2018 Coach Chill expectations

[mauconnfan]

Then get better players Mau! Which he still hasn't been able to do despite a wide open front court.

Its his job to recruit. So either recruit better players or do a better job of developing the less heralded guys. Either way the blame falls at his feet.

And btw Facey was state poy and a top 100 recruit. guy was no slouch. Enoch Top 60. You act like hes gotten absolutely nothing.

Facey was all NYC did you watch him play? He was clueless until half way through his senior year and the light went on. He came in for 3 years so a flash or 2 but also got lost on D every time do you even watch the games? Some guys have the instincts others don't and some never get there, he and Brimah didn't. Enoch, he was awful at best on D, clueless and he was taught how to play D despite what some of you believe. No idea how and when to help and slow footed. Broken record crap on this board.

And in case you forgot to read my 1,ooo times I said if "anything it's on him to get better and smarter players", I did maybe more than 1.,000 times to people who have to keep saying "Ko can't develop".

 

[mauconnfan]

I am down 100% for this. But that is a wait and see game and doesn't mean we cant analyze the past/current.

Analyze away just make some damn sense or try something new.

 

[Hugo]

They won a national championship with that talent.

Since we're losing recruits to PC now, name a productive Providence player.

Dunn was a first round selection and Bentil went in the second round to the Celts. That appears to me to be productive players.

 

[upstater]

Dunn was a first round selection and Bentil went in the second round to the Celts. That appears to me to be productive players.

So they are productive but Shabazz Napier isn't? The poster made the point that Napier is not productive.

As for Bentil, he's not in the NBA.

Dunn and Napier both average 4 points and 2 assists. If Napier is unproductive, so is Dunn.

 

[LStudfellow]

Dunn was a first round selection and Bentil went in the second round to the Celts. That appears to me to be productive players.

Productive in the pros. That is the debate Upstater is referring to... and therefore you would be wrong about either Dunn or Bentil being productive in the NBA so far:

Kris Dunn's impact limited in rookie season with Minnesota Timberwolves

From this article: "This season’s Rookie of the Year race got blown up, more or less, when the Philadelphia 76ers shut down center Joel Embiid over a nagging knee injury a couple weeks ago.

Now, as the smoke clears and a debate revs up over various other candidates’ worthiness, one constant remains: Kris Dunn still is no factor."

Kris Dunn's first year NBA stats: 3.8 PPG, 2.4 APG, 37.7% shooting, 29% from 3

Ben Bentil's first year stats: in 5 games at the end of the year with the Dallas Mavericks (he was cut by the Celtics before the season started, in fact) he played a total of 10 minutes in 3 of those 5 games, did not score and had 2 rebounds total. He spent most of the year in the D-League with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, where he averaged 12.1 PPG and 4.5 RPG. Meanwhile, Daniel Hamilton averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for the Oklahoma City Blue. He did even better in the playoffs, averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds and over 6 assists per game.

In other words, neither Kris Dunn nor Ben Bentil had a productive year in the NBA. So to this point, it is 100% true that Ed Cooley has yet to produce a player who has been productive in the NBA.

 

[Hugo]

So they are productive but Shabazz Napier isn't? The poster made the point that Napier is not productive.

As for Bentil, he's not in the NBA.

Dunn and Napier both average 4 points and 2 assists. If Napier is unproductive, so is Dunn.

I interpreted it as being productive in college. If it's in the pros then I agree that neither Dunn, Bentil or Bazz have been productive. In fact Dunn was a disappointment this past year. I for one expected more from him.

 

[Chief00]

You are right HuskiesAllDay - this point has been discussed to death. And you are also right that it goes the same way every time. And then you go on to craft the rest of your point as if your side is 100% fact and those who rebutt you are making "excuses." Which of course is your not so subtle way to say you are right and anyone who posts counter points is overlooking what is obvious to all of us - which is why you use the word "excuses" instead of some other term that gives the debate more legitimacy.

