2018 Recruiting: All 3 of our recruits got a bump up; Kisunas in particular

[Danzz]

To be clear, my original post here refers to the fact that recruiting fell off long before the last couple of years. It fell off around the time of the national championship, and it wasn't even to UConn standards before that.

This has been a multiple year run. Only Shabazz has made it to the NBA after the Drummond/Lamb year.

JC's last recruiting class was Samuel, Facey and Brimah. None will have their number retired.

 

[AntG168]

Think of this, if Brimah doesn't get his and 1 against St Joe's are Bazz. Boat and Daniels still Bazz, Boat and Daniels?

I hate questions like this. It happened so it isn’t really a relevant question.

 

[AntG168]

Wrong that was Ollie’s first

 

[uc1990]

That pretty much sums it up. The problem isn't the AAC. At least, it isn't JUST the AAC and the AAC alone can't limit recruiting. KO is struggling in recruiting now because, as you said, he failed to do anything with his recruits. He was handed a great situation where we were the big fish in the small pond. Our history allowed us to pull in big recruits even though we were in the AAC. But since none of his guys are achieving much, the big recruits are disinterested or concerned. This is a classic downward spiral.

and I am sure you can recognize that the only thing that would make this downward spiral get worse would be to fire the coach and create another problem were no good coach would come near this place(the other reasons are plenty enough an unsupportive fan base just icing on the cake). Stop saying fire Ollie!!!!!! Let his contract run out, don't give him another one maybe. But please stop with the fire Ollie.

 

[Huskybass]

and I am sure you can recognize that the only thing that would make this downward spiral get worse would be to fire the coach and create another problem were no good coach would come near this place(the other reasons are plenty enough an unsupportive fan base just icing on the cake). Stop saying fire Ollie!!!!!! Let his contract run out, don't give him another one maybe. But please stop with the fire Ollie.

The lack of support from the fan base is a product of the results over the past 3 plus seasons. So we should let that continue for 3 more seasons?

NO.

 

[Paesano]

The lack of support from the fan base is a product of the results over the past 3 plus seasons. So we should let that continue for 3 more seasons?

NO.

Yep...no. The rhetoric is going to get louder an more frequent until the team starts doing better or he is replaced.

 

[Stainmaster]

The lack of support from the fan base is a product of the results over the past 3 plus seasons. So we should let that continue for 3 more seasons?

NO.

Oh yeah, because stomping your feet and throwing temper tantrums will make such a difference.

You all vastly overrated your importance in the AD's decision-making calculus.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yep...no. The rhetoric is going to get louder an more frequent until the team starts doing better or he is replaced.

Yes, it's obvious that that is happening. And yet, the team is "doing better" compared to last year. I don't think we have the money to fire Ollie, nor any clear upgrade to replace him (Amaker would be my choice). It's entirely likely that any coaching change would cause more transfers, and leave us in a worse position, at least for a couple of years.

We need to win some games. I think even a close loss to Arizona would be encouraging,

 

[Huskybass]

Oh yeah, because stomping your feet and throwing temper tantrums will make such a difference.

You all vastly overrated your importance in the AD's decision-making calculus.

My point is that 3 more seasons under Kevin Ollie would result in a much larger hole to dig out of. There is no temper tantrum there, just an honest observation. Did you not watch the recent games against Columbia, Monmouth and Arkansas? To deny that the ship is sailing in the wrong direction is simply disingenuous.

 

[Stainmaster]

My point is that 3 more seasons under Kevin Ollie would result in a much larger hole to dig out of. There is no temper tantrum there, just an honest observation. Did you not watch the recent games against Columbia, Monmouth and Arkansas? To deny that the ship is sailing in the wrong direction is simply disingenuous.

You asked "should we let that continue?"

The notion that anyone here has the power to decide whether or not that continues is fallacious.

 

[Huskybass]

You asked "should we let that continue?"

The notion that anyone here has the power to decide whether or not that continues is fallacious.

I have no input to what happens in terms of running the program. All I am saying is that another 3 seasons like the past 3 seasons would make returning to being relevant on the national landscape extremely difficult.

"We" was meant as the UConn community as a whole. I graduated from UConn, was a summer orientation leader, campus tour guide, resident assistant and usher at the football and basketball games. Even though I graduated 29 years ago, I still feel a connection to the program. Therefore, the "we".

Let's revisit this after the upcoming three game stretch. If things play out favorably, it would be great to come on here and admit that things are headed in the right direction. But if we get throttled, it would simply further cement the opinion that many of us have formed.

 

[KembaStepback]

I don't know why people are arguing about recruiting. I think Ollie is doing a very good job keeping good recruits interested in coming to the AAC. I think that's the issue. Why would recruits want to come here to play ECU when fans of the team don't even go to these games. UConn had more fans in MSG for the Cuse game than Gampel for a home game. That's just unacceptable and quite frankly embarrassing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My point is that 3 more seasons under Kevin Ollie would result in a much larger hole to dig out of. There is no temper tantrum there, just an honest observation. Did you not watch the recent games against Columbia, Monmouth and Arkansas? To deny that the ship is sailing in the wrong direction is simply disingenuous.

Your opinion that three more seasons would result in a larger hole is just an opinion and has no basis in evidence. The anecdotal results of three games aren't anything to base hiring or firing decisions upon. You could just as easily look at the run to the NC in 2014. What would you project from those games? Ollie coached those didn't he?

The truth is, we don't know what will come over the next few years with Ollie or without Ollie. It's pretty much a total crapshoot. Ollie has not yet even approached the Diaco level of failure. In fact, the team is 7-3, with losses to one great team and two good ones.

If this team is under .500 at the end of the year, with no NCAA or NIT bid, I will join the chorus in saying it's time to move on. Until then, I want him and the team, to win.

