Defending k Ollie

[scrappy2.0]

Up to minute 35 he looked like an elite coach. Our defense again swarmed the opponent into near submission we had a 14 point lead which really should've stretched to 20 plus and we just got hit with a big right hand that we never came back from the only thing to me that Ollie could've done differently was play facey/ Enoch the last 6 minutes to help stem the rebounding issue we ran into other than that he coached a great game had the players ready to go and the players themselves did serious damage by missing many point blank shots and playing lax d at the wrong time

 

[Rico444]

Did Facey even see the court at all last night? Amazing how two years in a row he went from looking like one of our best frontcourt players to playing less than 5 minutes a game.

 

[KingOPancakes]

While I don't place the blame squarely on KO for last night, he was not an "elite coach". They held Temple to 22% from the field for 15 minutes of that 2nd half and only managed a 12pt lead. A true elite coach would have had that game out of reach before his players could have fallen apart like they did.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

Our constant inability to even get a single shot off when the game is on the line has to fall on the Coaching staff at some point. Is there not a single play we can come up with that gets someone the ability to at least hoist the ball towards the rim? How many times have we had shot clock violations in crunch time, even after time outs? its baffling.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Our constant inability to even get a single shot off when the game is on the line has to fall on the Coaching staff at some point. Is there not a single play we can come up with that gets someone the ability to at least hoist the ball towards the rim? How many times have we had shot clock violations in crunch time, even after time outs? its baffling.

stop... someone has to want to take the shot. that player doesn't exist on this team.
draw up any play you want. who has the mental toughness on this team to take that shot with the game in question.
dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, dribble, dribble, run around, dribble, pass, pass, pass..... Shot Clock violation.
For some reason, I just don't think Ollie was calling that play last night.

 

[upstater]

While I don't place the blame squarely on KO for last night, he was not an "elite coach". They held Temple to 22% from the field for 15 minutes of that 2nd half and only managed a 12pt lead. A true elite coach would have had that game out of reach before his players could have fallen apart like they did.

If you do your math, you'll find that holding a team that's shooting 3s primarily to 22% rather than their normal 40-42% over 14 minutes is going to give you a 10-12 point bump. They went from down 2 to up 12.

I see your emphasis here is on UConn's offense

To start the second half, they scored on 6 of 7 trips. Good for 12 points.

During the Purvis missed layup sequence (ie Purvis missed layups on 2 separate trips), they went 1 for 3.

This all happened 7 minutes into the game.

If Purvis hits 2 easy layups (how can you blame this on Ollie?) then they go 9 of 10 trips for scores, for a total of 18 points to Temple's 5.

In other words, the offense is not sputtering for most of the 3rd qtr. of the game. It did score on 7 of 10 trips, and it should have bee 9 of 10 trips with 2 easy layups made.

What happens after that?

1. Missed DHam 3 pointer
2. 2 Miller free throws made
3. Brimah dunk
4. Miller missed 3
5. Omar Calhoun offensive foul on drive
6. DHam 3 pointer made
7. Gibbs 2 free throws made.
8. Non-call on Sterling Gibbs drive to basket
9. Sterling Gibbs offensive foul
10. Rodney misses a wide open 3 that goes in and out.

That takes them to 5:40 minutes left when Temple hits 4 three pointers in a row.

So, we are talking about a sequence from 12 minutes left in the half to 6 minutes in which they went 4-10 on offensive trips.

So, until the meltdown, the offense went a total of 11 for 20 trips total.

Those stats included 2 trips with missed layups by Purvis, 2 offensive fouls (one deserved on Calhoun, the other a question on Gibbs), 2 non-calls on Gibbs's drives to the basket, a missed Brimah dunk/fumble, and 2 missed 3s (one of which, Rodney's, was wide open).

How anyone can blame Ollie for offensive inefficiency up to the 15th minute of the second half is beyond me.

