Even with two injuries this is embarrasing and deflating

[CTBasketball]

We have no "system" to fit players into. It's either Ollie's eye for talent is not as keen as the average college coach, or he fails so miserably at coaching and player development which results in this mess.

There's no way, with how we've recruited (on paper) we should be this bad. The injuries excuse is getting old. This is the hand we're dealt. We've had this team for over 70% of the games. It's almost like Larrier and Gilbert didn't even play this season.

So was this season's success really based off an unproven, injury-prone freshman point guard and small forward transfer who has a tendency to jack shots? What does that say for the rest of our players?

 

[CTBasketball]

I just do not recognize Uconn out there. Teams lose players all year--we have some adversity. But weve had plenty of tight games we couldve won with a tighter floor game and another level of energy. The beat downs have been ridiculous--weve come back a tad in couple of them. The pride the intelligence the fundamentals are severely lacking. When has anyone seen this in the last 30 years?

What I think the remedy short term is.

I think we need to broaden our talent search and include many foreign countries. Our recruiting needs more strategy. I hate saying this but has Kevin Ollie recruited even one white person? I think diversity of players --just like life is important. We need more basketball IQ out there--more passing more energy and smarter better play.

Right now we are an Amida Brimah hook shot miss away from being a train wreck. Im a loyal fan--just want to see the best--not for selfish reasons but I take pride in my states team for everyone. Of course we can be reasonable about injuries and roster depletion but we should have more than enough to be better than this level.

@DaveWingett

 

[jibsey]

Gilbert and Larrier make this team competitive but not the contender we thought we had. I think with them we are middle AAC this year with a chance to go to the NCAA. WE ARE A HORRID SHOOTING TEAM. We don't shoot the 3 or even the mid range with any consistency. Yes we have big man issues but we need to recruit shooters. Jalen is a good player but his shooting is a big disappointment. Every game that we play it's the same story and while Gilbert and Larrier improve our chances they were not knockdown artists. No cakewalk next year.

 

[Northbound]

I've made some really dumb posts in the past and some that have aimed to be purposefully inflammatory, but holy Christ now we're looking for the great white hope.

Start the recruiting trail from the public schools in northern NH, VT and ME and get that spigot turned on - maybe we get ourselves a Coppenwrath - which come to think of it this team could use.

I don't drink enough for this and I drink plenty.

 

[Storrs South]

In my opinion, this team's biggest issues are as follows:

• This team is awful at free throw shooting
• This team is awful at shooting three points
• This team turns the ball over a lot

The first one can be explained by Miller, Gibbs, and Hamilton all leaving (all very good free throw shooters) being replaced by freshman coupled with Brimah falling off a cliff. It can and will have to go up as they continue to coach this up.

The second one can be attributed to Purvis just being inconsistent and at times unwatchable missing open looks as well as asking freshman Vance Jackson and Christian Vital pick up the slack from Sterling Gibbs and Daniel Hamilton who were great and good outside shooters. This will get better as they get more experience (but man VJ needs to stop hitting the side of the backboard).

The third one has been a function of Gilbert/Larrier getting hurt: Jalen at times trying to do too much considering what's around him missing Larrier/Gilbert, some freshman mistakes from Vital, the bigs losing the ball a lot on double teams, Purvis just being flat out awful on fastbreak opportunities.

So now the blame game since I think that's why many of us come here...for answers: the first two I don't blame on Ollie. KO runs his teams extensively on free throw drills (this was talked about at length during 2014 Final Four run) and VJ, CV, Purvis are getting open looks on 3s. I'm not sure what I could ask from Ollie if guys are getting great opportunities to score and yet miss them repeatedly.

The last I chalk up to 50/50 players & Ollie. Youth and a short bench come into play, but at the same time Ollie needs to coach up some discipline and being more careful with the ball. 12.8 turnovers a game is too high (tied for #119 in the country) when you have problems 1 and 2.

I'm not calling for firing Ollie, I like him, I respect what he's done for the program, and still believe he can be the leader of this program going forward, but I do not believe this team has been playing up its potential even when accounting for injuries.

 

[champs99and04]

I think the much bigger problem is the lack of white coaches. Other than Glen Miller, do we even have any? I'm not counting the guy who didn't respond to my emails one time because he clearly doesn't know what he is doing.