Except that you and others who make your point consistently do so as if the issues of the last 3 years are almost entirely KO's fault. No blame to Calhoun (which is patently false. The greatest men's college basketball program builder ever made several major mistakes in his last 5 years as head of the program that were going to negatively affect whomever succeeded him. Yet every time you make an argument about poor player development, you never once reference that aspect of it... ever. Because of course it weakens your point that the blame lies with KO). Also no blame to conference affiliation (a small part, but a part... and again that continuing debacle had nothing to do with KO either).

These views/points are not mutually exclusive or at opposite ends of the spectrum as you make them. Player development the last few years has been pretty poor. Last year in particular. You and everyone who feels that way are right. The people making "excuses" largely feel the same way as you do. But we also see a coach who has done some good things and a few great ones during his 5-year tenure. A coach who started his head coaching career with a legitimately serious handicap, thanks in significant part to his predecessor... and therefore deserves to have these legitimate, also factual counter points (not excuses) made on his behalf.


And, if you feel that makes me a "Pollyanna" or delusional, I offer you are comparison. I refer you to our own football discussion board. I have never once posted a single point in support of either Paul Pasqualoni or Bob Diaco in 6 1/2 years. Why? Because they were both lousy coaches, lousy at development, mostly lousy at recruiting (particularly Diaco), lousy at in-game coaching and in the 2nd case proved beyond a shadow of a doubt he was totally in over his head and unfit to be a head coach of a Division I college program. Diaco embarrassed himself and UConn on multiple occasions. Kevin Ollie has never embarrassed us or himself in that manner.

Bottom line: I do not offer support to anyone who has not earned it on some level.

I got to call this anti Calhoun BS out. In his last 8 years he went to 3 Final Fours - not bad, including winning it a year before he left. For his last season he got the number 1 player in the nation - not exactly a recruiting drop off.

 

[mauconnfan]

Seriously? You are bringing up overseas championships as an example of player development? This is where UConn basketball is at right now? What about Daniels, Hamilton, and Calhoun? All were top 45 recruits and none of them are even in the league.

My point is Boat was never considered a legit NBA player because of his size and early inability to play the point. He actually improved enough after Bazz left to be considered at least and had a nice run before being cut. If your only measurement on players is the NBA well then start telling me about every other program in college that isn't UK, Duke and UNC. People got better, some didn't, some left welcome to mens NCAA basketball.

All were top 45's? Brimah, Facey, Giffey? I don't even think Bazz was and Boat was in some not in others from what I remember. And I'd love to see how many Top 45's over the years never even sniffed the NBA. You do realize the % of how many actually make it don't you?

 

[pj]

My point is Boat was never considered a legit NBA player because of his size and early inability to play the point. He actually improved enough after Bazz left to be considered at least and had a nice run before being cut. If your only measurement on players is the NBA well then start telling me about every other program in college that isn't UK, Duke and UNC. People got better, some didn't, some left welcome to mens NCAA basketball.

All were top 45's? Brimah, Facey, Giffey? I don't even think Bazz was and Boat was in some not in others from what I remember. And I'd love to see how many Top 45's over the years never even sniffed the NBA. You do realize the % of how many actually make it don't you?

Ryan Boatright was #74 on ESPN, Ryan Boatright - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN and #55 on 247 composite, Ryan Boatright, East, Point Guard

Shabazz was unranked 4* on ESPN, Shabazz Napier - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN and #74 on 247 composite, Shabazz Napier, Lawrence Academy, Point Guard. I believe he was about #60 on the 2011 list before he reclassed to 2010.

Omar Calhoun was #44 on the 247 composite, Omar Calhoun, Christ The King Regional, Shooting Guard, but he was clearly over-rated and the injuries did him in. "top 45" is an interesting cutoff point to get Omar included.

In general, you wouldn't expect the #44 recruit to make the NBA, because #44 in US high schools makes him about #80 in the global NBA draft pool among his age, and they only draft 60 players per year, many of whom don't make the NBA.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Omar Calhoun was #44 on the 247 composite, Omar Calhoun, Christ The King Regional, Shooting Guard, but he was clearly over-rated and the injuries did him in. "top 45" is an interesting cutoff point to get Omar included.

