AD Dave on Kevin Ollie

[3rdbass]

peoples are wanting to push him out and you're not going to find another coach that can come in and live up the ridiculous standards people have. I'm not saying we should be content with this, but that people need to look at the big picture and everything that has happened since ollie took over the team... get rid of glenn then and add a more offensive minded assistant and move glenn to overseeing operations

Like I said I love KO as person and player but just not sold on him as a coach long term. He sure isn't good at x's and o's and doesn't have someone on the staff that is either.

 

[UConnSwag11]

people forget calhouns final years, he had one dominant season from '07 until he retired... that season being in '09 and we're lucky he got kemba to come here otherwise we wouldn't be discussed by anyone... he also didn't kill it on the recruiting trail towards the end

 

[3rdbass]

people forget calhouns final years, he had one dominant season from '07 until he retired... that season being in '09 and we're lucky he got kemba to come here otherwise we wouldn't be discussed by anyone... he also didn't kill it on the recruiting trail towards the end

Yes but we were more or just as competitive in a better conference. We are in free fall right now as far as a program in my eyes. I think we all knew this could happen when JC left. We just didn't think it would be this fast. I will give KO next year but if we struggle and don't make the tourney I just can't see how he wouldn't at least be on the hot hot seat.

 

[superjohn]

people forget calhouns final years, he had one dominant season from '07 until he retired... that season being in '09 and we're lucky he got kemba to come here otherwise we wouldn't be discussed by anyone... he also didn't kill it on the recruiting trail towards the end

That was the best conference in the country, this is the AAC.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Denial is the first stage of grief followed by anger.. this is intolerable and disgraceful. A 30 year low point and arguably lower. This garbage remains acceptable until enough say it isn't.

Let's pray it's turned around before it's too late. People wanting to get out of this conference have to acknowledge the only thing we had to offer P5 conferences before was A nationally relevant brand basketball. Now, the narrative in the national media for good or for bad, is what happened to Connecticut? How did that the program fall from it former glory. That narrative is not being written by so-called pessimistic fans, it's being written by our own court performance. Eventually, that will have a bigger impact on recruiting much more than what conference is Uconn in. 5 star and high 4 star kids want to play with winners. Finishing 6/7, three years in a row, in this conference does not generate that winning feeling. Losing to Wagner, Northeastern, ECU also does not attract the people we need to turn the program around. Good news is we still remain a brand, and we have a relatable/likeable coach that will continue to get some quality guys, but unless we start winning in a nationally relevant way soon (rather than look to celebrate that we made the tournament every 3 years), that well of goodwill from that brand will wane fast making it harder to bring the program back. We all want the same thing here, to live up to our reputation as a nationally dominant powerhouse program. Obviously, that reputation is starting to slip away. But one thing we can't do is question each other's loyalty or love for the program just because some of us think everything is going fine and can justify the lack of performance year after year ( for a range of reasons), or some of us question whether Ollie is the right guy to coach the team. Regardless of your perspective, neither are any less of a fan because some of us see things differently. That said, we can't continue to have another year like the last three if we want to have a reasonable chance of returning to being a nationally relevant program, let alone getting an invite to a P5 conference ... unless football returns back to its brief/former glory which I am not holding my breath for.

 

[superjohn]

Let's pray it's turned around before it's too late. People wanting to get out of this conference have to acknowledge the only thing we had to offer P5 conferences before was A nationally relevant brand basketball. Now, the narrative in the national media for good or for bad, is what happened to Connecticut? How did that the program fall from it former glory. That narrative is not being written by so-called pessimistic fans, it's being written by our own court performance. Eventually, that will have a bigger impact on recruiting much more than what conference is Uconn in. 5 star and high 4 star kids want to play with winners. Finishing 6/7, three years in a row, in this conference does not generate that winning feeling. Losing to Wagner, Northeastern, ECU also does not attract the people we need to turn the program around. Good news is we still remain a brand, and we have a relatable/likeable coach that will continue to get some quality guys, but unless we start winning in a nationally relevant way soon (rather than look to celebrate that we made the tournament every 3 years), that well of goodwill from that brand will wane fast making it harder to bring the program back. We all want the same thing here, to live up to our reputation as a nationally dominant powerhouse program. Obviously, that reputation is starting to slip away. But one thing we can't do is question each other's loyalty or love for the program just because some of us think everything is going fine and can justify the lack of performance year after year ( for a range of reasons), or some of us question whether Ollie is the right guy to coach the team. Regardless of your perspective, neither are any less of a fan because some of us see things differently. That said, we can't continue to have another year like the last three if we want to have a reasonable chance of returning to being a nationally relevant program, let alone getting an invite to a P5 conference ... unless football returns back to its brief/former glory which I am not holding my breath for.

