Jock 2 Jock Podcast with Patrick McCaffery - "Keeping Your Composure"

Thanks for joining us for the jock to jock podcast where we get a unique look at Iowa men's basketball from a player's perspective.

We'll be joined by Patrick McCaffrey after this from I'm on communications experience the I'm on difference.

We're back with the jock to jock podcast hardwood edition here on rock108.com and wherever you get your podcast.

Joining me right now, Patrick McCaffrey.

Welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

Team coming off a stretch of three games in six days.

You've got to let us know each game requires prep, scouting, practice.

How the hell do you muscle through all of that?

Yeah, you know, it's not not good.

It's a blur of a week.

You know, you kind of lose sight of a lot of different things.

And, you know, obviously the week didn't go how we wanted.

All you can do is continue to show up to work every day and play and try to try to write the ship and figure it out.

Still a lot of strong belief in our team and ready to, you know, kind of continue to work on things and get better throughout the rest of the season.

But yeah, it's a tough week.

It's kind of that week creeping up on finals week as well.

So like you're turning in all of your papers, projects, assignments, all that kind of stuff the last week of classes and then.

as well as all the games and such.

So it's an interesting week.

It's probably the hardest week of the season every year, because it always kind of falls that way.

You know, it is what it is, and it's what we signed up for, so.

When you finish one game, do you get any chance to breathe before you're receiving the scouting report for the next game?

That night.

So that's it, though.

And then the next day when we go in, it's the new scouting report and all that kind of stuff.

For those that don't understand, the Scouting Report is done by one of your coaches and they scout the next team, correct?

Yep.

And they give you the tendencies and things that you should look for and it's essentially homework on top of the homework that you're already doing for finals, right?

Yeah, you know, so they give us like a report that's like probably, I don't know, like 20 pages.

And you know, the first page will have like, it'll be like

You kind of like a quick little summary of the team like and then it'll have like they're shooting percentages from three from the foul line They're like team stats, you know like points allowed versus points scored all that kind of stuff and then Then you flip and then it'll be personnel pretty much like a paragraph per player with all their numbers for the year Then there's play calls Depending on the team depending on how well like, you know, whoever knows the coach or how many times you've played them in the past

They'll have, it varies how much the play calls will be on there, and then it'll have all of the plays drawn up, so you can look at them.

It'll have some of their box scores from previous games, and all that kind of stuff.

So it's a pretty thorough thing, and then we get quizzed on all of it later on, like before the game, so you gotta know it, otherwise you can get yelled at.

So it's a lot of information, but you know what, it's what you need to win at this level.

That's just it's what we're gonna continue to do.

I'm sure

for somebody who is a little bit younger on the roster How difficult can it be and I'm not meaning you but for somebody that's younger on the roster To not mix up, you know once you get into the second game the third game to go Well, wait a second wasn't that the play that we had to run and then you're mixing up maybe previous scouting reports.

Does that happen sometimes?

I'm sure it does for some of the younger guys, but typically

the personnel ones that are the hardest are the ones early on in the season where like a team will have like if we're playing like like Florida A&M we play on Saturday they have like 11 transfers.

Odds are it's guys that we probably don't know like in league you have a pretty good feel for all the specific guys but then it's like when we play a Florida A&M

like they have 11 transfers so it's 11 new guys that you need to figure out and understand and you know like a lot of teams run the same stuff a lot of teams from different stuff often it's personnel based depending on who you have on your roster that's other stuff that we need to you know pay attention to and try to understand okay like yeah this is the play that they called but like why did they run this play who do they want to shoot it like you know all that kind of stuff

not for nothing but an ass chewing from coaches is not a good one is it

No, no, no, no.

I got a bad one, because I got a question wrong.

There's probably like three years ago, and then I never got, I haven't gotten the one wrong since.

Does that equate to more laps?

What does that equate to besides getting the verbal chewing?

No, you just get yelled at.

And then like, if you don't know the information, he's like, he's not, he's probably, it probably would affect your playing time.

It's not like it's like, oh, you got it wrong, go do 100 push-ups, like.

It's more like oh like you don't know like then you're probably you're less likely to play as much

So that's what people don't think about is that this game basketball?

At this level is just as much mental as it is physical

probably more so I would say I'd say probably more so You have to be able to think like there's a lot of guys who are really good talented players But like either don't make it to this level or don't thrive at this level because of there because they just don't think it at a high enough level

Like they just don't understand necessarily what the coaches are asking for and what you're trying to do and you know, what equates to winning basketball It sucks to see but it just kind of is what it's able to separate the good talented players versus like the overall, you know, really good players in general

You mentioned good talented players.

So when you get behind in a game, how do you personally keep your composure?

