Kevin Ollie makes Second Round Interview with Pistons > takes job w/ Brooklyn Nets

[nelsonmuntz]

Wow, what a surprise that a guy who hasn’t coached a meaningful game in half a decade and was banished by his beloved university for his horrendous coaching job didn’t get a head coaching job in the best basketball organization in the world.

It is official. UConn has the absolute worst fans of any college. The Big 12 should read this board, then run as fast as they can as far as they can.

 

[90BSEE]

It was so obvious that he is a great coach that just had a couple of tough years that the Pistons didn't want him. I'm sure he told him that he wanted to stay loyal to....whatever.

 

[90BSEE]

WOTS is that Weaver wanted Ollie but the owner Gores fought against it.

Then backed up a brinks truck for Monty to seal it.

Well, damn, it must be true then.

 

[90BSEE]

It is official. UConn has the absolute worst fans of any college. The Big 12 should read this board, then run as fast as they can as far as they can.

Is Mr. Stripclub still part of our program? I must have missed it.

 

[navery12]

WOTS is that Weaver wanted Ollie but the owner Gores fought against it.

Then backed up a brinks truck for Monty to seal it.

That would be surprising given how far back Weaver and Monty Williams go

 

[Fishy]

It is official. UConn has the absolute worst fans of any college. The Big 12 should read this board, then run as fast as they can as far as they can.

Oh, shut up.

Want to make this board better? Leave it.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

That would be surprising given how far back Weaver and Monty Williams go

Monty was option number one of course but it was going to take a lot to get him to not take a vacation year.

After that Ollie was Weaver’s choice but Gore fought against it.

Hence backing up the brinks truck to get Monty from taking the year off.

 

[AdamaNation]

Monty was option number one of course but it was going to take a lot to get him to not take a vacation year.

After that Ollie was Weaver’s choice but Gore fought against it.

Hence backing up the brinks truck to get Monty from taking the year off.

So Ollie must be finding himself on some short lists to assist on some nba bench next year. Probably the best to get reacquainted with the newer 3 happy league.

 

[arnie3]

Oh, shut up.

Want to make this board better? Leave it.

Well you were always a man of a few good words. Well said!
First post in a decade.

 

[Psolo12]

It is official. UConn has the absolute worst fans of any college. The Big 12 should read this board, then run as fast as they can as far as they can.

Stating factual information = worst fan of any college. I watch every game, follow all the guys on social media, buy NIL gear, and flew to Houston and supported the team during the Final Four run, please tell me more about how terrible of a fan I am.

 

[Psolo12]

Sick burn dude! You killed it! Let’s keep this going as long as it takes to forget the fact that UConn had to write him a gigantic check!

Us wrongfully firing him "for cause" doesn't dispute any of the things that I said. It's really not surprising he didn't get the job, hasn't done merely enough recently to justify getting a job of that caliber.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

Ollie was as serious a candidate for this job as Michael Scott was for the corporate position.

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Sick burn dude! You killed it! Let’s keep this going as long as it takes to forget the fact that UConn had to write him a gigantic check!

Like that fact changes anything he said. I suppose the NCAA show-cause penalty was just for fun, right ?

 

[UofCT]

So Ollie must be finding himself on some short lists to assist on some nba bench next year. Probably the best to get reacquainted with the newer 3 happy league.

Celtics might have 3-4 assistant coach openings.

 

[UConn990411]

Celtics might have 3-4 assistant coach openings.

Hard pass.

They need experienced NBA assistant coaches and maybe one former coach around Mazzulla. Ollie brings none of that.

 

[tykurez]

Big day for the folks who make hating Kevin Ollie their personality

 

[gtcam]

Stating factual information = worst fan of any college. I watch every game, follow all the guys on social media, buy NIL gear, and flew to Houston and supported the team during the Final Four run, please tell me more about how terrible of a fan I am.

Pat yourself on the back for all the wonderful things you did in the past 9 months
You still made a BS statement.

 

[gtcam]

Hard pass.

They need experienced NBA assistant coaches and maybe one former coach around Mazzulla. Ollie brings none of that.

