Blaney and Hobbs

[Chief00]

One thing people forget is that two experience Calhoun assistants are no longer with the staff. Blaney left after KO's first season and Hobbs after last season. Could we have underestimated the impact of their departures? For example, I know Hobbs worked a lot with Purvis. George also worked a lot on Drummond's foul shooting - LOL - I use to credit him with that when I would see him.

 

[Horatio]

It's a factor . They were both head coaches so you lose their experience and you don't replace it with equal experience. Plus KO is still new. It would've been nice if Howie could've joined the coaching staff for a couple of seasons.

 

[jibsey]

The idea that because we lost Hobbs and Blaney and KO is somehow not up to coaching guards doesn't seem right to me. UCONN has always gotten the best players they could but went for athletes that could push the tempo sometimes at the expense of bulk down low and shooting ability. This is where we are now with tall gazelles without bulk and questionable shooting ability. BTW, this has worked for us in the past when we had a Kemba or a Bazz to bail us out but not now. We are getting zoned as we did last year but we can't make them pay quite as well.
We have to recruit at least some blue collar guys who can hold their own down low and we need better shooters. I thought Jalen, and Rodney should have spent his summer working with Ray Allen to improve that, obviously they didn't. That is a learned skill and maybe they didn't put the work in, maybe they just can't do it, but when presented with wide open 3's that should be duck soup for 2 guards or point guards we get 20%. We see it from low level opponents' guards we play, guys with no ranking numbers next to their names. The other thing is I don't know how Carl Hobbs keeps our guards from turning the ball over, getting stripped, or receiving passes while standing on the sideline by this level of basketball.

 

[mauconnfan]

It's a factor . They were both head coaches so you lose their experience and you don't replace it with equal experience. Plus KO is still new. It would've been nice if Howie could've joined the coaching staff for a couple of seasons.

Interesting but doubtful. Agree, would love to see Howie "help out" for a couple, great fit for everything KO may need. Doubt he would even consider guessing he's nice and relaxed.

 

[uchusky32]

One thing throughout he decades no matter how good we were we always played tough. That can't be said this year or last year. Yeah Boat played tough. Possibly KO has lost that mentality. Could be Diarra would have made this team tougher. Brimah blocks shots but isn't an intimidator. Facey? Looks like Vital could fill that role at the guard spot but isn't as talented as Boat, Bazz and Kemba.

 

[upstater]

I think Ollie is trying out new things.

He didn't forget how to teach setting picks. I'm sure Glenn Miller has taught kids to set a pick. I think Ollie has enough players now to do what he always wanted to do, an offense that can handle the ball and attack from anywhere on the court. Contrary to what people are saying about these players, UConn has more scorers than they've had in the last several years. In 2014, it was all Deandre and Bazz. The other players were picking up scraps after them. This year's players are perhaps lacking the dominant go-to guy off of which the others can play. But all of them except the big men can score.

 

[8893]

Would make a good TV show.

Think "The White Shadow" meets "Starsky & Hutch" meets "The Odd Couple" meets "The Mod Squad" meets "Welcome Back, Kotter" meets "Happy Days."

 

[mauconnfan]

Would make a good TV show.

Think "The White Shadow" meets "Starsky & Hutch" meets "The Odd Couple" meets "The Mod Squad" meets "Welcome Back, Kotter" meets "Happy Days."

Wait no "Courtship of Eddie's Father" meets "My Favorite Martian" who all meet in "Room 222"?

 

[Chief00]

I think Ollie is trying out new things.

He didn't forget how to teach setting picks. I'm sure Glenn Miller has taught kids to set a pick. I think Ollie has enough players now to do what he always wanted to do, an offense that can handle the ball and attack from anywhere on the court. Contrary to what people are saying about these players, UConn has more scorers than they've had in the last several years. In 2014, it was all Deandre and Bazz. The other players were picking up scraps after them. This year's players are perhaps lacking the dominant go-to guy off of which the others can play. But all of them except the big men can score.

Again, I think Glen does a decent tour of facilities, tracks timeouts and fouls. Definitely, I have NEVER seen him as a Bigs Coach. We now have a pretty good body of work that I was right.