Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - TBT star Mike Daum joins the show to talk about life inside the bubble and The Basketball Tournament experience

Episode Date: August 21, 2020

The Basketball Tournament star Mike Daum hops on the show to talk about life inside the original bubble put together by TBT. How was it playing on courts inside hotel conference rooms, what the team lounges were like, and how many Covid tests did he actually have to take? All answered here and Mike sheds some light on his decision to join House of Paign and the next steps in his pro basketball career.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Built Bar“Today’s episode is brought to you by Built Bar. Go to http://builtbar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON and you’ll get $10 off your next order.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Welcome back to a Friday morning episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast,

your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm excited to be bringing you some of that Friday energy this morning. As I said, I'm on vacation. However, I wanted to get you an episode, and I had a fantastic interview teed up to deliver at you some of that Friday energy this morning. As I said, I'm on vacation. However, I wanted to get you an episode, and I had a fantastic interview teed up to deliver at you today. If you have followed the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, you know I have a very soft spot for the TBT,

the $2 million winner-take-all tournament. We have a great relationship with the Iowa United, the team comprised of all major schools in the state of Iowa. And this past year, they decided to branch out and bring on a couple of what they wanted to call grad transfers, such as Mike Dom. So during the course of that process, developed a nice relationship with Mike, and he was willing to come on the show to talk about his experience in the TBT. Although the Iowa United did not get a chance to play, he did play for the House of Pain. And I thought his insight onto, you know, as to what happened within the bubble and his experience playing TBT was of Pain. And I thought his insight as to what happened within the bubble and his experience playing TBT was really awesome.

And I wanted to share it with you. So this isn't really Iowa Hawkeye-focused today, but it's a great interview, and you're going to really enjoy it. Mike's a great dude and provides a lot of information as to what happened. I thought it was very informative. So that is today's episode. Before we jump into that, though, if you have been liking what we've been pumping out for content,

please make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you got this podcast at. Give us that five-star review and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And without further ado, let's hop into the Mike Dahm interview. All right, I'm joined here by recurring guest Mike Dahm. Mike, you joined the show a little bit ago when you were talking about playing for the Iowa United. That did not work out you were talking about playing for the Iowa United. That did not work out. We ended up playing for the House of Pain in the TBT. How are you doing today, though? I'm doing good.

I'm glad I could come on the show and say what's up. Yeah, man. Happy to always have you back. And obviously enjoyed watching you play in the TBT. I'll be honest, you won me a lot of money. So I really appreciate that. I owe you a beer next time. Just basically, we're like, we're going to bet on Dumb. Dom and it worked so thank you for that appreciate that so let's talk first about the Iowa United um what were your initial thoughts on when the Iowa United did not get in the

tournament um I mean I was I was upset because I was excited to you know get to know some of those guys on the team um and just have a chance to play with them but just because I was excited to, you know, get to know some of those guys on the team and just have a chance to play with them. But just because I thought that, you know, we had a, a kind of a unique team, we had a good setup and it was something that I thought, you know, we could have definitely made a push in the TBT, but you know, at the end of the day, Iowa United in general just did a great job of communicating with us and they were very open with us about, you know, saying they'll help us, you know,

try to find another team or try to find the best option for us. But I mean, I was sad, but obviously I was very excited to still be able to, you know, have the opportunity to play in the TBT. Definitely, man. And kind of along those lines, you mentioned the Iowa United and having a good team together. After going through the tournament, do you feel like the Iowa United would have been able to make a run? I definitely do. You know, for me, with my, you know, first-time TBT experience, it's legit. And the competition level is definitely legit. It's super high level.

And, you know, you find that those alumni teams are probably the teams that have the best bet to win it just because of their team camaraderie over all the years. But it just goes to show, too, that, you, that a group of guys like us at House of Pain, we didn't really know each other, but we just banded together and we were able to get a couple wins out of it. And I definitely think we could have done that with Iowa United, too. Yeah, man. So you joined the House of Pain.

I wanted to quickly ask, did any other teams reach out to you? Because I kind of know a little bit of the backstory for the House of Pain, but did any other teams reach out to you? Yeah, there was a couple other teams reach out to you? Cause I kind of know a little bit of the backstory for the house of pain, but any other teams reach out to you? Yeah, there was a couple other teams. Um, Eberlin drive was one of them. Uh, I can't, I can't really remember the, I, I, there was like three or four others all that reached out. Um, but house of pain, I just, I had the connection. I knew a couple of the guys and obviously I knew Michael very well. So it just was a easy choice for me to go with them. Absolutely. And so joining that team, what was kind of the guys and obviously I knew Michael Atula very well. So it just was an easy choice for me to go with them. Absolutely. And so joining that team,

what was kind of the hardest part of getting to know that team? I mean, did you, you knew some of them, but going down to the actual tournament and trying to get to know all those guys, what was it like for you? Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't necessarily say there was a tough part. I mean, I think the toughest thing was just making sure you're taking all the precautions you can just so when you get there, you don't test positive and get your team eliminated.

