BigD
Well-Known Member
It’s nice read and impressive at the same time about our new basketball coach.
We all know this but…………..
- Thread starter BigD
- Start date
BigD
Well-Known Member
A great podcast to listen to
youtu.be
Legends & Listeners: McCollum impresses on day one, Iowa Women bow out of tournament
Chad Leistikow and Scott Dochterman give their in-depth analysis on Iowa hiring Ben McCollum and why his first day on the job was a huge success. The Iowa Wo...
youtu.be
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
While we're at it, here's another article that talks about his offensive system, the freedom the guys have in the system, how he got his start in coaching, and quotes from other coaches like Shaka Smart, etc. I'm not sure if there's a paywall. My apologies if there is.
www.nytimes.com
Meet Ben McCollum, the Division II coach winning titles and turning heads across college basketball
McCollum has won three national titles at Northwest Missouri, and counts Shaka Smart, Buzz Williams and Mark Adams as among his admirers.
www.nytimes.com
Great find. Spacing spacing spacing. I don't have a clue who all are shooters on the floor but they had like 4 times guys turned down shots. They may have been somewhat contested so they kept the ball moving instead and got themselves a great open look. It really started with the dribble penetration and initial kickout. That got the defense to collapse and begin having to rotate.
I dunno about you but I can watch that when it leads to Ws every night.
Even watching Drake it didn't really seem that slow. Most possessions they would take a few seconds to set up the offense (similar to what Iowa did on the possessions they didn't get a quick shot in transition). But other than that, it was pretty much ball movement until they got a good shot. Less possessions for sure. But it didn't really look that slow. Also forcing the other team to try harder and longer to get an open look tends to lower the possessions per game number.
That kinda plays into what Ben said in his presser the other day. He said they didn't really have the shooters to get quick shots. In a play similar to the one in that video, a guy like Dix or Sandfort would have already shot three different times. It doesn't sound like Ben was coaching them to turn down those open shots.
There's also a difference between what's just an open shot and a good shot. It can get even more nuanced then that. Sandfort and Dix are great examples of players that were different at understanding that.
Sandfort to me never really learned the difference. His shot selection over 4 yrs was often straight up bad. Granted he sometimes made bad shots hence why he'd keep taking them. Dix on the other hand I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of 'bad' shots he mighta forced up during his career.
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
One of my first thought was, can you imagine trying to play help defense against this?
trj
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I can admit I got this wrong. You look at the tempo/pace Drake played at, and you immediately think this shit isn’t going to work. BUT YOU GOTTA DO THE HOMEWORK ON THE GUY. It isn’t about tempo, pace or number of possessions, it is about efficiency. The majority of his NW Missouri St. teams shot 50% or better from the floor. You will not quite get that at this level, but getting close to that can win you a lot of games.
You have to get dudes, and like the previous head coaches, you will have to spot guys under the radar and make them work, but you can see how McCollum can make this work, and you can get excited about it.
You have to get dudes, and like the previous head coaches, you will have to spot guys under the radar and make them work, but you can see how McCollum can make this work, and you can get excited about it.
Yeah it's really tough to defend. It's even tougher when you don't put up the first shot just because you have a crack at a rushed one. They didn't let the defense off the hook by doing that. Kept them scrambling. The spacing and crisp passing are the keys. Denying initial penetration or not helping off of it is about the only way to really do it. Easier said then done
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
Yep, and the thing is, if you read the article I posted above, it's all out of their own freedom to create using the principles he has them use. I love it.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
The thing is that Fran was consistent, but consistently above average. He won wherever he went, had a fun brand of basketball, but never could recruit or coach at an elite level. He was/is the Kirk Cousin of MBB coaches. And hey, given the state of Iowa MBB when he took over, we were thrilled to have Kirk Cousins instead of Ryan Leaf.
McCollum has won four natties! That is insane. I don't care about the level. He had the same limitations as every other coach in D2 and rolled all of them. Coaching is coaching. I am excited about this guy talking about titles. Hell yeah!
Drake's last 2 men's BB coaches are currently at P4 programs, and neither of them matched McCollum in season record, or in advancement in the tournament:
And, he did it in one year, and he did it without a single significant holdover from DeVries' teams.
JoeyLabasForPresident
Well-Known Member
What's average? And what's average from someone of Fran's length of tenure? I will concede he was above average. But not by much. In all fairness, .581 is above .500. But his B1G record is two games above .500. And in the dance, he's 6-12.
trj
Well-Known Member
His record is only slightly above average. But which school you get that record at is also important. If he accumulated that record at Michigan State or Indiana, he would be a below average coach. Doing it at Iowa makes him a little better than slightly above average. On a scale of 1-10 in power 5 coaches. I'd call him a 7.
Dix took a lot of early in the shot clock, mid range fade away with a guy in his face shots. To me, that's about as bad as it gets. But he was also pretty good at making them so it's tough to call them bad.