Idk if "clearly overrated" is the right term for Omar. He was on the Big East all-rookie team and averaged 11 pts a game on a 20 win team as a freshman before having double knee surgery that summer. Then the hip and I believe a shoulder. It was nice to be a useful player again and get back to the tournament his senior year. That Ohio State game in 2015 was incredible.

 

[upstater]

I interpreted it as being productive in college. If it's in the pros then I agree that neither Dunn, Bentil or Bazz have been productive. In fact Dunn was a disappointment this past year. I for one expected more from him.

Yes, the standard was productive in the NBA.

 

[Allbite]

Silly thread, but I'll play along. We need to figure out a way to get back to our roots in terms of recruiting. We were consistently a team that got multiple top 40-75 guys and then we'd get lucky and would pluck a McD-AA every few years. Generally those top 40-75 guys would be 3-4 year players (Ricky, Rash, KFree, AJ, Dyson, Denham, JLamb, etc.) who were foundational guys and the top guy would be the star (Donyell, Rip, Khalid, Caron, CV, Rudy, Kemba). Sometimes, those top 40-75 guys would become stars in their own light (Ray, Gordon, Bazz, Boat) and we would have a complete team. Our last three years we have had very unbalanced teams. We would lack adequate ball handling, rebounding, shooting, whatever. The teams would have a lot of talent, but it was mismatched talent.

Those guys were all coached by Calhoun - the no-nonsense style he pounded into them helped them to overpower others who might be more talented or better coached from an Xs and Os perspective. Calhoun's style had become so rare that it became an X factor despite the opposing coach's best laid plans. Ollie is one to benefit from that style, not to adopt it.

 

[Allbite]

Brimah - no one's a magician. He wasn't even close to someone who cold've improved under anyone. Showed little to no understanding of the game 4 years later, most fans of the game could see that. He was a back up caliber player who was KO's only decent big, and the fact that happened for 4 years is on KO and the staff.

Rodney - love Rodney plays the game with passion, works on his game all the time. Is undersized at 6'2" but strong. Doesn't have the handle for the next level (oh that's on KO LOL, if you can't handle it well enough that's on you) and can't finish well enough. He is the size of PG's now but is nowhere near that and that's not on anyone just not in the books. Became a leader and a great kid under KO as I am sure he and his family are happy about.

Giffey - did little to nothing under JC, flourished and improved under KO.

Bazz - didn't have a good soph year under JC but improved in all facets under the tutelage of KO who by the way was his coach with JC too anyway.

Deandre - didn't play many minutes for JC but did for KO and improved.


People have improved under him. Some we can question but most have reasons. DHam? Not sure about all of that, maybe it's KO maybe it was a stubborn kid who wanted to go play for dollars. Ultimately the kids who improve are smarter basketball players, get the game and have the ability to learn and improve in game. Hey he needs to recruit better, then he will develop better. That's on him, it always has been.

True, people forget how much DHam screwed them. With him they have at least a winning record even with all the injuries, at the bare bones minimum.

 

[Huskyforlife]

True, people forget how much DHam screwed them. With him they have at least a winning record even with all the injuries, at the bare bones minimum.

It's a coaches job to be prepared for early departures.

 

[LStudfellow]

I got to call this anti Calhoun BS out. In his last 8 years he went to 3 Final Fours - not bad, including winning it a year before he left. For his last season he got the number 1 player in the nation - not exactly a recruiting drop off.

Chief - you are misrepresenting what I stated. I did not say nor have I ever said that recruiting directly under Calhoun dropped off. What I stated and absolutely stand behind is that the following things also happened during Coach Calhoun's last 5 years as the head of the program which directly and significantly negatively affected the recruiting efforts of Kevin Ollie and his staff for his first 2 to 3 years as the head coach.