An easy argument can be made that they were highly efficient if not for the absurd and inexplicable. Purvis hits two layups, Brimah makes an easy dunk, Gibbs picks up at least one of the foul calls on drives, and then doesn't lose his head with some weird offensive foul I've never seen before, and we are talking about going 16 for 20 trips up until the 15th minute. That's not efficiency? I am not saying Adams should not be running the offense. But I am saying that he wouldn't have done any better for the first 15 minutes of the half. Which is what you seem to be saying in your post above.

Do you want Ollie to make the layups and dunks for these kids?

 

[KemBuckets21]

Up to minute 35 he looked like an elite coach. Our defense again swarmed the opponent into near submission we had a 14 point lead which really should've stretched to 20 plus and we just got hit with a big right hand that we never came back from the only thing to me that Ollie could've done differently was play facey/ Enoch the last 6 minutes to help stem the rebounding issue we ran into other than that he coached a great game had the players ready to go and the players themselves did serious damage by missing many point blank shots and playing lax d at the wrong time

Have to disagree that he looked like an "elite" coach. Charisma. Yes. Recruiting. Definetly. Potential to be great? It's there. Player and coach accountability, adjustments, basically most in-game aspects of coaching have left much to be desired.

I've been defending KO as much as I could, but when you look at the last 40-50 games; even the wins, we have just beaten teams based on talent. Our chemistry has been spotty at best. We haven't made adjustments well. Our play calling/running out of timeouts is horrid. Last nights loss stung more than the previous 6 this season. I'm normally not this negative, but last night was nauseating.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

stop... someone has to want to take the shot. that player doesn't exist on this team.
draw up any play you want. who has the mental toughness on this team to take that shot with the game in question.
dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, dribble, dribble, run around, dribble, pass, pass, pass..... Shot Clock violation.
For some reason, I just don't think Ollie was calling that play last night.

So temple is just full of cold blooded clutch players. And cinci. And Tulsa. But somehow we aren't.

The only way to win in college hoops is to have a kemba or bazz type of player?

This idea that we have nobody who wants to take the last shot is absurd. We may not have any great options but its literally the coaching staff's job To identify players strengths and weaknesses and manage accordingly. If you're team doesn't have that alpha male scorer then you draw up a play to get a decent shot. We literally do not do that.

Again it's dribble dribble dribble shot clock violation. Well whose job is it to either scream at them to run the play, or put someone in who will if they are failing to do so? How many games now has this happened?

In the temple, Tulsa, and cinci games, we have like 7 total points and 7 shot clock violations in a the last 5 minutes of each game. That's not simply a lack of alpha male. That's just poor coaching.

 

[uconnever]

stop... someone has to want to take the shot. that player doesn't exist on this team.
draw up any play you want. who has the mental toughness on this team to take that shot with the game in question.
dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, dribble, dribble, run around, dribble, pass, pass, pass..... Shot Clock violation.
For some reason, I just don't think Ollie was calling that play last night.

totally agree. it didnt matter who the coach was. the players choked. he drew up a play. does he have to suit up also

 

[KemBuckets21]

This isn't a particularly novel idea, but I think it would help a lot:

I hope KO calls upon JC's experience and has him come to a practice for a week or so to provide the team some tough love. The first thing that JC would say is that the dribble hand offs for 24 seconds and a contested shot needs to stop. NOW! We're not a good enough shooting team for that crap.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

stop... someone has to want to take the shot. that player doesn't exist on this team.
draw up any play you want. who has the mental toughness on this team to take that shot with the game in question.
dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, dribble, dribble, run around, dribble, pass, pass, pass..... Shot Clock violation.
For some reason, I just don't think Ollie was calling that play last night.

I think Purvis doesnt have a problem taking the shot, which is why i thought Ollie giving him the ball last night was a good call. I was actually saying give Purvis the ball, and I honestly am NOT a purvis fan. But Purvis is good for having the stones to take the shot and he'll get it off. Ollie cant be held responsible for the kid double dribbling imo.

