We are still #4

[jibsey]

Top 16 college basketball programs since 2000: Duke or UNC at the top?

PERSPECTIVE: Before you whine once again about 7 & 10 in mid January and think Jay Wright or Rick Pitino never had down years like Ollie, gain a little perspective on where we sit in the arc of modern college hoop (pretty much since Bird & Magic). (Wright won 13 only a few years ago) It is quite a lofty perch and look at the neighborhood. Ollie's transition is getting a little rocky; I would say that can directly be explained by the recruiting which saw bandaids placed on the roster in a few spots with Grad Transfers. Having 11 kids lined up from Adams-Enoch-Larrier to the incoming 3 has not really been our path since 2009 when we lost Oriakhi/Smith and had sanctions. Those 11 kids have to develop ... and they are. Adams looks like he is blossoming.

Push back: Why didn't Purvis, Brimah, Facey develop? They did. My opinion is that Purvis was fully formed upon arrival. He is a pleasure to have on your Team; but, his physical upside wasn't great. He probably was an incredible 7th grade hooper. The inverse is Facey, who never touched a ball at that age and slow slow cooked to where he actually will play great ball through his mid 20s. Compare to Hilton units? Sure ... unfortunately he is going to reach peak a few years beyond UConn.

As you look at the landscape, this UConn program - like Wisconsin or Villanova - needs steady development of the entire roster. Every kid. Because we may swing for Diallo's, but we aren't gonna land many with Calipari & UNC & Duke circling. We still can win at an elite level. We need to get back to consistently high achievement - that happens when you develop all your guys. I think Ollie can recruit an entire roster better than Jim Calhoun. The AAC conference, by the way, is coming up nicely with Dawkins, Sampson, Tubby and SMU rising despite the Larry Brown typical exit. We are going to be tested.

KO is recruiting well based on the obstacles he faces, after all JA and Gilbert are great but Calhoun periodically came up with big time recruits like Donyell and Khalid, top shelf players that seems to now not come to us. Next year ESPN has us at #26. If KO had that luxury he would not be gettin as much flak as he has gotten in this forum. If the AAC steps up in quality our prayers are answered because KO will start getting the biggies again. It's our best bet at this point I guess.

 

[Pudge]

KO is recruiting well based on the obstacles he faces, after all JA and Gilbert are great but Calhoun periodically came up with big time recruits like Donyell and Khalid, top shelf players that seems to now not come to us. Next year ESPN has us at #26. If KO had that luxury he would not be gettin as much flak as he has gotten in this forum. If the AAC steps up in quality our prayers are answered because KO will start getting the biggies again. It's our best bet at this point I guess.

Our ONLY competitive top recruit - really - was Rudy Gay. Maybe Charlie Villanueva.

Each of Khalid El Amin & Donyell & Rip ... were odd fluky wins. Rip blew up after we roped him in. Donyell fell out of Maryland & Syracuse because of idiosyncratic circumstances unique for that short period. And Khalid had lots of suitors ... and suddenly fell in our lap. Caron was ours because we took a risk on his background.

When we competed with the top 10 of whatever year in situations that the kid went through the whole enchilada with visits and great fanfare ... Calhoun didn't win often.

The Program was built on good solid mid level guys that developed.

Ollie with Adams & Daniel Hamilton & Makai & Gilbert ... are all right in line with 27 years of stories.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

And ... I think there are too many guys here (pardon me ... If I generalize) that missed how this Program got to its exalted status. And therefore ... they cast a funereal pall over all of us and every game day. My ... There's no joy in Mudville.

Kevin Ollie will be fine. As mentioned above, he is STILL a young coach. Given the right formula ... he can still win big in March. Because, what we found in 2014, is he is exemplary at taking a roster and forming guys into their correct roles. And we are going to have a 27-30 win season again soon. Why? Look at the tried & true UConn form: great guards with talent bred wings. Mix in some post development. We won with Oriakhi. Brimah. We will get better Bigs than those ... with all due respect.

Not that this has much to do with your post, this thread, or really anything, but I'd love a player like Sophomore Oriakhi on our team. Not his mentality and all that obviously, but imagine what he could've done in this conference.

 

[Mr. French]

Ollie is a great recruiter and he is a really good coach out of timeouts. Unfortunately, he is terrible at in game adjustments. For years, he has failed to figure out how to break down a zone. He even recruits the type of player to do it. All he has to do is put a lanky good shooter (Jackson) at the free throw line in the middle of zone to bang in ten jumpers a game. That would open everything up if he doesn't shoot as the defense swarms towards him.

Coaching is that simple, huh?

 

[jibsey]

Our ONLY competitive top recruit - really - was Rudy Gay. Maybe Charlie Villanueva.

Each of Khalid El Amin & Donyell & Rip ... were odd fluky wins. Rip blew up after we roped him in. Donyell fell out of Maryland & Syracuse because of idiosyncratic circumstances unique for that short period. And Khalid had lots of suitors ... and suddenly fell in our lap. Caron was ours because we took a risk on his background.

When we competed with the top 10 of whatever year in situations that the kid went through the whole enchilada with visits and great fanfare ... Calhoun didn't win often.

The Program was built on good solid mid level guys that developed.

Ollie with Adams & Daniel Hamilton & Makai & Gilbert ... are all right in line with 27 years of stories.

We need the mid level guys for sure but we need the #9 player or the #5 to drop into our lap occasionally, and we are not getting that. I get that our conference is an albatross that affects this incredibly.

 

[Pudge]

We are fortunate.

What I see ... We suddenly have major harvest of Prep schools a short drive from Campus. That's evolved over the last 10 years; but did not really exist in the heart of Calhouns rise. We have a major black coach with a NC. There is no other youngish guy with this credentials ... particularly at a Brand name.

There will be another Caron or Donyell story. I frankly don't think we have a high probability of winning a long compete with Duke or KY on top kids.

 

[Tenspro2002]

There will be another Caron or Donyell story.

Wasn't that supposed to have been Diallo? His situation was basically a perfect storm: local guy, blew up after we had interest from early on, school we have connections to.

 

[Pudge]

Wasn't that supposed to have been Diallo? His situation was basically a perfect storm: local guy, blew up after we had interest from early on, school we have connections to.

How do you win against Kentucky and Calipari?

Let's say you're a Investment Banking wanna & you've got a great offer from the outstanding regional in Atlanta. Suddenly you get national recognized ... you get courted by Goldman Sachs? Fact is Kentucky may win less NC in the next 10 years than Villanova or Virginia or Wisconsin or UConn. But they are gonna blow the doors in for 18 year olds for awhile with the parade of glitz followed by NBA first round selections.

1998? We would lose often if we competed with UNC or Duke. But The Kentucky type thing is a new paradigm.

There will be a kid that lands in Storrs that is great. But it will be an odd story.