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Coach Calhoun

Bearhawk0505

HB All-American
Mar 13, 2010
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It was enjoyable listening to him call the game tonight. Two of his quotes stuck with me. As he was talking about how he thinks we will improve this year, he said, "they are showing defensive grit tonight." The other was that he used to tell his players, "the two things you can control are effort and attitude."
 
I like his insight and he offers some great perspective but he's terrible. He just talks way too much
 
When I could understand him, he made a lot of salient points. But there were so many times that I had no idea what he was saying. AND, I heard the names Ben Gordon and Ray Allen tonight more than any of the players on the court, except Jok
 
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Yeah - you could tell why he was such a succesful coach. He does kind of ramble a bit, but I'm OK with it.

Seemed he was pulling for the Hawks (no?). Maybe likes seeing the east coast guys have some success.

I liked his line (because its so true): 'if this is the real iowa, then they're going to be pretty good in the future'
 
It was enjoyable listening to him call the game tonight. Two of his quotes stuck with me. As he was talking about how he thinks we will improve this year, he said, "they are showing defensive grit tonight." The other was that he used to tell his players, "the two things you can control are effort and attitude."
He was enjoyable to listen to. His commentary reminded me of watching Ben Gordon and Ray Allen because they were just as enjoyable to watch.
 
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Yeah I understand you have him there to provide insight and the lead broadcaster is going to let him talk, but damn for most of the game the one guy could barely get in a word edge-wise to simply call the action on the floor.
 
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I would rather listen to him ramble while explaining the fine details of the game than some of the other knuckled heads that get the players wrong half the time.
 
Really like Calhoun's insight. Trying to decipher what he's saying? Not so much. It seems his mind is working faster than his mouth. I had a flashback to Al McGuire.
 
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Calhoun is actually getting better at the "color tv" thing. Last year when I watched him, he talked just as much but mostly about himself. At least this game he came a day early & watched a practice so he knew some players names.
 
Calhoun made a few dumbsh_t comments. One was in the 2nd half at the defensive end of the court, ISU shoots a 3, gets the long rebound, says Iowa player needs to block out better. Idiot comment. Ball bounced long. The player had his man boxed out. Nothing you can do when you have your man boxed out and the ball bounces long. Now other players, such as the guards, might have been able to go after the ball, but not the man under the basket. That kind of crap commentary makes me think he does not belong in the announcers booth.
 
Calhoun made a few dumbsh_t comments. One was in the 2nd half at the defensive end of the court, ISU shoots a 3, gets the long rebound, says Iowa player needs to block out better. Idiot comment. Ball bounced long. The player had his man boxed out. Nothing you can do when you have your man boxed out and the ball bounces long. Now other players, such as the guards, might have been able to go after the ball, but not the man under the basket. That kind of crap commentary makes me think he does not belong in the announcers booth.
Went to the game and then watched replay. Calhoun has known Fran for a long time and likes him. It biased his view a bit but I loved it.
 
I really enjoyed Calhoun last night. Nice to have someone not faking basketball knowledge like so many of the BTN and espn announcers. Championship winning coaches have some excellent perspectives.
 
He picked up very early that ISU doesn't have a rim protector and also that Monte needed to be more aggressive to the hoop.

He did much better than the last time I heard him analyze a game.

Why is he doing this at all? You would think he could be sitting on a sandy beach somewhere having a cold frosty one...
 
There were times where I thought all he wanted to talk about was the Big East and those great rivalries that are no more.Calhoun does speak his mind and so you never know what is going to come out of his mouth,
 
Calhoun made a few dumbsh_t comments. One was in the 2nd half at the defensive end of the court, ISU shoots a 3, gets the long rebound, says Iowa player needs to block out better. Idiot comment. Ball bounced long. The player had his man boxed out. Nothing you can do when you have your man boxed out and the ball bounces long. Now other players, such as the guards, might have been able to go after the ball, but not the man under the basket. That kind of crap commentary makes me think he does not belong in the announcers booth.

