Anyone want to say sorry to Ollie?

[weyuo]

My only beef with Ollie is the wasted opportunity, poor development of Amida Brimah. The drop off in recruiting probably has just as much to do with the league they are in as any players being bought by other schools. I am wondering how much of Ollie's personal life(divorce) was a distraction the last few years. Losing Blaney as coach and hiring newbies as replacements certainly didn't help the cause. What are Killings, Moore and Freeman doing on the staff? Glenn Miller had more coaching experience than those three combined and was the only one on the staff besides Ollie that was an assistant under Calhoun.

 

[WrenchFan69]

My only beef with Ollie is the wasted opportunity, poor development of Amida Brimah.

Amida Brimah came in as a kid with 2 offers. Us and Lasalle. Left as our 3rd leading shot blocker of all time, a conference DPoY, scoring nearly 1000 points, and making an NBA training camp roster with a not-that-awful shot at making the team.

 

[Stainmaster]

Amida Brimah came in as a kid with 2 offers. Us and Lasalle. Left as our 3rd leading shot blocker of all time, a conference DPoY, scoring nearly 1000 points, and making an NBA training camp roster with a not-that-awful shot at making the team.

Shhh. Every African big man who comes here should reasonably be expected to turn into Hasheem Thabeet. Because..uh..we're UConn.

(Before a mod gets on my case about sarcasm, I'd like to argue that this thread was created to troll and sucks so much it can't be taken further off the rails by any comments I make.)

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

My only beef with Ollie is the wasted opportunity, poor development of Amida Brimah. The drop off in recruiting probably has just as much to do with the league they are in as any players being bought by other schools. I am wondering how much of Ollie's personal life(divorce) was a distraction the last few years. Losing Blaney as coach and hiring newbies as replacements certainly didn't help the cause. What are Killings, Moore and Freeman doing on the staff? Glenn Miller had more coaching experience than those three combined and was the only one on the staff besides Ollie that was an assistant under Calhoun.

I think you could argue that the developments of Purvis, Facey, and Enoch were handled much worse. Or the results were much more disappointing is a better way of phrasing it I guess.

Brimah is what he is. He blocked some shots, ran the court well, fumbled a lot of balls out of bounds, and got thrown around down low, but always gave 100%.

Purvis constantly made mistakes that seemed coachable/fixable. And Facey and Enoch both had different skills that always seemed under-utilized.

 

[tower1]

No, not really? I think he's a great guy, he's won us a chip, he recruited well early on, he sucked as a coach last year and his recruiting has dropped off recently. Unless only started handing cash to kids two years ago I don't think this fully exonerates his recruiting failures, as much as his apologists would like. I'm happy with some of the recruits brought in recently but still think we should do better. I'll let the whole Adidas story come out before writing off some of KO's major flaws as outside his control, thanks.

Agree well writen.

 

[UCweCONN]

 

[Bryan Lord]

Only if he apologizes first for not running offense the last 2 seasons.

 

[willie99]

Exactly. And how do you not punish a school who's coaches go to jail for fraud.

when you don't punish a school that admitted widespread and systematic academic fraud, anything is possible

it's not like the program did something as horrific as self reporting low APR scores, which actually warrants two trials and two convictions and two sentences

 

[willie99]

I think apologies are due from those who said he can't recruit and kids will no longer come here

Apologies about the program being a "dumpster fire" will be accepted beginning sometime in March of 2018

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

I think apologies are due from those who said he can't recruit and kids will no longer come here

Apologies about the program being a "dumpster fire" will be accepted beginning sometime in March of 2018

Why don't we see how the season goes first and then see if we can land some 4 and 5 star guys.

Just as the calls for our program being a dumpster fire were premature, you can't say everything is fixed now because we landed a few under the radar recruits.

 

[gtcam]

you can't say everything is fixed now because we landed a few under the radar recruits.

