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

[Whtdmd]

Not saying you're wrong. Just wondering why no one has questioned why it was Miller whom had to be sacrificed to make room for Chillious? Why not Ricky? Or Kill? Yeah I get that you can't hire Killings after just bringing him aboard. But why Miller instead of Ricky? Havent seen this question asked.
Moving on from that query, I'd say that KO was being completely honest in the article. KO is of the belief that Chillious will bring to KO's staff specific capabilities that will ultimately produce better results on the floor than what Miller brought. Does that mean KO believes Chillious is a better coach? I don't know. But I do know that KO must firmly believe that Chillious will move the program forward more than Miller can.

Money, actually some of the UCONN MBB staff were telling me that Geno's staff was paid higher

 

[champs99and04]

Rule number one of message boards is don't call out another poster by name in a thread they haven't posted in. I have no stake in the game and actually find it entertaining, but this passive aggressive stuff where you're hiding behind somebody else to call out another poster just gives it away that you're frazzled. @Stairmaster seems to lead the league in getting called out for something he said five days ago. I would be proud of that if I were him.

Responding to fishy's post like you are reporting something to the school principal is just a cry for help that you need validation.

Rule number two is don't reduce every opposing view point to the lowest common denominator every time you get into an argument. After a certain point you become so paranoid that you're the dog chasing its own tail. We don't need 500 words to dis-spell chief's theories on concussions and I say that as somebody who is the king of writing stuff for no reason.

 

[8893]

That could only help.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

You are a liar. You have just over 16.3k posts. 20,000+ likes. Idiot.

Not for nothing but what's your point ? His point was clear, he's not a newcomer and has a long history of posting.

 

[the Q]

He doesn't have to be in any stance but that was what he did when we were winning and the difference is really the point. If he were stoic from the beginning it would be fine and nobody would notice the difference. And you are right, jumping up and down doesn't win games but when you see a marked difference it makes fans wonder why especially when the new behavior is accompanied by losses. I really believe that his divorce as a big factor.
I'm an Ollie fan so I want him to stay at UConn and I'm hoping the recent turmoil passes.

I get what you're saying. It's a total change in energy.

He did tend to look sad on the bench at times. But I'm not trying to read too much into that. it was a long and trying season.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

You call people who disagree with you members of a Ladies' Club and snowflakes. Whatever I add, you add 1/1000th of that.

I think he's just calling you a snowflake

 

[MuchoDogYears]

JC is Miller's primary reference and he's going to say great things about him.

KO was always going to have to transition from being JCs protege to being his own man. That can lead to tension with the old mentor.

I think the article confirms that KO's divorce had a big effect emotionally and led to withdrawal and under communication with JC, with coaches (Miller shocked), with players (transfers surprised him), and recruits (MAL surprise). KO needs to get over that, communicate more, and love his players better.

But - divorce is a one time thing and so is rising the head coach learning curve and overcoming the legacy of a legendary coach. KO can still follow the Belichek coaching trajectory.

 

[Walker11]

Responding to fishy's post like you are reporting something to the school principal is just a cry for help that you need validation.

Couldn't agree more. Happens way too often.

Rule number two is don't reduce every opposing view point to the lowest common denominator every time you get into an argument. After a certain point you become so paranoid that you're the dog chasing its own tail. We don't need 500 words to dis-spell chief's theories on concussions and I say that as somebody who is the king of writing stuff for no reason.

Isn't this why people get pissed by Stairmaster? He is a smart dude and that's why I hold him up to a higher standard than posters I wouldn't bother responding to.

 

[intlzncster]

Not for nothing but what's your point ? His point was clear, he's not a newcomer and has a long history of posting.

man it was a joke. Lighten up francis.

 

[upstater]

Not gonna lie, I was surprised to the flexibility argument pop up in the article:

There was disenchantment throughout the athletic department in the way the Huskies' front-court players were developing, slow in putting on weight, more flexibility than strength.

This has long been the UConn way though. I specifically recall Calhoun preaching this a decade ago. BBall isn't football. If you want the beef, recruit Jeff Adrien and the like, instead of wiry guys. But Calhoun had his own ideas about bulking up bball players.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Money and position.

Chillious isn't going to join a staff for $125,000 as the second or third assistant.

He's going to come in at big money and he's going to come in at the associate head coach level.

I wouldn't expect it either (Chillious coming in as #2 or #3 coach and getting $125k). But UConn paid off Diaco and brought in a while slew of top asst coaches.
If Miller was let go instead of Ricky only because UConn didn't want to pay the $200k difference in salary, then thats an incredibly shortsighted move by Benedict. We're talking about the flagship sports program of UConn. One thing that Benedict is proving so far is that he's not someone who's penny wise but pound foolish. I have to believe that he'd have found the $ if that was the only sticking point to keeping Glenn instead of Ricky.

