Drake Coach Ben McCollum Reads Like A CCC Resume
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Offense is the slowest in D1 (legit ranked 364th). I think that crosses him off the list. IU fans can’t handle 55-45 wins.
Disagree. We can’t handle sucking. Virginia fans loved every minute of their natty season
They might be slow according to your numbers but Drake only averages about 5 points less a game. Seems like they have a very efficient O. And they play great defense. Hmmmmm. Sounds like someone else we’re familiar with.
Obviously a very good basketball mind, and basketball coach. His concerns are his lack of P4 experience, his offensive philosophies, namely pace of play...and then potentially his personality and whether he'd be comfortable under the big lights of IU bball.
There are some core aspects of his offense that I think most of us would love watching. They're very spread out...lots of pick and rolls with pocket passing, lots of back cutting, lots of penetrating and kicking to shooters.
The part I think many of us, including myself, wouldn't love...they do work late in "most" shot clocks, they don't push transition much, despite having a very good defense, and their best player dribbles around A LOT.
I have no idea what McCollum would do if he had access to the types of players he would at IU...but his style and pace of play would be a concern if I were Dolson. Not a disqualifying concern, but not ideal. Its very possible he'd play faster at IU, and its also very possible having Bennett Stirtz is leading to some of this.
If people are complaining about Bennett this guy is far worse in pace. Legit slowest in D1. Not my stats. Kenneth Pom
Another take at a "list", for me...
Coaches I'd be ELATED about: Stevens, Oats, Pearl, Donovan
Coaches I'd be excited about: Otz, Smart, McCollum, Few
Coaches I'd be happy about: Williams, McCasland, Drew, McDermott, Altman, May
Coaches I'd be "mid" about: Cronin, DeVries, Calhoun, Byington, Randy Bennett, Gates, Brownell
Coaches I know would win, but I'd be wary about the baggage: Beard, Golden, Jans, Wade
That's probably true. But he'd need to win, pretty much immediately, or people like me would be bitching about the limited possessions style not maximizing what Indiana University Basketball "could be". And when/if we lost out on some key recruits, people, like me again probably, would start linking our style with losing recruits.
In the end...I think most of us would just prefer a faster, more up tempo style and pace.
But I do encourage anyone with these concerns, to actually watch McCollum's Drake team play. There WILL be some frustrating stretches where Stirtz dribbles around for entire possessions, but there will also be long stretches where their defense and offensive movement are beautiful things to watch.
No, it's not. We all want points or defense or whatever, but as soon as we lose a couple of games we'll all be upset with the lack or offense or the need for better defense. I compare it to play calling in football. Nobody's ever happy.
I’m assuming he is probably smart enough to play to the strengths of his players. One thing I know for sure, he finds good shooters. That would be crazy to watch an IU game where we have shooters, and we win… even by a low score… I love me some good ole whoop ass defense.
Drake has scored 1709 points this year.
Divide by 24 games= 71+ per game
I’ll take 71 a game and win a lot
Divide by 24 games= 71+ per game
I’ll take 71 a game and win a lot
Then someone will say they don’t have any competition. That’s what people were saying about the IU football competition and why Cignetti was able to win games
Watch one of their games, if you haven't already. They do bleed a lot of shot clocks. It is a valid concern.
But as I've typed a bunch of times, wrapped up inside a bunch of those possessions are REALLY good motions and actions, a wide open, spread out design... And I suspect that a lot of this years later shot clock situations is McCollum's HEAVY reliance on and usage of Bennett Stirtz. That could be both a concern or a strength, depending on how you look at it.
Doesn't really matter, but I hope if McCollum does end up being a primary candidate, that Dolson and company go back and look at how his earlier NWMS teams played, before Stirtz... A player like Bennett Stirtz can change things. Matt Painter completely changed his entire offense around to maximize Zach Edey. Stirtz isn't Edey, but he's a really, really good basketball player, that has won McCollum a lot of basketball games.
In all fairness, we’ve been shitty for so long, we may not be able to handle winning at all.
But is that his style or is he adapting to his talent? I listened to him for a few minutes and one thing he said is he builds the team/players towards its strengths. So, with D2 players, and now Drake, typically not being elite athletes, he may be working to get the most out of the strengths his players have.
At IU, he could/would/should attract better athletes and tweak his style to utilize the athletic strengths of the players. At least, that's my opinion. I find him intriguing and he's moving up my list. Gotta finish the podcast though.
I agree, but will the fan base have the patience from when a Cig like basketball coach is named?
I suspect there's going to be a lot of angry people if it's not a household name like Stephens, Beard, May, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with those guys if you can get them, but if you can't and Scott has to start looking at the 2-3 Cig like names out there, I don't see people having faith in him regardless what happened in football.
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