the doom and gloomers with respect to The Criminal.
I'll start by saying that 1.5 years is too quick to judge any college head coach unless you're seeing an abundance of in game horrible coaching moves or off the field/court issues. Their recruits are sophomores at most, and they are working with a mix of players who may or may not fit well into their schemes as half of them were recruited by someone else.
Last season was going to be horrible no matter who was coaching that team. There was very little talent returning, and the recruiting class of Kelly, Cole and Peterson is absolutely nothing special. No way that team was going to have a winning Big 10 record.
Unfortunately, this season's team being the above squad, minus Gorney, Looby and Johnson, and Cole coming off of his injury, Iowa was going to suck once again (no matter who the coach is) unless there were a group of impact freshman arriving. The Criminal then made the decision to run off Freeman (yes, he ran him off), further reducing the talent level on this team. However, one could reasonably question whether it would have made any significant difference in this season's results.
IMO this season's team was destined to be no more than a 6 Big 10 wins team from the get go. I know that some had higher expectations, but I think those were never realistic. You had the following players coming back:
Tate (reasonable Big 10 big man)
Cole (coming off of significant injury)
Palmer (having proven nothing)
Kelly (coming off OK freshman season)
Angle (zero)
Peterson (questions whether or not he is a legit Big 10 PG)
That's it. As I said above, unless you're bringing in a group of impact freshmen that team isn't going to fare well in conference.
OK, now we come to the recruiting question. The Criminal's recruits:
Peterson (last minute signing right after Lick was hired - emergency PG)
Gatens (was going to Iowa no matter who was coaching)
Tucker (has shown that he can play, but questions obviously remain)
Fuller (he's going to be a solid player)
Brommer (nothing yet, but I'm not going to write off a big man during his freshman season)
Bawinkel (don't see it in him - waste of a scholarship)
Davis (emergency PG #2)
and four high schoolers who we have not yet seen (May, Cougill, Creekmur and Larson)
I understand the Peterson signing. He desperately needed a PG.
Gatens, Tucker, Fuller and even Brommer I understand and don't have a problem with. Bawinkel I don't get, and unfortunately Davis was yet another emergency signing due to the failure to land a PG recruit.
My problem with The Criminal's recruiting at this point is the continuing failures to be able to attract a quality PG to the program. I will say that were I a PG who wanted to run the floor, Iowa and The Criminal's system would not be attractive to me. Will this be a continuing issue? I guess that we will see.
What I see after 1.5 years is a plan in place, with it being too early to determine whether or not that plan is going to work. What I don't see is enough evidence as of yet to support the doom and gloomers with respect to The Criminal.