Alterique update

[upstater]

It doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things but we had people on here wondering if Alterique would play against Okie State which is absurd. I love Ollie but it seems like a bit of a pattern with weird coaching decisions and weird things he said to the press.

To me, it is a normal thing I've heard from coaches who want the opposition guessing.

 

[jfuchs91]

 

[Paesano]

It was an absolutely ridiculous thing for Ollie to say, his coaching and some of the weird things he's said lately have me wondering about him.

Don't listen to these pansies. I agree with you about Ollie. Something is VERY wrong and it could very well be him.

 

[upstater]

Don't listen to these pansies. I agree with you about Ollie. Something is VERY wrong and it could very well be him.

You guys are the ones getting your knickers soiled because of some harmless thing someone said. Sack up.

 

[superjohn]

You guys are the ones getting your knickers soiled because of some harmless thing someone said. Sack up.

Coaches do it all the time when it's a day to day situation on whether someone will play, not when it's a season ending injury. This wasn't a case of gamesmanship, nobody bought the cr@p Ollie was selling.

 

[UConnDad]

So not to derail this thread, just wondering about Alterique's condition. Since he needs surgery again does that mean the first surgery was unsuccessful or it was but the shoulder will always be weak or loose or? Will another surgery even help?

 

[gtcam]

It doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things but we had people on here wondering if Alterique would play against Okie State which is absurd. I love Ollie but it seems like a bit of a pattern with weird coaching decisions and weird things he said to the press.

Boy oh boy - if you love KO - what the hell do you say/do about folks you don't care for??????????????????????

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

I'm past the point of frustration. I can only just laugh at this point. The season's been on for not even 2 weeks and it simply could not have gone any worse whatsoever. It feels like this season has been going on for 2 months already.

 

[David 76]

It doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things but we had people on here wondering if Alterique would play against Okie State which is absurd. I love Ollie but it seems like a bit of a pattern with weird coaching decisions and weird things he said to the press.

I never thought Gilbert would play against OK State. Just found the conspiracy theories you and others were throwing around to be ridiculous.
You are still talking like the worst case scenario is the only scenario. And you are trying to make some piece of it Ollie's fault.

 

[superjohn]

I never thought Gilbert would play against OK State. Just found the conspiracy theories you and others were throwing around to be ridiculous.
You are still talking like the worst case scenario is the only scenario. And you are trying to make some piece of it Ollie's fault.

No conspiracy theories, Ollie knew Gilbert was out for a couple months or the whole season. He said several times he was a game time decision against Okie State. If it was gamesmanship it was a very poor job of it, everyone knew he wasn't playing in Hawaii.

 

[UConnSwag11]

No conspiracy theories, Ollie knew Gilbert was out for a couple months or the whole season. He said several times he was a game time decision against Okie State. If it was gamesmanship it was a very poor job of it, everyone knew he wasn't playing in Hawaii.

If everyone knew he wasn't going to play what's the big deal if Ollie said he's a game time decision

 

[superjohn]

If everyone knew he wasn't going to play what's the big deal if Ollie said he's a game time decision

It's not a big deal I just think it's a weird/silly thing to say just like when he said UConn fans probably think the season is over after the second game.

 

[DogMania]

These injuries are going to do wonders for Jackson and Vital. Those 2 kids are going to knock a TON of 3s down for UConn before they graduate.

This has to be the most troubling start to a season that I can remember since I began following the Huskies in the late 80s. With that said, this might set us up for a very good run next season for the following reasons:

1. 2017/18 Larrier return when the team as a whole should be better next year. Although a small sample, he was showing a mature NBA type game and could easily been 1 1-and-done for us, especially if the team were to struggle all season long.
2. Alterique returning next season after having a more reconstructive surgery so that his shoulder will never be a problem or something he has to worry about. (if such a surgery is possible)
3. As previously noted, due to more PT to young returning players such as Jackson and Vital, plus Adams getting more time at the 1 to improve his lead guard skills will provide a better team foundation for Larrier's and Gilbert's return in 2017/18.
4. Coaching staff and team to focus more on player and team improvement and less on Ws and Ls. Gulp...hard to believe as a UConn fan I'm saying such, but it might be better to focus on what will make the team better for a deep 2018 March run than just getting wins. Not that the player rotations would vary all that much since it's not like you have a lot of young options to take time away from players who aren't returning such as Brimah and Purvis. The loss of Larrier and Gilbert, if they do shut him down, automatically opens PT to young players. But what the staff has the players do during games can change a little bit if the focus is on developing individual and team skills compared to doing what will give you the best chance of winning that given game.