This is not "anti-Calhoun" rhetoric, as you misconstrue it; only the truth of what happened. You can love and be thankful for what Coach Calhoun did at UConn for 25 years as a whole body of work (I in fact was always one of his biggest fans and most ardent supporters, and always will be) and also be honest about mistakes/poor judgement that happened that he played an integral part in causing. These truths are not mutually exclusive. I love the fact we went to 3 Final Fours in his last 8 years, and 4 total. I attended the first one in St. Petersburg. But those great facts do not change or wipe away an additional fact that he also left a pile of hot garbage for his successor to deal with. And my bet is if you really are that close with him and asked him that question, he would answer honestly and say that yes, he did.

The following all occurred that significantly hampered the recruiting efforts and the depth on the team for Kevin Ollie in his first 2 to 3 years:

1) a significant recruiting scandal (Nate Miles / Josh Nochimson)... which led to two assistants being fired, and significant restrictions on our scholarships and recruiting for two years.
2) the APR ban
3) 3 transfers, including 2 integral starters
4) Significant sanctions and a perception problem for his successor, who in this case would be Kevin Ollie.

All 4 of these are undeniable facts. Posters on this board talk about the negative recruiting against us recently... imagine what it was like once the APR ban was made official up through 2014.

 

[Allbite]

Daniels was drafted, then got injured, and is currently playing professionally in Italy.

Hamilton, who improved from freshman to sophomore year, left too early, and is in the NBA D League.

Cahoun had several well documented injuries, but is also playing professionally.

So despite leaving too early, or dealing with serious injuries, all three are playing professional basketball.

Daniels and Hamilton left too early. They made it an uphill climb by not coming back for a year to become a lottery pick. Both of them would be more relevant than Bazz by now, and Daniels would be at least as relevant as Jeremy Lamb. Those type of decisions hurt the player and the program.

 

[Allbite]

My point is Boat was never considered a legit NBA player because of his size and early inability to play the point. He actually improved enough after Bazz left to be considered at least and had a nice run before being cut. If your only measurement on players is the NBA well then start telling me about every other program in college that isn't UK, Duke and UNC. People got better, some didn't, some left welcome to mens NCAA basketball.

All were top 45's? Brimah, Facey, Giffey? I don't even think Bazz was and Boat was in some not in others from what I remember. And I'd love to see how many Top 45's over the years never even sniffed the NBA. You do realize the % of how many actually make it don't you?

Hey, no matter what you think about Ollie, let's not forget rule #1. Coaches in this league start with a decided disadvantage.

 

[Chief00]

Recruits don't care about this APR nonsense .

 

[Chief00]

Chief - you are misrepresenting what I stated. I did not say nor have I ever said that recruiting directly under Calhoun dropped off. What I stated and absolutely stand behind is that the following things also happened during Coach Calhoun's last 5 years as the head of the program which directly and significantly negatively affected the recruiting efforts of Kevin Ollie and his staff for his first 2 to 3 years as the head coach.

This is not "anti-Calhoun" rhetoric, as you misconstrue it; only the truth of what happened. You can love and be thankful for what Coach Calhoun did at UConn for 25 years as a whole body of work (I in fact was always one of his biggest fans and most ardent supporters, and always will be) and also be honest about mistakes/poor judgement that happened that he played an integral part in causing. These truths are not mutually exclusive. I love the fact we went to 3 Final Fours in his last 8 years, and 4 total. I attended the first one in St. Petersburg. But those great facts do not change or wipe away an additional fact that he also left a pile of hot garbage for his successor to deal with. And my bet is if you really are that close with him and asked him that question, he would answer honestly and say that yes, he did.

The following all occurred that significantly hampered the recruiting efforts and the depth on the team for Kevin Ollie in his first 2 to 3 years:

1) a significant recruiting scandal (Nate Miles / Josh Nochimson)... which led to two assistants being fired, and significant restrictions on our scholarships and recruiting for two years.
2) the APR ban
3) 3 transfers, including 2 integral starters
4) Significant sanctions and a perception problem for his successor, who in this case would be Kevin Ollie.

