A Dovian Take on KO

[superjohn]

What is it with you? It's like you knee-jerk at any comment criticizing your take. When someone criticizes your point-of-view, you swing wildly to the extreme margin and say that we want fans never to criticize Ollie, and that we shouldn't be on the forum. It's whacked.

The point I was making is that, as in Fishy's post, Ollie has a lot of things going for him. Take those away, and hire (insert name) you are taking a big chance with the program. In this conference.

Again, I don't understand your post. Fishy's post was about Ollie having some glaring flaws as a coach, the biggest being X's and O's. Fishy said he wants a bench coach brought in. I take umbrage with many of your posts because you extrapolate things from others posts that just aren't there or you just completely make stuff up. I wasn't criticizing your post, just pointing out I don't know what it meant. Now I'm criticizing your post. Fishy didn't say anything of those things in his post that you are attributing to him.

 

[UConNation]

The part of KO's coaching game that I'll rag on, as Fishy and others have said, are the slow starts, the inability to call good time outs, and the inbounding plays. I honestly don't have a problem with the defense. The 2-3 zone is a direct result of the injuries and with the exception of the first few games (where players were falling like flies) we're guarding the 3 point line better and teams are shooting a decently lower percentages of late (excluding Houston and Memphis). I think there's been real improvement there. While some of those things are glaring issues that he needs to deal with, I think that the Xs and Os are going to come and here's why:

Jalen - think Kemba for a minute. He was an infuriating player as a freshman. Slightly less so as a sophomore who was in control of the team... but he still made sophomore mistakes. Jalen not only is just a sophomore, but the team that he had the entire off season to practice with is not the team he's practicing with now. That's tough for a second year PG/SG, especially when this is his first year as "the guy."

Rodney - benching this guy, while it may actually help the team from an unforced turn over and FG % perspective, is not possible. First of all we don't have the players. Secondly, Rodney's a senior, and whether we like it we don't have many better options. He's one of, if not the most, infuriating player in recent memory at UConn. I get it. But we don't have much better.

Those 2 guys, along with AB, are the leaders on this team. AB is a defensive force, but limited at best on offense. When you put Jalen's situation (2nd year player, forced to be a PG, and lost the best talent that he was supposed to lean on being gone), Rodney's limitations, and the fact that freshmen are going to make freshmen mistake (a la Jackson's 35 foot 3 pt attempt with like 25 seconds on the shot clock) you're going to get some of this. Kevin has already stopped to a large degree trying to run a pro style offense because he knows he doesn't have the right pieces. That's an improvement over his first couple years. Fact is the plays he's running aren't terrible, the shots just aren't falling. Take away Rodney's 10-15 bad shots, add in our Jackson/Durham having a year under their belt, AG and Larrier back with the addition of some (hopefully) serviceable bigs and MAL, and I really think Ollie will have something to work with. An offensive minded bench coach will go along way. Last, keep in mind that Kevin is figuring this out too. Give him time. He (and UConn) are going to be OK.

 

[Mr. French]

It may work wonders for this team. On the other hand, let's not forget that the board was often highly critical of Calhoun's quick hook.

I loved his quick hook ... Sometimes I thought it was a bit rash given the wrongdoing of the player, but man that sends a message.

In my few years of HC experience, I used it with certain guys to make a point.

If I hammer something all week in practice and the first play its done wrong, I'm giving the JC hook.

 

[superjohn]

Just ask him about Eli and see what happens.

Don't get him wrong--he loves the fact that they won championships for his teams. But when they're not winning championships, they suck and he would far prefer any shiny new penny.

I love Eli but I don't have a crusty fathead of him on my wall like you. You can be critical of a player or coaches deficiencies while still thinking they are good overall. If you want to pile on a post where upstater was attributing things to Fishy that we're never said, have at it.

 

[Edward Sargent]

That's the thing.

Apologists refer to sanctions saying we had no choice but to take Brimah and Facey. That may be true.

KO's failure isn't recruiting Brimah and Facey. His failure is in not developing or recruiting over those guys at any point in the last 3 years.

