I’d probably cancel the Hurley presser

[BlueMAB]

That was misconstrued. But so is your philosophy.

My philosophy that a coach is accountable for the results of his decisions is misconstrued? Okay.

 

[August_West]

The loss of Durham and Enoch necessitated a scramble for replacements and there were very few options available. I watched tapes of Cobb

I agree with much of your post but in the interest of accuracy (I like facts) Cobb committed before the end of last season sometime in March I believe. There was no inkling (at least publicly, but maybe internally the staff had one, and as I type it I think that maybe it was likely they did) that Enoch and Durham were leaving the team. We knew for sure we were losing Facey and Brimah, and even if Enoch and Durham stayed, neither of them did much to distinguish themselves as being front court anchors. If you go back to the thread on the day Cobb committed people were celebrating the fact we were finally getting a very wide body to bang inside with the likes of SMU and Cincinnati who in Fishy's words in that thread and I paraphrase: "finally we got someone who Cincinnati wont bounce around like a pinball inside" .

It was worth the risk. Even moreso with Durham and Enoch leaving.

It didnt pan out. Im ok with KO for trying to address a need we were all desperate for inside.

 

[Stainmaster]

You using the liljohn nickname is awesome. The most effeminate Millennial on the board, more pu$$ypower to you Menstrualmaster!

Get caught literally making stuff up and fly off the handle. Typical day at the office for you.

 

[Stainmaster]

Speaking of fake news....have you found the quote where i bashed Ollie on the Cobb decision yet or nah?

"Bash" may have been too strong a word. You got me. But I still maintain that criticizing him for taking someone with a history onto the team is unfair given Calhoun's attitude towards guys who got in trouble.

 

[August_West]

"Bash" may have been too strong a word. You got me. But I still maintain that criticizing him for taking someone with a history onto the team is unfair given Calhoun's attitude towards guys who got in trouble.

its OK Ben Gordon was smacking a girl in 2003. We won a title in the next year. That is the crux of whether or not its worth taking a flyer on a player argument.

 

[lange10]

Why is Polley gone? Because he's not good enough to play even at our mediocre level? With Kisunas coming in next year (and Carlton's development) Cobb is expendable (although he would be nice to have this year still). We can't really afford another player leaving unless it's Kwintin...

Polley is more than capable of playing for this team. He’s very talented just virtually useless in our offense because he’s not able to create for himself off the bounce with his current skill set.

As to why he’s gone? Kid is wasting a year of eligibility to play 7 minutes a game while we lose. Ollie says he wants to play him more, yet doesn’t. The things Ollie says and does are so puzzling it’s truly troubling watching unfold.

 

[80shusky]

oh so now he's not coaching here. ok

 

[BlueMAB]

Im ok with KO for trying to address a need we were all desperate for inside.

I didn't say he shouldn't have tried, I said he swung and missed. Hindsight being what it is, I think we were better off doing what I posted earlier. But if you add all of his recent recruiting misses, then you have a program that is 0-14 against the Top 50 over the past 2 years. Saying that he owns the results of his recruiting efforts is simply holding him accountable for his performance.

"Bash" may have been too strong a word. You got me. But I still maintain that criticizing him for taking someone with a history onto the team is unfair given Calhoun's attitude towards guys who got in trouble.

I didn't do that either. I said there were obvious red flags, but I didn't say that was the reason it was a mistake. The fact is, he's stayed out of trouble off the court (I think). What I'm talking about is the selfish attitude that his behavior displayed then, and how it seems to be prevalent on the team today, and maybe while Cobb deserved a second shot, because of the make-up of our team, this was the wrong place at the wrong time.

I also said Ollie would have deserved the credit had it worked out, so I'm not opposed to taking risks. But the coach still owns the results, no matter the outcome.

This team appears to have had chemistry issues the past few years. They play selfishly. It's worse this year than it was last year. And recruiting guys who exhibit the kind of behavior that Cobb did was obviously a mistake. I didn't know it at the time, obviously Ollie didn't. But it was still a mistake, and it's okay to call it that. That's not bashing Ollie. That's not criticizing the philosophy of taking risks on players and giving them second chances. I believe in second chances. I also believe in accountability.

But @August_West is both arguing that it wasn't a mistake to recruit him AND arguing the team is better off without him. Then obviously it was a mistake. We could have recruited some other JUCO big man, kicked the tires on potential transfers, or spent that time recruiting HS big men.