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For those who don't like a long read, stop here. No one is making you read on. It's been a while since I left a War and Peace post, but I felt inspired. And spare me the long post bashing replies. It's been done before and it won't stop me from leaving a long one from time to time.
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You never want any player to suffer a season ending injury, especially to a player like Larrier who already had to sit out a season. The way he looked early on, he seemed to demonstrate a mature NBA type game. He's got the length, handle and shot making to be a solid if not uppler end wing or stretch-4 in the NBA. He could have easily been a 1-and-done for us, leaving a big hole next year as far as having a go-to-scorer at the 3 and Stetch-4 positions. Although he would have contributed this season, it might have been for a lost cause since this team looked to be in grave jeopardy of not making the tournament. I think with a full roster that included him, Gilbert and Diarra, the team could have developed into a tough out by season's end, but might have taken winning the AAC tourney to get in based on all the early losses we've been taking. Sort of a long route to my point, which is ensuring Larrier is back and healthy next season, granted now with close to 2 full years of little game competition under his belt, he will be in position to be one of many strong offensive weapons this team will have in 2017-18 season. Yeah, this season is going to be a tough one to watch at times, but let's hold to this point as one of the silver linings in the grand scheme of things.

Next point is similar with Alterique. Just as Larrier would contribute to a lot of good hoops to watch and certainly more wins this season, Alterique would have had the same impact. In fact his impact might even have been, or will be if he returns this season, since he's a PG who is able to make those around him better. For the same silver lining reason mentioned above, I'd rather have a fully healthy Gilbert who is not worrying about his shoulder popping out than one that is worried about such and is a ticking time bomb for it to happen to him again. I'm no doctor, but it is obvious that the prior surgery didn't do it's job, or Alterique needed more time to strengthen that shoulder to support the surgery he had. The fact is, it popped again which tells us that there is too much slack in that joint area. I wonder if he had a less evasive surgery that would require less rehab and could have had a more reconstructive one that would have better tightened up that joint but would require a longer rest and rehab period. If anyone here knows about corrective shoulder surgeries that are designed to prevent dislocations, please chime in. I'm interested to find out. What I do find interesting is we have had a few players who had this problem, I think Ricky Moore and Steve Pikiell (I'm pretty sure it was him and not his brother Tim, but I could be wrong) to name a couple, had this same ailment but to my knowledge didn't have a recurrence after the surgery. Occasionally there are some players who simply can't come back from certain joint related injuries such as knees (Smith from Zona) and back (many players either had to hang em up or were never the same after recurring back injuries), but I don't recall ones where the doctors could fix the shoulder for young players. I think Kevin McKale had a shoulder problem that cut his career a tad earlier than he would have liked, but I might be misremembering that one, which wouldn't be the first. So the point here, similar to with Larrier, since this season does not look like it's heading toward a desirable outcome, having that shoulder fixed where he won't have to worry about it again, and being completely healthy for a deep March run in 2018 seems like a good idea.

Add the two above points to this one, and this brings me hope. Other players will have to fill the void that these two leave, giving them an important opportunity to develop their game sooner than what might have happened as a result of getting a lot more PT than they would have. As pointed out, Jackson and Vital will both get a lot more PT than they would have. Adams will get a lot more time at the 1 than he would have, which is a good thing in the long run. He's got a lot more 2G in him than PG that I realized. If I were KO, I'd really work with him to try to develop some lead guard skills even though his strengths lie more with his off guard capabilities. I'd still want him to develop his scoring skills, but what will help this team next year as well as his career is to be a better all around player where he makes those around him better. Having a more instinctual Adam aside Gilbert who is also a scorer but seems to show a little more PG instincts will really help this team next year. It would help this year as well, but I think that shoulder is a ticking time bomb waiting to pop right out again. If that were to happen at a critical time next season, or happen this season where he won't be ready all of next season would be a much worse scenario IMO than for him playing again this season taking the chance it could pop again.

I think this is going to be a really tough season to watch. What will likely help me through this one is to focus on the individual development of the returning players and overall development of the team. If we focus on Ws and Ls, I think many will jump ship and spend the entire season criticizing the players, the coaches, the athletic department and whoever else they feel the need to bash to make them feel better. I'm on the shelf as far as what I think about the job that KO and his staff are doing. I think they did a pretty good job in recruiting good players. I'm not completely sure about that since they sure looked like a group with the littlest amount of hoops instincts I've seen in a while. Rebounding, seeing the floor, making the right decisions, etc. really seemed lacking so far. But maybe it's just chemistry and confidence. I needed to give it more time to conclude anything in that regard. KO has struggled to land strong bigs who come in who aren't projects, something the program has always struggled with. They key is to pick the right project guys and coach them up, which JC did just about better than anyone. None of his bigs were household names coming in. Those who bash KO for this need a UConn history lesson. But with that said, the staff needs to coach these kids up so that they are among the better 4s and 5s by their junior or senior season's something we've not seen under KO just yet. Brimah has shown glacial improvement over the past few years, and I see little, maybe slight improvement with rebounding as of late, this year. Getting the team to execute offense and defense effectively has really been lacking this season. seeing them run the weave type offense over and over again...well I'd rather stick needles in my eyes. He really needs them to vary their offenses more often during the game keeping the opposing defenses off balanced. Teams seem to quickly know how to defend us, and turn us over. I felt they could have easily broken down the zone by flashing Larier to the middle where he could turn and shoot, turn and power dribble and shoot, one-dribble step back and shoot or kick it out. They did a horrible job of looking for him. All you have to do is for him to flash quickly to the middle with the guards anticipating him doing that executing a quick entry pass to him. It's not rocket science. Now we don't have anyone nearly as skilled who can do that, but I think Jackson has shown a solid enough handle and scoring instinct to try that with. But other than him, that's about it as far as zone busting other than hitting more 3s and Purvis and Adams driving the gaps...gulp...without turning it over.

