Are we better off with FH than GM?

[CloneLawman]

Yes.

Because Kindly Mr. McDermott, while possessing many years of experience, unfortunately was unable to win games consistently.
Unfortunately, his ineptitude has tarnished the image of ISU.

I'm not 100% sold on Fred's experience, but at this point it is better than it was. Would other hires have been better yet, maybe...

How's that coachdags...will you leave it alone now?

 

[BugDoc]

YES! I am thrilled that Fred will be back and have every confidence that he is going to get it done. He has been successful in everything that he has done in the game and I see no reason why he would start failing now as a HC.

 

[AlleyAddict]

I kind of like the fact that he doesn't have experience, the players know how to play, he seems like he will be able to make ISU basketball fun again, you know, the fun Greg killed.

 

[cyclone79]

the half that feels left out can't afford a cup of coffee. JP just brought back the big donors! me included. I love this hire.

 

[Three4Cy]

I get a laugh out of the no experience laugh - Larry Bird took over an NBA team with zero years of coaching experience and only lead the Pacers to their best ever record at the time and the Eastern Conference finals in 1997. It is a lot harder to coach a group of NBA guys and Bird did it with no experience and succeeded. Bird did it because he was a winner, and a coach on the floor - just like Fred. Fred has been a winner at everything he's done, and I believe men's basketball will only get better. All you have to do is listen to the recruits - they want to be here, unlike the old regime where it pained them to play here.

Larry Bird - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Cyclone15]

the half that feels left out can't afford a cup of coffee. JP just brought back the big donors! me included. I love this hire.

Wow ?? Really ?? Really ?? wow... "aka big donor" and the cup of coffee comment was a bit unnecessary too.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Stabilized the players commitment to the school. What do you mean by schism if people are going to get uptight about bringing in a quality person who has given more to ISU than they ever will then they should join the cry babies that wear black and gold.

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum...2-what-do-you-think-hoiberg-hire-if-true.html

Approximately 2/3 of the fans on this site think it's a bad idea to bring in a coach with ZERO coaching experience, and yet somehow you're of the opinion that the fan base is uniting behind this news?

Being a Hawkeye has absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to blindly drink the Kool-Aid of this being a wonderful idea. But yeah, I guess you're one of those fans that thinks that if another fan doesn't blindly support every stupid ******* idea, regardless of whether it's a good idea or not, that comes from the ISU AD office that you MUST be a Hawkeye fan... :realmad:

 

[jdoggivjc]

I get a laugh out of the no experience laugh - Larry Bird took over an NBA team with zero years of coaching experience and only lead the Pacers to their best ever record at the time and the Eastern Conference finals in 1997. It is a lot harder to coach a group of NBA guys and Bird did it with no experience and succeeded. Bird did it because he was a winner, and a coach on the floor - just like Fred. Fred has been a winner at everything he's done, and I believe men's basketball will only get better. All you have to do is listen to the recruits - they want to be here, unlike the old regime where it pained them to play here.

Larry Bird - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeah, remind me how this same scenario worked out for Clyde Drexler at Houston...

 

[NittanyCy]

We'll tell how smart of a coach FH is by who he brings in on his staff. Clearly X's and O's are not gonig to be his strength out of the gate. He will need some experienced vets, ala a Jim Halihan, that knows college basketball and help mentor him. Ultimately, his succes will be determined by how well he is able to recruit and develop players into successful players.

I really hope it works out because it would be a perfect scenario for the Mayor to lead us back into relevancy and hopefully much more.

Go get 'em Freddy!

 

[Wesley]

Sounds to me like a homerun. Win or lose, exciitement will be back.

 

[Ficklone02]

I was not really an isu fan back in the days Freddy played. Was he considered a pg, combo, or sg?

 

[Three4Cy]

Yeah, remind me how this same scenario worked out for Clyde Drexler at Houston...

He coached all of two years, went right from being a player to coaching. He only experience was a a player. Fred has the experience as a player and working in the front office dealing with a bunch of NBA prima donnas, which Clyde never had.

 

[CF_Cyclone]

Yes, we definitely are going to be much better off. During Hoiberg's career he has shown to be a good team leader, and a good knowledge of the game. As Hallihan stated in his interview with Keeler, he was a coach on the floor. Hoiberg was also a good student of the game, I remember him stating how much he learned from playing with Reggie Miller and gaurding him in practices. He also needs to hire some good assistants.
GMAC is a good coach for a MVC level school, the Big 12 is much different and I think he knows it. I think GMAC may be a good X and O person, but with the turnover rate he probably was never able to get past the basics of his huge playbook, and if so it was too confusing.
As far as the recruits not knowing much about Hoiberg's past, I think his background and contacts in the NBA will be of help, plus his ability to SELL Iowa State and Ames.

 

[synapticwave]

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum...2-what-do-you-think-hoiberg-hire-if-true.html

Approximately 2/3 of the fans on this site think it's a bad idea to bring in a coach with ZERO coaching experience, and yet somehow you're of the opinion that the fan base is uniting behind this news?

what? That's not at all what this poll was asking? In fact, 100% of the respondents of this poll answered that they support the coach...so thanks for proving the opposite point.:biglaugh:

 

[gregniowa]

I get a laugh out of the no experience laugh - Larry Bird took over an NBA team with zero years of coaching experience and only lead the Pacers to their best ever record at the time and the Eastern Conference finals in 1997. It is a lot harder to coach a group of NBA guys and Bird did it with no experience and succeeded....

