Ollie's Contract

[UConnfan8]

Yeah, we've trended way down since winning it all...

Yeah cause beating Colorado in the first week is soooooo impressive.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yeah cause beating Colorado in the first week is soooooo impressive.

Colorado was a quality team, and we lost in the next round to the overall number 1 in Kansas. I guess Ollie sucks then. You guys are pretty smart...

 

[navery12]

Reading the comments, it seems the posters here have more loyalty to KO than the program. I didn't say fire the guy, I said we should be evaluating him, and his contract, next year. We all hope he turns it around next season, whether he does or doesnt will remain to be seen.

I'll bite, I've asked this question of everyone who says KO should be fired and have yet to receive an answer. Who is replacing KO here that you think will do a better job?

 

[JMick]

If we aren't a good team next year I think we have to start asking questions. Anything less than 26 wins next year and Ollie should be on the hot seat.

 

[UConnfan8]

Colorado was a quality team, and we lost in the next round to the overall number 1 in Kansas. I guess Ollie sucks then. You guys are pretty smart...

You know how many quality teams we used to beat in the big east in January? Every god damn game was a quality win. Colorado. Psh. I used to laugh at programs like that. Now I see we're becoming one.

 

[Athlete94]

With all due respect, this is the type of post that drives me insane. Ollie has not had a sub-20 win season. He won a friggin National Championship! And he's had a couple of top 25 recruiting classes with the last 2 classes if I'm not mistaken.

And we're worried about him being our coach?? This board is straight up nuts...

Last I checked we suck and were a rebound away from getting bounced in 2014 tourney. Stop defending the guy.. I like him too but I'm sick of losing games we should win, other teams improving, and for goodness gracious, stop the morale victory speeches... we are UCONN and shouldn't accept mediocrity. What are we back in the late 80s???

 

[Papadukes]

I think Bob Diaco can be the HC and his assistants can be the entire Dickens family and then everyone would be happy. Dam man I cant friggin stand that guy

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Ollie deserves some criticism for this season, but I feel like this perfect storm combo of horrific leadership from your senior co-captains and too many injuries transcends coaching.

Nobody, I mean nobody, expected Purvis and Brimah to bring so little to the table this year.

I'm starting to think Purvis needs more than any basketball coach could reasonably be expected to help him with, like a psychologist or something. I'm serious...his body language and anxious play seem like depression from a distance. Am I allowed to say that?

 

[UConnfan8]

If you guys think this thread is bad go check out the "is this team bad enough to ruin the program" one.

 

[FartMan69]

Colorado was a quality team, and we lost in the next round to the overall number 1 in Kansas. I guess Ollie sucks then. You guys are pretty smart...

We certainly are trending down and you can't deny that. That's not saying we're eternally doomed but.. Remember when we were a #1 or #2 seed and winning conference regular seasons as a wire to wire top 25 team? Because that's our history and for us who remember that, the last 3 seasons aren't anywhere near that level. Does that mean "Ollie sucks" uhhh no but he better start living up to the UConn standard soon or those voices you're deflecting are only going to get louder. When was the last time we missed the tourney 2 out of 3 seasons?

 

[huskymagic]

Of course he gets next year, but do we know the terms after that? I know there are injuries, but we have seniors that have regressed and freshman that aren't developing and we need to start thinking about our options in 2018.

OP not to worry if Ollie keeps this up his salary will go from 3 million to nada in 2019. The only good thing Ollie did today was yell at Albatross Rodney and Vital for playing so horrendously, and sit Adams at the end last 5 minutes for his poor performance. Props to Kentan and Vance for playing like UCONN level players

PS. WTF is going on with the injury situations on this team with Enoch now added to the list. We need to start recruiting some injury proof players.

 

[UConnDan97]

We certainly are trending down and you can't deny that. That's not saying we're eternally doomed but.. Remember when we were a #1 or #2 seed and winning conference regular seasons as a wire to wire top 25 team? Because that's our history and for us who remember that, the last 3 seasons aren't anywhere near that level. Does that mean "Ollie sucks" uhhh no but he better start living up to the UConn standard soon or those voices you're deflecting are only going to get louder. When was the last time we missed the tourney 2 out of 3 seasons?

He's got 7 scholarship players to use right now. 7. I wish I knew what the hell it is that people think Tom Izzo could do with this team?? Or Coach K? Or Calipari? Or you fill in the blank with whomever you want.

