Amore: Crumbling Connecticut Foundation? Kevin Ollie Under Scrutiny With UConn Men

[superjohn]

Listen to Chief next time - beat the Courant by two years.

You get mocked around here for the Drummond thing and some other strange theories but you've also been right about the program more than pretty much anyone else on the board in the past year or two. Long live the Chief.

 

[uconngb]

You get mocked around here for the Drummond thing and some other strange theories but you've also been right about the program more than pretty much anyone else on the board in the past year or two. Long live the Chief.

oh god

 

[Coach J]

Tonality wise, you guys were different. It was more 'Ollie sucks' than this is what Ollie needs to do to improve. AD Benedict sounds like he's positive on what Ollie is doing now. Which is the exact opposite of many of you guys.

Not me - just a bunch of guys you like inferring and assuming whatever you want.

 

[Paesano]

Benedict will be publicly positive on every coach right up to the moment he fires him.

Yep. Saying positive stuff doesn't imply he is confident in KO at this point. His actions, in fact, imply otherwise.

 

[tykurez]

I've been called a fake fan 3 times this week over the most trivial things. So it only gets annoying when you see the other side a couple times in a day?

Nah. Your aggressive, miserable tone is annoying though. I hope you're at least at little more chipper in the real world.

 

[Paesano]

"As described by several sources close to the program, who spoke to The Courant on condition of anonymity, Ollie, always businesslike and close-to-the-vest, had become resistant to "letting people in," less communicative, more determined to distance himself from the Calhoun era."

Hmmm... sounds like Diaco.

When you combine that with Calhoun's comments, it sounds like Calhoun is having doubts and, possibly, expressing those to KO in private. To me, it sounded like Calhoun was more positive on Miller than Ollie. But, maybe he was just trying to sell his old assistant to anyone that might be listening.

 

[Stainmaster]

You get mocked around here for the Drummond thing and some other strange theories but you've also been right about the program more than pretty much anyone else on the board in the past year or two. Long live the Chief.

Yeah, long live the guy who gives 100% of the credit for every recruit we landed in the 2016 cycle to Sam Cassell's buddy from Baltimore. Long live the guy who thinks that KO's biggest sin isn't lack of player development, inconsistent recruiting, or shoddy gameplanning, but not calling Jim Calhoun on the phone as often as he should.

 

[Fishy]

"As described by several sources close to the program, who spoke to The Courant on condition of anonymity, Ollie, always businesslike and close-to-the-vest, had become resistant to "letting people in," less communicative, more determined to distance himself from the Calhoun era."

To his credit, we sure feel like we're a good distance away from the Calhoun era.

So far, it's working out for everyone except him, his boss, his mentor, his players, and UConn fans..

 

[CTBasketball]

When you combine that with Calhoun's comments, it sounds like Calhoun is having doubts and, possibly, expressing those to KO in private. To me, it sounded like Calhoun was more positive on Miller than Ollie. But, maybe he was just trying to sell his old assistant to anyone that might be listening.

Read Miller's quote. He thanks Calhoun and was "shocked" Ollie let him go.

"...I can't let what didn't work out, steal my sense of value." There's more to this than what Ollie told Jacobs.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I've been mocked and called a fake fan for the past 6 months even though I haven't missed a UConn game I could watch for the past 30 years and have close to 20,000 posts on a UConn message board. People mocking and calling me a fake fan feels like grade school behavior, IMO.

You're a fake fan if you think UConn can do better than Ollie and 57-43 over the last 3 years.

 

[Stainmaster]

Read Miller's quote. He thanks Calhoun and was "shocked" Ollie let him go.

"...I can't let what didn't work out, steal my sense of value." There's more to this than what Ollie told Jacobs.

This is un-goshdarn-believable.

I spent a full season reading on this very board about how Miller was absolutely useless on the recruiting trail and how he was responsible for our complete lack of big man development. I spent 3 seasons reading how Ollie was surrounding himself with an echo chamber of yes-men and that he needed to go outside the UConn family; that we're hamstringing ourselves by gifting jobs on the coaching staff to former Huskies, and we need to be hiring the best possible coaches no matter where they played their college ball.

So now Ollie firing Miller is Yet Another Awful Decision That's Means There Is Something Terrible Going On Behind The Scenes. What utter garbage.

 

[Stainmaster]

You're a fake fan if you think UConn can do better than Ollie and 57-43 over the last 3 years.

What's the term for fans who think Joe Dooley, King Rice, and Steve Forbes can do better than that? Clueless?

 

[superjohn]

Yeah, long live the guy who gives 100% of the credit for every recruit we landed in the 2016 cycle to Sam Cassell's buddy from Baltimore. Long live the guy who thinks that KO's biggest sin isn't lack of player development, inconsistent recruiting, or shoddy gameplanning, but not calling Jim Calhoun on the phone as often as he should.

Sure make fun of him for the Bunkey stuff, Drummond, weird stuff on LaVar Ball/race etc. I get it, he's easy to make fun of and makes himself a traget. He was also right about the timing of the Diaco hire, the Travis Ilian stuff, rift between Ollie and Miller, Ollie and Calhoun not speaking much at all anymore etc.

