The Anti-Lickliter Philosophy
By: Mike Rabon
Andrew Brommer (Press-Citizen/John Richard via The Des Moines Register)
The Iowa Hawkeye men defeated the Louisiana-Monroe WarHawks 68-40 on Tuesday earning new head coach Fran McCaffery his first win with the Black and Gold. Iowa jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead within minutes but a protracted scoring drought left the score 15-11 with 7:51 left in the first half.
Coach McCaffery was apoplectic with his team’s play and his coaches for not executing on either side of the basketball. McCaffery smacked the drawing board out of an assistant coach’s hand and pursued his players with a rage and passion I have not seen in my years watching Iowa basketball. His words were not discernible from press row but his intent could be easily understood. The small crowd in Carver-Hawkeye Arena was enthralled by this gesture of passion and conviction and so was Kirkwoood JUCO transfer Jordan Stoermer.
Stoermer immediately nailed a 3-point basket, which brought the fans to their feet and gave coach McCaffery much needed therapy. Roy Devyn Marble added 9 points off the bench along with Paris JUCO transfer Bryce Cartwright who added 7 points and 4 assists. Sioux City Bishop Heelan product Zach McCabe led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 12 points.
Iowa’s defense held ULM to 40 points and 34.5% shooting. McCaffery mixed in full- court 3-2 zone defense and man-to-man rotations to keep ULM off-balance and it culminated in Eric May stealing the basketball at mid-court and slamming the basketball through the net.
In short, McCaffery is the antithesis of former Iowa coach Todd Lickliter. He is publicly passionate, declares that he is culpable for lack of preparation, and energizes the team by mixing different defensive strategies and utilizing bench players even if they may not be deemed as “ready” by prognosticators. McCaffery does not sulk in the press conferences and he demands excellence just like any good business man from the Wharton school would.
Fran’s conviction and public display of determination is enough for me and it is a refreshing divergence from the morass created by Todd Lickliter.
Iowa plays Xavier on Friday night in the US Virgin Islands and will play either Alabama or Seton Hall this weekend as well. Xavier defeated IPFW 76-75 on Tuesday night but nonetheless is less than a year removed from a double-overtime loss in the sweet 16 to Kansas State.
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