Size? Talent? Slim pickings currently...

[GuardU]

We look outmatched (physically) vs. high majors, mid-majors, or even the cup cakes we've played against. Aside from the grad transfers (current and past), none of our direct products have developed their bodies once joining the program.

Maybe it's the level of athlete we're now recruiting? The muscle and explosiveness needed to compete certainly do not show on the court. Syracuse looked like they rolled out a bunch of 5 stars the way they were dunking on us all night and I believe we had 1 dunk late in the game with a weak 2 hand by Larrier.

How do guys like Adams and Larrier more or less indicate this is their last year b4 heading to play professionally without developing their bodies? Do they not realize they need to change their bodies and improve their skill set? This tells me they either have been given the direction and cut corners, they haven't been given the feedback, or they simply are not who we thought they were.

Say what you want about Ollie but it appears he is VERY limited with talent, size, and athletes to compete at the level we expect as fans. He needs to be recruiting over every single person on this current roster and incoming freshmen to ensure he has depth and talent to compete - that includes Larrier, Adams, and the obvious, Gilbert.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

yeah i find myself going back and forth on this until I come to my senses.

On the one hand I see us playing horribly every game and hate Ollie.

But then I see us play Cuse and the talent gap is just so huge that I almost feel bad for him. Adams and maybe a few min a game from larrier and cobb are literally the only guys who played last night that would play for some of our better past teams. The talent gap was alarming, and it wasn't even a very good cuse team.

But then I realize that is completely 100% his fault that we have no talent on the team and I go back to hating him again.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

The program needs someone who can recruit talent at the level it was not so long ago.

 

[polycom]

The program needs someone who can recruit talent at the level it was not so long ago.

We have talent it needs to be developed. We need a talent developer... We recruit fine.

 

[jibsey]

Isn’t Chillious supposed to be getting us talent, bigs?

 

[superjohn]

We look outmatched (physically) vs. high majors, mid-majors, or even the cup cakes we've played against. Aside from the grad transfers (current and past), none of our direct products have developed their bodies once joining the program.

Maybe it's the level of athlete we're now recruiting? The muscle and explosiveness needed to compete certainly do not show on the court. Syracuse looked like they rolled out a bunch of 5 stars the way they were dunking on us all night and I believe we had 1 dunk late in the game with a weak 2 hand by Larrier.

How do guys like Adams and Larrier more or less indicate this is their last year b4 heading to play professionally without developing their bodies? Do they not realize they need to change their bodies and improve their skill set? This tells me they either have been given the direction and cut corners, they haven't been given the feedback, or they simply are not who we thought they were.

Say what you want about Ollie but it appears he is VERY limited with talent, size, and athletes to compete at the level we expect as fans. He needs to be recruiting over every single person on this current roster and incoming freshmen to ensure he has depth and talent to compete - that includes Larrier, Adams, and the obvious, Gilbert.

It's all on Ollie. There was a reason Durham, Enoch, and Vance left and MAL didn't all of a sudden think we had guards that were too good for him to compete against. Other recruiters have so much ammo to go against Ollie, things aren't getting any better on that front.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

We have talent it needs to be developed. We need a talent developer... We recruit fine.

Sorry, but I'm used to much better talent a UConn. This team - talent wise - reminds me of UConn in the late 80's.

 

[UofCT]

We look outmatched (physically) vs. high majors, mid-majors, or even the cup cakes we've played against. Aside from the grad transfers (current and past), none of our direct products have developed their bodies once joining the program.

Maybe it's the level of athlete we're now recruiting? The muscle and explosiveness needed to compete certainly do not show on the court. Syracuse looked like they rolled out a bunch of 5 stars the way they were dunking on us all night and I believe we had 1 dunk late in the game with a weak 2 hand by Larrier.

How do guys like Adams and Larrier more or less indicate this is their last year b4 heading to play professionally without developing their bodies? Do they not realize they need to change their bodies and improve their skill set? This tells me they either have been given the direction and cut corners, they haven't been given the feedback, or they simply are not who we thought they were.