Yep, kinda worried about next year as our bigs will be Steve and two guys with bad knees

 

[Candyman]

I just don't understand how you can expect this team to be consistent when you have 8 scholarship players healthy and 5 of them are freshmen/sophs. Enoch is a soph and is the youngest player on the team! Adams is so talented, we forget hes only a soph. He still plays young at times. Jackson, Vital, Durham were not ready for this large of a role but they were thrust into it because of injury.
I know people will point out that they lost games with Gilbert and Larrier playing...well I dismiss that. Remember, both of those guys are new to the team as well! It takes time for a team to gel and gain cohesiveness. There is no doubt in my mind that if Gilbert and Larrier were healthy we would be at WORST 2-1 in conference right now.

You can't blame 2 absolutely horrible losses because the players haven't played together. They should beat Wagner and Northeastern with their bench players. Those losses are the fault of the coach for not getting them prepared for a zone. If your an optimist you say they would have gelled and became the team the were meant to or your a realist and see they had no inside game and no outside shooting that two slashers (Gilbert & Larrier) would have helped.

 

[upstater]

Again, I don't understand your post. Fishy's post was about Ollie having some glaring flaws as a coach, the biggest being X's and O's. Fishy said he wants a bench coach brought in. I take umbrage with many of your posts because you extrapolate things from others posts that just aren't there or you just completely make stuff up. I wasn't criticizing your post, just pointing out I don't know what it meant. Now I'm criticizing your post. Fishy didn't say anything of those things in his post that you are attributing to him.

"Kevin Ollie comes out of central casting..."

 

[8893]

What is it with you? It's like you knee-jerk at any comment criticizing your take. When someone criticizes your point-of-view, you swing wildly to the extreme margin and say that we want fans never to criticize Ollie, and that we shouldn't be on the forum. It's whacked.

The point I was making is that, as in Fishy's post, Ollie has a lot of things going for him. Take those away, and hire (insert name) you are taking a big chance with the program. In this conference.

I love Eli but I don't have a crusty fathead of him on my wall like you. You can be critical of a player or coaches deficiencies while still thinking they are good overall. If you want to pile on a post where upstater was attributing things to Fishy that we're never said, have at it.

Thanks, SJ. Like shooting fish in a barrel. I knew I could count on you to help me prove @upstater 's point about your overreactions.

PS: When upstater tells you you are overreacting, you might have a problem.

PSS: @mauconnfan and I both know that you're rooting for your mancrush Rodgers on Sunday, and you can't wait to come here and tell everyone how right you were about his superiority.

 

[superjohn]

"Kevin Ollie comes out of central casting..."

Are you going to pretend you don't know what that means? He's a young good looking guy who made it in the NBA when his skill level shouldn't have allowed him to. He has relationships with everyone in the league, including LeBron and Durant who speak glowingly about him. That's all called looking the part. Fishy and I agree he looks the part but when it comes down to coaching Fishy has a lot of reservations as do I. The entire meat of Fishy's post was that Ollie has major flaws, enough flaws that he wants a bench coach brought in to handle the X's and O's or mentor Ollie on the X's and O's.

 

[superjohn]

Thanks, SJ. Like shooting fish in a barrel. I knew I could count on you to help me prove @upstater 's point about your overreactions.

PS: When upstater tells you you are overreacting, you might have a problem.

PSS: @mauconnfan and I both know that you're rooting for your mancrush Rodgers on Sunday, and you can't wait to come here and tell everyone how right you were about his superiority.

Dude it's like the third or fourth time you've jacked a thread to tell me I hate Eli. We have a few Giants threads on the board, keep it there. At least add some humor to the interactions, you're boring.

 

[8893]

At least add some humor to the interactions, you're boring.

Nailed me.

 

[superjohn]

Nailed me.

Disturbed. I like women.

 

[Waquoit]

nomar: That is a lucid, intelligent, well-thought-out post.
Dove: Thank you.
nomar: Shut up, Dove!

 

[Sonova]

You have to give it more time. There are struggles that are easy to see (lack of a point guard and another ball handler), and struggles that are not so easy to see (interrelations with the coach). In his first 2 years, Ollie had that team playing hard. If anything, we saw a dysfunctional team from Calhoun's last year here become a very tight team under Ollie. Calhoun was not always the master motivator. He actually threw in the towel with some of these kids (Oriakhi, to mention just one).