All 4 of these are undeniable facts. Posters on this board talk about the negative recruiting against us recently... imagine what it was like once the APR ban was made official up through 2014.

So are you blaming Enoch, Durham and Jackson transferring and the MAL decommit on Jim Calhoun? Remember all these guys were recruited and signed after Jim left. Just trying to understand your point; I think you have left a lot of casual fans confused with your timeline version (and me too!).

 

[pj]

So are you blaming Enoch, Durham and Jackson transferring and the MAL decommit on Jim Calhoun? Remember all these guys were recruited and signed after Jim left. Just trying to understand your point; I think you have left a lot of casual fans confused with your timeline version (and me too!).

He's blaming JC for the APR sanctions. Enoch, Durham, Jackson, and MAL are on KO, one way or the other -- whether they were recruiting mistakes, or retention mistakes.

 

[LStudfellow]

So are you blaming Enoch, Durham and Jackson transferring and the MAL decommit on Jim Calhoun? Remember all these guys were recruited and signed after Jim left. Just trying to understand your point; I think you have left a lot of casual fans confused with your timeline version (and me too!).

Chief - I did not realize that I needed to spell out everything for you, since you have been around for almost as long as I have, but here goes:

I obviously was referring to: Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith and Michael Bradley. We were talking about 2008 to 2012 (Calhoun's last year) and the aftermath of the APR ban and the NCAA recruiting violations for which we were punished that happened under Calhoun's watch; including the 3 aforementioned transfers. 2 of which were starters and integral parts of our team at the time, including the 2011 National Championship. Those transfers combined with the recruiting restrictions thanks to the Nate Miles/Josh Nochimson illegal agent incident caused serious depth issues in our front court through 2015.

All of that under Calhoun... zero responsibility to Ollie. All of that combined to hurt our longer term depth (particularly in the front court), which played substantial roles in our 2012-2013 through 2014-2015 and could even make the case for the 2015-2016 season.

I was not referring to Enoch, Jackson and Durham in my post. As I have stated in previous posts in other threads, those are Ollie's responsibility. You are mixing the two situations up.

 

[gtcam]

He's blaming JC for the APR sanctions. Enoch, Durham, Jackson, and MAL are on KO, one way or the other -- whether they were recruiting mistakes, or retention mistakes.

Or kids and parents just changing their thought process - you forgot that one - conveniently

 

[pj]

Or kids and parents just changing their thought process - you forgot that one - conveniently

Obviously the kids bear fault too. But if these kids were going to decide after one or two years at UConn that it was such a poor fit for them that they should lose a year of basketball in order to get away, then it was a mistake to fail to figure that out during the recruitment process, and move on to other kids that were a good fit.

If I hire a person who doesn't fit in and has to leave or be fired, then I have no trouble acknowledging that I made a hiring mistake. Even if the major reason they failed was their own deficiencies.

 

[Chief00]

Chief - I did not realize that I needed to spell out everything for you, since you have been around for almost as long as I have, but here goes:

I obviously was referring to: Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith and Michael Bradley. We were talking about 2008 to 2012 (Calhoun's last year) and the aftermath of the APR ban and the NCAA recruiting violations for which we were punished that happened under Calhoun's watch; including the 3 aforementioned transfers. 2 of which were starters and integral parts of our team at the time, including the 2011 National Championship. Those transfers combined with the recruiting restrictions thanks to the Nate Miles/Josh Nochimson illegal agent incident caused serious depth issues in our front court through 2015.

All of that under Calhoun... zero responsibility to Ollie. All of that combined to hurt our longer term depth (particularly in the front court), which played substantial roles in our 2012-2013 through 2014-2015 and could even make the case for the 2015-2016 season.

I was not referring to Enoch, Jackson and Durham in my post. As I have stated in previous posts in other threads, those are Ollie's responsibility. You are mixing the two situations up.

All I got to say is Jim left enough studs in the horse staples to win in 2014!

