Chief’s Briefs - Tulsa

[AdamaNation]

It pains me - I like KO - he expended so much energy in the first half on the sideline - with so little return and no transfer of toughness to players. While this was occurring a guy went off for 30 without much recognition by the defense until way too late.

You can’t turn trees into rocks. These kids just can’t get it. They may have auditioned well but that was it. Calhoun got hoodwinked too. Ollie just was in full roster desperation I must save the program mode. He had to take what he could. Blaze and chill weren’t options yet. Now they are in play. Personally I would rather cut all but a few players and see what we have next year with chiils influence and a new hand. We need guys committed to defense first. That is our mantra.

 

[HooperScooper]

It will be interesting to see what Calhoun does with this team next year

Omar still has eligibility left?

 

[GemParty]

Y

 

[Kitaman]

Not really. He made a couple shots early. That was it.

That's a good game for him.

 

[SwingDog]

This was the DECISION Game

Yeah, I get that sense as well. With a win here going into ECU there was a chance something could be salvaged from this season. This win would have felt satisfying, especially the way they played the first half. At this point, at 2 games under .500, I can't see a win against ECU bringing about any good feelings. And then either way it's on to Cincinnati next Thursday.

 

[UConnRock]

It will be interesting to see what Calhoun does with this team next year

An argument can be made that Carlton is one of the better offensive options. He has nice moves and quickly follows his misses. Wish the would let him work with the ball a bit more as you get better scoring options with an inside game and kick outs than the tedious perimeter passing and weave

 

[Chief00]

Chief doesn’t normally go out after a loss - Coach said to celebrate W’s not L’s. But, tonight I made a bittersweet exception. Effectively, an end to an era - and I have such mix feelings. I agree Chill is on the right recruiting track - wish that decision was made a couple of years ago - then it might be different today. But, KO needs shooters and guard talent for his system to work - and he doesn’t have enough of it.
For Chief guards control the end of the game but Bigs play a bigger role than in KO’s system.

 

[Bonehead]

This was the DECISION Game

So we will hear today he won’t be coming back next year, like what happened at Ole Miss with Andy Kennedy?

11:11 press conference?

 

[willie99]

I guess Larrier looked as bad on TV as he did live at the game. I can't believe what I'm watching, and I was moaning about his play long before he gets beat for a bunny and then gives up the rebound on the free throw line

He's lost out there, has zero confidence, the torn ACL and fractured nasal passage have taken his game away

Kevin needs to try to win more games and be less concerned with giving minutes to unproductive players.

As for Kevin overall, he's obviously feeling the heat, he's just not making good decisions, his rotations are mystifying down the stretch, he needs to get his mojo back

 

[the Q]

It pains me - I like KO - he expended so much energy in the first half on the sideline - with so little return and no transfer of toughness to players. While this was occurring a guy went off for 30 without much recognition by the defense until way too late.

This is a recruiting problem.

I love KO, but it seems that buying the groceries is a problem.

The guy is going to find an NBA coaching job very quickly if he wants one though.

 

[uchusky32]

Chief doesn’t normally go out after a loss - Coach said to celebrate W’s not L’s. But, tonight I made a bittersweet exception. Effectively, an end to an era - and I have such mix feelings. I agree Chill is on the right recruiting track - wish that decision was made a couple of years ago - then it might be different today. But, KO needs shooters and guard talent for his system to work - and he doesn’t have enough of it.
For Chief guards control the end of the game but Bigs play a bigger role than in KO’s system.

We do need recruiters but we also need some asst who can coach. Who was in KO's ear to tell him to get a rebounder out there the last foul shots.

Kinda tired hearing about Chill. Doesn't seem like he has any value as a coach coaching.

 

[KodiacKemba]

We go up 1 n why we play man when the zone would of helped us especially with who we had in the game idk ... both games our man defense let us down .. we should’ve brought Carlton in so he can be the man in the middle , you simply can’t have Larrier being our 5 he never helps on defense

 

[the Q]

You can’t turn trees into rocks. These kids just can’t get it. They may have auditioned well but that was it. Calhoun got hoodwinked too. Ollie just was in full roster desperation I must save the program mode. He had to take what he could. Blaze and chill weren’t options yet. Now they are in play. Personally I would rather cut all but a few players and see what we have next year with chiils influence and a new hand. We need guys committed to defense first. That is our mantra.

Assuming Jalen and Larrier both go pro, who are the guys you're keeping?

 

[KodiacKemba]

Practice getting to rim and drawling fouls !!!! Vital can’t be the only guy trying to get to the free throw line. I think he’s our only player who Average 4 to 5 free throws a game ... and our other ( 2 stars) get there what maybe 1 or 2 times just unacceptable

 

[TRest]

We do need recruiters but we also need some asst who can coach. Who was in KO's ear to tell him to get a rebounder out there the last foul shots.

Kinda tired hearing about Chill. Doesn't seem like he has any value as a coach coaching.

Just looking at his career coaching record, after spending a year at Villanova he came back to Washington for 5 years of complete mediocrity. 2 NIT appearances, no NCAA, and his final year he was named associate head coach, when the program tanked. Ironically those were all years with what were considered good recruiting classes.

 

[Tuna]

JA: 8 points on 14 shots

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The Miller zone legacy continues - but now it’s on KO

Perhaps we were watching a different game but I saw quite a bit if man defense last night. Granted, it wasn't effective at all (which may explain why we normally play so much zone) but we did play a good amount of man-to-man defense.