bingo.

 

[milesbran32]

Exactly, it 4 years we have only finished in the top 3 of this awful conference once. Just once. What does that say about UCONN basketball right now?

Need better talent incase of injuries..not like the injured players were proven..

 

[Hoophound]

While many people defend KO (myself included), the honest truth is that one of the highest paid coaches in the country needs to deliver 9 out of 10 seasons. He hasn't been able to produce league dominating teams like Cincinnati and SMU have with what is better talent---at least on paper. Given his good recruiting, you have to question his coaching. He was absolutely masterful in his first couple of seasons, but right now he either doesn't have the players he needs to run his system or in those first two seasons he had players to mask the deficiencies of his system. I'm really not sure what the problem is. It just feels like he's completely lost what seemed like magic in years 1&2.

 

[Athlete94]

While many people defend KO (myself included), the honest truth is that one of the highest paid coaches in the country needs to deliver 9 out of 10 seasons. He hasn't been able to produce league dominating teams like Cincinnati and SMU have with what is better talent---at least on paper. Given his good recruiting, you have to question his coaching. He was absolutely masterful in his first couple of seasons, but right now he either doesn't have the players he needs to run his system or in those first two seasons he had players to mask the deficiencies of his system. I'm really not sure what the problem is. It just feels like he's completely lost what seemed like magic in years 1&2.

Honestly, the first two years he got there, he looked to be still running the same type of sets Calhoun did.. at some point even during that time, he stared implementing his style of play..

 

[Walker11]

It will be extremely hard to fire KO, even if he has another bad year. KO has a very good reputation and the media and especially our NBA alums will create an enormous amount of bad press if he gets canned. Trust in Dave.

 

[Athlete94]

It will be extremely hard to fire KO, even if he has another bad year. KO has a very good reputation and the media and especially our NBA alums will create an enormous amount of bad press if he gets canned. Trust in Dave.

Go 14-16 again next year and it won't be so hard..

 

[Walker11]

Honestly, the first two years he got there, he looked to be still running the same type of sets Calhoun did.. at some point even during that time, he stared implementing his style of play..

Nope. Try again.

 

[Athlete94]

Nope. Try again.

Yeah, kind of think so.. go watch both seasons in their entirety.. you'll see the sets..

 

[willie99]

I expect to compete

 

[Walker11]

Yeah, kind of think so.. go watch both seasons in their entirety.. you'll see the sets..

What kind of offense do you think they were running the first 2 years?

You are actually 100% wrong IMO, even though we both agree the offense is a huge issue. KO's problem with offense isn't that he changed it to a lesser system, its that he tries to run the same types of offense regardless of personnel.

 

[Athlete94]

What kind of offense do you think they were running the first 2 years? The difference is the personnel.

You are actually 100% wrong IMO, even though we both agree the offense is a huge issue. KO's problem with offense isn't that he changed it to a lesser system, its that he tries to run the same types of offense regardless of personnel.

Agree with that 100%

 

[Huskybass]

While many people defend KO (myself included), the honest truth is that one of the highest paid coaches in the country needs to deliver 9 out of 10 seasons. He hasn't been able to produce league dominating teams like Cincinnati and SMU have with what is better talent---at least on paper. Given his good recruiting, you have to question his coaching. He was absolutely masterful in his first couple of seasons, but right now he either doesn't have the players he needs to run his system or in those first two seasons he had players to mask the deficiencies of his system. I'm really not sure what the problem is. It just feels like he's completely lost what seemed like magic in years 1&2.