But yea Gibbs had the ball couldnt even get a shot off. Dham pump fakes and jab steps the clock down to a second and then throws the ball to someone else as the clock expires or throws up a prayer that have no chance of going in. Purvis was the guy to at least get a shot off and that didnt even happen. I just have a hard time blaming KO with these guys lack of ability to execute.

 

[jdb50]

At the end of the shot clock, under 10 seconds the player with the ball has to be willing to drive or take a jumper and we have multiple players afraid to do so especially in a tight game. Someone has to step up and be that guy who has onions. It would help if they follow their shot in case they miss as well.
Now we are looking to pass or concentrating on dribbling with 3 seconds to go.

 

[uchusky32]

I think Purvis doesnt have a problem taking the shot, which is why i thought Ollie giving him the ball last night was a good call. I was actually saying give Purvis the ball, and I honestly am NOT a purvis fan. But Purvis is good for having the stones to take the shot and he'll get it off. Ollie cant be held responsible for the kid double dribbling imo.

But yea Gibbs had the ball couldnt even get a shot off. Dham pump fakes and jab steps the clock down to a second and then throws the ball to someone else as the clock expires or throws up a prayer that have no chance of going in. Purvis was the guy to at least get a shot off and that didnt even happen. I just have a hard time blaming KO with these guys lack of ability to execute.

Problem is he's good for a double dribble or stepping out of bounds!

 

[UconnFanNVa]

Problem is he's good for a double dribble or stepping out of bounds!

Oh yea i'm with you. i dont think he is a GOOD choice, i just thought at the time he was the best choice. everyone else was too flustered to do anything. Purvis for better or worse would at least try to do something. He could step out of bounds or travel. But i'd tell him pull up about 5 feet away from the defense and let a 3 point shot sail. he's usually good for that, things just didnt pan out. I'm with you though I dont think he is a good choice, he's just the best choice we had. Which really speaks to the sad state of our offensive weapons.

 

[Mr. French]

stop... someone has to want to take the shot. that player doesn't exist on this team.
draw up any play you want. who has the mental toughness on this team to take that shot with the game in question.
dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, dribble, dribble, run around, dribble, pass, pass, pass..... Shot Clock violation.
For some reason, I just don't think Ollie was calling that play last night.

For most on this board, that's exactly what Ollie does. That's the play he calls, according to the truly elite bball minds.

He's not without fault or blame, but how many times can we see these PLAYERS do these things before we realize it's on them?

 

[uconngb]

So temple is just full of cold blooded clutch players. And cinci. And Tulsa. But somehow we aren't.

The only way to win in college hoops is to have a kemba or bazz type of player?

This idea that we have nobody who wants to take the last shot is absurd. We may not have any great options but its literally the coaching staff's job To identify players strengths and weaknesses and manage accordingly. If you're team doesn't have that alpha male scorer then you draw up a play to get a decent shot. We literally do not do that.

Again it's dribble dribble dribble shot clock violation. Well whose job is it to either scream at them to run the play, or put someone in who will if they are failing to do so? How many games now has this happened?

In the temple, Tulsa, and cinci games, we have like 7 total points and 7 shot clock violations in a the last 5 minutes of each game. That's not simply a lack of alpha male. That's just poor coaching.

This is what anyone who is defending Ollie is missing. We get that the players run the plays. Are you honestly telling me that the play call was "hey Sterling, go dribble around for 25 seconds and then see if you can get a shot up"?? At some point, the coach has to say, the players aren't running the right play, so I'll get someone in there that can. This has happened WAYYYY too many times to put it on the players. It's like he falls into a trance or something at the worst parts of the game. Substitution patterns that make no sense, no ability to call time outs at the proper time, constantly getting run over by the refs without a word, bad set after bad set resulting in bad, or in many inexplicable cases, NO shot and a violation. This has happened far too often to not be concerned, really concerned, about it. As many have said, this time does not have a Kemba, a Bazz or a Boat to bail out poor offense with the shot clock winding down. Time to focus on some serious Xs and Os, or we're going to have another lost season.

