Cam Johnson officially released from Pitt

[Inyatkin]

That is unprovable statement.

No kidding. It's a belief.

 

[aceboon]

These are not my opinions. this is what I've heard. The new ad has a very short timeline on success for the basketball program. If ollie can't reach that I've heard he will find someone who can

My opinions is ollie should never been the head coach

That opinion explains your posts for the last 5 years.

 

[intlzncster]

But it's the head coaches job to get his guys. We haven't run an efficient offense under Ollie yet, with 2014 as the exception - and that wasn't even a great offensive team. If you can't recruit players to fit your system then you have the wrong system.

Yeah, but during the sanction years, he dind't have much of a choice. Also, head coaches miss, both in getting 'his guys' and in projecting them. Would anyone on this board have turned down Purvis prior to his transfer? Exactly zero is the answer. But now, I bet there's a number who would have. He missed in landing a bunch of primary options as well. Now it's his fault he didn't allocate resources to better backup plans, but I think that's a young coach mistake.

Or you are targeting the wrong players. Now that he has a gun recruiter, perhaps he can get the guys he needs. We don't know.

 

[intlzncster]

But it's the head coaches job to get his guys. We haven't run an efficient offense under Ollie yet, with 2014 as the exception - and that wasn't even a great offensive team. If you can't recruit players to fit your system then you have the wrong system.

And remember, we haven't had an experienced stud PG outside of Bazz since. We had Boat for a year, but the rest of that post sanction team was missing too much. The correlation between a well run offense and an experienced stud PG is very, very high.

Next year we have Adams. I'm guessing the offense looks a lot better as a result. Provided we can bring in a couple more dudes for depth.

 

[superjohn]

Idiotic

Few? Shaka? What planet are you on? They ain't coming. I would take another Calhoun; but, I am over 50 and nostalgic for the Old School. Kevin Ollie was a damn good choice following JC. It is OUR culture we must protect. You ... and various others seem to totally be oblivious to how special "UConn Husky" became. How 50 guys and 10 coaches/etc are stakeholders ... and that right there is our future. Miller doesn't get that - Archie or Sean. We could find a New England / New York guy from the MAAC or something; but we swung with this Ollie kid. I see his struggles. But ... I also saw him pull together a team to Win a NC identifying role players and stars and a system: I believe he has it within him to do that again. And unlike whatever 6 you will name, HE sees that as his legacy. That is important.

Shaka would have come here, we are a better program than Gonzaga and Ollie gets paid twice as much as Few so I don't see how you can categorically say Few wouldn't have come here.

 

[intlzncster]

Shaka would have come here, we are a better program than Gonzaga and Ollie gets paid twice as much as Few so I don't see how you can categorically say Few wouldn't have come here.

Because he's a lifer. And his expectations relative to success are far more pleasing at Gonzaga. And his family loves the area and is involved in the community. And he's revered there. Not every coach jumps at a (maybe) bump up in stature job wise. From what I know of Few, I doubt he'd come to UCONN.

In a vacuum, Shaka might have come here, but I'm sure he realized he had potential better options coming, given his national stature at the time.

 

[Mots010]

I think KO did a phenomenal job taking the team he inherited and building them into a national champion. I don't think there's any scenario where we win in 2014 without him at the helm.

But doing that, and building a team up with players you recruit are two vastly different things, as we're seeing now. Those damn injuries last year. I wish we could have seen the entire picture of that season. We would know a LOT more about Ollie had everyone been healthy. It was off to bad start by any measure, but there was a lot of time to reel things in.

Instead, injuries, one ball handler, seniors who were limited role players...the season tanks, chemistry probably takes a hit, a bunch of people transfer out, optics look bad from the outside and a top recruit bails. I'm not sure Ollie will ever recover from it. This spring signing period is huge. Ollie needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat and quick.

 

[aceboon]

Few hasn't even jumped at the opportunity to take over Pac12 programs, there is no chance he would have come across the country to here.