To me, KO seemed like a far better coach in his first two years. He did a great job getting 20 wins out of the 2012-13 team.

The last 3 seasons taken as a whole have been dreadful. I dont place too much importance on this year, EXCEPT UConn lost to Wagner and Northeastern with a full roster, and also lost to ECU despite having better players, even after all the injuries.

It seems like KO got the wind knocked out of him and never recovered. Add a group of questionable assistant coaches to the mix and you get what we are seeing: a team that ends up in the middle of the AAC and has no relevance on the national landscape.
Can you imagine how bad things would be if the recent recruiting classes weren't strong?

Getting beat in Gampel by 20 points is utterly embarrassing. This truly is the lowest point for the program in the last 30 seasons.

 

[Towney007]

There needs to be a massive shake up on the staff with regards to assistants, etc. Team just needs a new look.

On recruiting I see tools on these kids but not much in the way of being able to bring it all together. It's the same story every year and until that changes I'm really kind of past looking at recruiting rankings. It's just dudes on a list.

I was at the game today and just the total lack of basic basketball IQ and execution is just so far past anything I've seen on a UConn team it's hard to know where to begin. Basic boxing out, awful rebounding, incredibly bad shot selection... I'm not even sure what kind of offense they're running. It's a high screen to get the guard in a more favorable match up and just ends up as a bad shit or a kick out that results with another shot with a hand in the face. They ran that same set almost 15 times.

There are streaks where this team almost says screw it and you can see their natural ability take over but that's few and far between. I still get this feeling watching that when they actually ditch the offense they look good. It's almost like an ankle weight.

I mean X's and O's is one thing - but to me there's just a major disconnect between this that'd, the players and what's happening in the court. Kids all seem to be great kids and they seemingly have a lot of emotional connection to KO, but that connection just sorta ends there.

I don't know what the problem is - but they've gotta fire a shot over the bow or something to get some New perspective on this staff because what's happening now isn't working. That's just the reality of it all.

 

[mauconnfan]

To me, KO seemed like a far better coach in his first two years. He did a great job getting 20 wins out of the 2012-13 team.

The last 3 seasons taken as a whole have been dreadful. I dont place too much importance on this year, EXCEPT UConn lost to Wagner and Northeastern with a full roster, and also lost to ECU despite having better players, even after all the injuries.

It seems like KO got the wind knocked out of him and never recovered. Add a group of questionable assistant coaches to the mix and you get what we are seeing: a team that ends up in the middle of the AAC and has no relevance on the national landscape.
Can you imagine how bad things would be if the recent recruiting classes weren't strong?

Getting beat in Gampel by 20 points is utterly embarrassing. This truly is the lowest point for the program in the last 30 seasons.

He had smarter players when he looked like a better coach, this is really simple. Easier to teach IQ than dumb basketball players, that's fairly obvious. This is on KO and his staff, the recruiting needs to be step up and they need to find kids who understand the game. Watching your senior bigs boxing out late and boxing out with their backs to the ball tells you what you've been counting on for a while, not good.

Time to gain IQ on the court, some who remain have that but need to get some control. Some who will return still aren't oozing with basketball brains, hope the kids coming in begin a new regime of of playing smarter basketball because this is downright ugly.

 

[Chief00]

people forget calhouns final years, he had one dominant season from '07 until he retired... that season being in '09 and we're lucky he got kemba to come here otherwise we wouldn't be discussed by anyone... he also didn't kill it on the recruiting trail towards the end

Pretty high standards for Jim - no mention of winning the Big East Championship and NCAA Title in 2011.

 

[nomar]

Pretty high standards for Jim - no mention of winning the Big East Championship and NCAA Title in 2011.

It wasn't "dominant" until the postseason, but yeah, tough to exclude that.

 

[yukonyc212]

people forget calhouns final years, he had one dominant season from '07 until he retired... that season being in '09 and we're lucky he got kemba to come here otherwise we wouldn't be discussed by anyone... he also didn't kill it on the recruiting trail towards the end

You're really trying to compare Calhouns last few years to this mess? You must be smoking some of that good ish.