It's OK to recruit players who are - let's say - a bit deficient mentally so long as we have a coaching staff to guide them...a lighthouse in the night so to speak. Right now we have a lot of guys on the bench who might be better suited for the over 40 tournament at rucker park.

@Chief00 please weigh in.

 

[mauconnfan]

We need Orlando Antigua champs, not another white coach c'mon, diversity dammit.

 

[Huskybass]

Hobbs had plenty of head coaching experience. We miss him on the bench.

We recruit athletes who dont have a high basketball IQ and are lacking in fundamentals. Add in all the other deficiencies like difficulty inbounding the ball, missed free throws and careless turnovers and what you get is 4 D1 wins this far into the season.

KO looked great as head coach his first two years. The last 3 seasons he hasnt been what he was. His confidence and swagger is gone. The problems on this team go way beyond the injuries.

 

[Paesano]

Some people can speak honestly because they don't fear the truth. I see a lot of that here. Good!

I agree that we have a lot of talent left, even with the injuries. I haven't compiled the numbers but I would guess that we have more highly rated players on the floor than some of the teams we are losing to. And, as others have said, if we went into this season with a freshman as our only true PG...WTF? That is great recruiting? And if our success hinged on that freshman and a transfer that didn't exactly dominate at his first stop...WTF...squared!

Yeah, the injuries hurt but, if these last couple of classes are as good and deep as was advertised, we should't have been destroyed by them.

On the subject of white players, why are some of you so offended? Why do some elite universities accept a certain percentage of minority students with qualifications well below the schools' averages and well below kids that were rejected? Same for corporations? Because they believe diversity has benefits. A strong team doesn't have only people that look, act and think the same. Why is it ok to say universities should recruit underrepresented minorities but not ok to say a basketball team should recruit underrepresented majorities? Is KO recruiting kids that are mostly like him? You need to be able to recruit, and get, kids that are different than you too. Imagine if Calhoun had recruited only Irish kids from the Boston area or Geno only Italian kids from Philly.

 

[TRest]

Nobody has mentioned yet that the white kids would be gritty.

 

[mauconnfan]

Nobody has mentioned yet that the white kids would be gritty.

Their pluckiness is also relentless in nature.

 

[FeedTheDove]

I hate saying this but has Kevin Ollie recruited even one white person? .

Dope progress pic. You're the man.

 

[Greathusky]

Everyone is looking forward to the AAC tournament as our savior but with UCONN heading towards the bottom of the basement, this undermanned team will have to play the full slate of games to win it all.

Not impossible but almost with the way this team is playing now.

 

[uconngb]

Everyone is looking forward to the AAC tournament as our savior but with UCONN heading towards the bottom of the basement, this undermanned team will have to play the full slate of games to win it all.

Not impossible but almost with the way this team is playing now.

I think it's probably fair to say at this point that this team has no chance of making the NCAAs. I still say whoever set the over/under on wins at 10 a few weeks ago is spot on. This has become a trageshamockery.

 

[Candyman]

With Larrier and Gilbert we are a bubble team without them we are what we are now. Adams just turns the ball over too much and not ones that are hes trying to do to much type of turnovers but just bad lazy passes or just bad dribbling. We have not one person who can throw a nice post pass, and no post player who can handle a double team.

Don't get me started on Purvis, nice kid who plays with passion but I can't wait until he graduates.

Sadly I just don't think next year we will be all what every one expects either, we will be much better but that's not saying much. Larrier will have basically not played in almost 2 years and now coming off a knee injury and we didn't upgrade our front court at all. We are all hoping Enoch makes the leap, Durham gets stronger, Diarra who hasn't played college ball yet can rebound at a high level. Whos the shooter next year? Jackson can shoot, we think, but he'll be coming off the bench. No guards that can shoot. Adams, Gilbert, and Makai are not shooters. Maybe Vital but again wont start.

 

[Dogdeacon]

It is defensible to assert that white players have better basketball smarts than black players? Can't we at least have the common sense to mask this better by demanding foreign players like Niels or ye olde Israeli connection? Doesn't have to be right, just protecting the turf. After all Texas Western was only 51 years ago. I mean why have an African American coach if white people have better basketball IQ's? Aren't we doomed?