I don't think you can really make the case that it is harder to coach a NBA team. There are many, many aspects of NCAA Div 1 coaching that are harder than the pros. One primary aspect is that there is a huge gap between high school ball and college BB, that gap is a chasm when talking about HS and competitive level top level Division 1.

In the NBA:
You can recruit top level experienced players from other teams in trade or free agency. Your players are almost all seasoned professionals. Your players are not full time students. You have as much time as you need in a week to prepare your players. You do not have to make your players top level from truly inexperienced, they have already been developed for you coming out of either other pro teams or after years of college ball. You can recruit using financial incentive as a primary motivator. You do not have your players for only a maximum of four years.

Really, there are lots of challenges in NCAA Div 1 ball that are not encountered in the NBA. In many ways, coaching in NCAA Div 1 is harder and more challenging than coaching in the NBA - not to make light of the difficulty of coaching at the pro level.

Add the fact that FH has no real, substantial NBA coaching experience either, and you have a strange situation where you are handing a Div 1 college program to a former player with no actual coaching experience. (No NCAA recruiting, no player development, no NCAA real-time game strategy experience - normally, that's an Asistant hire at the most, until they gain experience and prove themselves) It will be a great challenge for him to say the least.

Let's hope he gets surrounded with some top level staff. No matter how fast a learner he is, he is going to need some big-time experienced staff to help him come up to speed and to ensure that the weak spots in his resume are not exploited.

 

[GoShow97]

This hire has fail written all over it. It's the wrong hire at the wrong time. It's a feel good hire that represents appeasment for the masses but does nothing towards providing a basis in improvement.

Fred is an ISU icon as an outstanding home grown player and by all accounts an overall great human being. How this equates into being a good coach is beyond me, nevermind having absolutely no conections in the area of recruiting etc.

Cyclone Nation has thrown out any measure of objectivity, this is for sure. We all recently witnessed the seemingly blind support provided to one of the worst coaches in ISU basketball history. Blind support that was strong enough to continue down a path of crappy basketball while being spun as "the program is in good shape, trust me". In the end the Admin didn't have enough moxy to make the right and tough decision to terminate. What do you think will happen in the future if things don't work out.

I think we just created conditions where the atmosphere of average results will be continually accepted and championed as being good results soley based on the fact that the Cyclone Nation loves Fred.

 

[Senolcyc]

This hire has fail written all over it. It's the wrong hire at the wrong time. It's a feel good hire that represents appeasment for the masses but does nothing towards providing a basis in improvement.

Fred is an ISU icon as an outstanding home grown player and by all accounts an overall great human being. How this equates into being a good coach is beyond me, nevermind having absolutely no conections in the area of recruiting etc.

Cyclone Nation has thrown out any measure of objectivity, this is for sure. We all recently witnessed the seemingly blind support provided to one of the worst coaches in ISU basketball history. Blind support that was strong enough to continue down a path of crappy basketball while being spun as "the program is in good shape, trust me". In the end the Admin didn't have enough moxy to make the right and tough decision to terminate. What do you think will happen in the future if things don't work out.

I think we just created conditions where the atmosphere of average results will be continually accepted and championed as being good results soley based on the fact that the Cyclone Nation loves Fred.

Jamie Pollard could hire a stick and within 24 hours, 97 percent of the people here would be on board with it as a great hire! It must be hypnosis or something, I don't get it.

 

[drednot57]

The Criner days of ISU BB? Jim Criner made numerous recruiting violations and ruined the football program so that it took fifteen years to get back to respectability--all of Walden's tenure and almost half of McCarney's . :no: I absolutely do not think Hoiberg will do that for mens basketball. Now that's how I would have felt if Gillispie was hired, but, thankfully, he wasn't.

As far as can read on this hire, FH is using his managerial skills to assemble a top flight staff, if the Reggie Theus rumor is true (RT being pursued as an ISU assistant). Theus would be an awesome hire. The pair have ties back to the Timberwolves, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. Also, since Otz is being retained, five of five signees have said they're honoring their commitments. Unfortunately, Nick Nurse will not be part of the staff. He would have been a valuable asset for his X's and O's knowledge and his ties to Europe. I'm sure FH will hire an experienced mentor coach as his primary assistant to teach him the ropes as goes. As exciting as this hire is to 99% of Cyclone Nation, Fred has a tremendous challenge ahead of him.

 

[LoyalSon]

My only hangup on the situation has to deal with the speediness of the hire. Why such a quick move?
To me, Pollard needed to take his time and get this hire right. We cant afford many more years of pathetic Men's Basketball at ISU.

How well did he evaluate all his potential candidates with such a quick decision? I understand that almost every single AD in the country has his "list" of coaches that they have in the back of their mind for a contigency plan if something were to happen. I am absolutely certain this is the case with Pollard, as well. So, has FH been thought about as a potential candidate for the head coaching position if something were to go down as it did last weekend? He had to of been for such a quick decision by JP.

We all love FH, but from what I know, his only college experience whatsoever is from his days as a player 15 years ago. Is that not correct? I guess one thing's for sure though, you had better get a killer staff together, Freddy.

 

[swammi]

Simple question. At the very least Pollard can sell hope for next season and sell more tickets.

We only have the initial reactions to go on - and they are super! What a difference a day makes! A smart person once said to me: "Coaches coach, players play and fans cheer." I would add, Athletic Directors direct. Well the AD has done his part, so it's up to us to start cheering to help the rest of this thing fall into place. This feels like one of those watershed moments. I'm pumped!

Added: Pollard, GMac, the players, the fans and Hoiberg all hit the lottery on the same day. It's a win, win, win, win, win!