Say what you want about Ollie but it appears he is VERY limited with talent, size, and athletes to compete at the level we expect as fans. He needs to be recruiting over every single person on this current roster and incoming freshmen to ensure he has depth and talent to compete - that includes Larrier, Adams, and the obvious, Gilbert.

Remind me who recruited these guys? Calhoun? Stop giving Ollie a pass for things he is directly responsible for.

 

[GuardU]

Maybe we need to stop recruiting positionless players and get people that have strengths in: protecting the rim, rebounding, shooting, passing - you know, the basics.
We do not have a single player on this team that can shoot consistently well and it's been this way since 2014 - JC's guys. Heck, aside from Adams no1 on this team can even get to the rim at ease for a high % shot.
This season could certainly get worst than last year. I hope we have a plan B being worked out for if/when they decide to part ways with Ollie.

 

[Bagel&Cheese]

It's both a lack of high level talent and talent development. We just don't have the horses anymore to compete at a high level year after year. Besides Adams and Gilbert, I don't see anyone on this roster that has potential to be a difference maker now or in the years to come. At the end of the day, it all falls entirely on Ollie's shoulders. You think it's bad now, what happens if Adams, Larrier and Gilbert are not playing on this team next year. With Ollie or without, tougher times may be on their way.

 

[ASweet3781]

Say what you want about Ollie but it appears he is VERY limited with talent, size, and athletes to compete at the level we expect as fans. He needs to be recruiting over every single person on this current roster and incoming freshmen to ensure he has depth and talent to compete - that includes Larrier, Adams, and the obvious, Gilbert.

And he has no blame to share for putting himself in that position right?

 

[GuardU]

I

And he has no blame to share for putting himself in that position right?

I'm not defending him. He certainly takes majority of the blame for this current roster, but I don't think he's an awful coach like most state.
I get that the 2014 team was built off of JC's recruits, but KO still rolled out a game plan and made in-game adjustments thru that season - sure it helped to have one of the best guards in the country that year to lead the way, but KO knows the game.
I think parting ways with Miller and bringing in Chill was his way of admitting he has fallen short on recruiting and needed help. At the end of the day he needs to turn this ship around to save his job. 2018 recruiting is off to a good start but he needs to make a splash in the spring with a couple more pieces, and find a way to finish this year with 20+ wins.

I'm rooting for it to happen, but it doesn't look too hopeful at this point. Time for this ENTIRE staff to start earning their checks. Develop this year's talent, find ways to win, and recruit like no1 has a guaranteed spot next year.

 

[Milo65]

Sorry, but I'm used to much better talent a UConn. This team - talent wise - reminds me of UConn in the late 80's.

The late 80's teams were better...Cliff Robinson, Chris Smith, Phil Gamble, Rod Sellers, would smoke these guys.

 

[UConnJim]

Sorry, but I'm used to much better talent a UConn. This team - talent wise - reminds me of UConn in the late 80's.

Calhoun's first 3 teams in the late 80s were 47-46 and 13-35 in the Big East. No, they were not good teams.

If you go by recruiting rankings, this team has more talent as Adams, Larrier, and Gilbert were all top 50 recruits. But, I don't remember a UConn team having only 2 players back from the season before and throw in the injury to the PG.

Last night was the first night that I actually saw some hope for the rest of the season, especially if Gilbert comes back. The rotation is becoming more clear. PG is Gilbert with Adams the CG. Larrier is the 3 and sometimes a small 4. Diarra is a 4 and Cobb is the 5. Anderson and Vital are the backups at guard and Carlton and Dave O are the backups at 4/5 and Polley is off the bench as a 3. Once the rotation is set, the team can start to improve.

