53 minute Leistikow interview of Ben McCollum

[bobchawk]

At the time of the season when certain fans were promoting the idea of intentionally not showing up, for the purpose of "creating" change, attendance had already been low for the majority of a season. Fans had already "spoken". Beth didn't need the intentional destructiveness at that point.

I fought hard against that mentality, because at that point it was about damage control. I warned people that for attendance to get any worse, and for negativity in the community to get any more intense, it would only hurt the program. Iowa would lose talent, which they have. And the spread of negativity is part of what hurt NIL funding.

Attendance problems for men's basketball spans back 3 coaches. It is a multi-faceted and complicated situation.

The "product" is much farther down the list of reasons for attendance struggles than people are making it out to be. For one thing, attendance was bad the entire season. The product was never given a chance.

The previous season Iowa was a bubble team. Not ideal, but certainly a product worth supporting. Did it take fans 14 years to actually figure out what Franball was, and that they didn't like it? Given the idiocy of fans, I suppose that's possible.

But Fran had some good teams (good product) that didn't draw as well as they should have, either. As I've said, there are many factors that have contributed to attendance issues for a long time.

I think the drastic drop-off in attendance over the last few years is strongly correlated to increased attendance in women's basketball. There are reasons for that, that I won't go into. But they don't have to do with quality of product. Women's basketball is not a better product than men's basketball. I can see where it might be if you are primarily a Hawkeye fan, that simply enjoys the success of Hawkeye teams. But if you are primarily a basketball fan, women's basketball is NEVER a better product than men's basketball, under any circumstances.

The product could have been a little better with the support of fans help to put the team over the top in a couple of games. There's a reason a team goes from being a 4 point favorite at home vs an equal team, to a 4 point underdog vs the same team on the road. The fans never gave that dynamic an opportunity this season.

And the product could have been better next season, had guys like Josh and Pryce stuck around. But fans contributed to that not happening either

Fran and Lick had issues but Alford had the place rocking and knew how to connect with the students--his problems started when he hung on to Pierce too long and tried to bargain his name around town.....and John Wooden disagrees with you regarding the womens vs mens product--

 

[83Hawk]

Here’s the true fan to save the day.

Always good for a chuckle or two.

 

[AmericaNeedsMe]

Here’s the true fan to save the day.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

Will we be dancing next season?

* Drake went 4-1 vs Power Conference Teams last season.

* Next year IOWA will have an elite PG & a defense that gets stops.

Interesting discussion.

 

[skydog0784]

View embedded media

Anyone know who is our S&C coach for MBB? And is he a holdover or new this year? Maybe unfilled yet at this point?

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Impressive interview. If BMc gets what he is looking for in the portal (a couple of bigs, a shooter, and a PG), Iowa is going to be very competitive. Too early to know how many wins that will translate into in the B1G, but Iowa is NOT going to get run off the court, like we saw a few times this year. Obviously, staying healthy is always important. He expects to win.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Impressive interview. If BMc gets what he is looking for in the portal (a couple of bigs, a shooter, and a PG), Iowa is going to be very competitive. Too early to know how many wins that will translate into in the B1G, but Iowa is NOT going to get run off the court, like we saw a few times this year. Obviously, staying healthy is always important. He expects to win.

I agree with you, as long as Iowa adds a few more at least replacement level players, that the Hawks will be more competitive.

But not getting run off the court means nothing if it doesn't result in a win.

How much better will the record be?

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I agree with you, as long as Iowa adds a few more at least replacement level players, that the Hawks will be more competitive.

But not getting run off the court means nothing if it doesn't result in a win.

How much better will the record be?

From the portal targets I know about, if BMc can get the shooter from Kansas State, Duke the center from Grand Canyon, the center from Rice, and a solid portal PG, Iowa will be very competitive. Same will be true for the majority of the B1G, but we have the advantage of a top PG and a core group of players who have played together.

 

[bobchawk]

I agree with you, as long as Iowa adds a few more at least replacement level players, that the Hawks will be more competitive.

But not getting run off the court means nothing if it doesn't result in a win.

How much better will the record be?

agree with the win part--BYU, in the tourney, scored 88 pts in that game and lost by 25--unbelievable