Cuz I mean, I remember getting behind in games and getting like really pissed off

but that was also seventh and eighth grade level.

Yeah, obviously it's frustrating, right?

You know, you're losing.

You're promise everybody's out there trying.

Like we want to win more than anybody else.

Like we're really trying.

And so, you know, when it doesn't go well, it's frustrating.

You can't let it linger.

You have to just continue to, you know, just take your possession by possession.

There's no eight point shot that can bring you back like within a possession or however many points you're down.

Like there's no eight or nine point shot.

It's, you know, it's twos and threes and free throws.

And then you got to kind of chip away.

And, you know, you just kind of have to remain calm and understanding of the game plan and still try to, you know, execute to the best of your ability.

And if we're having a hard time or maybe the game plan isn't working, then that's, then that turns into the coaches, you know, they make adjustments, whether it's changing defenses or, you know, personnel or.

you know, calling different plays or whatever they decide to do, then it's on them to make adjustments.

But up until that point, you just have to follow the game plan to the best of your ability.

For younger players that are listening to the jock to jock podcast, what sort of advice do you give them personally on how you do it to keep your composure?

How do you do it?

You know, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

You know, you just have to really engage in, you know, the whole process of the season as a whole.

You know, we play 35 games.

So it's like you can't get super bit out of shape over, you know, a specific game.

You can, you can get worked up about like, you know, like things that are trending in the wrong direction, things that you think need to be nipped in the bud.

But like in terms of like, you know, you can't get too caught up in wins and losses unless they become like a huge pattern.

But like one loss here or one win there, you have to, you know, stay even killed because the next game is going to be just as intense.

And you need to figure out ways to win.

So the thing that I tell our freshman all the time is that it's a long season.

You need to stay the course, stay confident in yourself.

I always say to them, never lose confidence in yourself or your teammates.

That's when all the shit will go to hell.

And you see stuff like that.

That's the difference between teams that have losing seasons and teams that have winning seasons.

Because at this level, the talent discrepancy isn't anything crazy.

And especially in our league, like every team has good players and and what kind of what it comes down to as your overall team dynamic.

And, you know, ability to execute in crucial situations.

I asked the question because of something I saw last night in the NBA, the flagrant foul assessed on Draymond Green in the contest.

We both saw it.

I'd like your assessment, not necessarily on the player himself, but on the play.

when you see something like that he's flailing about and you know that he's trying to hit him that's not holding on to composure and this fella here possibly has a timer recording looking at a third suspension in the NBA

yeah so um it was funny because we're watching the game live and I go

these two teams, they always, there's always some sort of fight.

So I was like, I bet there's going to be a fight here soon.

And then they, the camera pans it on Draymond and I was watching with Ben Crickey, my roommate, and he's like, it's probably going to be that guy.

Sure enough, like three minutes later, like Draymond just punches the guy.

And like he kind of has a tendency to, you know, kind of like flail around sometimes, like when you just like flail around and kick that guy in the nuts the one time or like just kind of like whatever he does.

It can be frustrating.

It's not like they were getting smacked.

It was a close game up until that point.

They might have even been winning.

I don't remember the exact score, but I've been in certain situations before where the other teams get physical and you get frustrated and you move a certain way and he's so close to you that you might hit him a certain way.

I don't know if that's necessarily what was going on in Dremon's situation, but I can understand and appreciate the frustration of you're in a competitive environment.

In their case, millions of people are watching them play.

Maybe even in certain games, tens of millions of people are watching them play.

There's a lot of pressure there.

There's a lot of money at stake, obviously, although Dreymon's gotten paid handsomely and he just got another big contract.

But there's a lot of money involved.

There's competitors like guys want to win.

And so, you know, like, I can understand and appreciate, you know, the frustration in this specific moment.

It's hard that if you just swing off and punch somebody, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, even like full on like.

punch him his hand was kind of open but you know like I can understand and appreciate the the emotion involved in that in that moment

I mean as the athlete that you are and playing the game that he does you look at and are able to assess it a little bit differently than the rest of us I mean as I saw it I'm like why in the world would he take this weird wild swing that didn't look like it needed to happen hitting the guy in the side of the head obviously he goes down

Maybe some theatrics.

I don't know.

I'm not saying that here on this particular podcast But what I but I am seeing is that Draymond seems to be doing this more and more and more and without naming names Do you think that there are players that either you've played against or that you see out there that just have aggressive tendencies in their game and are maybe Doing that more than actually playing in a team environment.

Yeah, and I think also it comes down to like

People like cuz like he's been suspended several times like for stuff like that So obviously that's in the back of his head, right?