You mean like when he mentioned that being from The Sudan it was amazing how good of shooter he as become, since he probably never got shooting coaching before Fran? He played high school ball in freakin Des Moines! ;-)
 
He gave Baer an fabulous nickname - Mr Activity! I'm thinking of having some t-shirts made for that one. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
He's a coach, not a commentator. Imagine Kirk Ferentz trying to call a football game, and every time the play-by-play(edit) guy says something, Kirk brings up a story/comparison from his time at Iowa... Just like he does in interviews. Same deal here.

Calhoun is simply a case of an extremely successful ex-coach who still loves the game and wants to be around it. Works out well for both him and ESPN, who is getting a big name. While we may find some of his ramblings annoying (the 3-4 Allen/Gordon references brought up), he brings a unique perspective, and one that we don't often hear in the sports world. I enjoyed his discussion of some of his interactions with officials, the rules, how everything has changed since his early coaching days, etc.

The voice is unfortunate though. It's annoying. However, I was able to understand everything he said.

Better than Vitale, and better than Dakich.
 
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Calhoun made a few dumbsh_t comments. One was in the 2nd half at the defensive end of the court, ISU shoots a 3, gets the long rebound, says Iowa player needs to block out better. Idiot comment. Ball bounced long. The player had his man boxed out. Nothing you can do when you have your man boxed out and the ball bounces long. Now other players, such as the guards, might have been able to go after the ball, but not the man under the basket. That kind of crap commentary makes me think he does not belong in the announcers booth.
My coaches used to yell at me all the time for that exact thing.

I'd box my guy out, wouldn't be stuck under the basket, shot would go long and he'd get the rebound. Next dead ball I was on the bench and the coaches would ask me why I didn't box out and get the rebound.

That happened at every level I played......

I always assumed it was just me and not anything I was doing wrong. :rolleyes:
 
He's a coach, not a commentator. Imagine Kirk Ferentz trying to call a football game, and every time the color guy says something, Kirk brings up a story/comparison from his time at Iowa... Just like he does in interviews. Same deal here.

Calhoun is simply a case of an extremely successful ex-coach who still loves the game and wants to be around it. Works out well for both him and ESPN, who is getting a big name. While we may find some of his ramblings annoying (the 3-4 Allen/Gordon references brought up), he brings a unique perspective, and one that we don't often hear in the sports world. I enjoyed his discussion of some of his interactions with officials, the rules, how everything has changed since his early coaching days, etc.

The voice is unfortunate though. It's annoying. However, I was able to understand everything he said.

Better than Vitale, and better than Dakich.

The idea of Ferentz being a color guy made me laugh.

Calhoun is way better than Vital.
 
The idea of Ferentz being a color guy made me laugh.

Calhoun is way better than Vital.
I'm pretty firm in my belief that Dukie is the worst commentator across all sports and networks. There are several that I don't care for (Mowins, Dakich, Tim McCarver when he did Fox baseball with Buck, as a few examples), but at least those people attempt legitimate commentary instead of vomiting ridiculous catchphrases and talking about Duke. I'll take Calhoun over that any day.
 
I can never understand what the hell Jim Calhoun is saying. When he speaks, he sounds like a combination of Elmer Fudd with a Bostonian accent and the guy that used to do those Micro Machines commercials.
 
I can never understand what the hell Jim Calhoun is saying. When he speaks, he sounds like a combination of Elmer Fudd with a Bostonian accent and the guy that used to do those Micro Machines commercials.

You're in a very small minority. Practice your listening skills.
 
As a couple of posters mentioned, he is getting better. I still struggle to understand him at times, but he was way better in this game than he was the last game I heard him do.
 
Calhoun made a few dumbsh_t comments. One was in the 2nd half at the defensive end of the court, ISU shoots a 3, gets the long rebound, says Iowa player needs to block out better. Idiot comment. Ball bounced long. The player had his man boxed out. Nothing you can do when you have your man boxed out and the ball bounces long. Now other players, such as the guards, might have been able to go after the ball, but not the man under the basket. That kind of crap commentary makes me think he does not belong in the announcers booth.
You do know that guards can box out too.?
 
I like his knowledge and insight. He does need to work on being a color man.

I think he was at the game prepared with a lot of filler material in case the Cyclones were blowing out the young Hawkeyes at CHA.
 
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