 

[Tenspro2002]

He won a NC and he ruined the program because of 2 injury filled seasons? My god. I hope you don't have kids...because Id feel sorry for them.

No, he ruined the program because coming off of that NC:
1) he had several recruiting failures, including both guys he didn't get and guys he did
2) players were not developed or not utilized well on the court
3) several of our more highly-rated recruits left the program because of #2

 

[BlueMAB]

its OK Ben Gordon was smacking a girl in 2003. We won a title in the next year. That is the crux of whether or not its worth taking a flyer on a player argument.

That's not what I said at all. In fact, I never even argued whether or not it was worth taking a flyer. You created that strawman.

I simply said the decision was a mistake. You think it was a good decision, even though you think the team is better off without him.

 

[UConnStats]

Don’t miss next week’s buyout bake sale!

 

[UConnNick]

Wagner and Northeastern we had a full squad, true. And should not have lost those games but we incorporated a ton of new people. It would have been interesting to see if that team couldve gotten better over the course of the year intact.

Gilbert was already gone by OK state.

We were not at completely 100 percent since Diarra was out. I'm certainly not suggesting he alone would have changed either outcome, but IIRC, one of those teams had a big guy who had a career night against us.

August is right, though. There's no telling what that team as a whole, Diarra included, might have accomplished over an entire season. We'll also never know if all three defectors would have left after a much more successful season.

 

[August_West]

But @August_West is both arguing that it wasn't a mistake to recruit him AND arguing the team is better off without him. Then obviously it was a mistake. We could have recruited some other JUCO big man, kicked the tires on potential transfers, or spent that time recruiting HS big men.

What?

You know one of the best of the available JUCO and grad transfer bigs available after Cobb?

Does the name David Onuorah ring a bell?

Its not every day a great like Johnny Selvie can fall in your lap late.

And you are easily confused. What you are saying is accurate, but I guess Im not getting my point across.

We ARE better off without him, but it was worth the shot. It didnt hurt us. It didnt keep us from getting a better player.

Except in rare cases scholarships are wasted on walk ons. when we do that,, or pocket one, everyone bemoans our lack of depth. You cant win!

 

[Tenspro2002]

How was 2 yrs ago disappointing? They won the conference tournament and won an NCAA game. This is what im talking about. Spoiled fans.

A team with Adams, Gibbs, Purvis, Hamilton, Miller, Facey, and Brimah should have been much better than a #9 seed. We also benefited from SMU being ineligible in the AACT.

 

[August_West]

A team with Adams, Gibbs, Purvis, Hamilton, Miller, Facey, and Brimah should have been much better than a #9 seed. We also benefited from SMU being ineligible in the AACT.

Dont forget to crap over the 2014 championship season while you are at it.

 

[August_West]

We'll also never know if all three defectors would have left after a much more successful season.

Plus with a full team here maybe Durham redshirts. Maybe Vance and his dads expectations are lower because they had to know coming in he was sitting behind Larrier

 

[Whtdmd]

Polley is more than capable of playing for this team. He’s very talented just virtually useless in our offense because he’s not able to create for himself off the bounce with his current skill set.

As to why he’s gone? Kid is wasting a year of eligibility to play 7 minutes a game while we lose. Ollie says he wants to play him more, yet doesn’t. The things Ollie says and does are so puzzling it’s truly troubling watching unfold.

Polley is not playing because he can't defend. His man is always open for layups or offensive rebounds. He is like Steve Enoch, the opponents go on a run every time he was in the game. It has nothing with his offense. BTW, he is missing open shots. I know its a confidence thang. Whaley n Carlton r good defenders, they know where to be. The one thing I like about Polley is that his IQ is a lot higher then Enoch.

 

[Tenspro2002]

For a guy who played point guard in the NBA (and who was never a score first PG) it's beyond belief that he appears utterly clueless as to how to implement even an average college offense.

Whatever institution conferred his "PhD in basketball" should lose its accreditation.

 

[August_West]

2) players were not developed or not utilized well on the court
3) several of our more highly-rated recruits left the program because of #2

Specific examples please

 

[UConnNick]

How was 2 yrs ago disappointing? They won the conference tournament and won an NCAA game. This is what im talking about. Spoiled fans.

