Calhoun vs. Ollie

[Hurleyman216]

Just for some perspective... here is Calhoun's record at UConn his first 6 years as the head coach:

133-86 (.607)

And here is Kevin Ollie's record in his first 5 years as coach:

113-61 (.649)

In order for them to be equal in winning percentage we would have to go 10-20 this year.

Yes, you can argue Calhoun was coaching in a tougher conference, but he also came in with prior experience as a head coach at a D1 program. Let's just keep this in mind before calling for Ollie's replacement.

 

[TampaHusky78]

And JC was starting with a history of small time Yankee Conference winners. Ollie had 3 NC's from JC. Big difference.

 

[Hurleyman216]

And JC was starting with a history of small time Yankee Conference winners. Ollie had 3 NC's from JC. Big difference.

Oh, forgot to mention that Ollie's first year included a postseason and recruiting ban not to mention a whole slew of guys who transferred because of said ban.

 

[chickenhead]

And if he goes 10-20, he's out of a job.

 

[Kmba2Rmemba]

Just for some perspective... here is Calhoun's record at UConn his first 6 years as the head coach:

133-86 (.607)

And here is Kevin Ollie's record in his first 5 years as coach:

113-61 (.649)

In order for them to be equal in winning percentage we would have to go 10-20 this year.

Yes, you can argue Calhoun was coaching in a tougher conference, but he also came in with prior experience as a head coach at a D1 program. Let's just keep this in mind before calling for Ollie's replacement.

I'm sure expectations were much lower and the quality of product/resources that JC inherited weren't equal to what KO inherited, so I think its a bit difficult to appreciate the objective comparison of the numbers. Nonetheless, I agree that KO is vulnerable to the first-time-coach learning curve and should be given the benefit of time in figuring out how to maximize the utilization of his talent and resources. Some will say that he's been given enough time already, so brace for that too.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Buckling up for what should be a great and productive thread

 

[Hurleyman216]

I'm sure expectations were much lower and the quality of product/resources that JC inherited weren't equal to what KO inherited, so I think its a bit difficult to appreciate the objective comparison of the numbers. Nonetheless, I agree that KO is vulnerable to the first-time-coach learning curve and should be given the benefit of time in figuring out how to maximize the utilization of his talent and resources. Some will say that he's been given enough time already, so brace for that too.

Just trying to give people some perspective. You can argue the conferences aren't comparable which is fair. Also keep in mind that Uconn used to play a really terrible OOC schedule. Here's the OOC opponents in Calhoun's first year:

Umass
Yale
CCSU
BU
Purdue (only OOC ranked team)
Rhode Island
Fairfield
Hartford
Lehigh
St. Peter's
Holy Cross

That's 10 cupcakes (even for a program that was just building and had just joined the Big East).

 

[uconndogs]

Calhoun inherited a train wreck.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

And JC was starting with a history of small time Yankee Conference winners. Ollie had 3 NC's from JC. Big difference.

yup, Ollie was picked because Calhoun believed he could carry the torch of what Calhoun had built. Comparing the two is ridiculous. We figured there would be a little bit of a fall off after Calhoun left but not the disaster this has turned into

 

[dwalks93]

What made Calhoun, well Calhoun wasn't how he started...it was how he finished his coaching career.

Ollie's legacy will not be written on how he started his UConn coaching career (a Championship in 2014) but instead on how he finishes it....every true UConn fan wants Ollie to succeed but it would be willful ignorance to not recognize UConn men's basketball is currently trending in the wrong direction.

Sometimes numbers help support an argument. And, sometimes number only obscure what is readily apparent to anyone watching. ADD Dave probably does not need an abacus or a sports almanac to know what needs to happen if next year is as bad as last year was...hopefully it doesn't come to that.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

we have about 4 threads going now that are essentially all about the same thing. I think the one thing that most of us (i hope?) can agree on is that if we dont see improvement this year, its time for Ollie to go. Even if this team isnt destined to make the final 4, i mean seeing progress throughout the year, seeing our current roster improve, seeing Ollie come off the bench and showing fire instead of just whining. Seeing the players respect him and seeing better in game coaching.