 

[champs99and04]

Couldn't agree more. Happens way too often.



Isn't this why people get pissed by Stairmaster? He is a smart dude and that's why I hold him up to a higher standard than posters I wouldn't bother responding to.

I think so. He's definitely one of the more knowledgeable guys here and my one concern is that he spends too much time arguing with ghosts.

 

[Robertelamin]

Hopefully we can look back on this thread in a few years and laugh

 

[Ewekon]

IDK how much of Calhoun's commentary was left on the editing room floor; but what is attributed to him is a far greater endorsement of Miller than of Ollie. And any way you look at it, JC forced Ollie in as HC in no uncertain terms. Not saying it didn't look good at the time and after 2014; but Jim's not saying much or Amore left out the positive quotes from Calhoun re: Ollie.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Just win a couple of close games wins last yr n the outlook would have changed. We lost every close game n always seen to lose the 50/50 ball. I always suspect that there was major chemistry problems with the current team. I actually blame the departing players, not Ollie or Miller. Enoch wanting to transfer after 4 games n Jackson's family drama in December doom the chemistry all yr long. Now we all know who Rodney's twitter about fake love is directed at. The seniors n that includes the frontline players had major issues with the work ethic of the 3 departing players. They made no effort in the film room, little effort on defense n was whining all yr. Getting rid of them will mean more wins. Enoch personally cost us big wins against Ohio state n Georgetown with his defense. If last yr's team had 13 healthy scholarship players. They would have won more then 20 games.

Thank God you were not our Athletic Director. You're right though, had we just won a couple of those close games and everything would've been different. And, it had to do with the departing players, you're right, nothing at all to do with the coaching staff or anything like that. It's a shame they let go of half the coaching staff, all they had to do was wait until graduation and the problem would've been solved

 

[SouthBayHusky]

man it was a joke. Lighten up francis.

Fair enough. There is some tension in these parts

 

[Towney007]

Kind of reading through the tea leaves, I don't think this is going to end up well.

And I just don't think there's much room for Jim Calhoun to be adding his two cents at this point. That's playing with dynamite with donors, boosters and the like. Getting into anonymous sources is an issue. Players wanting to transfer out that early and then Ollie clearly not having much of an eye for players who fit well here....

I don't see this lasting another year. This ends up anywhere near this result and he's gone. And that means anywhere *remotely* close to this result. It doesn't fly at Kansas, UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana or any of those programs, it won't and can't here. Sounds like Ollie's trying to do what he can, but for whatever reason, he's way down the gopher hole right now.

 

[UConnNick]

If you look at the points made in the article, we had three NBA wannabe players who couldn't figure out how to play in Ollie's NBA style offense, yet they all think the grass is going to be greener someplace else? If they can't handle playing an NBA style now, what makes them think they will make it to the NBA, where they'll face 10 times what they did in the mid major AAC? I know, they're all convinced they're going to make it, no matter how delusional that may be.

It is becoming rather clear that this team had major chemistry issues and players that appear to have separated themselves into two camps fairly early in the season. The coaching staff certainly bears a lot of the blame for that, but also the team captains and upperclassmen for not figuring out ways to improve the situation. Add to that a couple of whack job fathers filling their kids' heads with a lot of nonsense. It explains a lot.

 

[Fishy]

If you look at the points made in the article, we had three NBA wannabe players who couldn't figure out how to play in Ollie's NBA style offense, yet they all think the grass is going to be greener someplace else? If they can't handle playing an NBA style now, what makes them think they will make it to the NBA, where they'll face 10 times what they did in the mid major AAC? I know, they're all convinced they're going to make it, no matter how delusional that may be.

It is becoming rather clear that this team had major chemistry issues and players that appear to have separated themselves into two camps fairly early in the season. The coaching staff certainly bears a lot of the blame for that, but also the team captains and upperclassmen for not figuring out ways to improve the situation. Add to that a couple of whack job fathers filling their kids' heads with a lot of nonsense. It explains a lot.

Terrible luck that four kids who were in line for major minutes up and decided that they didn't want to be here next year.

That's definitely a sign of selfish kids and crazy dads because there's no way that the head coach took his eye off the ball and let the program wander away from him. There'd probably be a really long article in the Courant about the head coach falling under some scrutiny if that sort of thing happened.

