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Drake Coach Ben McCollum Reads Like A CCC Resume

Whoever our next coach is, I hope they excel at evaluating talent that fits their system, or better yet, adapt their system to maximize their players' strengths.
The season before Alcindor Wooden’s tallest player was 6’5”. Recruiting was a different kettle of fish than now of course. Anyway he changed his base plan to match his players and went 30-0 and won UCLA’s first national championship. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about cheating, Wooden was a basketball genius who successfully modified his outstanding base plan as required by actual circumstances.

I use the term genius for two coaches-RMK and Wooden.
 
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Shertz is a better hire. Runs a much more modern system. What he did at D2 was incredible. Quickly turned ISU around. Took over a dumpster fire in STL and already has them doing fine.
What he did with the talent on that ISU team was remarkable. I couldn’t figure out why he went to St Louis so guessed the money must be much better. I looked at his successful D2 teams and had never heard of them so suspect he never made much money.
 
FWIW, Dakich thinks McCollum is the best basketball coach in college ball. He compares him to John Beilein in how he runs his offense and how he gets the most out of his players. Now, I can't stand Dakich however I do think he knows his stuff about the game and I was surprised to see him say this. Perhaps McCollum would be a HR like Cignetti.
I thought no one listened to Dakich??
 
That’s the problem with the future, usually can’t be certain. Best you can do is collect as much information as you can (as you always suggest) and make a decision that minimizes your assessed risk. I’m with you, very regretful about that one incident and a group that doesn’t grant any forgiveness.

After I asked why the SEC has very good coaches I realized two of them (that I know of) came with baggage.
I don’t care what any other “group” thinks unless it’s Dolson and Whitten. If they are good with it, let it roll. Always going to be cryers.
 
Mark Byington...he's beaten some really good teams this year (Lost to Drake, ironically), he's having a really good first year in the SEC. He has some really talented players on his Vandy team, that have eligibility left. I'd use the same narrative as I did with McCollum, but despite him showing he can be competitive at the P4 level this year...I think because of his entire history, its not as certain that he would be as successful, immediately, at IU.
Byington isn't qualified. He had 1 good season. Imagine people looking at Mike Davis after about the 02-03 season when he was in his 3rd year. It's been all downhill from there.

Byington may be excellent at finding good transfers but there's no way Dolson can look at him and project a fit at IU.
 
Byington isn't qualified. He had 1 good season. Imagine people looking at Mike Davis after about the 02-03 season when he was in his 3rd year. It's been all downhill from there.

Byington may be excellent at finding good transfers but there's no way Dolson can look at him and project a fit at IU.
How many good season prior to Michigan has May had?
 
Can McCollum hold up in the pressure cooker? That's my only concern. We're unique.
Maybe it’s not going to be easy for any candidate to hold up in the IU cooker. It shouldn’t matter which school they coach for. There is going to be pressure. Crean was the closest one to handle it since Bobby got fired, but had one bad tournament game and many thought he had to go. Glad he did, because IU has been winning more since he left..NOT.
 
Maybe it’s not going to be easy for any candidate to hold up in the IU cooker. It shouldn’t matter which school they coach for. There is going to be pressure. Crean was the closest one to handle it since Bobby got fired, but had one bad tournament game and many thought he had to go. Glad he did, because IU has been winning more since he left..NOT.
If any of these posters have not even experienced the true IU basketball culture of playing hard and winning (during Knight era) then don’t try to tell us what kind of candidate IU should be looking at. I’m not saying they have to be Bobby Knight, they just need to know how to develop and push the players to win like Bobby did. I don’t care how fast or slow people think our teams should play, it should be how well they play together to kick everyone else’s ass.
 
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Does his style of play translate to P4? I dunno, but they are 21-2 doing it his way at Drake year 1. And he won 81 percent of his games at NW Missouri State over 15 seasons (btw they are 4-18 this season without him), including 4 D-II ships over 6 seasons from 2017 to 2022 (including a 38-0 season). If he was just making the D-II tournament every year and winning under 70% of their games running his style of play, I would have concerns. But to win at the clip year in and year out that he has, it tells me they play a disciplined brand of basketball that imposes their will/play style on their opponents.

I am tired of watching (as I think we all are) our teams wilt under pressure and sh*t the bed down the stretch year in and year out. If we can't get a guy who is a slam dunk winner (baggage or no baggage) then this guy would be the next best thing. I could see this guy end up at Iowa and kicking our asses for the next two decades.
Covid cancellation probably cost him another natty as well. All in succession. A Rick Majerus/cleaner version of Bo Ryan basketball. Please come to IU.
 
Maybe it’s not going to be easy for any candidate to hold up in the IU cooker. It shouldn’t matter which school they coach for. There is going to be pressure. Crean was the closest one to handle it since Bobby got fired, but had one bad tournament game and many thought he had to go. Glad he did, because IU has been winning more since he left..NOT.
Easy to say in hindsight, but obviously Crean didn't get let go for "one bad tournament game". I like Ryan from Assembly Call guy's theory: when you've absolutely determined a coach is not going to be able to accomplish what you want for the program: move on immediately, and don't waste more time with him, and delay where you want to get to. Had we done that, we might have had Stevens or May as our coach. Would you feel better about that, or where we'd be right now had we kept Crean with his recruiting drying up, coaching and AAU contacts turned off and his personality having worn on people?
 
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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.
He’s the best coach in the country. That’s what DD said
 
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