 

[KingOPancakes]

If you do your math, you'll find that holding a team that's shooting 3s primarily to 22% rather than their normal 40-42% over 14 minutes is going to give you a 10-12 point bump. They went from down 2 to up 12.

I see your emphasis here is on UConn's offense

To start the second half, they scored on 6 of 7 trips. Good for 12 points.

During the Purvis missed layup sequence (ie Purvis missed layups on 2 separate trips), they went 1 for 3.

This all happened 7 minutes into the game.

If Purvis hits 2 easy layups (how can you blame this on Ollie?) then they go 9 of 10 trips for scores, for a total of 18 points to Temple's 5.

In other words, the offense is not sputtering for most of the 3rd qtr. of the game. It did score on 7 of 10 trips, and it should have bee 9 of 10 trips with 2 easy layups made.

What happens after that?

1. Missed DHam 3 pointer
2. 2 Miller free throws made
3. Brimah dunk
4. Miller missed 3
5. Omar Calhoun offensive foul on drive
6. DHam 3 pointer made
7. Gibbs 2 free throws made.
8. Non-call on Sterling Gibbs drive to basket
9. Sterling Gibbs offensive foul
10. Rodney misses a wide open 3 that goes in and out.

That takes them to 5:40 minutes left when Temple hits 4 three pointers in a row.

So, we are talking about a sequence from 12 minutes left in the half to 6 minutes in which they went 4-10 on offensive trips.

So, until the meltdown, the offense went a total of 11 for 20 trips total.

Those stats included 2 trips with missed layups by Purvis, 2 offensive fouls (one deserved on Calhoun, the other a question on Gibbs), 2 non-calls on Gibbs's drives to the basket, a missed Brimah dunk/fumble, and 2 missed 3s (one of which, Rodney's, was wide open).

How anyone can blame Ollie for offensive inefficiency up to the 15th minute of the second half is beyond me.

An easy argument can be made that they were highly efficient if not for the absurd and inexplicable. Purvis hits two layups, Brimah makes an easy dunk, Gibbs picks up at least one of the foul calls on drives, and then doesn't lose his head with some weird offensive foul I've never seen before, and we are talking about going 16 for 20 trips up until the 15th minute. That's not efficiency? I am not saying Adams should not be running the offense. But I am saying that he wouldn't have done any better for the first 15 minutes of the half. Which is what you seem to be saying in your post above.

Do you want Ollie to make the layups and dunks for these kids?

From the start of the 2nd half until Temple made the 1st of 4 straight 3's at the 5:40 mark, UConn went 7/17 from the field and scored a total of 23 points. That pace would put them at 64.2 ppg, good enough for 329th in Division 1 basketball. Shonn Miller came out of the half and scored 9 quick points in the first 5 minutes. He had 1 shot attempt in the next 15 minutes. Do I want Ollie to make the layups and dunks for them? No. I want him to realize what's working and stick with it.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

This is what anyone who is defending Ollie is missing. We get that the players run the plays. Are you honestly telling me that the play call was "hey Sterling, go dribble around for 25 seconds and then see if you can get a shot up"?? At some point, the coach has to say, the players aren't running the right play, so I'll get someone in there that can. This has happened WAYYYY too many times to put it on the players. It's like he falls into a trance or something at the worst parts of the game. Substitution patterns that make no sense, no ability to call time outs at the proper time, constantly getting run over by the refs without a word, bad set after bad set resulting in bad, or in many inexplicable cases, NO shot and a violation. This has happened far too often to not be concerned, really concerned, about it. As many have said, this time does not have a Kemba, a Bazz or a Boat to bail out poor offense with the shot clock winding down. Time to focus on some serious Xs and Os, or we're going to have another lost season.