Also remember Calhoun mentioning how some teams were night-and-day in terms of attitude compared to other years. Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Calhoun didn't throw in the towel with kids. You know nothing about that. For a self-proclaimed poster of facts, that just an opinion. And an amazingly ill-informed one at that.

 

[pnow15]

Actually, Ollie needs to dip into the best basketball talent pool in the country.
Geno's staff. He should hire Geno's future successor now: Shea Ralph. Let her handle the recruiting of players and fundamentals. Often, times the best man for the job is a good woman.

 

[KembaStepback]

You can't blame 2 absolutely horrible losses because the players haven't played together. They should beat Wagner and Northeastern with their bench players. Those losses are the fault of the coach for not getting them prepared for a zone. If your an optimist you say they would have gelled and became the team the were meant to or your a realist and see they had no inside game and no outside shooting that two slashers (Gilbert & Larrier) would have helped.

I'm not an optimist. I feel like I'm a realist. It takes time for teams to gel. Teams full of seniors and juniors who have played together for 3 seasons have a HUGE advantage over teams who haven't played together at all. Why do you think Team USA started practicing together more? They were playing teams like Spain and Argentina who have played together for ages and USA teams that were far more talented were losing. It happens. It's absolutely a thing.

My main point is that people who blame Ollie's coaching are just far to quick to jump on him. I don't know how many times watching these games these guys get open shots that they just don't make. That's on the players, not the coach. Enoch not being able to finish around the basket is not Ollie's fault. Vital not being able to make an open jumper is not Ollie's fault. Any team losing 2 of it's top 3 players will lose. They were a young team to begin with. Everyone needs to calm down, this season is over. Let's try to be positive.

 

[nomar]

I love Eli but I don't have a crusty fathead of him on my wall like you. You can be critical of a player or coaches deficiencies while still thinking they are good overall. If you want to pile on a post where upstater was attributing things to Fishy that we're never said, have at it.

Liked for use of the term "crusty fathead."

@8893 That didn't make you chuckle?

 

[8893]

Liked for use of the term "crusty fathead."

@8893 That didn't make you chuckle?

No, it skeeved me out. Especially considering the source, who has a telling habit of instantly invoking homoerotic images when lashing out at others, frequently coupled (as in this thread) with assertions of his own heterosexual manhood.

He seems to overcompensate a lot.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Are you going to pretend you don't know what that means? He's a young good looking guy who made it in the NBA when his skill level shouldn't have allowed him to. He has relationships with everyone in the league, including LeBron and Durant who speak glowingly about him. That's all called looking the part. Fishy and I agree he looks the part but when it comes down to coaching Fishy has a lot of reservations as do I. The entire meat of Fishy's post was that Ollie has major flaws, enough flaws that he wants a bench coach brought in to handle the X's and O's or mentor Ollie on the X's and O's.

Fishy also comes out of central casting as a board moderator. As long as he/she keeps the SHARK avatar there will be no moderating equivalent across the universe of message boards in the United States and beyond.

It is the stuff legends are made of! The Shark!!!! Me loves da Shark.

 

[huskiesnyc]

AAC or not the theory that UConn can't hire a great coach is total BS. UConn is a blue blood, brand, best program by far in the northeast, that oh yeah also sorta pays one of the top 10 highest coaching salaries in the country at 3+ million per year.

Even at 4 wins (chaminade doesn't count) in January, I want KO here and will root for him. But his seat warms up a lot next year and it should.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Player development is a far greater problem than x's and o's. When your players don't develop, it limits what you can do from and x and o standpoint.

I mean, this team doesn't do anything well offensively. They don't screen well, their cuts are often purposeless and poorly timed, nobody - sans Adams - can finish through contact, none of our bigs can put the ball on the floor or pass worth a damn, and our senior shooting guard recoils into a seizure every time he gets the ball. Then there is the obvious problem that nobody on the team can shoot.

I have never had any question that Ollie capable of diagramming an offense that churns out consistently good shots. But, save maybe last season, he's never had the personnel to do it (and by March, that team figured it out). Even the '14 team was limited at the forward position.

