As the horn sounded on Iowa’s 72-67 home loss to an abysmal Minnesota Gopher basketball team, I was no longer in front of my TV. Instead I was in bed upgrading my Clash of Clans account and reading a pretty solid book about Prohibition in Minnesota. Apparently the Hawks made a valiant comeback against the Gophers – I turned the game off when we fell behind by 14. My brother texted our group asking if anyone was watching. He was the only one. I was too lazy to even turn the game back on on my iPad. I figured if we won, we should have, and if we didn’t, I didn’t care to watch it anyway. This got me thinking.

I grew up watching Lute Olson’s first few years at Iowa.

Steve Waite’s and-1 vs Georgetown to go to the Final 4. Kevin Gamble daggering a deep three against Oklahoma in the Big Dance. Chris Street. I love Iowa basketball. Even when we lost a huge lead to UNLV, failing to get back to the Final 4, I was all-in. The same when Steve Alford’s incredible, veteran group blew an almost insurmountable lead against Northwestern State, I cared. Anger more than caring, but yeah. Now? Meh.

I like Fran. I really like our players and coaching staff. As a player, Matt Gatens had one of the most incredible streaks in Hawkeye history when he was channeling Larry Bird for a significant stretch his senior season. [I’d like to see Gatens return as the head coach some day.] Back in the day, Iowa basketball was must-see TV. Before basketball games were so accessible, I would listen to games on the radio or go to a sports bar if they carried the game. My wife would attest to the fact that my Hawkeye fandom often borders on the unhealthy. Unfortunately, now I’m at a point where I just don’t care. Where did this come from?

I was a varsity basketball coach for about ten years in the Twin Cities. I incorporated a lot of George Raveling and Dr. Tom Davis’ concepts into my coaching philosophy. Raveling was maybe the best teacher of rebounding the game has ever had. Dr. Tom pushed the pace of play and utilized pressing defenses to speed up the game even more.

REDACTED and Todd Lickliter, well… maybe that’s part of the reason we are where we are. Fran did what he was hired to do. He made Iowa basketball a product that was entertaining. And we did win. We won a lot of games. The Hawks won the B1G Tourney in 2022. With incredible players Luka Garza and the Keegan and Kris Murray, along with many, many others, we have witnessed pretty dang good basketball and tremendous student-athletes that represent the state and the university very well. Fair or not, we have not had the success in the NCAA tournament under Fran and I think that plays a big part in the apathy. Everyone gets excited when the brackets come out. When I was a kid and the Hawks played a Thursday or Friday NCAA tourney game, the trusty TV was wheeled into the classroom and everyone watched Iowa win that opening round game. Dr. Tom never lost a first round game. This before all of the First 4, waterer-down opening round stuff. Had Iowa made a run with Luka and the Murrays, I may not be writing this. Another thing that isn’t Fran’s fault? The world fell in love with Caitlin Clark, Lisa Bluder, and Iowa women’s basketball. During Caitlin’s four years as a Hawkeye, the men’s and women’s teams played at the same time on a few occasions. I watched CC. Most everyone else probably did as well.

The most frustrating part of this season is that the Hawkeyes have some of the best individual pieces this team has had in some time – and those pieces go quite well together. Josh Dix, Drew Thelwell, Payton Sandfort, and Owen Freeman are excellent Big Ten basketball players. Seydou Traore had a dunk against the Gophers that freaking scared me. Everyone in the basketball world knows though that if it comes down to getting one defensive stop, I would bet against Fran’s teams. I honestly think part of the problem is that Fran is such a good offensive coach. I can’t think of many coaches in the game who teach offense and run such incredible inbounds plays like McCaffery. Fran is an offensive genius. In my opinion, because of this, the value of getting a defensive stop decreases. I’m sure it’s easy to think, “No worries. We can inbound the ball quickly, get down the floor, and score within three seconds.” We do this with the best of them. It also has been a detriment to our half-court defense. I often think while watching the Hawks, “I’ve seen this movie before.” It feels like we lose a lot of 95-89 games. I differ from a number of BHGP writers in that I’d be fine winning like Wisconsin basketball did for years under Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan. It was ugly, but winning is what the name of the game is. Smothering defense doesn’t have an off night. When Fran’s team doesn’t shoot the ball well, we lose. Rinse and repeat.

Beth Goetz is a quality athletic director. She made the correct decision that led to Iowa football getting a professional offensive coordinator in Tim Lester. Iowa basketball historically is a much better job than most people would expect. I’d love to see something different. I will still support our Hawks and Fran, but I’m not planning on watching Friday night’s Penn State game. It’s not to prove a point or any other grand idea, I just don’t care. That makes me rather sad. As always, it’s great to be a Hawkeye! Go Hawks!