But no, it was a it was just an awesome experience because it was super easy. You know, Mike, Mike Latula did such a great job of recruiting a group of guys who, who really were just unselfish and just wanted to kind of win basketball and have a shot to win the money. So it was easy to get to know the guys. It was easy to practice with them. And you could just kind of tell that we were clicking right away, which, you know, allowed us to play so well together in those first couple of games. Yeah, man, it was impressive.

I mean, it was a lot of fun watching you guys for the duration of the tournament. You talked about the, you know, not testing positive. Was that actually a pretty big concern? I mean, they kicked teams out immediately as soon as one kid tested positive. So. Yeah, no, I mean, it definitely was. But in terms of like looking at it from my standpoint, I definitely was doing everything possible to kind of just social distance myself away from everyone. I was wearing masks, hand sanitizers, things like that whenever I was traveling. So I knew I was doing my part to keep myself and my team safe. But, no, I mean, it was definitely serious.

And you can tell, you know, when they kicked the teams out that they got to the bubble and tested positive, you know, they weren't joking around, which is good. You know, it's holding people accountable. But that was definitely an interesting process, but it was awesome. All right, I have to quickly pause our interview with Mike Dahm. I hope you all are enjoying that right now. But we do have a great message from you from one of our sponsors, rockauto.com, with the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models.

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Rockauto.com and let them know we sent you by writing in Locked On. Yeah, I mean, the TBT, I thought, really set that model for what the NBA is trying to follow and did a fantastic job. What else was it like just being in that bubble? I mean, what was it like trying to get food? Or I know you all had, it sounded like a room where you could all hang out in a lounge, getting practices in a, basically a conference room. Just can you describe a little bit of that experience? Yeah, the experience was honestly, it was kind of cool. You know,

you really are isolated in your hotel room. You know, the first day you get in, you literally have to be locked up for 24 hours until you get your first test results back from when you arrive. So they pretty much just bring the food up to your room. And what was fantastic about that is they provided breakfast, lunch and dinner for us. So we didn't have to worry about, you know, if you wanted anything else, it was you could Uber Eats on your own. But, but the hotel provided all you know, all meals for us, which was fantastic. And they had a great variety of food um each day so that was an awesome experience and then yeah once you're clear after that 24 hours you get you get assigned like to your team room and you can go hang out with the guys there um watch movies we watch movies we watch uh tv shows we just kind of chilled and that's where we like

watch film and talk together and then uh for for practices yeah it was in a conference room but the courts were great you know they're the Ohio State's was one of the courts they had the like final four court from I think they were saying like 2010 the women's final court so it was just kind of wild no random court to have yeah exactly that they had there and uh it was it was awesome to practice you know just kind of get a chance to get out on the court during all that time yeah man so what was it like playing with no fans um it honestly it wasn't that bad at all um i that's people have asked me that a lot and surprisingly i i thought it was fine you know it was actually easier for me to to communicate on defense communicate on without

without out all that rumbling going on but uh no if if i'm being completely honest i didn't really notice that there was no fans at all I mean obviously there's points of the game where you know your team goes on a run and you're getting hype and you you know you start to go like this a little bit and you you want to the fan noise to pick up and then you kind of realize oh there's nobody else here it's just us but uh let's get that silence really going that's funny so um you know going into a tournament you know obviously know the house of pain you guys made it three games in um what was were you expecting to do that i mean what

were your expectations for the house of pain coming into the tournament and do you feel like you kind of met those expectations um beating war tampa um carmen's crew was a great upset won me a lot of money big fan of that um and then obviously playing red scare so what were your thoughts kind of going against those teams? Yeah, you know, I mean, my expectations were pretty high just because I kind of got the feel of the group of guys we had right away. And, you know, we really did just do a good job of banding together and playing like a team right away. You know, I'm very upset, obviously, that we lost. And I wish we could have, you know, had a shot to play for the real money.