 

[TRest]

Read Miller's quote. He thanks Calhoun and was "shocked" Ollie let him go.

"...I can't let what didn't work out, steal my sense of value." There's more to this than what Ollie told Jacobs.

JC thinks Miller is great at x and o's, but KO didn't want to run that type of stuff. You've seen our attempt at an NBA offense. We don't even have an inbounds play anymore. So goodbye to institutional knowledge and hello to guys known for recruiting. Again, anyone who thinks there was a master plan letting 4 guys walk because Chillious was coming in along with a bunch of talent were reading it wrong. My guess is 2 more years of seeing this through.

 

[awfuldan]

After this last season, you knew changes needed to be made. They were. Obviously things weren't all pretty.

There is so much riding on this next season. Really hoping it all works out.

 

[superjohn]

What's the term for fans who think Joe Dooley, King Rice, and Steve Forbes can do better than that? Clueless?

Dude, you are now just flat out making up stuff and attributing it to other fans. BUconn10 was clearly being sarcastic about King Rice and you know that. You attack anyone who even suggests Ollie has made a mess of things the past year or so. The reality is there are problems in Storrs currently, you ignoring that or making up scenarios to prove your allegiance to Ollie won't change the reality. We are all rooting for coach but not recognizing he has made a mess or things lately is pointless, even Ollie has admitted as much.

 

[TRest]

This is un-goshdarn-believable.

I spent a full season reading on this very board about how Miller was absolutely useless on the recruiting trail and how he was responsible for our complete lack of big man development. I spent 3 seasons reading how Ollie was surrounding himself with an echo chamber of yes-men and that he needed to go outside the UConn family; that we're hamstringing ourselves by gifting jobs on the coaching staff to former Huskies, and we need to be hiring the best possible coaches no matter where they played their college ball.

So now Ollie firing Miller is Yet Another Awful Decision That's Means There Is Something Terrible Going On Behind The Scenes. What utter garbage.

You mix up the people who were down on Miller because of agendas (chief) with the people who just wanted to see a competent basketball program. Ask JC who has the better coaching credentials, Miller or Chillious? KO is all-in on a guy who is supposed to be a great recruiter. The only way to pay for him was to fire the only real experienced coach on the bench.

 

[Walker11]

What's the term for fans who think Joe Dooley, King Rice, and Steve Forbes can do better than that? Clueless?

You gotta chill out, deep breaths. Again, there are a few dullards on this board but you are becoming the straw man king.

 

[Stainmaster]

Dude, you are now just flat out making up stuff and attributing it to other fans. BUconn10 was clearly being sarcastic about King Rice and you know that. You attack anyone who even suggests Ollie has made a mess of things the past year or so. The reality is there are problems in Storrs currently, you ignoring that or making up scenarios to prove your allegiance to Ollie won't change the reality. We are all rooting for coach but not recognizing he has made a mess or things lately is pointless, even Ollie has admitted as much.

You gotta chill out, deep breaths. Again, there are a few dullards on this board but you are becoming the straw man king.

Come on, how am I making this stuff up? This is not a strawman, the poster I responded to did indeed cite all three of those names. Is this link not working for other people? Durham transferring

It's not my fault that some of Ollie's critics' positions are so absurd you think I'm making them up on the spot.

 

[Stainmaster]

You mix up the people who were down on Miller because of agendas (chief) with the people who just wanted to see a competent basketball program. Ask JC who has the better coaching credentials, Miller or Chillious? KO is all-in on a guy who is supposed to be a great recruiter. The only way to pay for him was to fire the only real experienced coach on the bench.

What I'm gathering from reading this thread is that because Calhoun has a high opinion of Miller, firing him has automatically rendered a net negative effect on the program.

 

[johnhuskies95]

What's the term for fans who think Joe Dooley, King Rice, and Steve Forbes can do better than that? Clueless?

I still maintain that those are good coaches, certainly trending in a better direction than Ollie at the moment. I like Ollie and would like to see him have another 2 years to pull this around, but to think that there are no other coaches that are either capable of doing a better job at this moment or wouldn't come here is ridiculous in my opinion.

I'm sure that you would've laughed off Mike White 2 years ago and now he's coming off of an elite 8 appearance and a top 5 KenPom season.

 

[Kitaman]

Listen to Chief next time - beat the Courant by two years.

I listen to you. A simple fix is that you change your nic from Chief00 to DAmore.

 

[UConnfan8]

What's the term for fans who think Joe Dooley, King Rice, and Steve Forbes can do better than that? Clueless?

Dude you need to take a Xanax man. Christ.

 

[TRest]

What I'm gathering from reading this thread is that because Calhoun has a high opinion of Miller, firing him has automatically rendered a net negative effect on the program.

It's probably more that people believe MAL opted out because Coach Family axed the guy who was his main recruiter, and instead of creating a spot for Waters to then come in it's left us even more in the hole. Having said that, if the staff pulls a five star rabbit out of its ass this weekend this thread may as well be locked.

 

[Chief00]

You get mocked around here for the Drummond thing and some other strange theories but you've also been right about the program more than pretty much anyone else on the board in the past year or two. Long live the Chief.

Just for the record - the Drummond plans were 100% true and accurate. The plans just changed and the change did not get efficiently communicated.