 

[Kitaman]

We've been a donut team for quite a long time, including our 2014 Championship team. Not sure what the recruiting problem is but it is what it is.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

We NEED a pure SG. Someone like Battle, a player that isn’t really asked to initiate the offense or handle the ball at the top, but someone that can come off screens and either take a jump shot right away, or take a dribble or two to create space and knock down a shot. We have no consistent drive and dish threats on this team. Matthews seems to be a good shooter but I think he is still more of a wing, and I’m excited for Sid but Evans has said he’s a very inconsistent shooter. It doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen in this class, but we need that SG and a player who gobbles up rebounds and can go back up with it.

 

[Kenny11]

Against out of conference major teams this season, our talent and athleticism is an obvious weakness. But against our conference, we still have above average talent. There is no excuse for Ollie if we perform poorly in the conference again. I do see some hope for conference play despite the frustration because I see roles being defined and I see some promise in guys like Mama and Cobb. I really don't see anything in Larrier, but Ollie needs to put him in the right places where he can catch, elevate, and make his jump shots without having to think or put the ball on the floor. Next years recruiting class has a skilled strong guy, a guy with Jeremy Lamb-like potential (in my opinion), a good shooting fearless (and small) PG, and an elite athlete. I have been disappointed with Ollie this year and last year, but the worst thing would be to fire him and have all of these guys de-commit.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Maybe we need to stop recruiting positionless players and get people that have strengths in: protecting the rim, rebounding, shooting, passing - you know, the basics.
We do not have a single player on this team that can shoot consistently well and it's been this way since 2014 - JC's guys. Heck, aside from Adams no1 on this team can even get to the rim at ease for a high % shot.
This season could certainly get worst than last year. I hope we have a plan B being worked out for if/when they decide to part ways with Ollie.

I have been saying this for years. All the “ position-less” system has gotten us is a bunch of tweeners who don’t excel at anything and are mediocre at best at a few.

Ollie either has no system or his system is total garbage. Not sure which it is

 

[Henry]

Who coaches the big men? They seem to have lousy footwork and don't seem to have a clue on boxing out. To me, this has been our biggest problem for a few years now.

 

[tjc1888]

We need a good bag man......

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I

I'm not defending him. He certainly takes majority of the blame for this current roster, but I don't think he's an awful coach like most state.
I get that the 2014 team was built off of JC's recruits, but KO still rolled out a game plan and made in-game adjustments thru that season - sure it helped to have one of the best guards in the country that year to lead the way, but KO knows the game.
I think parting ways with Miller and bringing in Chill was his way of admitting he has fallen short on recruiting and needed help. At the end of the day he needs to turn this ship around to save his job. 2018 recruiting is off to a good start but he needs to make a splash in the spring with a couple more pieces, and find a way to finish this year with 20+ wins.

I'm rooting for it to happen, but it doesn't look too hopeful at this point. Time for this ENTIRE staff to start earning their checks. Develop this year's talent, find ways to win, and recruit like no1 has a guaranteed spot next year.

Repost

 

[UofCT]

It's both a lack of high level talent and talent development. We just don't have the horses anymore to compete at a high level year after year. Besides Adams and Gilbert, I don't see anyone on this roster that has potential to be a difference maker now or in the years to come. At the end of the day, it all falls entirely on Ollie's shoulders. You think it's bad now, what happens if Adams, Larrier and Gilbert are not playing on this team next year. With Ollie or without, tougher times may be on their way.

You mean next year we might be struggle against mid majors? Get blown out by good programs? Miss the NCAAs?

We are at rock bottom.

 

[superjohn]

You mean next year we might be struggle against mid majors? Get blown out by good programs? Miss the NCAAs?

We are at rock bottom.

Next year could definitely be worse.

 

[Jaker]

If ollie could get five star players and one and done recruits, you can ber your arse he would. At this point I feel like he is just trying to fill uniforms and fine enough quality players to have a good practice session.

 

[joober jones]

Chillious reminds me of Beaky Buzzard. The old guys will know what I'm talking about.

 

[uconnbill]

There have been misses in recruiting but the game plan or lack there of one is what is killing UConn now. They have no flow during the game on offense and the rebounded was just so bad against the Cuse.
Better coaching would help. Not sure we will get that though. Sad days ahead is my feeling