But, no, I was very, like, very happy with how far that we got. I just thought it was such a fantastic tournament. I mean, obviously, the level of competition was so high. And playing that first game, you know, we were – I mean, we were definitely the underdogs. Because I remember talking to everybody. They picked War Tampa over us for sure. And then obviously going into that second game, Carmen's crew is defending champs, expecting to win it all again.

And we were able to pull out the upset in that one. So that was definitely a fun game. Yeah, man. And then I know you're not a big guy on personal accolades. And last time we talked, it was very much team focused and what can the team do and what is the ultimate goal. But you averaged 18.7 points, 8.7 rebounds rebounds and 1.3 I want to say blocks or assists I can't remember yeah yeah I had down at blocks I'm like damn that's actually kind of high um so do you feel like you accomplished what

you wanted to accomplish personally in the tournament um I definitely did uh you know for me like like you said you know I I really didn't come into it thinking of, Oh, this is my time to shine. This is my time to, you know, kind of put my name out there. But I just wanted to, you know, and just kind of engulf myself with the team and the atmosphere of the TBT and everything that's going on. And, you know, in return, it worked out for me, you know, I was able to obviously play well in front of, in front of a lot, you know, a big audience online or on TV. And it was just a super fun me. You know, I was able to obviously play well in front of, in front of a lot, you know, a big audience online or on TV.

And it was just a super fun tournament. You know, it was fun to kind of play back in the States again and get that. It felt like a NCAA tournament experience to me is what I could compare it to. So it was just fun to, you know, kind of have all my friends and family be able to text me again and say that it was fun to watch me. So it was definitely, definitely good in that way. That's cool, man. Yeah, I mean, personally, as a guy who just loves sports, not having sports for four or five months and being able to watch that was, man, it was great. I was on a boat in Austin and just like looking

at the phone the whole time, like, well, this is kind of ridiculous, but I just was so excited to have basketball back. So that was sick. So you did really well. And I know when we talked last time, you'd already knew you were going back to Spain, which is kind of decided, but have you had any opportunities or looks from the NBA since TBT? I know my agent was contacted, you know, by four or five teams from guys in the league. It's just, it was a complicated situation. Obviously there would have been, there would have been no way for me to um even go to the Orlando bubble I don't think people realize but that's all last part of last season still so my contract would have had to have been with the NBA last year for me to have been able to go to the to the bubble which um

you know which a lot of people were like oh you're gonna be heading down to Orlando I'm like no like I wish I wish I was but it doesn't work like that. Because my my season finished in and the NBA still finishing that part of the season. So for me, I think in the long run, it's going to help me just because obviously, that kind of gave me a little bit more spark behind my name. Just because, you know, I was out of college, I had a little bit of hype out of college, and then heading overseas. It's hard for people to follow along just because time differences, different games, things like that. For me, it's just coming over here and focusing again on just taking

the most out of each day, making the opportunity and grabbing it and running with it. For me, I'm grateful for the TBT in terms of just having an opportunity to and in terms of, you know, just kind of having an opportunity to play in front of teams again this past summer. And I'm looking forward to this upcoming season in Spain. You know, I think it's going to be a fun year and good Lord willing, hopefully I can try to make a push to get back to the States. Hell yeah, man. So as far as, you know, Europe seems to be past, obviously, the COVID pandemic for the most part. What is the experience expected to be like for basketball there?

Are they allowing fans in the arena? What does that look like? It's funny. They really haven't shared any details with us yet. I've heard a couple rumors that there's possibly going to be no fans or maybe they're going to allow like 1 a thousand fans per game and kind of rotating fans weekly so if you go to one game you can't go to the next one and then I also have heard that they're possibly going to do kind of how they finished this past season in one location but

they're just going to like isolate and lock down like four locations and send like five teams there play games over a two-week span and then fly fly, you know, you'll be able to fly home for like two weeks off, and then you fly to the next location with five new teams, and you kind of just rotate from these locations and get your conference games in. So it'll be interesting to see how things go. I'm obviously just praying that season starts up and we're able to play basketball, whether it's with fans or without fans. You know, I just am ready to get back on the court again. Absolutely, man.

So when does the season technically start at this point? September, end of September. I think that the dates like 18th, 19th, 20th is when it's tentatively supposed to start up again. Awesome. And then traveling overseas, I'm pretty sure pretty much every single country in the world has United States on like a ban list unless you quarantine for 14 days. So do you have to just sit inside for 14 days? No, I didn't. I was actually I was lucky because for me, coming back to the same country where I played last year,

I still had my resident permit and I had my work visa, which was all valid until August 28. So I just need to get back over here before then. And then I didn't have to worry about getting quarantined for that long. Or having to, you know, question on why I'm coming back over here. But I did have to get here, test right away. And then I sat in my apartment, I think, just for the weekend until my test results came back negative. And then I was good to start interacting with my teammates and going out to get food and things like that. It sounds like it wasn't too bad then. So how many COVID tests have you taken at this point? I've only taken like total or TBT everything.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. I've probably taken like, like 16, 17, maybe. That's insane. It's been a lot. Are all of them like the nose one? No, thank goodness. I had to take one nose one before TBT.