Cuz like you get suspended you don't get your game check and you forfeit a lot of money It's like once you make a mistake like that In the heat of the moment in the heat of battle like I think it becomes much easier to make that mistake again because you're so worried and you're thinking about making that mistake It was like a couple years ago and Grayson Allen kept tripping everybody It was like cuz he'd gotten so much flack and he'd gotten in so much trouble for doing it

that it was always on the forefront of his mind.

So then when it happened again, like, and he tripped somebody, it's like, it's like, oh, I mean, I did it again.

Like, so I feel like once you make that mistake, it's always in your head.

It's always, you know, at the front of your mind.

And it didn't look like, like Dremont didn't like openly try to punch him.

It was just kind of like he was flying around and he accidentally hit him.

And maybe it was on purpose.

I don't know.

Like, but it's just like, I'm not in his mind.

I can't tell you what he was trying to do, but it's just, it's tricky, man.

Like,

Like I said, it all just goes back to just the fact that it's a really competitive environment and people get really frustrated and there's a lot of money at stake and there's a lot of you know stuff on the line, you know some guys it's it's hard to keep your cool and and you know, I've I've gotten angry in games.

I've gotten a technical I got one last year Northwestern I got really frustrated with an official like it's just stuff happens in those and you react differently than you would in a normal, you know situation

between you and Ben that you guys both said

there's probably going to be some sort of fight in this game.

Do you think the refs are also thinking, you know, like you said, in his head, there's a magnet of, I don't want to get this going.

I don't want to be suspended again.

But the refs are also like, watch him because he's going to get aggressive.

Yeah, the refs are definitely aware.

Actually, one of our games last week, I don't remember which one.

It might have been Michigan one.

The captain's meeting before the game, the refs told us like, hey, like we got a memo that was insanely long.

about because there had been like a bench clearing brawl earlier the week like guys are fighting he's like like there's no tolerance for that like any sort of any sort of chirping between you guys or whatever like he's like it's gonna end poorly for all of you so just you know like just know that we've been warned and now you've guys have been warned as well like that we're supposed to take that into account so I'm sure especially with teams that have a history like that because in the NBA you play they'll play the Suns four times a year

The NBA is well aware of the things that have happened, you know, like between those two teams, like they got in that big fight.

I think it was last year where a bunch of guys got ejected and they, you know, worn the reps and, you know, try to get everybody to act accordingly in all of those specific situations.

You know, the Detroit Pistons from the 80s, they come to mind for me.

I mean, Bill Ambeer had a combat basketball video game and they played that up.

Is it just a different game nowadays?

Yeah, you know, I think I think what changed everything was the malls of the palace when they all you know went in the stands and started fighting everybody I Think from then on they really made like like no like we're not gonna fight like I think honestly it might lead to more You know dust ups and scuffles because guys know that they're not gonna be able to really fight Like my dad always says like when they play they just let you fight.

It's like it was almost like hockey

you'd get thrown out of the game and all that kind of stuff.

But in the moment you'd be able to fight now.

It's like, well, yeah, the guys go nose and nose, chest to chest, but like they're not going to ever be actually able to hit each other.

They're going to get broken up by the coaches, the players, the refs, all that kind of stuff, like before it actually escalates to anything entirely too physical.

And then sometimes, obviously, you know, like there was a couple of years ago when Joel and me and Colin with any towns, like we're wrestling on the ground and it was a whole thing.

And there's going to be several instances like that every year.

But for the most part, like, all those dust-ups or whatever is just kind of like guys getting each other's faces.

But I think the Malice of the Palace, from the league's perspective, really changed everything, made it much more difficult to, you know, get in different, to get in fights and, you know, really do all that kind of stuff.

I don't know why MMA never trademarked Malice of the Palace.

That's such a great name.

Yes, it was.

It's an unbelievable, yeah.

It was so perfect.

Spotlight on Iowa Freshman.

This week...

Six footer from Moline, Illinois.

Patrick, tell us more about Brock Harding.

Well, I'll tell you that six foot is generous.

It's on the roster.

It's on HawkeyeSports.com.

That is generous.

Well, first of all, I love Brock.

Like I love, you know, his swagger, his competitiveness.

He's really annoying to play against because he doesn't shut up like he just runs his mouth constantly.

So like in practices in the fall like you just want to punch him because like he just like doesn't shut up ever But even punching him wouldn't stop him like it just wouldn't like it's just kind of how he's wired.

It's how he is But I love playing with guys like that like his swagger is contagious like his overall, you know Just competitiveness like he tries to fight somebody every game like it's awesome And I've always like I always have respect for guys like that and obviously he's an unbelievable passer

some of the passes he makes I'm like oh wow like I couldn't even believe you saw me here like if I was open or whatever like it was great.