 

[AdamaNation]

We do need recruiters but we also need some asst who can coach. Who was in KO's ear to tell him to get a rebounder out there the last foul shots.

Kinda tired hearing about Chill. Doesn't seem like he has any value as a coach coaching.

Chill is the inventory manager. We need a floor manager to keep the troops focused and learning. I often felt that Ollie is not only dealing with a program in a bad place, but trying to establish a management team from the top down as well as a roster and training staff and other support to go along with new administration and athletic department. It’s waaaayyy tooo much. For anyone. I think his staying is testament. But may be futile. The mess behind him may be bigger than what we see in front of him. Some of his own doing but man. That’s a lot.

 

[gtcam]

Assuming Jalen and Larrier both go pro, who are the guys you're keeping?

And assuming that Carleton and Williams declare early......................!!!!!!!
Who are you kidiing? JA is a really good player but no pro, not now, physicality and shooting deficiencies are too large
Larrier? in what the womens CYO Wednesday night league? - even there he would get pushed around and shy away
I think if he likes what any changes are to come about next year - JA will stay
TL- I don't really care, injury or not, he has proven to me to be gutless. I sit in my seat and Civic Center (still call it that!) and at Gampel and usually try to focus on one or two players per game. Every time I do it with TL I get more and more pissed at how he plays like he doesn't care and causes a 4 on 5 situation on EVERY defensive set.
KO coached his heart out again last night but in the 2nd half he would shout things out, Kills would shout things out, RM would shout out instructions - you could hear them clearly (damn place was empty) and they would all shake their heads because the players would not follow through. 3 times I heard KO shout - What the heck did we work on??? and the player was like a deer in the headlight. At one point Kills threw up his hands after talking to Carleton and KO just shook his head
I like KO a lot but his biggest downfall is the lack of recruiting the right guys. He went after the big fish and when he couldn't score he filled in the voids with suspect players. This isn't the ACC or another P5 conference, it's the damn AAC and if you can get a strong coachable 3 star, grab him and roll with it, in this conference, the one and done talent are few and far between. UConn needs 3 and 4 year players.
I don't like saying this but if he doesn't resign himself to recruiting these types of players then he needs to be replaced and it is likely that his time may be at the end.
I am not sure that KO was outcoached last night, it was a tale of two halves, he left TL in way too long and the big's D let him down - again.
This team is inexperienced, soft, and at times, just plain stupid (I hate to use that word but it's the only thing I can come up with now)
Yeah KO has a hand in it, but again, he was dealt a whole hand of bad cards when he came aboard and the dealer is not kind to him. Perhaps it's time to leave the game and maybe find a new one.
This cannot continue

 

[gtcam]

Chill is the inventory manager. We need a floor manager to keep the troops focused and learning. I often felt that Ollie is not only dealing with a program in a bad place, but trying to establish a management team from the top down as well as a roster and training staff and other support to go along with new administration and athletic department. It’s waaaayyy tooo much. For anyone. I think his staying is testament. But may be futile. The mess behind him may be bigger than what we see in front of him. Some of his own doing but man. That’s a lot.

Couldn't agree more with your sentiment
However, maybe Chills is not the guy we need to recruit. He goes after the elite and I don't think those kids, even if UConn was playing well, would come to the AAC. UConn needs those kids who are sleepers, up and comers, guys who are going to stay 3 or 4 years like Giffs.

 

[Chief00]

So we will hear today he won’t be coming back next year, like what happened at Ole Miss with Andy Kennedy?

11:11 press conference?

The Casual Fan sometimes doesn’t get Chief and I will take the blame for the communication ships sailing past each other at night.
As the AD said, the decision will be announced at the end of the season, but this loss seals the deal.

 

[Chief00]

We do need recruiters but we also need some asst who can coach. Who was in KO's ear to tell him to get a rebounder out there the last foul shots.

Kinda tired hearing about Chill. Doesn't seem like he has any value as a coach coaching.

He actually has a good recruiting class coming in despite the headwinds. Sid is probably one of the top two players consistently in practice. Akinjo is top notch. Mathews can shoot and the Lithuanian kid is an old school type guy that Chief likes.

 

[Bonehead]

The Casual Fan sometimes doesn’t get Chief and I will take the blame for the communication ships sailing past each other at night.
As the AD said, the decision will be announced at the end of the season, but this loss seals the deal.

That’s a shame about the casual fan.

Seals the deal for what exactly?

There is no reason not to announce. Zero. Ole Miss has a stronger athletic dept than UConn right now. Ole Phlukking Miss.

Tell me again how Boyle had to sit out a year due to transfer rules. That is a great interpretation of transfer rules.

 

[Chief00]

Practice getting to rim and drawling fouls !!!! Vital can’t be the only guy trying to get to the free throw line. I think he’s our only player who Average 4 to 5 free throws a game ... and our other ( 2 stars) get there what maybe 1 or 2 times just unacceptable

Excellent observation.

 

[Chief00]

Perhaps we were watching a different game but I saw quite a bit if man defense last night. Granted, it wasn't effective at all (which may explain why we normally play so much zone) but we did play a good amount of man-to-man defense.

I guess part of the problem is per GTCAM is guys are playing different defenses on the same play. The communication between coaching staff and players is painful at this point.