There are many former and current NBA players and coaches who disagree but until you own a voice with the C's you don't have a ball to pass.

 

[gtcam]

I can agree the circumstances aren’t 1:1.

Don’t think admin had to lie to him about the Big East necessarily, but in the article it states the rumors were already out about it when he was being interviewed. He probably had a good idea that it was going to happen, especially if Benedict and Herbst wanted it to happen.

Sounds like the whole set low expectations and be excited when we pass them thing on their side. On Hurley’s side it’s reasonable to expect they would be able to get it done. Public facing wise he gains nothing out of saying he would not have came if the Big East wasn’t on the table but gains a lot more saying otherwise. It’s a smart way to go about it.

Our problem during Ollie’s tenure I think was that we were shooting for the AAC and Big Ten trying to hold onto our football teams relevancy. Once they gave up on those the Big East was a no brainer. That’s my rough memory of it at least.

No way Hurley comes to UConn without knowing for sure that the school was leaving the AAC within a few short years. He couldn't recruit squat in the AAC.

"I wanted to be the coach at UConn regardless," he said. "That had been a dream of mine my whole coaching career, is to be the head coach here. I had hoped it would happen. When I first met with [AD] Dave Benedict and President Herbst, they made it clear to me that it might not, and take this job with the understanding that you could very well be in the American and don't take it based on rumors that we could be relocating."

What a complete pile of BS - when he 1st met maybe but it is 99.9% likely they leaked the news during follow-up pre-hire talks. If UConn was to remain in the AAC, his staying at URI would remain a better situation.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

No way Hurley comes to UConn without knowing for sure that the school was leaving the AAC within a few short years. He couldn't recruit squat in the AAC.

I don't believe this is true (and for the record, Hurley said it wasn't, multiple times).

Why would they tell Hurley something (that they were pursuing BE membership) that they would not tell any other coach at the school?

 

[Inyatkin]

Amazing how these things develop. Hurley is on record saying he was coming to an AAC school. A couple posters say there's no way that's true, he must have known the Big East was coming.

Based on what? Nothing. But from that they've turned it into something "everyone knows."

 

[UConn990411]

There are many former and current NBA players and coaches who disagree but until you own a voice with the C's you don't have a ball to pass.

I’m not entirely sure what you’re trying to say here.

 

[superjohn]

Amazing how these things develop. Hurley is on record saying he was coming to an AAC school. A couple posters say there's no way that's true, he must have known the Big East was coming.

Based on what? Nothing. But from that they've turned it into something "everyone knows."

We don't know for certain, Hurley is loose with stuff like Calhoun was loose with stuff.

 

[bfs3]

Honestly I would have been happy for Ollie to get the job. I’m not an Ollie fan and he wasn’t who I wanted to follow Calhoun. I was worried he wouldn’t recruit and we would become a middling AAC team. Arguably my fears were warranted but not in the path that brought us there.

My reasons for wanting to see Ollie on an NBA bench is mostly because he would be mentioned as a NCAA winning former coach at UConn. That’s a good sentence to have repeated on television regardless of the way it ended. Lastly I’m sure he would be less sour when collecting an NBA paycheck, even as an assistant. That would just leave him as a former player/coach who reminds people UConn is a multi championship winning school each time his name is brought up. The more players, coaches etc who are shown on tv with UConn under their name the better.

 

[bfs3]

No way Hurley comes to UConn without knowing for sure that the school was leaving the AAC within a few short years. He couldn't recruit squat in the AAC.

"I wanted to be the coach at UConn regardless," he said. "That had been a dream of mine my whole coaching career, is to be the head coach here. I had hoped it would happen. When I first met with [AD] Dave Benedict and President Herbst, they made it clear to me that it might not, and take this job with the understanding that you could very well be in the American and don't take it based on rumors that we could be relocating."

What a complete pile of BS - when he 1st met maybe but it is 99.9% likely they leaked the news during follow-up pre-hire talks. If UConn was to remain in the AAC, his staying at URI would remain a better situation.

Yeah I’m sure it was discussed as an option. I wonder if it was a done deal at that point or if he just knew we were in discussions but either way we’re done with the AAC first chance we had.