Coach KO

[freescooter]

You must really think we're stupid

Well sometimes you act it. did you even look? Below is the pre-season top 25from the AP. UConn is there. there's an old saying, facts are stubborn things. Those are the facts.
AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Indiana (43) 0-0 1,592
2 Louisville (20) 0-0 1,568
3 Kentucky (2) 0-0 1,453
4 Ohio State 0-0 1,292
5 Michigan 0-0 1,290
6 North Carolina State 0-0 1,270
7 Kansas 0-0 1,210
8 Duke 0-0 1,094
9 Syracuse 0-0 1,062
10 Florida 0-0 936
11 North Carolina 0-0 904
12 Arizona 0-0 902
13 UCLA 0-0 840
14 Michigan State 0-0 789
15 Missouri 0-0 664
16 Creighton 0-0 622
17 Memphis 0-0 539
18 UNLV 0-0 488
19 Baylor 0-0 486
20 San Diego State 0-0 463
21 Gonzaga 0-0 384
22 Notre Dame 0-0 297
23 Wisconsin 0-0 285
23 Connecticut

ESPN Top 25 :Others receiving votes: Connecticut 58,

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Indiana (43) 0-0 1,592
2 Louisville (20) 0-0 1,568
3 Kentucky (2) 0-0 1,453
4 Ohio State 0-0 1,292
5 Michigan 0-0 1,290
6 North Carolina State 0-0 1,270
7 Kansas 0-0 1,210
8 Duke 0-0 1,094
9 Syracuse 0-0 1,062
10 Florida 0-0 936
11 North Carolina 0-0 904
12 Arizona 0-0 902
13 UCLA 0-0 840
14 Michigan State 0-0 789
15 Missouri 0-0 664
16 Creighton 0-0 622
17 Memphis 0-0 539
18 UNLV 0-0 488
19 Baylor 0-0 486
20 San Diego State 0-0 463
21 Gonzaga 0-0 384
22 Notre Dame 0-0 297
23 Wisconsin 0-0 285
23 Connecticut

You left out their 1-0 record.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

You must really think we're stupid

He really does think we're stupid. He just copied and pasted his "preseason" poll and conveniently left out the fact that we had a 1-0 record at the time.

 

[caw]

Well sometimes you act it. did you even look? Below is the pre-season top 25from the AP. UConn is there.
AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Indiana (43) 0-0 1,592
2 Louisville (20) 0-0 1,568
3 Kentucky (2) 0-0 1,453
4 Ohio State 0-0 1,292
5 Michigan 0-0 1,290
6 North Carolina State 0-0 1,270
7 Kansas 0-0 1,210
8 Duke 0-0 1,094
9 Syracuse 0-0 1,062
10 Florida 0-0 936
11 North Carolina 0-0 904
12 Arizona 0-0 902
13 UCLA 0-0 840
14 Michigan State 0-0 789
15 Missouri 0-0 664
16 Creighton 0-0 622
17 Memphis 0-0 539
18 UNLV 0-0 488
19 Baylor 0-0 486
20 San Diego State 0-0 463
21 Gonzaga 0-0 384
22 Notre Dame 0-0 297
23 Wisconsin 0-0 285
23 Connecticut

ESPN Top 25 :Others receiving votes: Connecticut 58,

I give you the benefit of the doubt and your opinion is yours, but just admit you made a mistake here.

Here is the real Pre-season poll from October 26th:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=1&date=2012-10-26

Here is the next poll on November 12th:


http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=1&date=2012-11-12


You can clearly see that UConn moved into the Top 25 (after receiving zero votes) on October 26th, the game with MSU was November 9th and then UConn entered the Top 25 (#23) on November 12th.

EDIT: ESPN has it wrong. They only have the November 12th poll which was after the MSU game, it is incorrectly called the pre-season poll, I assume that is where you took your data from.

 

[aceboon]

Scratch that, you're just incredibly ducking stupid. You had writers killing Calhoun for leaving because they said he left at the time when there was no talent left in Storrs(Parrish, Goodman), yet you're actually dumb enough to think UConn was a preseason top 25 team. The team lost its top scorer and its entire frontcourt, and didn't bring in a frontcourt player of note, yet you think writers and coaches were ready to vote UConn in the top 25, you really are that stupid.

Well sometimes you act it. did you even look? Below is the pre-season top 25from the AP. UConn is there. there's an old saying, facts are stubborn things. Those are the facts.
AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Indiana (43) 0-0 1,592
2 Louisville (20) 0-0 1,568
3 Kentucky (2) 0-0 1,453
4 Ohio State 0-0 1,292
5 Michigan 0-0 1,290
6 North Carolina State 0-0 1,270
7 Kansas 0-0 1,210
8 Duke 0-0 1,094
9 Syracuse 0-0 1,062
10 Florida 0-0 936
11 North Carolina 0-0 904
12 Arizona 0-0 902
13 UCLA 0-0 840
14 Michigan State 0-0 789
15 Missouri 0-0 664
16 Creighton 0-0 622
17 Memphis 0-0 539
18 UNLV 0-0 488
19 Baylor 0-0 486
20 San Diego State 0-0 463
21 Gonzaga 0-0 384
22 Notre Dame 0-0 297
23 Wisconsin 0-0 285
23 Connecticut

ESPN Top 25 :Others receiving votes: Connecticut 58,

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I give you the benefit of the doubt and your opinion is yours, but just admit you made a mistake here.