It's crazy. The offense is so non existent that you can't blame it all on the players. I have honestly been watching KO on the sidelines for the last ten games or so just watching to see if he ever puts his hands up and makes some type of signal. Or calls out to Gibbs or Adams and says something and then you see them call it out and the other players start moving around to run an offensive set.

And I'm still waiting to see it. He just doesn't do it. It honestly Is just a complete lack of coaching. We're not a perfect team but we have way more talent than the teams we keep losing to.

And it sucks. KO is by far our best option to run the program considering his total respect by everyone and ability to recruit. But his in game coaching and player development have just been awful the last two years. There's no other way to put it .

 

[jibsey]

The funny thing is that at the beginning of the game we were moving the ball and running offense well, with a ton of passing. Am I the only one seeing that? Maybe they're too gassed at game end to do it.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

Whey the h-ll not? Isn't he the guy who designed the offense where a low basketball IQ player with a questionable handle like Purvis was receiving the inbounds pass? Jalen Adams probably hasn't double dribbled while unguarded since he was 4.

For those saying, "if Purvis hits two easy layups."
First, if my Aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.
Second, expecting Purvis not to miss easy shots and do stupid things on the court is foolish. It's what he does, albeit mixed in with some flashy offense and some good D.

The right "IF" to be proposing is not "IF Purvis hits layups" or "IF Gibbs gets a call" or "IF Brimah holds on," because those are all expected parts of the game - Purvis misses bunnies, Gibbs doesn't get star treatment, Brimah does not have great hands.

The IF you need to propose involves things that are easily controlled, such as: "IF Adams is in the game, and IF he is receiving the inbounds, not Purvis . . . THEN . . . "

Again i'll give you that Adams is a better option! But its not like he hasnt made some bad decisions late in games that have cost us dearly. Wasnt there a game recently where he threw a lazy pass with a minute or less left that basically cost us a game? He hasnt exactly proved himself in late game situations, when he did get in, what did he do? turned the ball over. D ham had just turned the ball over and gibbs had just dribbled the clock out because he couldnt get the ball to miller in the post and then got all flustered instead of resetting the offense. Purvis is definetely a hugely flawed player i am NOT a purvis fan by any stretch of the imagination, some on here might even accuse me of being a Purvis hater (which i dont think i am either), but i'm ok with him getting the ball there considering everything we had just seen the past few plays. There are only so many options.

Had he gone with Adams and he turned it over, Ollie would be getting hammered for putting the ball in a freshmans hands at such a pivital time in the game. He tried different players after players screwed up, had he kept going with Dham or Gibbs people would blame ollie for not trying someone else... At some point the players have to perform. I just have a hard time blaming Ollie for players not executing when he is trying a ton of different things.

 

[uconngb]

Again i'll give you that Adams is a better option! But its not like he hasnt made some bad decisions late in games that have cost us dearly. Wasnt there a game recently where he threw a lazy pass with a minute or less left that basically cost us a game? He hasnt exactly proved himself in late game situations, when he did get in, what did he do? turned the ball over. D ham had just turned the ball over and gibbs had just dribbled the clock out because he couldnt get the ball to miller in the post and then got all flustered instead of resetting the offense. Purvis is definetely a hugely flawed player i am NOT a purvis fan by any stretch of the imagination, some on here might even accuse me of being a Purvis hater (which i dont think i am either), but i'm ok with him getting the ball there considering everything we had just seen the past few plays. There are only so many options.

Had he gone with Adams and he turned it over, Ollie would be getting hammered for putting the ball in a freshmans hands at such a pivital time in the game. He tried different players after players screwed up, had he kept going with Dham or Gibbs people would blame ollie for not trying someone else... At some point the players have to perform. I just have a hard time blaming Ollie for players not executing when he is trying a ton of different things.

