Amazing Job By Ollie

[ASweet3781]

I was a hold out waiting to see what he did in March. Making the AAC finals and the Sweet 16 (so far) is fantastic. Glad he's ours.

 

[UConnDan97]

"In trying times, you can't stop trying."
Kevin Ollie

 

[warbler1055]

He has shown a very good sense of how to manipulate his line up.

March is all that counts and KO has come up HUGE!!!!!!!

So happy you are positive about HCKO. He really did a great job the last 2 years!!!!

 

[mhshuskies]

Good coaching by KO. He re-focused the team early on and we, for the most part, controlled the game after that.

 

[8893]

If by amazing you mean ridiculously dumb, I agree (in regards to benching Bazz).

As Jim Calhoun said when he benched Emeka with two fouls during the first half against Duke in San Antonio in 2004, I learned a long time ago that basketball games are 40 minutes long. Worked out pretty well for both of them, don't you think?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

One thing that kind of sucks is that in about 25 years were going to have to find a new coach.

 

[aboogieee]

IM THE BIGGEST IDIOT EVER. I officially apologize and am ashamed for questioning KO after the l ville game. What a game. What a coach. Went to the 5 guard lineup!! Take that Jay Wright.

ALL GUARD EVERYTHING

 

[Hugo]

Not only did he have 2 but he was off to a dreadful start…….got caught in a double team, passéd up a wide open 3 to throw another crappy pass and missed a pass at half court for a back court call…….the bench helped him and calmed him. Had to do it for more than the 2 foul reasons but as said above if they grew or maintained that lead he would have been back earlier…..instead Samuel and others filled in wonderfully!

Great point. Agree that sitting him did calm him down and helped conserve energy. Plus we needed some D at that point and Bazz couldn't provide it with 2 fouls. If the lead increased, I'm sure Bazz would have gone back in.

 

[mauconnfan]

Great point. Agree that sitting him did calm him down and helped conserve energy. Plus we needed some D at that point and Bazz couldn't provide it with 2 fouls. If the lead increased, I'm sure Bazz would have gone back in.

If you remember the 3 on 3 when I think it was Bell who had the ball in the middle and Bazz was in the middle of the transition D, he already had one foul and Bell took it to him because Boat and Giffey took the lane fillers on each side and Boat had to play ole' defense already early game!!! You are spot on about his defensive ability with 2 and Samuel was solid down there……...

 

[uconnng8]

At the time Bazz got his second foul it was absolutely right for him to go to the bench, then they go on a little run and obviously Ollie think this is the perfect time for Bazz to get a huge rest and stay out of more foul trouble. This was a very smart because it also would allowed Bazz to be fresh for the whole second half, where it was clear he wasn't on Thursday. PLUS he got the shin injury in the first half so it could of been even worse if it got re-aggretivated shortly after. Coach Ollie was awesome last night, his passion for the boys and the game is so evident.

 

[Kembacity]

yeah you cant keep Napier in the game with 2 fousl that early. Nova has great guards and arcidiacano puts lots of pressure on the D. I know that a guard with fouls is different than a big with fouls, but teams still play into it, and Nova would have made it very hard for shabazz to not foul and still hold teh D tight. Would have made that run exceedingly hard, when you think about it Archie was the only one they would turn to for big buckets, so having Samuel come in and play rock solid D was genius.

I simply don't understnad how Ollie and the team did what they did. First few plays it seemed pinkston was a beast and was going to rummage through our post players like a raccoon going thru my trash, but after that play we completely shut their game down and made them just pass around til they took a jumpshot. THe entire game felt like I was daydreaming, because they never got into any semblance of a game at all. We played great basketball and took over that game, suck it Old Big East!! its just us and the cardinals left

 

[Tenspro2002]

Still not a fan of the two foul rule, especially with a guard, but there's no denying it worked out extremely well tonight. Ollie coached one hell of a game, his rotations were phenomenal.