Even though he seems like a nice guy, taking this job comes with an enormous responsibility and scrutiny. I can be paid less than $3 million to lose recruits to Rutgers and St Johns

 

[Hurleyman216]

yup, Ollie was picked because Calhoun believed he could carry the torch of what Calhoun had built. Comparing the two is ridiculous. We figured there would be a little bit of a fall off after Calhoun left but not the disaster this has turned into

You're right, it's been a crazy fall off with Ollie only winning an NCAA Championship in 20% of the seasons he's coached. Calhoun didn't exactly hand the program to Ollie in pristine condition, but we have a lot of fans with amnesia on this board. People should be more pissed at Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst for botching the conference realignment, but I guess Ollie will be their fall guy instead.

 

[Matrim55]

What made Calhoun, well Calhoun wasn't how he started...it was how he finished his coaching career.

This is true.

But also: I have no doubt that if the Boneyard was around during/after the 92/93 season, there would have been multiple threads calling for Calhoun to be fired and replaced with that hotshot young coach from UMass.

You're right, it's been a crazy fall off with Ollie only winning an NCAA Championship in 20% of the seasons he's coached.

That title deservedly earned him a new contract and a ton of rope. It's now past time for him to do something with that.

Calhoun didn't exactly hand the program to Ollie in pristine condition, but we have a lot of fans with amnesia on this board.

This is true, and I don't think anybody in the world could have done as good a job as Ollie did in those first two years after the hand-off. The trend since then, however, is downward.

People should be more pissed at Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst for botching the conference realignment, but I guess Ollie will be their fall guy instead.

People are plenty pissed at Warde and Suzy, and CR obviously made Ollie's job harder. It's a tough hand he's been dealt.

But he still has to play that hand well. Over the last three years... hasn't been the case!

FWIW I'm rooting for him to turn it around this season. I believe in his passion for the school, I believe he's a better coach than a lot of folks here give him credit for, and I want his success to be part of Calhoun's legacy (as well as his own, obviously).

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

You're right, it's been a crazy fall off with Ollie only winning an NCAA Championship in 20% of the seasons he's coached. Calhoun didn't exactly hand the program to Ollie in pristine condition, but we have a lot of fans with amnesia in this board. People should be more pissed at Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst for botching the conference realignment, but I guess Ollie will be their fall guy instead.

So what exactly do u suggest? We just turn a blind eye and allow the program to continue the downfall? We'd be idiots, look at Georgetown, they hung so long onto John Thompson the III, you can argue they are in a lot worse shape than we are.

A lot of people want to point that Ollie won with Calhoun's guys. I think Ollie deserves credit for coaching this team to a championship but its a whole nother ball game now to get recruits on your own.

 

[UConnNick]

yup, Ollie was picked because Calhoun believed he could carry the torch of what Calhoun had built. Comparing the two is ridiculous. We figured there would be a little bit of a fall off after Calhoun left but not the disaster this has turned into

So, winning a national championship now constitutes part of a "disaster"? SMH

It's absolutely incredible how spoiled our fanbase is.

 

[Hurleyman216]

So what exactly do u suggest? We just turn a blind eye and allow the program to continue the downfall? We'd be idiots, look at Georgetown, they hung so long onto John Thompson the III, you can argue they are in a lot worse shape than we are.

A lot of people want to point that Ollie won with Calhoun's guys. I think Ollie deserves credit for coaching this team to a championship but its a whole nother ball game now to get recruits on your own.

I'm just suggesting we don't let the facts get in the way of our opinions. UConn knew when they signed KO that there would be growing pains. If someone from the future told you the first 5 years of the KO era would be a rocky ride, but include a National Championship we would have all been overjoyed. This fan base has become spoiled beyond belief. One mediocre year followed by a year riddled with injuries and we're now a dead program? I think not. There's a reason we had so many guys transfer and it's because KO started taking ownership and making this HIS program rather than JC's program. Ultimately the buck stops with him, but he has that fire back that he had in 2013/2014 and he's now adding that to a few years of coaching experience under his belt. The dead wood in the program (both coaches and players) has been cleared.