I don't know what others will do, but I'm going to focus on the little things that the coaching staff and players can do to improve as a team so that when Larrier and Gilbert return next season, they'll be poised for a successful 2017/18 season and deep tournament run. I just hope this season doesn't discourage recruits from coming here, thinking we're on the decline. I think KO can sell the recruits that it's just a down year due to injuries. Hum...maybe that's another silver lining. If we s*cked with a full compliment of our players what message would that have sent to prospective recruits. It's only so long a program can hold up its brand. Even the mighty UCLA and other storied programs took a long hiatus from the top and struggled to attract the top recruits for long stretches of time. We hit the perfect storm of JC retiring, the NCAA penalties then break up of the Big East and not finding a P5 home, which might all be contributing to why recruiting has been a battle. I say battle not struggle since KO still brought in a top 10 2016 recruiting class, plus attracted McAA Purvis, granted who's game is more flawed than KO likely even thought, and Larrier, who is living up to and beyond what many thought. KO coached, granted JC's recruits, to a very unexpected NC. I don't think KO has forgotten how to coach, but he, like all coaches, needs to sit back and figure out how to improve as a coach and his team. I've not seen the assistant coaches crouched in front of a player who just returned to the bench, teaching them during the games, a staple of UConn coaching. I'm not jumping on the fire KO or his staff bandwagon, but I am leaning toward the idea that the staff is partly responsible for what we're seeing and they can do a better job. KO needs to get them into a room and have them brainstorm as to what they can do differently to improve his team. I'm not saying they need to dramatically change things, but instill some success factors that have worked in the past for UConn that they might not be still doing or doing well, and add a few new things that other programs might be doing that have made them successful. Like any successful business you blend what you've done well and has make you successful with new innovations that keeps you on top. There are less members at the board (Larrier, maybe Gilbert and Diarra), but there's enough members of the program that they can work with to build toward's the program's success. It might turn out that winning...gulp...hard to believe I'm saying that as a UConn fan...is not to goal this season, but player and team development is. For example, the staff should make a player who needs to improve his off hand dribbling and shooting, do so in games now even if it means less early success than to use their dominant hand. We have a few players who don't use their off hand when they should. This is as good a year to work on it, even in games. Maybe we're not quite to that point yet in the season, but if we lose Gilbert in addition to Larrier, I think we are.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Well that is certainly terrible news.

I knew I smelled BS with that Ollie quote about game time decision.

 

[BUConn10]

tl;dr

 

[Rocktheworld]

If everyone knows the sun is coming up tomorrow what's the big deal if Ollie said it is a morning-time decision?

 

[champs99and04]

According to twitter, Ollie said on his show last night to expect a decision soon. Anybody have a scoop/hunch?

I kind of think our season depends on this.

 

[auror]

According to twitter, Ollie said on his show last night to expect a decision soon. Anybody have a scoop/hunch?

I kind of think our season depends on this.

Yes. Our season in 4 years where Gilbert is eligible as a 5th year senior and destroys our new conference, the Mountain American.

 

[uconngb]

According to twitter, Ollie said on his show last night to expect a decision soon. Anybody have a scoop/hunch?

I kind of think our season depends on this.

I have NO source and zero inside information.....but you said hunches count: I don't see why he would risk playing again this year vs. getting this thing fixed. The team is probably going nowhere with or without him, I think it's highly unlikely we see him again this year. Just my opinion, nothing more.

 

[jibsey]

I have NO source and zero inside information.....but you said hunches count: I don't see why he would risk playing again this year vs. getting this thing fixed. The team is probably going nowhere with or without him, I think it's highly unlikely we see him again this year. Just my opinion, nothing more.

What you are saying is reasonable but especially about where we're going. The only thing would be if the doctor said there was no downside could play comfortably.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I have NO source and zero inside information.....but you said hunches count: I don't see why he would risk playing again this year vs. getting this thing fixed. The team is probably going nowhere with or without him, I think it's highly unlikely we see him again this year. Just my opinion, nothing more.

Someone told me after hearing from someone else who heard from a player that....

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

I heard from a little birdie who heard from a guy who works at the car wash alterique used to go to in Georgia, who says "rique has a shoulder problem that hurts". I know I'm the most reliable insider on the board. Don't hit me with too many likes

 

[TopDogs]

David Borges @DaveBorges
Gilbert will have surgery within the next few weeks to repair damage, tighten muscles. Recovery and rehab could take six months.

3:59 PM - 29 Nov 2016

 

[Brochacho]

via Twitter, Gilbert season-ending surgey and Diarra redshirt.

 

[Kembacity]

Diarra too? Good god, please please please let this be the last long term injury/bad news of the season

When did Kevin Ollie turn into Larry David?