Disaster without Ollie

[Dogdeacon]

The idea that Manuel screwed up essentially due to supply and demand forces is off the mark. Ollie wants to coach at UConn, period. In a sense, Ollie screwed up first in making it quite well known this is his absolute dream job, even forsaking an NBA coaching path for this. In a sense, Manuel would have merely balanced the demand part of the equation by allowing Ollie to prove himself before getting him "on the cheap."

Of course, if getting something "on the cheap" for long term is the goal then, yes, you could say Manuel may have missed an opportunity. But I hope instead that Manuel's main goal is to have a great basketball program, regardless of the cost. If either Ollie signs Parker or does well coaching this year I think we will see an extension before April, and I bet Manuel won't be gnashing his teeth because he could not accomplish the task "on the cheap."

To a degree you are over-thinking this as well. Even if Manuel signed Ollie on the cheap (which none of us should care a lick about) if Ollie is successful he would very likely get a raise. Any scenario that has Ollie doing well and in demand by other schools affords (and probably necessitates) UConn the opportunity to sign and extend him. But Ollie has only been in the coaching game a very short time, he's unproven and other than the UConn pedigree and Jim Calhoun stamp of approval Kevin Ollie's 2nd best job he could get pre-this hire is NBA 2nd assistant or 2-3yr contract at a DII-ish school. So given that getting the UConn job is a major jump UConn giving a one-year contract makes sense on almost every level (other than recruiting which KO can sell thru).

Meanwhile, Ollie parlayed a mere two years as an assistant into a head coaching job at one of the top-10 schools in the country. To say he 'screwed up' in any sense is absurd. KO only gets the UConn job if its his dream job and he only keeps it if he lives that dream of success at UConn every day.

Bottom line both parties want to make it work and will do their best to do so despite the half-baked arguments, pretend contract negotiations and speculation of a bunch of us fans (myself included) with no say in the matter.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I personally believe that this is little more than a means for Manuel to demonstrate that the new head coach was his decision, not JC's. This will work itself out by mid February.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Manuel is losing ground... on what? Convincing you that he knows more about being an Athletic Director of a major college than you. What has Manuel done to you or your family that you are strafing the guy so bad in numerous threads?

It's pretty clear what I wrote - you need read your insinuation again. You said "If Parker commits contingent on Ollie getting an extension Ollie can name his price." I said that if a recruit backchannels a demand for a contract extension for the coach before he signs his LOI, Manuel should tell the kid to take a hike and then fire KO for unprofessional behavior. You made it an overt demand - not a wink and a nod.

And to address your other question: "So you are telling me a recruit who commits to Ollie should stay committed to UCONN even if Ollie is replaced?" We just had recruits who committed to another coach who is no longer here, recommit to UConn - but I'm sure you'll spin that around as well.

... and a "one and done" carries less weight than you think!

Who says that if Parker verbals to UConn contingent on Ollie getting an extension that Ollie was involved in unprofessional behavior? Can't the kid do this on his own? Maybe he actually wants to play more than one year (unlikely) and doesn't want to come to UConn knowing that the coach he is coming to play for might be gone in less than a year.

 

[huskymedic]

Who says that if Parker verbals to UConn contingent on Ollie getting an extension that Ollie was involved in unprofessional behavior? Can't the kid do this on his own? Maybe he actually wants to play more than one year (unlikely) and doesn't want to come to UConn knowing that the coach he is coming to play for might be gone in less than a year.

We don't... I didn't start the hypothesis. It is possible that JP makes the conditional commitment on his own without KO involvement.

 

[Danzz]

Manuel is new and needs to make his mark. I'm sure he has some resentment toward JC by waiting as long as he did to retire and basically forcing Manuel to hire Ollie. I can't blame Manuel for feeling manipulated because he was. Most likely Ollie's 1 year contract was Manuel's way of striking back and probably was the result of a compromise authored by Herbst.
IMO the best thing for the program would have been to sign Ollie to a 3 year contract with 2 years guaranteed. It isn't fair to tie Ollie's performance evaluation to this team next year because they may not have enough talent in the front court to compete in the BE.

 

[diggerfoot]

To a degree you are over-thinking this as well. Even if Manuel signed Ollie on the cheap (which none of us should care a lick about) if Ollie is successful he would very likely get a raise. Any scenario that has Ollie doing well and in demand by other schools affords (and probably necessitates) UConn the opportunity to sign and extend him. But Ollie has only been in the coaching game a very short time, he's unproven and other than the UConn pedigree and Jim Calhoun stamp of approval Kevin Ollie's 2nd best job he could get pre-this hire is NBA 2nd assistant or 2-3yr contract at a DII-ish school. So given that getting the UConn job is a major jump UConn giving a one-year contract makes sense on almost every level (other than recruiting which KO can sell thru).

Meanwhile, Ollie parlayed a mere two years as an assistant into a head coaching job at one of the top-10 schools in the country. To say he 'screwed up' in any sense is absurd. KO only gets the UConn job if its his dream job and he only keeps it if he lives that dream of success at UConn every day.

Bottom line both parties want to make it work and will do their best to do so despite the half-baked arguments, pretend contract negotiations and speculation of a bunch of us fans (myself included) with no say in the matter.

At first I was not sure how you were concluding I was overthinking this, since I'm not overly concerned one way or the other. But I can see how you could misconstrue my "Ollie screwed up" statement. In reality, I don't think either screwed up, just as I don't think you can apply supply and demand parameters to this situation of mutual interests.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

We don't... I didn't start the hypothesis. It is possible that JP makes the conditional commitment on his own without KO involvement.