I think I, at the the at the tbt bubble we we did all saliva tests which was super super nice and then uh being over here it was the nose one but the nose one's not even that bad so really yeah i don't i don't think it's that bad okay i just i haven't had one yet and i just keep hearing about it i'm like i don't want to have to get one at any point yeah well i Well, I don't know. Just kind of – it's a weird tickle. But if you have an experienced doctor, it's definitely not that bad. Okay.

So, basically, if my doctor hurts me, it's their fault. It is the doctor's fault. Yeah, for sure. I can get on board with that. So, one last question before I get into some of the garbage questions my best friend wanted me to ask you. As far as TBT next year, are you going to try to join tbt and and would the iowa united be on your radar again i have to quickly pause the interview with mike dom to give you a great message because built bars

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Uh, it's, it's kind of up in the air right now um you know I I definitely am super thankful for the Iowa United TBT to reach out to me and and uh you know show interest in me going into next year but honestly I have no idea um I'm kind of just taking things day one day at a time and and we'll see when that gets there I mean obviously the TBT put on such a great tournament I would love to be a part of it again but uh you know who knows who knows i mean it's that's a long ways off i mean who knows what you're gonna be doing from an nba perspective from the tbt after this awesome season you're gonna probably have so cool man um so three bogus questions uh let's start with the easiest one first should south dakota state change its mascot to something more menacing than a jackrabbit?

No, no, not at all. I like the jackrabbit in terms of it just being so unique. I think it is kind of just like a funny, you know, at the same time, like we get, I can't even tell you how many times in college we got made a fun of for just being the bunnies or, you know, not menacing at all. But no, I think South Dakota State's got to keep that tradition and just, the bunnies or you know anything at all but uh no I think South Dakota State's got to keep that tradition and just I like it you know I like being able to rep you know rep the jackrabbit and and and give it a name all right yeah I mean jack they're also big ass rabbits man I mean they're bigger than like your normal bunny yeah yeah yeah all right um what is your favorite adult beverage oh this is a tough question um i just i'm uh man i like whiskey and sprite all right that's like a go-to something different everyone thinks like whiskey and coke but i like to go a little whiskey and sprite uh but it's good no i like that interesting yeah that i don't think

that sounds great but i will have to try it out. My Peloton is here. One second. Go ahead, guys. I'll be out in a second. All right. That was really loud. We are babysitting a dog, and he's like a 100-pound Great Pyrenees werewolf dog, and, like, my dogs hate him.

And so they're half half time they're in my office with me um all right so last question for you and then we'll wrap up but uh do you like pineapple on your pizza uh uh i'm in between i'm in between i've had i've had good pineapple on certain pizza and i've had bad pineapple on pizza pizza, and I've had bad pineapple on pizza. What makes good and bad pineapple? I don't know. I just like maybe the way that they say Hawaiian or they mix Hawaiian in when you, you know, order pineapple on a pizza. I think it all depends on where the restaurant, like what the restaurant's coming from.

But no, it's not bad. I enjoy it. All right, man. Well, dude, I appreciate you going through those, those questions. It'll definitely make him, make him happy, but thank you all for joining the show and talking about the TBT and we'll definitely have to have you back on after your season. And we'll be wishing you the best man. For sure, man. Appreciate it. Awesome. Talk to everybody. All right. See ya.

All right. And that will do it for our show today. I hope you enjoyed the interview with Mike Dom again, big shout out to him for joining me. I know he was busy with practice overseas. He was also getting a brand new washer that day as well.

And he took time out of his day to talk to me about basketball and being in the TBT and a little bit about his professional career and kind of what's going to happen over the next year to two years.

So thank you for Mike. Thank you to Mike for coming on the show. Absolutely appreciate it. Just a fantastic guest. And I hope you all enjoyed the show as well. Learned a little bit more about what happened inside the bubble and alongside,

you know, in the TBT in general. As I said, I was on vacation today. We'll be back on Monday with a brand new episode covering everything that happened over the course of the last three days. So I appreciate you all tuning in. Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend.

And as always, let's go Hawks.