Please elaborate as to what you consider under the radar and who the few are?
Thanks

 

[Horatio]

I think apologies are due from those who said he can't recruit and kids will no longer come here

Apologies about the program being a "dumpster fire" will be accepted beginning sometime in March of 2018

That's fair and a realistic date.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

you can't say everything is fixed now because we landed a few under the radar recruits.

Please elaborate as to what you consider under the radar and who the few are?
Thanks

ahh there you are. still haven't figured out how to click on the "reply" option to quote posts?

We've signed 2 kids in the last two weeks. I think you know exactly who i am talking about and don't have any actual point to make.

Matthews is ranked 173. Kasinas is in the 300s. They both show promise that would indicate they could turn out to be much better than these rankings. That would make them under the radar.

So do you care to elaborate how this "fixes everything" (or anything) and why we should apologize to KO for being critical of the awful job he did leading the program for the last 18 months or so? or why we should take any approach other than wait and see before determining whether our issues are behind us?

 

[Pudge]

I think our Husky culture and pride in our legacy ... was one of the core reasons we've dragged through the last few years. Yes: I think Blaney + Hobbs + Miller was not the ideal fit for what KO needed. Plus my view is his divorce was / has been more a drag than we know.

The moves to Killings and Chillious are POSITIVE. Our recruiting is solid. While maybe ... maybe ... we won't win opportunistic high 5 guys like Rudy Gay (in Calhoun 17th year at UCONN), Chillious has proven he can pluck a First Round NBAer to a non Duke/KU/KY. Our location near NE Preps is ideal. We will have solid teams going forward.

Ollie Coaching? He's got to get better. But the guy has proven to me that he really is great at finding a Team their roles and adapting his strategy. This is a key year.

 

[gtcam]

ahh there you are. still haven't figured out how to click on the "reply" option to quote posts?

We've signed 2 kids in the last two weeks. I think you know exactly who i am talking about and don't have any actual point to make.

Matthews is ranked 173. Kasinas is in the 300s. They both show promise that would indicate they could turn out to be much better than these rankings. That would make them under the radar.

So do you care to elaborate how this "fixes everything" (or anything) and why we should apologize to KO for being critical of the awful job he did leading the program for the last 18 months or so? or why we should take any approach other than wait and see before determining whether our issues are behind us?

Both Kids were getting looks by many P5 programs - ranking doesn't make them under the radar
Never said everything was/is fixed nor didn't ask you to apologize for anything
You may consider KO's job as being awful the last 1.5 years - that's your prerogative

 

[pj]

So do you care to elaborate how this "fixes everything" (or anything) and why we should apologize to KO for being critical of the awful job he did leading the program for the last 18 months or so? or why we should take any approach other than wait and see before determining whether our issues are behind us?

OK, never mind Ollie, you can apologize to the board for spreading your misery incessantly for six months.

 

[Huskyforlife]

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

OK, never mind Ollie, you can apologize to the board for spreading your misery incessantly for six months.

Have I?

I think we are moving in the right direction and I think we are in for a strong season this year. I like the direction our recruiting is headed.

I don't see how taking a wait and see approach is spreading misery.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Both Kids were getting looks by many P5 programs - ranking doesn't make them under the radar
Never said everything was/is fixed nor didn't ask you to apologize for anything
You may consider KO's job as being awful the last 1.5 years - that's your prerogative

Awful is probably over the top. But I wouldn't consider his performance very strong. Underwhelming is a better word.

i like both recruits and I like the direction our recruiting is headed. But I have never seen recruiting as our biggest issue; rather on court performance and player development/utilization.

Which is why I am saying we should wait to see how the team performs before making and judgements. I'm optimist for the upcoming season. But again it's wait and see and landing these recruits doesn't really impact that.