Bullet quick it's hard guy to stay in front of he's still you know kind of coming around on his on his jump shot I know he's made a lot of progress on it since he's been in high school and he's like he's still working on it.

First of all he works at his game in unbelievable amount like he's constantly in the gym he's a psycho.

in terms of his work ethic.

So I know that the results on his jump shot, it's eventually going to come around.

And I have a strong belief in that.

I'm excited, you know, for his overall future and his progress.

And I just, I love having him around.

He's a great guy to, you know, play with and somebody I will go to war with any day.

What is it specifically?

Maybe you can't share, but what was it that got in your head that Brock was saying to you?

Because you talked about trash talking a couple episodes ago.

What's he saying to you that gets it gets at you or is it just the constant nature of it?

Yeah, I would say it's not like anything he's ever said specifically to me like that had bothered me It's more so just like the fact that he's constantly chirping like and he'll chirp like My teammates like guys that I'm planning to get like shut up or like he'll say something or argue about fouls or he'll do whatever So it's like more so stuff like that like it's never like he's just

went at me for whatever reason like it's not like that's ever been the case more so like he's just like chirping generally and then I would like be like yo like shut up like I'm tired and then like we'd get into it but it's more it's never like he's like outwardly just like chirping random people like it's never been like that but like it's just to the point where sometimes he gets annoying

or sometimes maybe he'll cross the line with somebody else, whether it's somebody he's already fighting with and then you got to step in.

And it's just kind of, you know, it's the nature of just a competitive game, a competitive environment.

And, you know, we're always ready to compete and we're always, you know, battling out there.

So it's just kind of, you know, that just kind of the nature of the game.

Do you think every team needs a churper like Brock?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think, I think maybe not like every team is like, like it's like a necessity, right?

But you need somebody that's not going to back down to anybody and he's never

My dad always says is he's like we're not looking for a fight, but we're not running from one either is what he always says So I think Brock fits that perfectly although sometimes he may instigate it But for the most part, you know, you got to be tough you got to understand that something may happen on the court that you Need to address and something you need to protect your teammates and you need to protect, you know, what's going on

So you're not running from the fight

That is the double double dumbass here today.

No, no, no, I embrace this one.

I'm on a hot street.

Yes, you are three of 10 so far, but the last game went very well.

You got both of them correct.

Two new stories for you today.

Your three schools are Ohio State, Maryland and Illinois.

What I'll do is I'll read the stories and then you just have to tell me that the state that they'd be associated with that has a big 10 school.

The first story, a report from the Inspector General in the Charmed City.

revealed someone at the Department of Public Works was trying to get a raise at his current job.

Report states that the employee allegedly said that they had a job offer.

This employee then provided an offer letter with an annual salary of $100,435.

Upon inspection of the offer letter, DPW found that text boxes with comments connected to the employee's username.

They also contacted the other company to find out

that they didn't know who the employee was and no, they had not made an offer to him.

He has since been fired.

Second story.

A Hamilton man was shot by his ex-girlfriend.

Quote, she wanted to take me on a walk with her and I found out that she had a pistol with her.

She said it was a pellet gun and I said, let me see it because I'm not going anywhere with you if you've got a gun.

She pulled it out and then shot him in the testicle.

He's gonna be okay, but she went to jail.

Oh, that's just awful.

So your schools again, Ohio State, Maryland, Illinois, to walk me through your thought process, please.

The thing is, if she shot him there, that means he did something wrong beforehand.

She didn't do that unprovoked.

He was unfaithful or something.

He did something wrong.

The first one was they submitted an offer letter to a guy who didn't exist.

The offer letter was a job that didn't exist.

He

was

trying to get a raise at his current position.

The

job didn't exist.

Okay.

Let me think.

That sounds like a Maryland thing.

And then I'm gonna go for the second one.

I'm gonna go Illinois.

Okay, there's some crazy people in both of those states and I'm not as confident in this one as I had been last week So if I got both of them wrong, I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm gonna lock those in Maryland in Illinois

Maryland in Illinois.

You got one of them.

Correct.

Do you know which one you got right?

The testicle one.

Hopefully

no.

Oh, dang it Hamilton is in Ohio.

That would have been Ohio State, but you got the Maryland one.

Correct.

Charm City would have been your clue

I always like want to like I'm always like should I just go look these up while he's reading the question But I'm like I need to have some integrity like I'm not gonna do that

So four out of twelve what I was going to do and I don't know Would you be down if I went back to last season's jock to jock podcast and see where Connor was at this time?

Yeah, I think that I think that's necessary.

Is that motivational at that point or

I think it would turn into that.

Yes.

Okay Patrick.

Thank you so much for the time

Sweet, thanks, Brad.