A New Era Begins Tomorrow

[hungry husky]

I know it's only an exhibition game, but tomorrow will be special. As long as I've been alive, Jim Calhoun has been on the sideline...loosening his tight, chewing out players to no end (http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/07/53/24/2012459/7/628x471.jpg), getting technicals to motivate his team. This is a new experience for many of the new generation of Husky Fans born in the 80's and 90's. I am excited to see what KO can do as a coach, but remember to generate your expectations based on the situational coaching decisions and the effort given by the players, and not the score. Coach Calhoun went 9-19 in his first season at UConn but his demeanor and demand for greatness laid a foundation that led to 3 national championships. Lets hope that KO can do the same. Go Huskies.

 

[freescooter]

I know it's only an exhibition game, but tomorrow will be special. As long as I've been alive, Jim Calhoun has been on the sideline...loosening his tight, chewing out players to no end (http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/07/53/24/2012459/7/628x471.jpg), getting technicals to motivate his team. This is a new experience for many of the new generation of Husky Fans born in the 80's and 90's. I am excited to see what KO can do as a coach, but remember to generate your expectations based on the situational coaching decisions and the effort given by the players, and not the score. Coach Calhoun went 9-19 in his first season at UConn but his demeanor and demand for greatness laid a foundation that led to 3 national championships. Lets hope that KO can do the same. Go Huskies.

then why even play the games. Just hold practices. If we don't care about winning then we should just end the program, return the new practice gym money and see if we can't turn Gampel into a performing arts center or something...My expectations are 116-18 wins. I don't care how they play if we lose 20 plus games.

 

[Pmurph678]

then why even play the games. Just hold practices. If we don't care about winning then we should just end the program, return the new practice gym money and see if we can't turn Gampel into a performing arts center or something...My expectations are 116-18 wins. I don't care how they play if we lose 20 plus games.

You badly missed the point of the OP.

Everyone enjoys winning and wants the program to be successful, but sometimes you need to look beyond just winning when evaluating a new coach.

 

[hungry husky]

then why even play the games. Just hold practices. If we don't care about winning then we should just end the program, return the new practice gym money and see if we can't turn Gampel into a performing arts center or something...My expectations are 116-18 wins. I don't care how they play if we lose 20 plus games.

How will you know if 20 losses was the result of poor coaching or lack of talent?

 

[freescooter]

If they lose 20 plus games it won't matter whether its talent of coaching. But it will mostly be coaching. While we're not the most talented team in the country, we aren't that bad.

 

[Donyell]

Calhoun 9-19 in first year. What would have happened then if they let him go. Putting a number on this doesnt't make sense and misses the point. There are many variations on this and what would constitute a successful season. Come on scooter your smarter than this.

 

[nomar]

We are going to get killed on the boards and we have nobody protecting the rim. Kevin Ollie's coaching can't make those magically appear. Neither could Jim Calhoun, or John Wooden for that matter.

We do have great depth on the perimeter and we'll be able to beat some bigger teams by going small and forcing tempo, but this is not going to be a "great" season in terms of W-L.

 

[freescooter]

Not even vaguely comparable situations, Donyell. You know that. Calhoun came to a program that was struggling to compete in the Big East and had never been a major national program. they were a borderline New England power. Ollie is coming into a totally different situation. You wouldn't have the same standards for him as you had for Calhoun in his first year. that is patently absurd. UConn hadn't been to the NCAA tournament for something like 8 years before Calhoun, and were the only Big East team never to have gotten a bid during the Big East era. Ollie comes into a program that won a title 2 years ago and went to the tournament last year. Not even in the same universe as far as where the program is today vs where it was in 1986. Sheesh.

 

[upstater]

Calhoun's team lost to St. Peter's 75-50 at the HCC that year.

This was his team:

Cliff Robinson
Phil Gamble
Gerry Besselink
Steve Pikiell
Tate George
Jeff King
Robert Ursery

2 future NBAers, one a long-timer with historic NBA stats.
1 competent guard on the order of Shabazz in Gamble.
A defensive specialist ala Niels Giffey.
3 big men who can all score in the post even if two weren't NBA material (King and Besselink)

Comparing the two teams, there is no dynamic presence such as Boatright. Calhoun is an impressive frosh. No one on this current team is comparable to a Cliff Robinson.

I'd say this current team might have more depth and be slightly more talented, but they don't have the bigs Calhoun had in 1986-87.

So, a loss to St. Peter's at home by 25 points is equivalent to what?

 

[upstater]

Not even vaguely comparable situations, Donyell. You know that. Calhoun came to a program that was struggling to compete in the Big East and had never been a major national program. they were a borderline New England power. Ollie is coming into a totally different situation. You wouldn't have the same standards for him as you had for Calhoun in his first year. that is patently absurd. UConn hadn't been to the NCAA tournament for something like 8 years before Calhoun, and were the only Big East team never to have gotten a bid during the Big East era. Ollie comes into a program that won a title 2 years ago and went to the tournament last year. Not even in the same universe as far as where the program is today vs where it was in 1986. Sheesh.

That's all irrelevant when it comes to comparing the teams.

You must look at talent alone.
And the question is, how much more are you impressed by this year's team as opposed to a team with 2 future NBAers like Cliff Robinson and Tate George?

Do you really think this team is a lot more talented than the 1986-1987 team?

At best, Olander is a Besselink type. Calhoun as a Frosh may be as good as the senior Gamble. There is no comparison for Boatright, and I'll be very generous and say Napier is a wash for Tate George. But what do you have to compare to Cliff Robinson?

 

[Pudge]

I think this first Ollie team can be good ... based on talent. However, we sure could use one more experienced 6'9+ BIG.

Just saying ...

