Athlon: Top 50 CBB Coaches for 2015-2016

[Stainmaster]

Shabazz and Boat were great college guards and Daniels and Giffey were very good college players but Olander and RJ Evans are not guys that would have ever gotten UConn scholarships without the troubles the NCAA handed down to us and would never get a sniff at any other top 10 type programs.

Then why did Olander visit Florida and UVA? Not trying to argue that he was anything more than a tall body for us, but he had significant interest from high-majors in HS.

 

[BUConn10]

The thing is, even when/if KO starts earning these regular season titles and conference tourney championships these articles will just point to a weak, non-P5 conference or whatever their new buzzword is as evidence to drop KO and UConn.

 

[James]

Olander was phenomenal in hs and aau ball as i saw him play a bunch. But with many 17 year olds, drive/focus isn't always there to get better. He got those visits built on the rep of his production at the hs level, at uconn he landed on a great team and never really pushed himself to get better. upside got thrown out the window when his game didn't evolve the way i imagined.

 

[ctchamps]

Like for use of irrational exuberance.

Bittersweet memory for me. Tried to get people to reconsider investing in the dot com bubble years ahead of the crash. Most perceived me as the irrational one. Much more fun being a purveyor of happy prognostications as opposed to being a doomsayer.

 

[Stainmaster]

Olander was phenominal in hs and aau ball as i saw him play a bunch. But with many 17 year olds, drive/focus isn't always there to get better. He got those visits built on the rep of his production at the hs level, at uconn he landed on a great team and never really pushed himself to get better. upside got thrown out the window when his game didn't evolve the way i imagined.

Olander never was a bruiser in HS, which is what he was needed to be at UConn. I remember him having a great mid/long-range touch for E.O. Smith, but Calhoun didn't tend to put 6'10" guys in that role in the offense. I feel like if he chose a different program under a coach with a different style, he would've had a nice college career using the same skills he did in high school. But for young basketball players who grew up in Mansfield surrounded by the program (both as spectators to games and participants in Calhoun's camp), the allure of becoming a Husky is just too strong to resist. All in all, I think that Tyler made the right decision to come here -- he won multiple national titles, a feat not too many people can brag about, and playing for Calhoun and Ollie did him a world of good personally. Reading and listening to interviews with him his senior season, it's very clear that he grew and matured a ton compared to his younger days.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Bittersweet memory for me. Tried to get people to reconsider investing in the dot com bubble years ahead of the crash. Most perceived me as the irrational one. Much more fun being a purveyor of happy prognostications as opposed to being a doomsayer.

@okaforprez sr still grumpy about Greesnpan.

 

[ctchamps]

@okaforprez sr still grumpy about Greesnpan.

I had four years of grumpiness towards Alan ahead of the mass grumpiness. I got hit once in an earlier bubble and that was all she wrote. Became a sort of crusader trying to help people not become victims to these trends. I wasted a lot of time. Didn't help a single person.

This type of thing becomes habit forming. I don't concern myself with economic trends any more. Instead I devote my energy to rehabbing the Boneyard. I can see I'm getting the same results.

 

[OkaForPrez]

I had four years of grumpiness towards Alan ahead of the mass grumpiness. I got hit once in an earlier bubble and that was all she wrote. Became a sort of crusader trying to help people not become victims to these trends. I wasted a lot of time. Didn't help a single person.

This type of thing becomes habit forming. I don't concern myself with economic trends any more. Instead I devote my energy to rehabbing the Boneyard. I can see I'm getting the same results.

Lol!

 

[upstater]

I had four years of grumpiness towards Alan ahead of the mass grumpiness. I got hit once in an earlier bubble and that was all she wrote. Became a sort of crusader trying to help people not become victims to these trends. I wasted a lot of time. Didn't help a single person.

This type of thing becomes habit forming. I don't concern myself with economic trends any more. Instead I devote my energy to rehabbing the Boneyard. I can see I'm getting the same results.

The s--- hit the fan the very day they changed the margin rules. I remember it well. I saw it happen in minutes on one day when they squeezed the hell out of the shorts, then there was a 10 o'clock announcement on new margin rules to go into effect the next Monday, and by 10:01, the NASDAQ saw its highs--and the NASDAQ hasn't recovered. It's been 15 years.

 

[TasteofUConn]

You know, fair debate is fair debate. And I get why all the jealous non-UConn fans out there want to minimize what Ollie has done, the strength of the program, the quality of the 14 NC run, and so on.
But we know the deal. We have more info on this team, this program, and this coach than any talking head. For any halfwit/nitwit/dimwit/f--kwit fans in this thread who post that, "yeah, 17 is about right," and, "there have been some bad stretches," you should switch teams. Seriously. If what this guy has done in the tumultuous time he's been here does not have him in your - completely serious here - top 10 coaches in the country, then you don't deserve to be a UConn fan.

 

[upstater]

If Kentucky had beaten UConn in the final, no one would have downplayed the victory that year even though Kentucky had an underwhelming year.

 

[ctchamps]

You know, fair debate is fair debate. And I get why all the jealous non-UConn fans out there want to minimize what Ollie has done, the strength of the program, the quality of the 14 NC run, and so on.
But we know the deal. We have more info on this team, this program, and this coach than any talking head. For any halfwit/nitwit/dimwit/f--kwit fans in this thread who post that, "yeah, 17 is about right," and, "there have been some bad stretches," you should switch teams. Seriously. If what this guy has done in the tumultuous time he's been here does not have him in your - completely serious here - top 10 coaches in the country, then you don't deserve to be a UConn fan.