 

[Inyatkin]

I guess it happens when your team wins four of the things, but this is part of some weird devaluing around here of both the 2011 and 2014 titles. You hear way, way too much of "They just got hot at the right time" or "If it wasn't for Brimah's and-one" or whatever. As if nearly every title team doesn't have some near-miss along the way. Anyone remember Arizona's 97 team?
Meanwhile, the Wisconsins and Gonzagas of the world would give up every single conference title and regular season win for the past two decades to get a fraction of what UConn has experienced, and that's not even mentioning Kansas.
For the last time, look at the list of title winners. There are no Mid Tennessee States on there. You cannot luck your way into a national title.
Criticize Ollie for last year all you want, and maybe he won't last, but 2014 happened, it's his, and your ignorance can't devalue it.

 

[JMick]

And remember, we haven't had an experienced stud PG outside of Bazz since. We had Boat for a year, but the rest of that post sanction team was missing too much. The correlation between a well run offense and an experienced stud PG is very, very high.

Next year we have Adams. I'm guessing the offense looks a lot better as a result. Provided we can bring in a couple more dudes for depth.

I do think it could be a matter of experience in his system. Unfortunately we just lost a lot of that. We really need to see what happens with the front court before next year. I think everyone would agree we need to start bringing in smarter basketball players. I think the recruiting of Carlton and Polley was the first step.

 

[Stainmaster]

I guess it happens when your team wins four of the things, but this is part of some weird devaluing around here of both the 2011 and 2014 titles. You hear way, way too much of "They just got hot at the right time" or "If it wasn't for Brimah's and-one" or whatever. As if nearly every title team doesn't have some near-miss along the way. Anyone remember Arizona's 97 team?
Meanwhile, the Wisconsins and Gonzagas of the world would give up every single conference title and regular season win for the past two decades to get a fraction of what UConn has experienced, and that's not even mentioning Kansas.
For the last time, look at the list of title winners. There are no Mid Tennessee States on there. You cannot luck your way into a national title.
Criticize Ollie for last year all you want, and maybe he won't last, but 2014 happened, it's his, and your ignorance can't devalue it.

People more about perception and appearance than winning titles. To some, 2014 would have been more satisfying if we were 27-4, ranked in the Top 10 for most of the year, and got knocked out in the 2nd round as a 2/3 seed.

 

[Pudge]

Shaka would have come here, we are a better program than Gonzaga and Ollie gets paid twice as much as Few so I don't see how you can categorically say Few wouldn't have come here.

Simple. My view of the world and life experiences.

FEW loves the Northwest and he ain't about money. He likes fly fishing and raising a family in that community. Going to Connecticut would be like transferring to Belgrade.

Shaka has done ok at Texas. He is not a clear improvement - YET - from what we were seeing at VCU at a Power 5. Not exactly knocking the socks off.

My problem with the premise of YOU two is: (1.) A low opinion of Kevin Ollie - who you have to admit has more FF and NC and good solid recruiting cred. (2.) Weak overall view on what our issues of the last 2 years have been and even the last 6 years since Kemba Walker left.

You don't win coaches simply by throwing money around. (the NON Squid world) That is how you end up with Kevin Stallings or Larry Eustachy. WE at UConn know we have a special culture and it is our mission to nurture and get that back. As for the Fanbase: most of you are pathetic.

 

[superjohn]

Because he's a lifer. And his expectations relative to success are far more pleasing at Gonzaga. And his family loves the area and is involved in the community. And he's revered there. Not every coach jumps at a (maybe) bump up in stature job wise. From what I know of Few, I doubt he'd come to UConn.

In a vacuum, Shaka might have come here, but I'm sure he realized he had potential better options coming, given his national stature at the time.

It was pretty well known at the time Shaka would have taken the UConn job and UConn was a bump up stature wise over Gonzaga. Some people here don't seem to think all that highly of UConn basketball.

 

[Stainmaster]

It was pretty well known at the time Shaka would have taken the UConn job and UConn was a bump up stature wise over Gonzaga. Some people here don't seem to think all that highly of UConn basketball.

Or maybe the prestige of the job has declined since the Calhoun years/banishment to the AAC?

 

[superjohn]

Or maybe the prestige of the job has declined since the Calhoun years/banishment to the AAC?