I agree. I think (hope) that if the game was getting out of hand, he would have put Bazz back in. But once it was clear that the lineup with Samuel and Boat was causing problems for Nova, he kept riding the hot hand.

 

[caw]

One thing that kind of sucks is that in about 25 years were going to have to find a new coach.

I can see it now, after a 15 or so year career in the NBA, 5 years as an assistant and another five at a plucky mid-major (say Boston College) Kevin Ollie retires and UConn names Coach Napier as it's next coach at the age of 47. Free scooter then complains that UConn didn't hire someone with major college ball experience.

 

[tzznandrew]

He left Giffey in with two fouls against St. Joe's the game before, and Giffey picked up a third.

I don't think it's a hard and fast rule with KO as it was with JC.

 

[tzznandrew]

Another thing about this:

Much like playing Samuel a little more, starting in February, he allowed Boat to run the offense more. Sometimes with Shabazz on the bench. I felt that it must have been to get Shabazz more of a rest. But I think it allowed him to get more experience and confidence running the team without Bazz: both for next year, and in case of foul trouble. He allowed Boat to play through some of the bad plays, and it's paying off.

KO is coaching for the big picture, and it's impressive.

 

[RichZ]

If by amazing you mean ridiculously dumb, I agree (in regards to benching Bazz).

Obviously we will never know for sure, but given what we've seen of KO and the two foul "rule" this year, I don't believe there was any way that KO intended to keep Bazz on the bench for the rest of the half. Two in 8 minutes is 'unBazz-like' and KO needed to get him back in normal form. Bazz is too important in winning time to take a chance that he's not there when needed most. I think he just wanted to give him a few minutes to watch the game and get his emotions in check. But when the lead kept shrinking with the TSam/Boat combo, there was no need to mess with what was working so well, so KO took advantage of the situation that developed. As opposed to your opinion that it was 'dumb', I found it to be masterful.

 

[weo777]

I can only image the effect the half time comment "We are gonna win", had on the team.KO is a classy individual of character and exudes the confidence of a champion.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Still not a fan of the two foul rule, especially with a guard, but there's no denying it worked out extremely well tonight. Ollie coached one hell of a game, his rotations were phenomenal.

I'm not sure it was a "rule" per se, don't forget he kept Giffey in there against St. Joes, and he picked up his 3rd in the first half. My guess was going to take Bazz out and re-evaluate for every media timeout, or if VU went on a run. By the time it got to eight and four to go, it was clear there was no reason to to reinsert him for the rest of the half. You can't leave him in there with ~10 minutes left and two fouls, you risk the nuclear third foul - which VU is going try and draw every single possession by driving at him repeatedly. At some point, you have to have faith in your second and third options that they'll hold the fort - as Ricky Moore did in '99 and Taliek Brown did in '04.

 

[7774]

Another thing about this:

Much like playing Samuel a little more, starting in February, he allowed Boat to run the offense more. Sometimes with Shabazz on the bench. I felt that it must have been to get Shabazz more of a rest. But I think it allowed him to get more experience and confidence running the team without Bazz: both for next year, and in case of foul trouble. He allowed Boat to play through some of the bad plays, and it's paying off.

KO is coaching for the big picture, and it's impressive.

Yep. If Boehiem was our coach we would have lost yesterday because Samuel wouldn't have played at all the last 2 months and wouldn't be prepared to step in.

 

[sportsart]

"It was just a great run by us with our leader on the bench," Ollie said, "but that just shows you what kind of team we're made out of. That's what our guys do. That's how we're built. We're UConn made. We're UConn-made, through and through."

Someone needs to get some tee shirts and bumper stickers made.

 

[RichZ]

Yep. If Boehiem was our coach we would have lost yesterday because Samuel wouldn't have played at all the last 2 months and wouldn't be prepared to step in.

Don't overcomplicate the issue. If Boehiem was our coach we would have lost yesterday because Boehiem was our coach.