What different things? In crunch time, our offense last night was Gibbs pounding the ball for 20-25 seconds and then (hopefully) getting a desperation shot up. This is the same pattern that has occurred in all of these losses. How about getting Miller the ball....you know, the guy that scored 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half and was virtually unstoppable? What's that you say, they were double-teaming him? Then somebody HAD to be open. Anyone who thinks our 5 minute and under offense is all on the players hasn't been watching. We NEVER run set plays in those situations.....NEVER. Is that the player's fault? I think not.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

What different things? In crunch time, our offense last night was Gibbs pounding the ball for 20-25 seconds and then (hopefully) getting a desperation shot up. This is the same pattern that has occurred in all of these losses. How about getting Miller the ball....you know, the guy that scored 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half and was virtually unstoppable? What's that you say, they were double-teaming him? Then somebody HAD to be open. Anyone who thinks our 5 minute and under offense is all on the players hasn't been watching. We NEVER run set plays in those situations.....NEVER. Is that the player's fault? I think not.

The play where Gibbs dribble out the clock and throw up a desperation shot that was a shot clock violation, that was a set to get Miller the ball in the post. Miller was fighting for position and Gibbs was unable to get him the ball. So that takes Miller out! As a 5th year guard that is supposed to be a good player, you should know how to move on when a set play doesnt materialize. Depending on the shot clock you could reset the offense and try to run another play, OR you can try to create something on the fly. Gibbs decided to try to create something on the fly, the problem is, he isnt good at that. So in this situation Gibbs made a poor decision. He spent too much time trying to get Miller the ball and then didnt even have enough time to reset the offense (which he needs to do because he isnt quick enough to break down the defense off of the dribble).

the only other option is for Miller to catch the ball above the 3 point line and let him put the ball on the floor and drive (which hasnt worked out well for him in the past) or let him take the 3 (i guess we could have lived with that). But the play was to get him the ball in the post, Gibbs just couldnt execute.

I saw alot of sets being run, what i saw was players not playing well with each other and playing lazy or carelessly and turning the ball over and losing the game.

 

[Marty Jackson]

So temple is just full of cold blooded clutch players. And cinci. And Tulsa. But somehow we aren't.

The only way to win in college hoops is to have a kemba or bazz type of player?

This idea that we have nobody who wants to take the last shot is absurd. We may not have any great options but its literally the coaching staff's job To identify players strengths and weaknesses and manage accordingly. If you're team doesn't have that alpha male scorer then you draw up a play to get a decent shot. We literally do not do that.

Again it's dribble dribble dribble shot clock violation. Well whose job is it to either scream at them to run the play, or put someone in who will if they are failing to do so? How many games now has this happened?

In the temple, Tulsa, and cinci games, we have like 7 total points and 7 shot clock violations in a the last 5 minutes of each game. That's not simply a lack of alpha male. That's just poor coaching.

DeCosey sure seemed like he rose to the occassion. Definitely outwilled Purvis on that circus play.

 

[UConniki]

Our constant inability to even get a single shot off when the game is on the line has to fall on the Coaching staff at some point. Is there not a single play we can come up with that gets someone the ability to at least hoist the ball towards the rim? How many times have we had shot clock violations in crunch time, even after time outs? its baffling.

It couldn't be because of a lack of competent coaching????

 

[upstater]

From the start of the 2nd half until Temple made the 1st of 4 straight 3's at the 5:40 mark, UConn went 7/17 from the field and scored a total of 23 points. That pace would put them at 64.2 ppg, good enough for 329th in Division 1 basketball. Shonn Miller came out of the half and scored 9 quick points in the first 5 minutes. He had 1 shot attempt in the next 15 minutes. Do I want Ollie to make the layups and dunks for them? No. I want him to realize what's working and stick with it.

You are good at totally twisting stats.

That's for sure.

I was responding to your idea that UConn was inefficient on offense prior to the meltdown from the 5:40 mark on.

They converted on 11-20 trips.

This despite the fact they missed two bunnies and a slam dunk (not Ollie's fault), despite 2 offensive fouls (not his fault), despite 2 drives to the hoop that should have resulted in fouls.

The offense did not stall until the 6 minute mark.

There's no way you can twist this into saying it did.