 

[LStudfellow]

Chief, you never quit - using that amazing 6-game run to the National Championship in 2014 to cover up the obvious depth issues we had in the front court from 2012-2013 through 2015-2016 is a false argument. 6 games does not change the fact we had an almost constant depth problem at both the 4 and the 5.

For a guy who claims to know so much about basketball... you prove with your continued blanket defense even when the facts and history prove you wrong to be less than the smartest guy in the room.

And for the record - even during that championship run our best 4 was really a 3/stretch 4 (Daniels), while we also spent huge portions of games throughout the tournament playing a small forward (Giffey) at center because our other options were limited, other than for a few seconds near the end of the first game (Olander, Nolan and Brimah). Your revisionist history aside Chief, all that championship really proved is that we had great guards and wing players, Kevin Ollie did a masterful job of strategically outcoaching the other coaches and it proves what can happen when you get a group of young men to play as a team that was better than the sum of its parts.

Otherwise, your blanket defense once again fails. Just because the man won 3 championships and went to 4 final fours and Kevin Ollie and that great run to a miracle 4th does not somehow erase Jim's mistakes Chief. And again, my bet is that he would say the same thing. In the times I dealt with him I found JC to be a straight up, very honest man. I do not understand why you have to be much less than completely honest in his defense.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Chief, you never quit - using that amazing 6-game run to the National Championship in 2014 to cover up the obvious depth issues we had in the front court from 2012-2013 through 2015-2016 is a false argument. 6 games does not change the fact we had an almost constant depth problem at both the 4 and the 5.

For a guy who claims to know so much about basketball... you prove with your continued blanket defense even when the facts and history prove you wrong to be less than the smartest guy in the room.

And for the record - even during that championship run our best 4 was really a 3/stretch 4 (Daniels), while we also spent huge portions of games throughout the tournament playing a small forward (Giffey) at center because our other options were limited, other than for a few seconds near the end of the first game (Olander, Nolan and Brimah). Your revisionist history aside Chief, all that championship really proved is that we had great guards and wing players, Kevin Ollie did a masterful job of strategically outcoaching the other coaches and it proves what can happen when you get a group of young men to play as a team that was better than the sum of its parts.

Otherwise, your blanket defense once again fails. Just because the man won 3 championships and went to 4 final fours and Kevin Ollie and that great run to a miracle 4th does not somehow erase Jim's mistakes Chief. And again, my bet is that he would say the same thing. In the times I dealt with him I found JC to be a straight up, very honest man. I do not understand why you have to be much less than completely honest in his defense.

Pretty much this.

- JC left the program in pretty poor shape, aside from having brought in tough and coachable players (Bazz, Boat, Giff).
- KO was excellent at coaching up those tough and coachable players, getting them to improve immensely as individuals and a team, culminating in the 2014 championship, despite a so-so regular season
- However, in the time since then, KO has failed spectacularly at bringing in the next generation of tough and coachable players, though some of this blame in the earlier years also falls on JC and the restrictions he left.

 

[pj]

Pretty much this.

- JC left the program in pretty poor shape, aside from having brought in tough and coachable players (Bazz, Boat, Giff).
- KO was excellent at coaching up those tough and coachable players, getting them to improve immensely as individuals and a team, culminating in the 2014 championship, despite a so-so regular season
- However, in the time since then, KO has failed spectacularly at bringing in the next generation of tough and coachable players, though some of this blame in the earlier years also falls on JC and the restrictions he left.

JC at age 70 wasn't as great a coach as he was at age 60 or 50, but that's understandable ... moreover in his later years he didn't get any help from Hathaway who was a major contributor to the APR ban. JC didn't give a perfect handoff to KO, but in light of his whole career he was the best thing to ever happen to UConn.

 

[Chief00]

Chief, you never quit - using that amazing 6-game run to the National Championship in 2014 to cover up the obvious depth issues we had in the front court from 2012-2013 through 2015-2016 is a false argument. 6 games does not change the fact we had an almost constant depth problem at both the 4 and the 5.

For a guy who claims to know so much about basketball... you prove with your continued blanket defense even when the facts and history prove you wrong to be less than the smartest guy in the room.