 

[Matrim55]

I'm just suggesting we don't let the facts get in the way of our opinions. UConn knew when they signed KO that there would be growing pains. If someone from the future told you the first 5 years of the KO era would be a rocky ride, but include a National Championship we would have all been overjoyed.

We would, but part of that would be "Oh, after a 4th championship the program must be trending upwards."

The fact that we beat freaking Kentucky for our 4th title in just KO's 2nd year and we really didn't make anything of that re: program building and sustainability (with regard to recruiting and player retention) is a major concern. Just as it's unfair for folks to paint KO's time as head coach as a complete disaster, it's unfair to pretend there aren't legitimate and potentially catastrophic worries out there with the way things are going.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

So, winning a national championship now constitutes part of a "disaster"? SMH

It's absolutely incredible how spoiled our fanbase is.

Oh sorry, our recruits we've struck out on clearly are just ignoring we won a national title in 2014

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I'm just suggesting we don't let the facts get in the way of our opinions. UConn knew when they signed KO that there would be growing pains. If someone from the future told you the first 5 years of the KO era would be a rocky ride, but include a National Championship we would have all been overjoyed. This fan base has become spoiled beyond belief. One mediocre year followed by a year riddled with injuries and we're now a dead program? I think not. There's a reason we had so many guys transfer and it's because KO started taking ownership and making this HIS program rather than JC's program. Ultimately the buck stops with him, but he has that fire back that he had in 2013/2014 and he's now adding that to a few years of coaching experience under his belt. The dead wood in the program (both coaches and players) has been cleared.

how many player have transferred out this past year? How many recruits have we lost to mid major programs this year? What did u see last year that gave you confidence in Ollie? If the dead wood has been cleared, why are we still whiffing on recruits?

 

[HawkHusky]

Any post-Calhoun UCONN coach should be batting above .500 in post-season bids. (Obviously I'm not counting the post-season ban that was wasn't Ollie's doing.) That's really not asking too much. No bid this year, and he needs to get the ax immediately following the Selection Sunday bracket reveal.

 

[sammydabiz]

Just for some perspective... here is Calhoun's record at UConn his first 6 years as the head coach:

133-86 (.607)

And here is Kevin Ollie's record in his first 5 years as coach:

113-61 (.649)

In order for them to be equal in winning percentage we would have to go 10-20 this year.

Yes, you can argue Calhoun was coaching in a tougher conference, but he also came in with prior experience as a head coach at a D1 program. Let's just keep this in mind before calling for Ollie's replacement.

This is a 3rd grade argument in favor of Ollie. It's just silly.... be better olliewood

 

[Hurleyman216]

This is a 3rd grade argument in favor of Ollie. It's just silly.... be better olliewood

You're right about it being 3rd grade level. Trying to dumb things down to be commensurate with the IQ level of this board.

 

[SubbaBub]

All these threads and no one has identified the real problem.

Ollie is staking his job on trying to win in a way that is very different than how this program has won in the past.

We have no meaningful interior game and it seems like he's cool with that. Instead, focusing on interchangeable perimeter players.

Like Diaco with too many tight ends. Ollie is building his roster with 2's, 3's, and 4's who want to play as 3's.

Has that ever won? Has this program ever won without stout interior defense and rebounding? He may be right or wrong but it is fair to question this strategy.

 

[UConnDad]

Buckling up for what should be a great and productive thread

And season!

 

[Javjudah]

Any post-Calhoun UCONN coach should be batting above .500 in post-season bids. (Obviously I'm not counting the post-season ban that was wasn't Ollie's doing.) That's really not asking too much. No bid this year, and he needs to get the ax immediately following the Selection Sunday bracket reveal.

Who will be your replacement of choice and will they want to come coach at UCONN? Why will they leave there current coaching position to come to UCONN?