Day one of Ben McCollum

[SwirlinLingerie]

In my opinion, Iowa already is legit. Because Drake was more than legit. I don't care what league they played in. They proved it.

Legit is the baseline. Now it's about if they are elite.

I think Freeman would likely have started on the bench last night. You have to play your ass off on D, dive for loose balls, and share the ball. And that's in practice.

The bar is unbelievably high. Ben only recruits a certain kind of cat.

 

[HuckFinn]

Yeah, Pizza Ranch is just awful pizza. Do Pagliai's or Wig & Pen.

Pizza Ranch pizza = No sauce.

I vote Pagliai’s. Original recipe from Italy still used.

 

[InGoodCo]

Attendance was 9,232. Last year, Iowa's first 7 home games were below that number, before 13,033 came to the Iowa State game.

I went to the WI game at Carver last year in February. WI was ranked, there wasn't 9k or even close to 9k there that day. It was on a Saturday and WI was ranked, tons of red in stands. Last night's crowd looked as good as it has in some time at Carver sans a couple of big games with rivals, let's hope it keeps up.

 

[InGoodCo]

In my opinion, Iowa already is legit. Because Drake was more than legit. I don't care what league they played in. They proved it.

Legit is the baseline. Now it's about if they are elite.

I think Freeman would likely have started on the bench last night. You have to play your ass off on D, dive for loose balls, and share the ball. And that's in practice.

The bar is unbelievably high. Ben only recruits a certain kind of cat.

We'll see if he even starts at Creighton tonight.

 

[InGoodCo]

Seriously, I don't remember seeing an Iowa team dunk as many times as they did last night. I'm not sure that's a stat that's tracked, it was just noticeable for me.

 

[hawkrr]

Ben likes to recruit shooters. His M.O. is that he will teach them defense. If you want to start for Ben, you gotta play defense and rebound.
In my opinion he started four former Drake players because they know his system and what he expects on the court. The starting rotation will likely change once a few others get up to speed in his system.

 

[RyDogg]

Robert Morris has to be the worst FT shooting team I've ever seen. Good god.

They almost shot better from 3 than from the FT line. 46% vs 55%

 

[Northside Hawk]

Yeah, Pizza Ranch is just awful pizza. Do Pagliai's or Wig & Pen.

Pagliai's Pizza and Pizza Ranch broasted chicken

 

[HuckFinn]

Pagliai's Pizza and Pizza Ranch broasted chicken

Every time my kids/grandkids suggest Pizza Ranch, I inform them that that store was closed down due to food poisoning. If I want fried chicken I head for the other side of the Mason-Dixon Line. Then go to Waffle House for breakfast. See ya!

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

9k I think is what I heard... I was hoping for north of 10k but it's a start. Was never going to be a snap of the fingers fix. What were some of last Fran games? 5k or less? it was pretty damn bad

Frans teams had over 8k-10k for his last few games. Still, attendance was an issue.

 

[JoeyLabasForPresident]

I sill like Fran and always will, but having a coach running up and down the side line pumping the crowd up Like Flavor Flav is fun. They GOTTA get students in there and get the student section out of the closet. How much can 60 pizzas per home game and free admission with student ID cost in the grand scheme of things?

Here's what we do...kick Pizza Ranch to the curb and give Pagliai's a kitchen somewhere in CHA to make pizza's for students every home game. Local joint, great advertising, make it a thing.

Man. Pizza Ranch is just foul stuff. Boomer pizza. And not good boomers. Boomers who think ketchup and salt are spicy.

Not many pizzas I won't eat. Pizza Ranch would need to pay me to eat it. Bottom tier with Dominos.

 

[haydensly]

Man. Pizza Ranch is just foul stuff. Boomer pizza. And not good boomers. Boomers who think ketchup and salt are spicy.

Not many pizzas I won't eat. Pizza Ranch would need to pay me to eat it. Bottom tier with Dominos.

100%. Worst pizza ever. And you couldn't pay me to go through that buffet.

Since I moved back to Iowa City area for 10 years ago I haven't been to a Pizza Ranch once. And, I'm a boomer.

Pagliai's and Wig & Pen are the only places I get pizza here. Totally different styles but both are top notch.

 

[Fryowa]

Man. Pizza Ranch is just foul stuff. Boomer pizza. And not good boomers. Boomers who think ketchup and salt are spicy.

Not many pizzas I won't eat. Pizza Ranch would need to pay me to eat it. Bottom tier with Dominos.

As far as chain pizza joints go there's no equal to Little Caesars.

HOWEVER...Lowly Casey's pizza surpasses all chains. And it's made in a gas station.

I appreciate and love independent places and their stuff is the top of the heap when it comes to the real deal...but Casey's is by far the best pie when we're talking them vs. Pizza Ranch, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa Murphy's, Little Caesars, Godfathers, Sbarra. Blows them all out of the water.

 

[Fryowa]

100%. Worst pizza ever. And you couldn't pay me to go through that buffet.

Since I moved back to Iowa City area for 10 years ago I haven't been to a Pizza Ranch once. And, I'm a boomer.

Pagliai's and Wig & Pen are the only places I get pizza here. Totally different styles but both are top notch.

If you ever get to NW Iowa go to Sfumato in Carnes, Iowa. Unincorporated town of about 8 people right off Hwy 60.

https://www.nwestiowa.com/news/sfum...cle_251490de-2255-11ed-8d40-276f1f34f149.html

It's an authentic Neapolitan place with a wood fired oven brought over from Italy. Founded by a wounded vet and his dad. He became a certified Pizzaiola and they do a limited number of pizzas every night, from scratch, when the dough is gone they're done.

The company I work for bought a giant laser tube cutter a couple years ago. The controls system was made in Italy, the techs that installed it and set it up came from Naples and Palermo and spent a couple weeks at our plant. We took them there and they all loved it, said it would 100% fit right in back where they were from. One of them was about in tears and took like ten thousand pics and selfies with the staff to show people back home.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Frans teams had over 8k-10k for his last few games. Still, attendance was an issue.

Was it that high? I'd have to look back but I seem to remember it being well below that. Like 5-6 k tops with tickets sold with less then that showing up. Either way if attendance and overall apathy wasn't as bad as it was Fran woulda got a 16th yr.

Fran didn't seem to want to acknowledge that though. He acted all butthurt over it as if the firing wasn't justified. Well fly a kite then. He didn't win enough in the post season to wave any kind of entitlement card around. He wasn't that well liked. He was tolerated cause he did win some and developed some great kids. Can't take that away from him. But Beth did what had to be done it's as simple as that

 

[Hawkfnntn]

As far as chain pizza joints go there's no equal to Little Caesars.

HOWEVER...Lowly Casey's pizza surpasses all chains. And it's made in a gas station.

I appreciate and love independent places and their stuff is the top of the heap when it comes to the real deal...but Casey's is by far the best pie when we're talking them vs. Pizza Ranch, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa Murphy's, Little Caesars, Godfathers, Sbarra. Blows them all out of the water.

Yeah Caseys is where it's at to me. CiCis is another of those cheap places that I used to love going to in DSM when I lived there. They had brownies and cinnamon rolls to die for and pizza was that thin kind you could eat a bunch of. I ate way too much of it in my 20s at the one on the southside off E14th and up by the Merle Hay Mall. They seem to have fallen by the wayside now I don't think there's any of them close to me in TN maybe Nashville. It's been yrs since I've been to one. Wichita KS had one I'd been to before