Fun game - had a chance to attend in person. My 8th grader went with his basketball team, so my 5th grader in his Jack Nunge jersey and I sat together. We had good tickets that a friend gave us a few rows behind the Iowa bench, which was cool. Here are my behind the scenes tidbits.
This team is pretty tight knit. You can't really fake that kind of thing - clearly a great culture.
McCollum allows for pretty spirited communication from his players, at least his veterans. I'm not saying he doesn't have total control, but he seems fine with them yelling back at him if they disagree on switches or some other feedback they want to give. Especially the four upperclassmen starters. Seems like healthy communications in the heat of battle and they respect they are all trying to get to the same place (again, great relationships rooted in a great culture).
The thing that seemed to piss McCollum off the most were "bad shots"...which he'd scream to his assistants. I got the sense he was better off with the shot clock expiring if they were still moving the ball and trying to find a great shot, than he was with Iowa settling for an average shot with time on the clock. Almost all the bad shot outbursts were due to Folgueiras or Howard overdribbling, getting in deep, and forcing a bad shot instead of kicking it back out.
McCollum came over to get a cup of water right before tip, and the cooler was just up from where we were sitting. I said "Need a good whistle tonight." He looked at me and laughed, with a little smirk. Probably the last time my 5th grader will think I am cool.
Beth was sitting nearby and working a few donors. We locked eyes a couple times. It was nice.