And for the record - even during that championship run our best 4 was really a 3/stretch 4 (Daniels), while we also spent huge portions of games throughout the tournament playing a small forward (Giffey) at center because our other options were limited, other than for a few seconds near the end of the first game (Olander, Nolan and Brimah). Your revisionist history aside Chief, all that championship really proved is that we had great guards and wing players, Kevin Ollie did a masterful job of strategically outcoaching the other coaches and it proves what can happen when you get a group of young men to play as a team that was better than the sum of its parts.

Otherwise, your blanket defense once again fails. Just because the man won 3 championships and went to 4 final fours and Kevin Ollie and that great run to a miracle 4th does not somehow erase Jim's mistakes Chief. And again, my bet is that he would say the same thing. In the times I dealt with him I found JC to be a straight up, very honest man. I do not understand why you have to be much less than completely honest in his defense.

I never seen someone find so much fault in 3 National Championships. You know how rare a National Championship is suppose to be? Or are you kidding?

 

[LStudfellow]

I never seen someone find so much fault in 3 National Championships. You know how rare a National Championship is suppose to be? Or are you kidding?

Of course, that was never my point, now was it... You have twisted and misrepresented my points with each and every response. Frankly, it is why so many posters have hammered you on here Chief. You do not take responsibility for any of your hot takes (too many to re-post, but let's just start with the Tremont Waters "confirme_" ridiculousness... and so many others where you have been flat out wrong, but never have the guts to admit it), you stand on points even when you have been proven wrong, and you are consistently a fountain of mis-information. Although I will also say that like many on here, I do find you entertaining.

Thank you Tenspro and pj... Tenspro your summation was spot on, and pj I agree 100% that Jim Calhoun is the best thing that ever happened to UConn men's basketball. And in fact that has been my stance on here, and for over 25 years. You can ask any of my friends who have had that discussion with.


So what is your position Chief, that is what I do not get. Are you trying to say the 3 National Championships means he is blameless for what happened with Nate Miles, the APR ban, Oriakhi/Smith transfers and the 2 years of recruiting restrictions? Because stating I am finding "so much fault" with the man as the basis for your rebuttal is utter nonsense. I am just making the same points I have made over and over again based on the facts of history while you come out with the same false take while never once supporting your blameless stance with anything more than "hey, he won 3 National Championships so that makes him blameless for those bad things that happened that hurt the program as he was leaving."

There is one piece of what you said that I agree with... it is extremely rare to win a National Championship. It is why Kevin Ollie deserves the chance to turn the program around and correct his recent mistakes before he is let go. Because winning a national title is rare... winning 3 is utterly amazing, which of course is why Coach Calhoun is rightly considered one of the 5 greatest coaches ever in NCAA men's basketball history.

I am done with this debate - it is impossible to continue a debate with someone who can keep misstating and spouting lies about my position so that you do not have to actually support yours with any real substance. Because of course you do not have any of real substance to support yourself with.

And furthermore and more importantly, I have zero desire to be critical of the coach who gave me so many years of great memories, excitement, and championships, both Nationally and in the Big East, as well as two of the most fun weekends of my life - the 1990 Big East Championship in NYC at MSG, and the 1999 Final Four in St. Pete. Thank you Coach Calhoun for everything you did for our basketball program, our University, and our state!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I never seen someone find so much fault in 3 National Championships. You know how rare a National Championship is suppose to be? Or are you kidding?

Take some care in reading his Reply to your post please.

He strongly agrees with all that you champion in Jim Calhoun.

He also states facts that cannot be denied about flaws in the last years of coaching, during a time of changes in academic reporting, player eligibility, NBA Draft rules, Conference Realignment.

Ask yourself why someone as competitive as JC would retire with only3 and 6 wins fewer than Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp, or if he didn't imagine the year before that he'd surpass Bobby Knight as well, having finished only 26 wins behind him.

His career performance overall was extraordinary, but its closure & aftermath was not on par. That need not be interpreted as a complaint, just accepting of reality.