We are talking about who would have taken the job after Calhoun retired and the job was given to Ollie.

 

[superjohn]

Simple. My view of the world and life experiences.

FEW loves the Northwest and he ain't about money. He likes fly fishing and raising a family in that community. Going to Connecticut would be like transferring to Belgrade.

Shaka has done ok at Texas. He is not a clear improvement - YET - from what we were seeing at VCU at a Power 5. Not exactly knocking the socks off.

My problem with the premise of YOU two is: (1.) A low opinion of Kevin Ollie - who you have to admit has more FF and NC and good solid recruiting cred. (2.) Weak overall view on what our issues of the last 2 years have been and even the last 6 years since Kemba Walker left.

You don't win coaches simply by throwing money around. (the NON Squid world) That is how you end up with Kevin Stallings or Larry Eustachy. WE at UConn know we have a special culture and it is our mission to nurture and get that back. As for the Fanbase: most of you are pathetic.

I'm not saying Shaka would have been the right choice I'm saying he would have come here.

 

[Inyatkin]

People more about perception and appearance than winning titles. To some, 2014 would have been more satisfying if we were 27-4, ranked in the Top 10 for most of the year, and got knocked out in the 2nd round as a 2/3 seed.

These are people who do not remember, say, 1996 very well.

 

[Stainmaster]

We are talking about who would have taken the job after Calhoun retired and the job was given to Ollie.

Ah okay. That's fair on Shaka. I still think Few will never leave Gonzaga, even for Duke or UNC -- doesn't matter if it's a higher-prestige job or they're paying him more. It's all well and good to debate whether or not Shaka would've been better than KO, but given that JC commandeered the situation such that nobody besides Ollie would be hired, it's a moot point.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

These are people who do not remember, say, 1996 very well.

That's a good example.

Although, you could argue that potentially 6-7 straight 1996 type seasons creates a better brand/ more program prestige than one 2014 season surrounded by 5 or 6 20-12, 22-10 type seasons.

Not saying I agree, but I can definitely see how some people would see that.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It was pretty well known at the time Shaka would have taken the UConn job and UConn was a bump up stature wise over Gonzaga. Some people here don't seem to think all that highly of UConn basketball.

It matters not what you or I think.

You're whistling past the graveyard.

 

[husky99]

That opinion explains your posts for the last 5 years.

I have not covered this up. I would not wanted my mechanic 1st day working on my car or my cardiovascular surgeon to have zero operations. Sorry call me un-uconn or a crappy fan. Ollie record in the crappy aac is terrible over the last few years (3rd was the best)

 

[Fishy]

Shaka Smart wanted the UConn job.

He turned down Illinois anticipating having a shot at UConn.

Calhoun wasn't stupid - he knew Ollie wasn't going to get the job in an open search.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

That opinion explains your posts for the last 5 years.

Someone who could explain 5 years of that dude's posts could feed a family for 10 generations.

 

[aceboon]

I have not covered this up. I would not wanted my mechanic 1st day working on my car or my cardiovascular surgeon to have zero operations. Sorry call me un-UConn or a crappy fan. Ollie record in the crappy aac is terrible over the last few years (3rd was the best)

Yea but there are plenty of 1st time coaches who have achieved success but you don't really follow ball like that to know, and not many people besides yourself complained too much about KO after 2 years(you've dumped on him since day 1 however). My issue is your opinion has now distorted things to allow you to basically claim that anyone could have won with the 2014 squad, which is garbage and nobody thought that core was a title contender after JC left and the defections after the 2012 season.

 

[husky99]

Yea but there are plenty of 1st time coaches who have achieved success but you don't really follow ball like that to know, and not many people besides yourself complained too much about KO after 2 years(you've dumped on him since day 1 however). My issue is your opinion has now distorted things to allow you to basically claim that anyone could have won with the 2014 squad, which is garbage and nobody thought that core was a title contender after JC left and the defections after the 2012 season.

That was a joke.... what ollie did that season was amazing. But look at the program last three years. You happy with it?
Uconn was a top tier program, but we are losing that shimmer.