Since the 2015-16 season doesn't fit the "Fire Ollie!" narrative, it has been conveniently erased from the memory bank of certain folks here.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Specific examples please

Lack of development: Purvis, Facey (until it was too late), Brimah, Enoch

Poor utilization: Gibbs as PG, Miller not a focal point, Purvis and Larrier relied on as ballhandlers

Highly-rated recruits who left: Enoch (sat behind underachieving Brimah and thought he'd be better developed elsewhere), Durham (ditto), Jackson (this one is not entirely KO's fault, but still points to poor recruiting in not identifying players who would buy in), MAL

 

[BlueMAB]

What?

You know one of the best of the available JUCO and grad transfer bigs available after Cobb?

Does the name David Onuorah ring a bell?

Its not every day a great like Johnny Selvie can fall in your lap late.

And you are easily confused. What you are saying is accurate, but I guess Im not getting my point across.

We ARE better off without him, but it was worth the shot. It didnt hurt us. It didnt keep us from getting a better player.

Except in rare cases scholarships are wasted on walk ons. when we do that,, or pocket one, everyone bemoans our lack of depth. You cant win!

I get your point, I got it when you said it. I disagree that it didn't hurt us. Just because we may not gotten someone else, doesn't mean the team hasn't suffered from the distraction and chemistry issues. And we spent resources (time and money) recruiting him. Very limited resources that could have been used elsewhere working on a high school recruit so we can try and get some sort of GD consistency in this program instead of revolving doors.

I'm easily confused? in the last 30 or so minutes you've told me "what your are saying is accurate" and yet you've turned what I said into "its OK Ben Gordon was smacking a girl in 2003. We won a title in the next year. That is the crux of whether or not its worth taking a flyer on a player argument."

And you had the nerve to call me a dolt.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Since the 2015-16 season doesn't fit the "Fire Ollie!" narrative, it has been conveniently erased from the memory bank of certain folks here.

It absolutely fits. That team underachieved all year, save for 2 weeks in March. The pieces were fit together horribly, and the head coach was about 2 months behind this board in correcting our biggest offensive deficiency (Gibbs on vs. off the ball).

 

[Whtdmd]

Whatever institution conferred his "PhD in basketball" should lose its accreditation.

BTW, since this is Dannyboy vs Ollie thread. This is Ollie's 6th yr. He already won a national championship, AAC championship. 3 NCAA tourney if he would have been eligible in 2013. He is 17-4 in post season tourneys, 7-1 in NCAA and 10-3 in AAC. His last 2 yrs has been rack by injuries. He already got 2 players into the NBA, Shabazz and Hamilton. Dan Hurley in first 6 yrs; never got into an NCAA tournament. Never won a conference champ, never develop an NBA player. His last two yr r all juniors n seniors n they r producing because they have been together for 4 yrs in the Atlantic 10. Next yr, he will revert to the mediocre mid-level coach that he is

 

[August_West]

Lack of development: Purvis, Facey (until it was too late), Brimah, Enoch

Poor utilization: Gibbs as PG, Miller not a focal point, Purvis and Larrier relied on as ballhandlers

Highly-rated recruits who left: Enoch (sat behind underachieving Brimah and thought he'd be better developed elsewhere), Durham (ditto), Jackson (this one is not entirely KO's fault, but still points to poor recruiting in not identifying players who would buy in), MAL

You said people werent developed so they left. Purvis and Brimah never left. And none of the people who left last year said to themselves "oh golly gee, look at Amidah and Purvis - Ollie really screwed them I better get out of dodge" - Holy LOL .............. Gibbs and Miller were 5th year transfers. Gibbs was brought in to be a PG while Adams got his feet wet. Please spare me on their development and usage. I wouldve liked to have seen more Miller but that was Hamiltons team. And Miller got his looks.

Enoch should look in a mirror. But OK. He didnt develop. How come Carlton has picked up Ollies defensive principles better in 1/2 a season but Enoch couldnt in two?
Jackson got WAY more time last year than he couldve possibly expected coming in. Way more. So there is NO utilization issue there.
Durham is lucky he saw floor at all, shouldve been redshirted. THAT was KO's mistake with him.
MAL left because of Miller and the fact that the little baby didnt want to have to compete with Gilbert, Adams and Vital for minutes. No development issue there either.


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