Best Compliment You Can Offer

[mets1090]

Also I would like to applaud caw and fleud for having a delightful exchange of ideas and opinions while not agreeing right off the bat. Refreshing to see on the internet

 

[bmayuc]

Been said a few times but my top 3:

1. Out of bounds offense is years ahead of the past few seasons. Open looks, no turnovers. Very good. This is an area where coaching really can impact games.

2. Creating turnovers is something we have not really emphasized since we went big early in the aughts. Making a comeback now!

3. Offensive post composure/weakside ISO. Two absolute NBA staples, Ollie really has (smartly) emphasized playing from the high post/weakside. Olander is a decent to good passer and even with his limited offense just running that offense puts tremendous strain on the defense. And Napier/Daniels are great in ISO. This has perpetually been one of my beefs with Calhoun(for all his greatness), has never really run offense through the post/weakside. With the floor spreading out in the coming years(longer 3 point line) it will be critical to develop these two emphasis on O.

So pumped about KO. EXTEND THE DUDE!

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[ctchamps]

Bazz, AO, Drummond, even Lamb. Was there anyone last year who was immune to (usually deserved) fan scorn?

Haters got to hate. It would be nice if we could learn to accept our teams and players for who they are and not for who we want them to be. Of course my feeling about AO's immaturity in the way he dealt with last season and how he has moved on shows I have some learnin to do.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Things I've seen so far (caveat of this being a tiny sample size):

They run, or try to, a lot more. They were even trying to run after made shots against MSU. I hadn't seen that done in years. It was fantastic.

They pressure the ball more but mostly are trying to defend their man. They don't funnel the ball to the middle as much (duh) as some recent teams.

Olander is running the show a decent amount of the time from the high post (I don't know if I've ever seen a UConn big do that). The off the ball movement is better and Olander is hitting cutters well.

Spacing is still a work in progress, but players are thinking about it more, you could see Napier move a step or two further into the corner against Vermont, to give Boatright more room to operate. This after Ollie showed him where to be in the MSU game.

More relaxed, I agree, these kids aren't playing scared of being yelled at (mostly). Some still have short leashes, but I think Ollie is trying to work younger/inexperienced players in slowly (Tolksdorf/Wolf/Nolan).

Not a fan of the execution of the end of half play Ollie drew up, but it was a play, not a "beat your man" call.

UConn has looked much better on in-bounds plays this year, a highly overlooked issue last year.

There is still room to grow, but I like the changes Ollie has made for this team, he has done a great job so far.

A few things I would like to see: more shots for Giffey (he is a good shooter) and even fewer WTH shots from Napier (he has done a pretty good job so far, but still puts up 1 a game that is a WTH shot). Integrating Nolan/Tolksdorf into the games a bit more. I think Nolan could help a ton down the line and Tolksdorf seems like he could be solid once he settles in.

Some great points. I think you have to give Bazz the green light and just live with it this year. Not sold on Nolan yet but he could develop into a contributor by years end. He needs to put in a lot of time on his game. He is flat out raw right now.

 

[Deadrody]

Nothing would seem different? I hope that's not the case. I hope Ollie is more flexibile in his offense and more willing to try different things other than simply "imposing our will" on the other team. I also hope/think he has a longer hook meaning if a kid makes a mistake, there will be discussion, but the kid won't be buried on the bench for the rest of the half. I also think he will be hard on the kids, but the screaming in their faces will be a thing of the past. JC was old school. And it worked incredibly well. Ollie is new school.

Wow. Gone for 2 games so far and HOF coach right under the bus. Nice

I mean, honestly. We're talking about a HOF coach with 3 national championships and after two games your thought is, "Gosh, I hope this rookie head coach is actually BETTER."

Just wow.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Nothing would seem different? I hope that's not the case. I hope Ollie is more flexibile in his offense and more willing to try different things other than simply "imposing our will" on the other team. I also hope/think he has a longer hook meaning if a kid makes a mistake, there will be discussion, but the kid won't be buried on the bench for the rest of the half. I also think he will be hard on the kids, but the screaming in their faces will be a thing of the past. JC was old school. And it worked incredibly well. Ollie is new school.

I'm actually looking forward to the ways KO's team is different from JC's. So far it seems like there is more passing on offense (vs. dribbling the ball around the perimeter by one guard) and much more movement by guys without the ball - screens, back cuts, etc etc. I don't think it will look completely different, but I hope Ollie takes all the great things that worked well for JC and adds his own modern twist on what he does...

To be fair I only saw the first game and the 2nd one is taped but i've not watched it yet, so i can't really say with any confidence whether the team will look identical to one coached by JC...

You make some very good points. Calhoun though really pushed for Ollie. That endorsement is going to turn out golden. I am sold on Ollie. 9 1/2 toes are in! LOL

 

[aceboon]

THIS, I know it's only 2 games but I don't see that style or approach to defense changing, the way they use their arms is definitely something new and I remember Ollie talking about getting the guys to use their arms on defense last year, now we see it being taken into action.

I love how much activity they have in their arms on defense. Constantly swiping at anyone who goes into the lane. They're making up for a lack of size with an over abundance of activity.


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[EricLA]

Wow. Gone for 2 games so far and HOF coach right under the bus. Nice

I mean, honestly. We're talking about a HOF coach with 3 national championships and after two games your thought is, "Gosh, I hope this rookie head coach is actually BETTER."

Just wow.

where was JC thrown under the bus? Where was anything i said in the post inaccurate? good grief. did you catch the part where i said i hope ollie takes all the great things JC did and uses that to put his own twist on it? talk about looking for something that isn't there... do you really think Ollie coaches the team EXACTLY the same way JC did? and do you really think he should? just wow.

 

[CL82]

There is one significant difference and that is when a player makes a mistake, they don't look at the coach. They appear more relaxed.

That may be a bit simplistic. There are a lot of factors. Without Drummond, AO and Smith, there is no one in the low post to defer to. TO and DD have to make things happen. I am sure that that has been emphasized to them. When you are playing with that mentality good things happen.

As I have said before, Calhoun's emphasis was on having players ready in March, not in November. The November quick hook inevitably got much, slower later in the year as players knew what was expected and Calhoun wasn't looking to teach as much. No one, not the fans, not the players, not the commentator liked Calhoun's teaching approach. Yet three national championships later, kids still flock back to Storrs and talk about Calhoun as a surrogate father. I suspect that he must have been doing something right while he was here.

 

[CL82]

My feeling about SN in the VT game was he deliberately tried to get his team more involved in that game and held back on shooting for most of the first half. Then he tried to turn on the switch for scoring but it didn't come easy so he forced shots. I think his decision to take a back seat in this game was better for the team in the long run even if it made it difficult for him to get into the rhythm of the game.

It's the type of leadership quality that I hope to see from him this season. It means he's buying into KO's front shirt and not back shirt philosophy.

I don't know if that's the case or not, but I remember Kemba doing that after Maui.