 

[businesslawyer]

Think of this, if Brimah doesn't get his and 1 against St Joe's are Bazz. Boat and Daniels still Bazz, Boat and Daniels?

Why should we think of that? That's true for pretty much every championship team, UConn or not. The '99 and '04 champions could have just as easily lost to Duke. The '11 champions could have easily lost to U of A or San Diego State.

There is no point there. What makes legends is that they do win big games that they could have just as easily lost.

 

[donyell34]

What if's are just fairy tales. What happens is all that matters.

 

[Paesano]

Yes, it's obvious that that is happening. And yet, the team is "doing better" compared to last year. I don't think we have the money to fire Ollie, nor any clear upgrade to replace him (Amaker would be my choice). It's entirely likely that any coaching change would cause more transfers, and leave us in a worse position, at least for a couple of years.

We need to win some games. I think even a close loss to Arizona would be encouraging,

Last year at this time we were 3-5 and ranked 93rd in Sagarin's power rating. This year we are 7-3 and ranked 115th. Through the Oregon game it looked good but has been trending down ever since. We are now looking worse than last year. And, last year, we lost both Larrier and Gilbert. The record is deceiving. The losses have been bad losses, for the most part, and many of the wins have been ugly. They don't "look" better and an unbiased, complex and thorough rating system confirms what we are seeing. If they looked like a well coached team but just lost because of a lack of talent, people would be more understanding. Not a lot more understanding but a little at least. I will admit that they "looked" good against Oregon and, maybe, Gilbert really makes that big of a difference. But how long do we accept that excuse? It certainly clouds things and make a decision difficult to make because you just don't know how different it would be if everyone were healthy. At the same time, they look really poorly coached and not just out-gunned.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Last year at this time we were 3-5 and ranked 93rd in Sagarin's power rating. This year we are 7-3 and ranked 115th. Through the Oregon game it looked good but has been trending down ever since. We are now looking worse than last year. And, last year, we lost both Larrier and Gilbert. The record is deceiving. The losses have been bad losses, for the most part, and many of the wins have been ugly. They don't "look" better and an unbiased, complex and thorough rating system confirms what we are seeing. If they looked like a well coached team but just lost because of a lack of talent, people would be more understanding. Not a lot more understanding but a little at least. I will admit that they "looked" good against Oregon and, maybe, Gilbert really makes that big of a difference. But how long do we accept that excuse? It certainly clouds things and make a decision difficult to make because you just don't know how different it would be if everyone were healthy. At the same time, they look really poorly coached and not just out-gunned.

I can't argue that they don't look good. I'm just not sure it matters. I've seen them turn things around when they looked bad before. Nothing this season has been as bad as those first two losses last year. Gilbert makes a different, but part of that difference in my mind is that Adams is playing like a SG, when he is now the PG. Need him to shift his mind-set, and I think he can. Larrier needs confidence. I know he can be much better. The bigs show promise, but are very raw. I expect them to improve as the season goes on.

The team returns a total of two players from last year. That's it. Adams and Vital and everybody else is new. I expected that the early season would be very inconsistent. It's worse than I expected, but I won't give up hope. I don't think Ollie prepares them well and I hate the lack of effort at times, especially on defense.

 

[Matrim55]

Nothing this season has been as bad as those first two losses last year.

Losing by 35 on national TV to an unranked and not-that-good Arkansas team – our worst loss in 40 years – is pretty, pretty pretty bad tho. Pretty bad.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Losing by 35 on national TV to an unranked and not-that-good Arkansas team – our worst loss in 40 years – is pretty, pretty pretty bad tho. Pretty bad.

Arkansas is borderline top 25 with wins over ranked Oklahoma and Minnesota. It was an ugly loss and we stopped playing. But they are a good team.

 

[UConnDan97]

Losing by 35 on national TV to an unranked and not-that-good Arkansas team – our worst loss in 40 years – is pretty, pretty pretty bad tho. Pretty bad.

They're unranked, but they are literally the #26 team. Saying they are "not-that-good" is just pushing an agenda. Doesn't mean I'm happy with that loss, but let's be honest about the team we lost to...

NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN

 

[Matrim55]

They're unranked, but they are literally the #26 team. Saying they are "not-that-good" ...

I mean, 26th just isn't *that* good. I'd be whistling a slightly different tune if it had been Michigan State that hammered us instead, you know? There's a pretty big difference between a clear top 10 (top 5, even) team and one that probably maxes out where we were in 2015/16 – which is what Arkansas are.

They're not that good.

 

[BlueDogs]

This is a really nice recruiting class coming in next year. Let’s hope they don’t read the boneyard and that KO stays. Without Kevin this group will go somewhere else. Let’s go Huskies!!

The data is in and KO isn't getting it done. Nothing miraculous is suddenly going to happen. Got to change to save a tanking program.

 

[UConnDan97]

I mean, 26th just isn't *that* good. I'd be whistling a slightly different tune if it had been Michigan State that hammered us instead, you know? There's a pretty big difference between a clear top 10 (top 5, even) team and one that probably maxes out where we were in 2015/16 – which is what Arkansas are.

They're not that good.

Since we're trying to parse words in recovery, I love how you said that they were unranked AND not that good.

It's like there's a slot somewhere in between #25 and #26 that I don't know about...

 

[Waquoit]

I'd respectfully offer that that doesn't matter. Fact is he did get his and-1, and KO did go on to outcoach Jay Wright, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan and John Calipari one after the other.

How does he out coach that bunch then fail to out coach anyone since?

 

[Matrim55]

Since we're trying to parse words in recovery, I love how you said that they were unranked AND not that good.

As the kids say: show me the lie.

How does he out coach that bunch then fail to out coach anyone since?

idk man, but it's disappointing as hell.