 

[freescooter]

I just asked if a 14th place finish is enough to justify keeping Ollie. I get that you can't expect this team to go 30-0. But some people seem to be willing to write off the whole thing and not demand ANY wins. It isn't just about playing hard, in my view. You have, at a minimum to beat the teams you should beat, and again at a minimum, there are at least 15 of those on the schedule. heck, the Big East gave us home and homes against Depaul, Providence and South Florida. Not exactly murder's row there. And we play UNH, Fordham, Iona/Quinipiac, Wake Forest and 4-5 other teams that we could beat using Geno's b-squad*. the Big East is having something of an off year on top of everything else. 16wins is hardly an unreasonable standard.

*No I don't mean this literally. this is exaggeration to make a point. We have a bunch of games against teams that aren't very good.

 

[upstater]

I just asked if a 14th place finish is enough to justify keeping Ollie. I get that you can't expect this team to go 30-0. But some people seem to be willing to write off the whole thing and not demand ANY wins. It isn't just about playing hard, in my view. You have, at a minimum to beat the teams you should beat, and again at a minimum, there are at least 15 of those on the schedule. heck, the Big East gave us home and homes against Depaul, Providence and South Florida. Not exactly murder's row there. And we play UNH, Fordham, Iona/Quinipiac, Wake Forest and 4-5 other teams that we could beat using Geno's b-squad*. the Big East is having something of an off year on top of everything else. 16wins is hardly an unreasonable standard.

*No I don't mean this literally. this is exaggeration to make a point. We have a bunch of games against teams that aren't very good.

No one ever beats the teams they should beat. Teams are always upset.

Your minimum is literally an impossibility.

 

[Palatine]

You missed the Dee Rowe era?

 

[arnie3]

What I'm looking for is the team to remain competitive. I'd be very surprised if this team won 14 games. Actually I'd be happy! This team is thin up front to say the least. Ollie can use junk defenses to hide this, but at some point this team is going to get killed on the boards! If they can stay competitive, sneak one or two upsets, I'd be ecstatic! This year is a growing experience both for the team and the coaches. I'm excited, and I hope they do well. I don't have any expectations beyond that.

 

[Husky68]

Not even vaguely comparable situations, Donyell. You know that. Calhoun came to a program that was struggling to compete in the Big East and had never been a major national program. they were a borderline New England power. Ollie is coming into a totally different situation. You wouldn't have the same standards for him as you had for Calhoun in his first year. that is patently absurd. UConn hadn't been to the NCAA tournament for something like 8 years before Calhoun, and were the only Big East team never to have gotten a bid during the Big East era. Ollie comes into a program that won a title 2 years ago and went to the tournament last year. Not even in the same universe as far as where the program is today vs where it was in 1986. Sheesh.

Ollie takes over a team that lost in the 1st round of the NCAA's. Two starters left to NBA were lottery picks. Starting center on NCAA championship team transfers. Key defender and starting forward (effectively) from NCAA championship team transfers. Reserve who didn't play but was big man transfers. Additions are one potentially very good wing and a couple of role players. Seems like lot of losses of top personnel. If Calhoun could only get to one and done with that crew, what do you think he would do with this crew? One more loss last year and probably be the most talented team to ever miss the NCAA tournament.

 

[freescooter]

sounds like what I expected...We could lose to AIC and Lowell and there will be folks here who think that's fine. Basically they don't want him to be held to any sort of real standard. Welcome to Dom Perno version 2.0.

 

[hungry husky]

sounds like what I expected...We could lose to AIC and Lowell and there will be folks here who think that's fine. Basically they don't want him to be held to any sort of real standard. Welcome to Dom Perno version 2.0.

I'd be upset if they lost to AIC or Lowell. I wouldn't be upset if they only won by a dozen. The goal is to show that they can be competitive against NC St, Louisville, etc. Hard work can make up for a lack of talent in some cases, but you just want to see the team take on the identity of its coach.

 

[8893]

Wins are for cowards. It takes real courage, grit and pluck to aspire to mediocrity. I'm hopeful that we can simply maintain a level somewhere between the Dom Perno doormats and the Herb Sendek also-rans. Even with Ollie being such a stellar coach and recruiter, I feel that we've already won more than we ever expected to, so we really don't need to focus on winning so much any more.

 

[EricLA]

New era for sure. Going to be interesting and hopefully fun for the UCONN faithful. As the new era dawns, it occurs to me that it's kind of sad that JC didn't get to announce his decision prior to last year, or at least, his last couple of games. It would have given the fans to see him coach one last time and give him the kind of ovation and sendoff he certainly deserves...

 

[phillionaire]

so we've already lost to AIC? is it that bad?

 

[CTBasketball]

Is the game being streamed or televised?

 

[AJC88]

New era for sure. Going to be interesting and hopefully fun for the UCONN faithful. As the new era dawns, it occurs to me that it's kind of sad that JC didn't get to announce his decision prior to last year, or at least, his last couple of games. It would have given the fans to see him coach one last time and give him the kind of ovation and sendoff he certainly deserves...

Coach Calhoun will be at the games. He will get a standing ovation at every single game he attends.

 

[upstater]

sounds like what I expected...We could lose to AIC and Lowell and there will be folks here who think that's fine. Basically they don't want him to be held to any sort of real standard. Welcome to Dom Perno version 2.0.

Dom Perno was on a few month contract? Interesting. He was a good recruiter though: Cliff Robinson, Corny Thompson, Earl Kelley, chuck Aleksinas. Pretty good. I'd guess you'd be happy if Ollie landed that class that Perno did when UConn began BE play, wouldn't you? Thompson was top 5.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Freescooter's position is kind of clownish. So their name recognition is going to win them games?

Incidentally, where'd Kemba's national championship team finish in the Big East? 9th? 11th? I can't recall.

Anyway, this team ain't that one.