Here is the real Pre-season poll from October 26th:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=1&date=2012-10-26

Here is the next week:


http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=1&date=2012-11-12


You can clearly see that UConn moved into the Top 25 (after receiving zero votes)

I hate it when facts get in the way of a good freescooter narrative.

 

[freescooter]

You left out their 1-0 record.

That was a mistake cutting and pasting, but I don't think that is a mistake on the way the record came up. The poll was as of Nov. 5. We didn't play our first regular season game until Nov. 9 so we couldn't be 1-0. Also note that Mich State is still 0-0 and we beat them on Nov.9.

 

[aceboon]

He really does think we're stupid. He just copied and pasted his "preseason" poll and conveniently left out the fact that we had a 1-0 record at the time.

Haha, didn't even notice that, now I almost feel bad for calling him stupid.

 

[caw]

I hate it when facts get in the way of a good freescooter narrative.

As my EDIT indicates, ESPN is really the one at fault. They incorrectly called the November 12th poll the preseason poll on their website.

 

[caw]

That was a mistake cutting and pasting, but I don't think that is a mistake on the way the record came up. The poll was as of Nov. 5. We didn't play our first regular season game until Nov. 9 so we couldn't be 1-0. Also note that Mich State is still 0-0 and we beat them on Nov.9.

ESPN has it wrong. As you can see on the November 12th poll I linked earlier from Yahoo, Connecticut was unranked previously, which confirms the October 26th poll as the correct Preseason poll.

Further: USA Today/ESPN polls:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=3&date=2012-11-12

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=3&date=2012-10-17

 

[upstater]

Shaka Smart will become a footnote in the history of tobacco growing denizens of the capital of a state named after a woman who never had sex, whereas Ollie will become known as one of the top 5 coaches in the world's greatest nation!!!!

 

[Walker11]

The Espn college basketball preview edition of the mag actually ranked the team 112th I believe. many thought this season would be a train wreck.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

As my EDIT indicates, ESPN is really the one at fault. They incorrectly called the November 12th poll the preseason poll on their website.

Yes, ESPN should be ashamed of their misleading poll. But any Uconn fan who paid one iota of attention this offseason would know that we weren't even close to being ranked in the preseason. The average outside opinion was that Calhoun left the cupboard completely bare for the next coach.

 

[huskyharry]

Free,

previously, your argument for not wanting Coach Ollie was that you wanted a coach to whom recruits would be attracted by name/reputation alone. If I recall correctly, you mentioned Coach Sean Miller at least once. Now you are mentioning Smart and Stevens, neither of whom are known for getting high level recruits but have been very successful getting the most of the recruits they get and having those recruits fit their system well.

I think Coach Ollie will follow a similar pattern. I don't expect a top five rated recruiting class in the near future but I think we will see players who are dedicated to making themselves and the team better and will give 100% effort.

 

[sdhusky]

He really does think we're stupid. He just copied and pasted his "preseason" poll and conveniently left out the fact that we had a 1-0 record at the time.

I disagree. I don't he did because he thought we were stupid.

More because he is kinda a .

 

[ctchamps]

I disagree. I don't he did because he thought we were stupid.

More because he is kinda a .

And he loves the attention we're giving him!

 

[freescooter]

I hate it when facts get in the way of a good freescooter narrative.

The polls you are referencing were taken after we beat Michigan State. We did not receive a single vote in either of the preseason polls.

Nice try though.

I looked at the poll page on the ESPN page with lists the various results. It is listed as "pre-season" and clearly dated as Nov 5. We played Nov 9. Also Michigan State isn't listed as having a loss. Clearly their data is incorrect. So I was in error based on an error on the ESPN page.

You guys want to pretend that this team was going to be awful and Ollie magically turned it around, you're free to think that way. I don't happen to agree. I think it was a pretty good team to begin with. It had a very manageable schedule and any competent coach would have done what Ollie is doing. I haven't seen anything that makes me think he's the 2nd coming of Jim Calhoun, nor that he's the 2nd coming of Keno Davis. Just an ordinary run of the mill basketball coach that got incredibly lucky in that Calhoun left when he did and while it isn't good long term for UConn, the conference situation is another stroke of luck for Ollie. Unless he totally screws up he should have pretty good records over the next few seasons. Again, you guys can disagree.