Sorry Charlie but you are not about to out exuberate me! Although I do give you kudos. I am predicting any energy assigned to this debate will be moot in a few years. I am predicting he will be in the top five of this type of list in the very near future. The next NC will guarantee that.

 

[James]

Olander never was a bruiser in HS, which is what he was needed to be at UConn. I remember him having a great mid/long-range touch for E.O. Smith, but Calhoun didn't tend to put 6'10" guys in that role in the offense. I feel like if he chose a different program under a coach with a different style, he would've had a nice college career using the same skills he did in high school. But for young basketball players who grew up in Mansfield surrounded by the program (both as spectators to games and participants in Calhoun's camp), the allure of becoming a Husky is just too strong to resist. All in all, I think that Tyler made the right decision to come here -- he won multiple national titles, a feat not too many people can brag about, and playing for Calhoun and Ollie did him a world of good personally. Reading and listening to interviews with him his senior season, it's very clear that he grew and matured a ton compared to his younger days.

Yeah he was a lights out shooter with a higher motor, he also seemed more athletic IMO (on ct gold). I thought he was can't miss and could become a serious contributor, but as you alluded too calhoun didn't evaluate him in that light. wasn't interested in a 6'10 guy out on the perimeter often. could have easily curtailed his growth. but thats what happened, he stopped growing as a prospect due to the circumstances... turned into a man without a country, never really got comfortable on what he should bring to the table.

 

[David 76]

Off the top of my head, Ollie is 6-6 vs. coaches ranked ahead of him right?

0-1 vs. K
1-0 vs. Squid
2-0 vs. Izzo
0-4 vs. Pitino
1-1 vs. Wright
1-0 vs. Boheim

Oka, I'm no math wiz, but isn't that 5-6?

 

[gtcam]

Should he be in the top 10? Who knows
BUT 5 of the coaches that are should not be there
These lists are ridiculous - hell the HoF er Larry Brown deserves to be on there if the nose picker and R Williams is there
Screw these lists - just go out and win

 

[OkaForPrez]

Oka, I'm no math wiz, but isn't that 5-6?

Well at least I know 1 person read it.

 

[KingOPancakes]

If Kentucky had beaten UConn in the final, no one would have downplayed the victory that year even though Kentucky had an underwhelming year.

This is exactly right and incredibly frustrating.

 

[champs99and04]

Whatever. I'll be shocked if he's not top ten by the end of next season.

I'm not going to complain too much about the ranking coming off an NIT appearance, but as others ITT have mentioned, the constant downplaying of UConn's 2014 championship has grown old. It's funny - UConn has won two championships in five years, yet still, even people on this board characterize it as somewhat of a fluke. News: he beat Wright, Hoiberg, Izzo, Donovan, and Calipari in succession. This somehow is, on one hand, evidence that much of Ollie's reputation was formed during a small sample, yet, in reality, the sample was anything but small. And he didn't bull s*** his way to those wins by some act of God - he straight up outcoached all of them.

There's clearly a double standard in the way these coaches are evaluated. Tom Izzo is obviously a hell of a coach, but how many times have they underperformed in the regular season only to figure things out in March. When that happens, though, it's less a concern of sustainability and more an opportunity for the national media to fawn over the Spartan coach (exhibit A, him being ahead of Pitino on this list). I can see the Rothstein tweet now: January, February, Izzo.

And I don't have a problem with it, because college basketball - more than any other sport - is predicated on development. Hell, you're coaching freshman and sophomores a lot of the time, obviously many of them are going to be better by year end; UConn's propensity to win titles at low odds hardly invalidates that point.

 

[David 76]

Besides, if you weren't that talented and you won the NC, wouldn't that speak well of the coach, rather than being a knock?

 

[dennismenace]

Olander never was a bruiser in HS, which is what he was needed to be at UConn. I remember him having a great mid/long-range touch for E.O. Smith, but Calhoun didn't tend to put 6'10" guys in that role in the offense. I feel like if he chose a different program under a coach with a different style, he would've had a nice college career using the same skills he did in high school. But for young basketball players who grew up in Mansfield surrounded by the program (both as spectators to games and participants in Calhoun's camp), the allure of becoming a Husky is just too strong to resist. All in all, I think that Tyler made the right decision to come here -- he won multiple national titles, a feat not too many people can brag about, and playing for Calhoun and Ollie did him a world of good personally. Reading and listening to interviews with him his senior season, it's very clear that he grew and matured a ton compared to his younger days.

Anyone know where he is today?

 

[Stainmaster]

Anyone know where he is today?

Signed to play in Spain's 2nd Division for this upcoming season.

 

[mauconnfan]

He will get a shot to go head-towhead with 3 guys in front of him and possibly 5. Beilein, Matta and Smart for sure with a potential meeting with either/both Boeheim and Few in the Bahama's.

Beat'em all fk the rankings all up!

 

[1999.2004.2011]

I just laugh at any of these "analysts" that are willing to write off either of the 2011 or 2014 national titles by saying that UConn just got hot at the right time and that they weren't a truly dominant team in either year. At the same time, Kentucky gets into the tournament as an eight seed playing in a markedly worse conference (SEC) and they are praised for getting to the national title game.

Face it, we play our best basketball when it counts in March. I'd take that 10 times out of 10 instead of winning games in January (and celebrating those wins by making stupid orange t-shirts).