I don't necessarily think KO is incapable of tailoring his offense to suit the limitations of his personnel, but I think at his core he's a basketball junkie who loves the x's and o's aspect of the job, and that might help demonstrate why he always appears so mystified on the sidelines. Honestly, I don't blame him. He shouldn't have to spoon feed these kids pearls of wisdom that they should have gotten in the sixth grade. For as much as he's struggled as a college coach, I'd be willing to bet you could give him an NBA job tomorrow and he'd hold his own with the right team.

Ultimately, he'll need to either become a better teacher or a better identifier of players who have already been taught well. His inability to do one of those has been the undoing of these last three years.

Maybe Ollie could learn to be more like Tommy Lloyd who can mine the Canadian pipeline and beyond for well schooled high BB IQ talent.

At this point I am thinking of changing the color of my doghouse.


The sad thing though is it goes beyond some of the good points made by you and the Shark.

JMHO....well kinda.

 

[pj]

This board is full of result merchants.

Two years ago everyone was saying Ollie is a great player developer and game coach but a poor recruiter because he had improved Shabazz, Boat, Deandre, Niels, etc and brought in a national championship, yet recruiting was going poorly with several years in a row of weak classes.

Now we've had two years in a row of excellent recruiting classes but poor results on the court, and people are saying Ollie is a great recruiter but a poor coach.

A sensible person would conclude:
- Ollie proved he is an excellent coach in his first two years.
- Ollie proved he is an excellent recruiter in the last two years.
- The losing this year doesn't prove he has lost his ability to coach, it proves that injuries, a short bench, and multiple years of poor recruiting leaving you with freshman talent and upperclass weakness is a recipe for a failed season.

Only once Ollie has had 4 years of solid recruiting classes in a row, and has had time to coach up his talented classes for 4 years, can we judge his coaching ability. That's still 2-3 years away.

I for one have no doubt he'll be regarded as one of the NCAA's top coaches at that time. There isn't anyone I would trade for as our head coach - very happy to have KO.

 

[superjohn]

No, it skeeved me out. Especially considering the source, who has a telling habit of instantly invoking homoerotic images when lashing out at others, frequently coupled (as in this thread) with assertions of his own heterosexual manhood.

He seems to overcompensate a lot.

Wow, this is quite the melt. You've now brought up my hate for Eli (I like him) in several non Giants threads, I try and disengage with humor which seems like a foreign concept to you and now you're attacking me personally. Not a good look.

 

[upstater]

Are you going to pretend you don't know what that means? He's a young good looking guy who made it in the NBA when his skill level shouldn't have allowed him to. He has relationships with everyone in the league, including LeBron and Durant who speak glowingly about him. That's all called looking the part. Fishy and I agree he looks the part but when it comes down to coaching Fishy has a lot of reservations as do I. The entire meat of Fishy's post was that Ollie has major flaws, enough flaws that he wants a bench coach brought in to handle the X's and O's or mentor Ollie on the X's and O's.

LOL, it's because he's handsome. ! Look, don't respond to my posts and I won't respond to yours. You are out to lunch. Your idea of conversation is to ascribe the most absurd things to the person you're talking with. Enough.

 

[upstater]

This board is full of result merchants.

Two years ago everyone was saying Ollie is a great player developer and game coach but a poor recruiter because he had improved Shabazz, Boat, Deandre, Niels, etc and brought in a national championship, yet recruiting was going poorly with several years in a row of weak classes.

Now we've had two years in a row of excellent recruiting classes but poor results on the court, and people are saying Ollie is a great recruiter but a poor coach.

A sensible person would conclude:
- Ollie proved he is an excellent coach in his first two years.
- Ollie proved he is an excellent recruiter in the last two years.
- The losing this year doesn't prove he has lost his ability to coach, it proves that injuries, a short bench, and multiple years of poor recruiting leaving you with freshman talent and upperclass weakness is a recipe for a failed season.

Only once Ollie has had 4 years of solid recruiting classes in a row, and has had time to coach up his talented classes for 4 years, can we judge his coaching ability. That's still 2-3 years away.

I for one have no doubt he'll be regarded as one of the NCAA's top coaches at that time. There isn't anyone I would trade for as our head coach - very happy to have KO.

And if you go back to the 2014 season, you'll see the same exact posters writing the most absurd things. They didn't learn the last time. I could post the utterly ridiculous crap they wrote back then, but they're not even ashamed of it.