 

[ctchamps]

Couldn't agree more. Happens way too often.



Isn't this why people get pissed by Stairmaster? He is a smart dude and that's why I hold him up to a higher standard than posters I wouldn't bother responding to.

The people who get pissed are the very people who are most likely to throw heat at anything or anyone who they find are at odds with their opinions.

It's not a coincidence that the people who dish it are unable to take it.

They've met their match. @Stairmaster has been incredibly accurate with his comments. If it's his goal to get people to change (not their opinions but how they approach the issues) he can't succeed. I get the impression he knows this.

There's a part of me that agrees with you and at @champs99and04 that he should take the high road and not waste his time with these jaded posts. After all I spent a considerable amount of time in this forum mediating.

On the other hand I find some irony in holding him back particularly when we insist on getting players who are tough or ADs who can make tough calls.

So I'm treating this as a sport. In this game everyone believes they are scoring but I don't see it! I'm betting these guys won't stop until something major changes. It's silly to believe any of our opinions matter but not nearly as silly to believe that repeating things over and over will be enough to change people.

Like WW1 neither side moved the lines very much but their stubbornness, pride and jaded sense of honor prevented them from leaving their trenches!

 

[FlakeyFoont]

To me, the tone of this Calhoun statement, the very last sentence in the piece, seemed strange:

"UConn basketball should be special, and I think it could be again."

"Could be again"? As in maybe yes, maybe no? That seemed oddly lukewarm. I would have expected something a little more positive, like "...and I know it will be again".

 

[hardcorehusky]

Couple of points here:

UCONN, due to lack of conference TV dollars, has to watch its budget. In football, Randy Edsall took a very UCONN favorable contract so he could hire the coordinators he wanted and the rest of the staff as well. The football budget will be balanced and be profitable when attendance rises.

The men's basketball budget has taken the same revenue hit as football, less tv dollars and less attendance dollars. KO has a big salary. IF KO wanted Chillious and Miller, the pay has to come from somewhere but even more importantly, do you think that Miller would take a staff demotion for Chillious? Then Miller takes Moore's spot? No way. So while Miller was surprised, something had to change and knocking Moore off the staff would not be a bold move to change the lack of momentum.

I love JC for all he did for UCONN basketball but remember, he wasn't retiring and elevating KO because he wanted to. He had physical issues that forced him out. JC had some weird comments during the Championship run in 2014 and has gone on the road the last few years. I am not sure he is at total peace watching anyone else coach UCONN. It's just how he is wired. So while he will help KO anyway he can, part of it is by not being around much. I don't think the relationship is strained, I just think it is what it is due to JC's competitiveness.

Finally, while I felt watching this team the last 2 years has been akin to 30 root canals a year, I look forward to seeing this smaller team go up tempo and play the ball KO wants. While we don't have a knock down shooter, Adams, Vital and Gilbert are good enough shooters to keep teams honest. Personally, I think we will do well next year and go dancing- without adding another player. We will add, so the question is how deep can the run be.

 

[tower1]

Lies, Ollie will be UConn's coach for life no matter how he performs. Benedict knows UConn can never do any better than KO.

The only thing saving Ollie from getting canned is that he just got the new contract, Which he never should of gotten considering the last few years of his coaching. Just another Diaco mess. Rewarding a coach for subpar seasons. And hiring from within is obviously not working for Uconn. Too much inexperience at one time. I just hope they can bounce back. I still think there is more to Miller leaving.

 

[Fishy]

They really had no choice but to give Kevin a new contract.

The old contract did away with any sort of buyout one year after Warde left campus - that deadline was coming and having a coach with no buyout and two years left is bad for basketball business.

We were also a top-25 team back in those golden days and no one had any idea that the world would blow up this season.

 

[CTBasketball]

Here's where I'm at. I think Ollie gets at least one-two more years regardless of this article and mess. If these players didn't leave, and he underperformed in 17/18 then that's another story.

But for the entirety of Ollie's career people advised he needed an X's and O's guy on the bench. He had one in Miller and was pretty clear based on the article that he wasn't using that resource, favoring his style of offense. Ollie was viewed as an elite recruiter, helping secure UConn players from 2010 onward.

So now he fires the one guy on the bench that The Almighty Father Jim Calhoun blesses Miller as "one of the best X's and O's guys I've ever worked with." And hires an unproven game plan coach, but an awesome recruiter.

So is Ollie admitting he needs help recruiting because he knows he struggles coaching non 4/5 star talent? Hence the Chillious hire? A lot of this is dependent on Ollie listening to his peers and not introverting to find answers, as the article suggests.