 

[polycom]

Some people can speak honestly because they don't fear the truth. I see a lot of that here. Good!

I agree that we have a lot of talent left, even with the injuries. I haven't compiled the numbers but I would guess that we have more highly rated players on the floor than some of the teams we are losing to. And, as others have said, if we went into this season with a freshman as our only true PG...WTF? That is great recruiting? And if our success hinged on that freshman and a transfer that didn't exactly dominate at his first stop...WTF...squared!

Yeah, the injuries hurt but, if these last couple of classes are as good and deep as was advertised, we should't have been destroyed by them.

On the subject of white players, why are some of you so offended? Why do some elite universities accept a certain percentage of minority students with qualifications well below the schools' averages and well below kids that were rejected? Same for corporations? Because they believe diversity has benefits. A strong team doesn't have only people that look, act and think the same. Why is it ok to say universities should recruit underrepresented minorities but not ok to say a basketball team should recruit underrepresented majorities? Is KO recruiting kids that are mostly like him? You need to be able to recruit, and get, kids that are different than you too. Imagine if Calhoun had recruited only Irish kids from the Boston area or Geno only Italian kids from Philly.

Flaming hot take.

You know the ability to play basketball knows no race right? Like it isn't a prerequisite to having a good team. Lebron James arguably has the highest basketball IQ in the world... last time I saw him he was black.

Also your point about corporations and universities isn't comparable to sports, it's often incredibly difficult to tangibly measure the contributions of individuals at corporations. Sports isn't the same...there is data related to performance...

 

[pnow15]

I have only two words that fully explains this problem: Ryan Funk.

 

[7774]

On the subject of white players, why are some of you so offended?

Maybe I don't understand the question. Are you looking for a second reason beyond the racism?

At some point I really need to get a look at the 2 mental patients that stumbled upon sex and created you. It's just astonishing.

 

[Marty Jackson]

As a white person, I can state with certainty that Kevin Ollie has made no effort to recruit me.

Unless he has a phone number with a 786 area code. I keep getting calls from that number, but they never leave a message.

obviously... the issue mentioned was increasing the IQ!

 

[jibsey]

I think it's probably fair to say at this point that this team has no chance of making the NCAAs. I still say whoever set the over/under on wins at 10 a few weeks ago is spot on. This has become a trageshamockery.

NCAA's? We're not making the NIT, and we shouldn't. After watching us shoot 29% from 3 consistently and 40% overall (with Brimah and Facey shooting 50-60) it shows how bad the rest of our team jacks the ball. The idea that we're gonna sweep into the AAC and beat some pretty solid teams in a row is beyond laughable. Let's get away from this black/white thing and concentrate on who the hell can shoot and pass the ball.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Some people can speak honestly because they don't fear the truth. I see a lot of that here. Good!
On the subject of white players, why are some of you so offended? .

you must be Italian. this is over your head!

 

[GoUconn7961]

I understand the injury portion of why it's so rough out there. But my issue still is a lack of player development by the coaching staff. I said this last year as well. I don't feel that the upperclassmen have progressed much. Brimah should be a scoring machine under the basket and he isn't. I don't profess to be a coach, or even know the slightest thing about coaching, but the lack of bball IQ and the lack of development over time is mind boggling to me. What is the thought process on the staff? I'd love to know.

 

[superjohn]

I'm more of a bench / squat / dead / clean guy myself but that peak needs work. Maybe mix in some concentration curls.

Don't like them and don't want to get hurt so I don't do any Olympic style lifts.

 

[mauconnfan]

I understand the injury portion of why it's so rough out there. But my issue still is a lack of player development by the coaching staff. I said this last year as well. I don't feel that the upperclassmen have progressed much. Brimah should be a scoring machine under the basket and he isn't. I don't profess to be a coach, or even know the slightest thing about coaching, but the lack of bball IQ and the lack of development over time is mind boggling to me. What is the thought process on the staff? I'd love to know.

Again, and again you said Brimah and development in the sam sentence with IQ. Can't teach these types sorry. So blame KO for recruiting him, although I believe it was someone else like Hobbsy.