Big East OOC thread

[nelsonmuntz]

Neptune might not make it to conference play at this rate. Reminds me of end of KO era. Vanilla offense, no adjustments, players look checked out.

Why the Kevin Ollie comparison? Neptune is an abject failure as head coach, whereas Ollie beat 3 HoF coaches that have a combined 6 NC's between them to win a National Championship. What do these two coaches have in common?

 

[Nick2005]

Providence is awful.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If Nova is serious they fire Neptune tomorrow, damage control the rest of the year, then clear house.

This can’t continue.

I have a post from 2022 that said Neptune gave off a kind of scared/panicked vibe, kind of like Travis Steele and Steve Lappas. Maybe he was a good assistant, but has there been anyone in the last two years that thought Neptune was cut out for the end of the bench? Why is this guy still coaching Villanova?

 

[CTBasketball]

I have a post from 2022 that said Neptune gave off a kind of scared/panicked vibe, kind of like Travis Steele and Steve Lappas. Maybe he was a good assistant, but has there been anyone in the last two years that thought Neptune was cut out for the end of the bench? Why is this guy still coaching Villanova?

You’re a better head coach than Kyle Neptune.

 

[UCfor3]

Why the Kevin Ollie comparison? Neptune is an abject failure as head coach, whereas Ollie beat 3 HoF coaches that have a combined 6 NC's between them to win a National Championship. What do these two coaches have in common?

To be fair, he said the END of the KO era. I think most remember #3 and appreciate KO's accomplishments early on. Both can be true.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Why the Kevin Ollie comparison? Neptune is an abject failure as head coach, whereas Ollie beat 3 HoF coaches that have a combined 6 NC's between them to win a National Championship. What do these two coaches have in common?

He specifically said the end of the KO era. I can’t disagree with what he’s saying

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You’re a better head coach than Kyle Neptune.

You could walk into a random gym on a January Saturday and half the parents coaching in the middle school rec league would be better at Head Coaching than Kyle Neptune.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

To be fair, he said the END of the KO era. I think most remember #3 and appreciate KO's accomplishments early on. Both can be true.

You realize that KO got an NBA Head Coaching gig AFTER leaving UConn, right?

 

[BFieldHusky]

You realize that KO got an NBA Head Coaching gig AFTER leaving UConn, right?

Interim head coach and he didn't come close to getting it full time. Let's not overstate what it was.

 

[RuffRuff]

What will be interesting with the BE - bottom half is so bad, top half will have to win equitably amongst themselves to all warrant bids. Some of those wins gonna be low value. Unless a couple of them can score significant OOC wins.

 

[RuffRuff]

Providence is awful.

They’re bad - team outside of Hopkins can maybe make a run for the NEC crown. We’ll see how Hopkins impacts them but as is, down there with the conference dregs.

 

[Tiamat7]

Why the Kevin Ollie comparison? Neptune is an abject failure as head coach, whereas Ollie beat 3 HoF coaches that have a combined 6 NC's between them to win a National Championship. What do these two coaches have in common?

Once a Husky, always a Husky. Kevin is a great guy. However, let's be honest: Ollie caught lightning in a bottle with Calhoun's players. Then he destroyed the UConn program over the next few years due to some combination of incompetence, transfers (rapport with players?), injuries (not his fault, but some people in the Boneyard blamed the Strength and Conditioning Coach who reported to Ollie), and lack of effort on the recruiting trail (due in part to reported personal issues).

The comparison to Neptune isn't accurate, but I do understand why the OP made the claim. The end of their tenures--Neptune is surely gone soon--is eerily similar.

 

[gsmooth]

They’re bad - team outside of Hopkins can maybe make a run for the NEC crown. We’ll see how Hopkins impacts them but as is, down there with the conference dregs.

Also, Hopkins isn't immediately going to be the Hopkins of 2023 who was First Team Big East-he will have to gradually work his way back into game shape and trust that knee.

Providence is missing that alpha dog go to scorer. I guess Bentley Joseph will have to be that guy until Hopkins gets back to his 2023 self-if he does.

 

[Tiamat7]

Also, Hopkins isn't immediately going to be the Hopkins of 2023 who was First Team Big East-he will have to gradually work his way back into game shape and trust that knee.

Providence is missing that alpha dog go to scorer. I guess Bentley Joseph will have to be that guy until Hopkins gets back to his 2023 self-if he does.

True. Everyone responds differently after serious injury, and that first year back has quite a bit of variance. I remember the Celtics' Tony Allen. Known for his explosiveness, he didn't look like like himself until year 2. Since Hopkins is athletic but not overly-reliant on pure athleticism, one can hope he'll do well this year. PC certainly needs him.

 

[Jumpman62114]

Why the Kevin Ollie comparison? Neptune is an abject failure as head coach, whereas Ollie beat 3 HoF coaches that have a combined 6 NC's between them to win a National Championship. What do these two coaches have in common?

Emphasis on end of Ollie era, not the beginning. I give Ollie his credit, he got us a ship. But the feeling at this stage of their tenures is about the same, time to move on.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Once a Husky, always a Husky. Kevin is a great guy. However, let's be honest: Ollie caught lightning in a bottle with Calhoun's players. Then he destroyed the UConn program over the next few years due to some combination of incompetence, transfers (rapport with players?), injuries (not his fault, but some people in the Boneyard blamed the Strength and Conditioning Coach who reported to Ollie), and lack of effort on the recruiting trail (due in part to reported personal issues).

The comparison to Neptune isn't accurate, but I do understand why the OP made the claim. The end of their tenures--Neptune is surely gone soon--is eerily similar.

That is not being honest. Only one player on Ollie's team set foot on the court in the NBA, and he was a journeyman. Ollie ripped through an all-star slate of coaches with a team that had earned its 7 seed out of a mid-major league. Fun fact: Prior to Ollie winning a National Championship out of the AAC, the next previous team to win a National Championship that was not in one of the power leagues was the 1990 UNLV Running Rebels. In other words, Ollie took a team of good college players and did something that no one else has done in the last 34 years.

Ollie also had roster issues that were out of his control (Louisville giving bags of cash to steal our players) and the last few years of his tenure are completely different if Gilbert doesn't shred his shoulder.

The Neptune comparison is not remotely accurate.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Interim head coach and he didn't come close to getting it full time. Let's not overstate what it was.

Let me try this again. HE COACHED IN THE NBA.

 

[HooperScooper]

To be fair, he said the END of the KO era. I think most remember #3 and appreciate KO's accomplishments early on. Both can be true.

Wasn't it #4?

 

[BFieldHusky]

Let me try this again. HE COACHED IN THE NBA.

Let me try this again. HE WAS AN INTERIM HEAD COACH FOR 28 GAMES. HE WENT 11-17 AND WAS NOT RETAINED. EVEN AS AN ASSISTANT.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Talking through this, Kevin Ollie would be the perfect replacement for Neptune, right now. Villanova needs to get tougher, get confident, and play defense. Ollie can address those issues right away. The players will respect him, which matters because Neptune looks scared and I don’t imagine his players respect him.

Ollie had a mixed record offensively, but he wouldn’t have time to install his grindy offense if he was a mid season replacement. It is a bad idea to tank a season in the transfer portal era, so Villanova needs to do something.