Then why should KO be fired for unprofessional behavior?

This is what you said: I said that if a recruit backchannels a demand for a contract extension for the coach before he signs his LOI, Manuel should tell the kid to take a hike and then fire KO for unprofessional behavior

 

[huskymedic]

Then why should KO be fired for unprofessional behavior?

This is what you said: I said that if a recruit backchannels a demand for a contract extension for the coach before he signs his LOI, Manuel should tell the kid to take a hike and then fire KO for unprofessional behavior

If it was orchestrated by KO. I'm NOT saying it will be orchestrated (as i also said - not Ko's style) it was just a counterpoint to Mets comment/arguement.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Oh duck! Can the season please start already!!!!!!! How many of these, "I hate Manuel for not giving Ollie a 10 year, 100 billion contract" are we going to have to see pop up on the board? And, YES, I know I don't have to read them. But here is the catch, people who insist on posting these threads and continuing this anti-Manuel pissing contest are NOT doing the program any good. If any writers, players or recruits read this, it WILL have an impact. It will inject negative feelings and energy into the program, indirectly and directly. And that will NOT be good for Ollie, who needs to have everyone rowing together to be successful and get that contract extension. Enough already...for the LOVE OF GOD!!!

If it makes you feel better, try this. Put yourself in Manuel's shoes. It is his JOB to do what is best for the program. If he hired Ollie to a four year contract and Ollie turned out to be a bad head coach, for whatever reason, he would have failed to do his job. Just about everyone from Herbst to the governor would be asking him why in the world he would give a long term contract to someone that never coached a game in his life. If you step back from the ledge and really think about this, it makes perfect sense to give him a chance to prove himself but not give him a long term contract until he does. It is the logical, prudent and responsible thing to do.

And realize that no amount of pissing and moaning will change the coaching situation right now. If Kevin is successful, and starts racking up wins, people can and will start calling for a contract extension. The more wins he gets, the louder the noise will get. If people keep it positive by just calling for the extension because they think he had proven himself, it probably will happen. But if people take the, "Manuel is an idiot and refuses to be fair to Ollie" approach, it might actually backfire and cause Manuel to resist extending him.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Who says that if Parker verbals to UConn contingent on Ollie getting an extension that Ollie was involved in unprofessional behavior? Can't the kid do this on his own? Maybe he actually wants to play more than one year (unlikely) and doesn't want to come to UConn knowing that the coach he is coming to play for might be gone in less than a year.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

By the way, Jabari Parker carries a ton of weight. To think otherwise is nonsensical. You get him to sign in November and you'll have a ton of talented kids from 2013-2015 thinking a lot differently about UConn.

 

[CTBasketball]

Blaming Manuel is wrong. He did wonders at Buffalo for their athletic program and I'm not upset he gave Ollie a 1-year deal. When you look at things realistically, it is the right thing to do from a managerial standpoint.

 

[ctchamps]

To a degree you are over-thinking this as well. Even if Manuel signed Ollie on the cheap (which none of us should care a lick about) if Ollie is successful he would very likely get a raise. Any scenario that has Ollie doing well and in demand by other schools affords (and probably necessitates) UConn the opportunity to sign and extend him. But Ollie has only been in the coaching game a very short time, he's unproven and other than the UConn pedigree and Jim Calhoun stamp of approval Kevin Ollie's 2nd best job he could get pre-this hire is NBA 2nd assistant or 2-3yr contract at a DII-ish school. So given that getting the UConn job is a major jump UConn giving a one-year contract makes sense on almost every level (other than recruiting which KO can sell thru).

Meanwhile, Ollie parlayed a mere two years as an assistant into a head coaching job at one of the top-10 schools in the country. To say he 'screwed up' in any sense is absurd. KO only gets the UConn job if its his dream job and he only keeps it if he lives that dream of success at UConn every day.

Bottom line both parties want to make it work and will do their best to do so despite the half-baked arguments, pretend contract negotiations and speculation of a bunch of us fans (myself included) with no say in the matter.

Nice post. Personally I would have liked a three year contract with an easy buy out, but I can't argue with your logic.

I think KO's hire was done with the conferring of several parties: Manuel, Herbst, JC and even JC's staff including KO. I believe it was not a rushed decision. And I believe they set it up to avoid a national search to take the heat off Manuel. Hathaway got a lot of heat over PP. I can just imagine what WM would have gotten if he hired KO over a proven coach.

I just don't understand why the prevailing view on these threads is that one individual made the decision at the expense of another party: either Manuel pulled rank over JC or JC pulled rank over Manuel. Maybe we're missing the competition of the bb season and have to create a contest.

 

[freescooter]

here's my basic request on the Ollie situation.
1. Can we please stop talking about what a great recruiter he is until he actually recruits somebody? Two guys in the 60-125 range are just not that big a deal.
2. Can we please stop talking about how much knowledge he has about the game until we see him actually coach a game? he has yet to run an official practice never mind make mid-game decisions, so lets watch that before we decide he's another Calhoun.
3. I can't believe that people actually would let a recruit make the decision on who our head coach should be. That might be something that they'd consider at Memphis or someplace, but I should think, and I would hope that the University of Connecticut would have higher standards than that. I mean if, say Parker, were to actually do that, and Manuel were to agree, what happens when the next guy comes along and says "I don'tlike Ollie, but if you fire him and hire my old AAU coach I'll come to your school?" Or for that matter, when Ollie tries to sit him down for lack of hustle? If he can hire Ollie, can he also fire Ollie? Jeesh. Let's drop that line of thinking going forward, huh?