Are the underclassmen getting better? YES. undeniably yes.
Players like Facey and Adams getting better? By leaps and bounds.
And all of this under the very worst of conditions with no bench. He's mixing zones to mask it, and he has a 7 foot center who can't stay on the court for more than 5 minutes a game.

Honestly, what the hell do you want him to do?!?

 

[Sonova]

He's got 7 scholarship players to use right now. 7. I wish I knew what the hell it is that people think Tom Izzo could do with this team?? Or Coach K? Or Calipari? Or you fill in the blank with whomever you want.

Are the underclassmen getting better? YES. undeniably yes.
Players like Facey and Adams getting better? By leaps and bounds.
And all of this under the very worst of conditions with no bench. He's mixing zones to mask it, and he has a 7 foot center who can't stay on the court for more than 5 minutes a game.

Honestly, what the hell do you want him to do?!?

I'll bite. I want UConn to compete. I want Ollie to adjust instead of doing the same thing every game and hoping that this is the 40 minutes when we make shots. Sh#t, start someone new one time. Get a technical foul. How bout get close to getting a technical foul when the game is out of reach just to show that you can't stomach losing like this or that you have your team's back when the whistle isn't going your way. And I know the injuries have greatly impacted Ollie's options. Really. I do. But SMU lost three of their top four scorers from last year and just blew our doors off with only 7 players and a new coach. I'm not expecting him to figure out how to get this team into the tournament. But I also don't think it's unreasonable to expect better effort, better execution and better coaching than what we're seeing. All three of those coaches you mentioned above (all Hall of Famers) would have us playing better than this. They might not be miracle workers, but my money says we'd have won more because they would have gone to plan B,C, D etc or exhausted themselves trying to find a way to compete.

 

[Huskybass]

Yup. Both those seasons were 20+ wins, postseason play including a tourney win against Colorado, and 2 great recruiting classes. Yup. Mediocre...

One NCAA tourney win in 3 seasons. Almost always being unranked. Not winning any AAC regular season championships. Yes, mediocre.

If being irrelevant on the national scene pleases you, enjoy it. I have a hard time getting used to this new normal.

 

[shizzle787]

With all due respect, this is the type of post that drives me insane. Ollie has not had a sub-20 win season. He won a friggin National Championship! And he's had a couple of top 25 recruiting classes with the last 2 classes if I'm not mistaken.

And we're worried about him being our coach?? This board is straight up nuts...

Not really. Ollie didn't win the national championsip in 2014. Brimah's 3-point play against St. Joe's, Napier draining 30-foot threes throughout the tourney, and Deandre looking like MJ against Iowa State won the title. Ollie still has not figured out how to break down a basic zone. He is an excellent recruiter but they don't play like that when they first get here unlike similar players that go to Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc. If we miss the tourney this year, that will be 2 of 3 years out (with the third needing a miracle shot to avoid the NIT). Ollie can have until next year, but the excuses are starting to wear thin.

 

[champs99and04]

Ollie deserves some criticism for this season, but I feel like this perfect storm combo of horrific leadership from your senior co-captains and too many injuries transcends coaching.

Nobody, I mean nobody, expected Purvis and Brimah to bring so little to the table this year.

I'm starting to think Purvis needs more than any basketball coach could reasonably be expected to help him with, like a psychologist or something. I'm serious...his body language and anxious play seem like depression from a distance. Am I allowed to say that?

I would argue that Brimah has brought to the table exactly what we would have expected him to bring to the table this season...which is mostly good things when he is out there and nothing when he is on the bench, which is where he has spent most of his season and career. We knew who he was coming in and he has pretty much been that player.

Purvis on the other hand has fallen off a cliff in what I can only describe as one of the most inexplicable player regressions I've ever seen. Seriously, I'm not sure there is precedent for this.

Let's also not forget about Kentan Facey, whose recent resurgence has caused people to forget about the fact that, for most of his career (including at times this season), he's been a less impactful player than Purvis or Brimah. He shouldn't get a pass - entering today he had a combined 45 points in our 10 losses. I'm thrilled for him that he's coming on, but I'm a bit weary in declaring him a success story when he does a lot of his damage in garbage time and off broken plays.

I don't know whether Ollie has anything to do with this, but at the same time, I don't know how anybody can know he doesn't have anything to do with it.