 

[Danzz]

We have no consistent offense. We can get hot for a time but we don't have a star we can rely on to make that must have shot. Adams may be that guy but he is going to have to play off the ball to have legs left at the end of the game. Kemba and Bazz could do it from the PG position but I'm not sure Adams can. When Rodney is on he can make huge shots but more often than not he is off. We miss an awful lot of good shots and I don't think that there is anything KO can do about that.

 

[Chief00]

We have no consistent offense. We can get hot for a time but we don't have a star we can rely on to make that must have shot. Adams may be that guy but he is going to have to play off the ball to have legs left at the end of the game. Kemba and Bazz could do it from the PG position but I'm not sure Adams can. When Rodney is on he can make huge shots but more often than not he is off. We miss an awful lot of good shots and I don't think that there is anything KO can do about that.

Yeah there is; recruit some good shooters.

 

[BUConn10]

What kind of offense do you think they were running the first 2 years?

You are actually 100% wrong IMO, even though we both agree the offense is a huge issue. KO's problem with offense isn't that he changed it to a lesser system, its that he tries to run the same types of offense regardless of personnel.

Yup. KO's system needs two reliable ball handlers and plenty of reliable 3pt shooters. We had Boat and Bazz with Daniels and giffey years 1 and 2 and we had lots of success, regularly beating ranked teams and as underdogs.

Since then we have always had 1 main ball handler but the second one was always kind of tbd. I believe we had that this year to an extent but the Gilbert injury blew it up. For a while we experimented with TSam and then Gibbs/freshman Jalen but that aspect of the team never really reached the level we need for consistent winning. I also think a lack of reliable 3pt shooting has been a problem as well. I think Gibbs may have been the best pure shooter KO has recruited and we only had him for a year, luckily I think Vital and Vance will fill that need adequately for us next year.

 

[HungryHuskies]

All I have to say is I would hate to be in AD Dave's position if it ever comes down to where he has to make a decision. It would be a very difficult situation. Firing Ollie probably wouldn't go down well with Jim Calhoun and all of the UConn Basketball Alumni.

I think stepping down on his own terms would be the best situation for the program, if it ever came down to it.

 

[Chief00]

All I have to say is I would hate to be in AD Dave's position if it ever comes down to where he has to make a decision. It would be a very difficult situation. Firing Ollie probably wouldn't go down well with Jim Calhoun and all of the UConn Basketball Alumni.

I think stepping down on his own terms would be the best situation for the program, if it ever came down to it.

I don't think Jim is happy with all these gimmick zones.

 

[Walker11]

I don't think Jim is happy with all these gimmick zones.

Somehow, I doubt this is the main contention Jim has.

 

[BlueDogs]

All I have to say is I would hate to be in AD Dave's position if it ever comes down to where he has to make a decision. It would be a very difficult situation. Firing Ollie probably wouldn't go down well with Jim Calhoun and all of the UConn Basketball Alumni.

I think stepping down on his own terms would be the best situation for the program, if it ever came down to it.

Calhoun put him there and Calhoun is a winner. He's not going to allow friendly feelings get in the way of ensuriing his legacy isn't destroyed. The Alumni are not going to shed a tear if there is another poor season. They love a winning UConn basketball program more than a favorite son that has screwed a program beyond all recognition.

 

[superjohn]

Yup. KO's system needs two reliable ball handlers and plenty of reliable 3pt shooters. We had Boat and Bazz with Daniels and giffey years 1 and 2 and we had lots of success, regularly beating ranked teams and as underdogs.

Since then we have always had 1 main ball handler but the second one was always kind of tbd. I believe we had that this year to an extent but the Gilbert injury blew it up. For a while we experimented with TSam and then Gibbs/freshman Jalen but that aspect of the team never really reached the level we need for consistent winning. I also think a lack of reliable 3pt shooting has been a problem as well. I think Gibbs may have been the best pure shooter KO has recruited and we only had him for a year, luckily I think Vital and Vance will fill that need adequately for us next year.

I agree on the need for two elite ballhandlers who can penetrate and shooters but where the hell is the adaptability? One of the things that concerns me is you have to find ways to adapt to what you have, design an offense and defense to your personnel. He has done a really poor job of this.