By the way, having a solid record even though you're banned from the post season isn't that odd. Syracuse went 20-9 (10-8) and finished 3rd in the Big East in 1993 when they were banned as an example. Michigan won 17 and finished 3rd in the B-10 the year they were banned for the Ed Martin scandal. So again having a decent performance isn't impossible. So I'm not sure why the motivational thing is such a big deal. But I guess it plays into the narrative that Ollie is a terrific coach. I'd be shocked if UConn doesn't finish somewhere around 17-18 wins. And it isn't that much of an accomplishment. UConn has failed to win 17 games only 7 times since 1974. So odds are pretty good they would win at least 17 this year.

 

[freescooter]

ESPN has it wrong. As you can see on the November 12th poll I linked earlier from Yahoo, Connecticut was unranked previously, which confirms the October 26th poll as the correct Preseason poll.

Further: USA Today/ESPN polls:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=3&date=2012-11-12

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=3&date=2012-10-17

You're correct. ESPN's poll page has the wrong poll and the wrong data. I didn't actually even notice the UConn 1-0 record (Mich State is listed as 0-0 on that one) until ern pointed it out.

 

[Hume]

Freescooter I have read your posts here about the polls and about how you thought Uconn would win 18-20 games and I am not sure whether you just don't remember what you said earlier or whether you just need to justify your not wanting Ollie as coach by deliberately changing expectations. I went back to some of your earlier posts to try to understand. On Oct. 9th talking if Ollie does well there could be a bidding war for him you said "If he takes a 17 win team and wins 18 games, Louisville isn't firing Pitino to hire Ollie...a much more likely scenario, I think is that Ollie wins 15 with a 17 win team and decides to go to the NBA as an assistant rather than "apply" for the job going forward. And for what its worth, I think 17 wins is about what I expect this year, so anything above that and he's extended, anything under that and it is dependent on lots of factors, but under 15 wins and there needs to be major extenuating circumstances for him to be here next year." Then on the Oct. 12th you said "I don't think you can go 5-5, or 6-6 in the non-conference schedule, because that would mean you lost to at least a couple of weak teams, but if they were to struggle early and go for 5-6 over the last 11 with an upset of say, Syracuse, that would say something. If I were to guess, I'd say he does need to win 14-15 games and at least 5-6 Big East games. But Who and When will be more important than How many overall. A solid finish can offset a weak start, and conversely a weak finish will over shadow a strong start." So you had much lower expectations before the season. Now that they have 13 wins and chances are that they will exceed the 15 wins that you thought would be a "more likely scenario" based upon what you expected from Ollie and even have a good chance of passing the 17 wins that you expected, you have now moved the wins to 18-20.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Honest answer, I think most any competent coach could win 17-19 games with this schedule and this team. A really good one would win 23-24, and in a perfect world I like Shaka Smart a lot but I've been damned impressed with the job Larranaga is doing and quite honestly the job he did at George F*&king Mason before that, I just ignored him because he's been at George F%^king Mason. And I'd love to have figured out a way to get the Stevens. He might well be the best of them all. Though Smart strikes me as a young Jim Calhoun with the intensity and all, is clearly a very good coach and I think in 2-3 years we'll really regret not making that move when Ollie is flopping around at 22-11 and going out in the 1st round every year.

As for the future, it is really difficult to say mostly because the conference realignment that has occurred since the season started makes it really difficult to project what UConn will be able to do. I'll tell you what I suspect will happen though. Ollie will have a long but not particularly illustrious career here now. He will win 20 plus pretty much most years, but that won't be so much a reflection of his coaching abilities as it is on the quality of the conference going forward. Like it or hate it, we're starting life in the next few years as the very very big dog in a conference of mostly midgets. But I suspect his teams will be regularly 1 and out teams in the tournament. Again, it might not be entirely his fault. Because of the league, we will struggle to get the kind of really high seeds we'd normally get as a Big East member. The days of getting a 2 seed because we're UConn are over for sure. So we'll also have lots of tougher games. I think the best example of Ollie's tenure may well be Dom Perno. Nice guy, decent Yankee conference level coach. But he was kept around far beyond when it was clear he was over his head because he stole the ball from Bill Bradley. Ollie will be kept around far beyond when it is clear he's a mid-major coach because he was Jim Calhoun's choice. Over time, I don't see Ollie having the skills or the fire to keep us at the level of a major power despite being stuck in a mid-major league. I think Smart would do that. Stevens would do that. There are other guys but given where we are, we have no chance to get them now. We would have last April. That is my honest opinion.

Put the Vegas odds up Mirage or Caesars palace style on Shaka taking the UConn job before this season. Assuming the HC job was available:

A) 8/1
B) 20/1
C) 50/1
D) 75/1
E) 100/1

My answer is E. With some very creative incentives maybe the odds drop to 75/1. It was a real long shot . VCU again is very dangerous so a deep tourney run is not out of the question. Shaka stock is one I would have bought if it was being offered at a fair price on the open market. There is a lot of value in that investment. There wasn't any broker selling the stock ticker symbol SM when we could have bought some. A lot of it is timing and knowing the market.

I have been very happy with Kevin Ollie. He will grown into a great coach. Give him a shot bro.