 

[jibsey]

KO lost 2 starting players last year. On top of that his big men, all 3 of them showed no progress or improvement. The team foundered and criticism naturally ensued. Players left or de committed in the offseason and I don't hold KO completely at fault, but there is no reason he couldn't be criticized. He's doing well recruiting as he should as a 3.5 million dollar head coach of a name program so that doesn't erase what was seen as coaching shortcomings. He has enough talent to make us competitive in the AAC this year and if it doesn't happen I think he's on the hot seat. Life can be brutal at his level of coaching fair or not.

 

[weyuo]

Amida Brimah came in as a kid with 2 offers. Us and Lasalle. Left as our 3rd leading shot blocker of all time, a conference DPoY, scoring nearly 1000 points, and making an NBA training camp roster with a not-that-awful shot at making the team.

Brimah came in being quick off his feet with an ability to block shots. What he never acquired was

• the ability to put on enough weight to hold his position
• the ability to carve out space in the paint and own the boards
• shoot better than 80% from the free throw line. The easiest shot in basketball
• the ability to stay out of foul trouble
• develop an outside shot, or inside shot for that matter.
• be a consistent double double(points/rebounds)

Calhoun would have laid the law down early and he would have been glued to that bench til he learned how to play defense. Then in his junior and senior years coached up offensively. I don't know who dropped the ball on Brimah but that guy had a ton of potential and it was never tapped like it should have been. When I first saw him I thought to myself, maybe the next Patrick Ewing. Not even a glimmer.

 

[Pudge]

I don't agree on Amida Brimah.

He had one great talent: size and then timing to be an ELITE rim protector. But his body was not developed - despite the fact that he was a passionate hard worker - to be a defensive positioning force nor an offensive weapon on putbacks - only a lob king. His brain and basketball IQ never proceeded to where he had decent anticipation. Can we blame coaching ... moderately. Who thinks Jim Calhoun never voiced an opinion or instructed AB? So I think the Brimah love is fantasy.

 

[KingAG]

Brimah came in being quick off his feet with an ability to block shots. What he never acquired was

• the ability to put on enough weight to hold his position
• the ability to carve out space in the paint and own the boards
• shoot better than 80% from the free throw line. The easiest shot in basketball
• the ability to stay out of foul trouble
• develop an outside shot, or inside shot for that matter.
• be a consistent double double(points/rebounds)

Calhoun would have laid the law down early and he would have been glued to that bench til he learned how to play defense. Then in his junior and senior years coached up offensively. I don't know who dropped the ball on Brimah but that guy had a ton of potential and it was never tapped like it should have been. When I first saw him I thought to myself, maybe the next Patrick Ewing. Not even a glimmer.

Why do people act like Calhoun never had players who never improved? Brimah had a career that no one saw him having when he committed to UConn. He well exceeded expectations

 

[JellyBean]

Some folks will apologize and some will never apologize and that is their choice. Injuries played a huge part in our down fall last year. Losing Larrier and Gilbert hurt the program in ways some folks will never admit too. But hoping that with those two back in the line up, plus the additional players, and the stellar play of Jalen Adams, our Huskies have a healthy and successful season. Also I am looking forward to watching Wichita State and seeing how they mesh with the other teams in the AAC.

 

[superjohn]

Why do people act like Calhoun never had players who never improved? Brimah had a career that no one saw him having when he committed to UConn. He well exceeded expectations

He had a strange career, he looked better right away than any of us thought he would. As a freshman he was already on the NBA mock draft boards. As he got older it became pretty clear he would never be an NBA player.

 

[mauconnfan]

Why do people act like Calhoun never had players who never improved? Brimah had a career that no one saw him having when he committed to UConn. He well exceeded expectations

Totally agree on JC's kids he had the big guys who he brought in with hopes of improvement enough to be a piece at least, and there were a few that didn't it happens. I will have to agree AB did not well exceed expectations, rather fell way short after a freshman year that showed promise with growth and improvement the next 3. The his soph year he did ever slightly improve but after that flat line. Again, not all his fault they never found anyone else to either play ahead of him or with him to take away him being the focal point.