Tonight is actually the least of my worries. I'm worried about nine other losses against non-tournament teams, I'm worried about non-competitive games against anybody good, and I'm worried about three years of objectively horrific basketball. It can't simply be written off; perhaps some of you are more lenient because you don't watch as much college basketball as I do. I have seen a lot of coaches coach a lot of limited players into something better than what we have seen.

I have no interest in seeing anybody else on the sidelines, but at the same time the fans should be frustrated.

 

[UConnDan97]

One NCAA tourney win in 3 seasons.

Um...7 wins in three seasons. Unless of course you are talking about this season, which had yet to hold a tournament game. Cool story, bro...

 

[tower1]

I don't know KO's contract situation but you can bet if next year is the final year it will be extended before the season starts.

I don't know about that after the Diaco mess.

 

[UConnDan97]

All three of those coaches you mentioned above (all Hall of Famers) would have us playing better than this.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's not like a hall of famer like Izzo would lose to Ohio State or, worse yet, Northeastern with all the injuries.

Nope. He'd lose to them both this year with a mostly healthy team. You were probably just overwhelmed by his 4 point win against Oral Roberts. Thanks for playing, though...

(And yes, I know we were mostly healthy against Northeastern too, but we were very young and still are)

 

[Huskybass]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's not like a hall of famer like Izzo would lose to Ohio State or, worse yet, Northeastern with all the injuries.

Nope. He'd lose to them both this year with a mostly healthy team. You were probably just overwhelmed by his 4 point win against Oral Roberts. Thanks for playing, though...

(And yes, I know we were mostly healthy against Northeastern too, but we were very young and still are)

Head meet sand.

 

[ctchamps]

Ollie deserves some criticism for this season, but I feel like this perfect storm combo of horrific leadership from your senior co-captains and too many injuries transcends coaching.

Nobody, I mean nobody, expected Purvis and Brimah to bring so little to the table this year.

I'm starting to think Purvis needs more than any basketball coach could reasonably be expected to help him with, like a psychologist or something. I'm serious...his body language and anxious play seem like depression from a distance. Am I allowed to say that?

He's not the only one. Lot's of fans approaching the cliff.

Next year can be difficult as well given that the #2 and #3 players suffered severe injuries.

Hopefully the time never comes but if KO has to be replaced I'm for resurrecting JC.

 

[TitleTown]

With all due respect, this is the type of post that drives me insane. Ollie has not had a sub-20 win season. He won a friggin National Championship! And he's had a couple of top 25 recruiting classes with the last 2 classes if I'm not mistaken.

And we're worried about him being our coach?? This board is straight up nuts...

20 win seasons is now your measuring stick for this once great basketball program? Calhoun's recruits and especially Napier won a Championship despite Ollie and not because of him. Ollie is NOT a good basketball coach. He is a great guy and I loved him as a player but his lack of coaching experience, stressing fundamentals, and NBA style offensive philosophy is hurting this program.

 

[ctchamps]

20 win seasons is now your measuring stick for this once great basketball program? Calhoun's recruits and especially Napier won a Championship despite Ollie and not because of him. Ollie is NOT a good basketball coach. He is a great guy and I loved him as a player but his lack of coaching experience, stressing fundamentals, and NBA style offensive philosophy is hurting this program.

Have you discussed this with Bazz? Or are you chief's relative and get your info from Bunky?

You could be right that players win in spite of coaches. But then it stands to reason that players can lose in spite of coaches. Giving KO no credit for success and all the credit for failure satisfies anger and resentment but I doubt it's accurate.

 

[Sonova]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's not like a hall of famer like Izzo would lose to Ohio State or, worse yet, Northeastern with all the injuries.

Nope. He'd lose to them both this year with a mostly healthy team. You were probably just overwhelmed by his 4 point win against Oral Roberts. Thanks for playing, though...

(And yes, I know we were mostly healthy against Northeastern too, but we were very young and still are)

I'm not sure if you're trying to tell me that Kevin Ollie is as good as Tom Izzo but knock yourself out, sport. If you're satisfied with the results these last 2.5 years what are you doing wasting all of this precious, blissful time on the Boneyard after a blowout loss? You might want to pick a better performance to "convince" folks that we're doing the best we can and that the program is in good shape. You're welcome for playing btw.

 

[traitor71]

Anyone that is not concerned has blinders on, period. I don't even know what else to say. He took over a team that had the players who carried it to a title already on the roster. Since then, the team just stumbles around and no one can feel good about that. There has to be improvement next year, period, or we can safely assume he is just not going to be able to deliver anything better than what we are seeing.