Do Other People Understand Ollie's Strategies?

[nyhusky89]

UConn opened up an 11-2 lead very early. From the first three minutes, you'd have thunk they'd win by 35+ and if they let the starters run for another few minutes the game would be over. I am certain KO see's this too, but he goes the other direction. Instead of running them out of the gym, KO ends up with Samuel, Cassell, Calhoun, Facey and Lubin. The offense actually was not terrible, Samuel orchestrated things fairly well considering the run they gave up, but the D was atrocious and beat routinely in every way possible except a drive 1-1 drive. The point is KO knows that if coaches like a tournament game, he can/should come away with an easy W and let the starters rest much of the second half. But you need to be able to trust more than 1 lineup in March and he needs to know who can step up in different spots. He is not trying to keep Columbia in the game. I am sure he would love to be able to extend leads with his bench, especially against an Ivy (think Bazz in the 1st half against Nova going to the bench and watching the team come out of that deep hole), but this team is not deep enough to do that.

I am not saying our top 4-5 played flawlessly. What I am saying is that this is part of who Kevin Ollie is and how he coaches and getting up in arms over it is pointless. He is going to give everyone run in most games and they will play in unconventional line ups. The idea is, in March, when your lead guard gets into foul trouble late in the season, you can put in an unheralded freshman (Samuel last year for example) and keep the boat afloat.

It will be plain to see, after the game, if boat.purvis.hamilton.brimah.facey played terrible and cost the team the game. I just wanted to prempt the "this team is horrible" storyline, when, very clearly, this team is not horrible-it isnt great either, but i havent seen anyone, ever, jump on them for being too good.

 

[mauconnfan]

 

[Gurleyman]

UConn opened up an 11-2 lead very early. From the first three minutes, you'd have thunk they'd win by 35+ and if they let the starters run for another few minutes the game would be over. I am certain KO see's this too, but he goes the other direction. Instead of running them out of the gym, KO ends up with Samuel, Cassell, Calhoun, Facey and Lubin. The offense actually was not terrible, Samuel orchestrated things fairly well considering the run they gave up, but the D was atrocious and beat routinely in every way possible except a drive 1-1 drive. The point is KO knows that if coaches like a tournament game, he can/should come away with an easy W and let the starters rest much of the second half. But you need to be able to trust more than 1 lineup in March and he needs to know who can step up in different spots. He is not trying to keep Columbia in the game. I am sure he would love to be able to extend leads with his bench, especially against an Ivy (think Bazz in the 1st half against Nova going to the bench and watching the team come out of that deep hole), but this team is not deep enough to do that. I am not saying our top 4-5 played flawlessly. What I am saying is that this is part of who Kevin Ollie is and how he coaches and getting up in arms over it is pointless. He is going to give everyone run in most games and they will play in unconventional line ups. The idea is, in March, when your lead guard gets into foul trouble late in the season, you can put in an unheralded freshman (Samuel last year for example) and keep the boat afloat. It will be plain to see, after the game, if boat.purvis.hamilton.brimah.facey played terrible and cost the team the game. I just wanted to prempt the "this team is horrible" storyline, when, very clearly, this team is not horrible-it isnt great either, but i havent seen anyone, ever, jump on them for being too good.

He made many of his changes in the first half after defensive lapses. Hamilton did a lousy job getting out on his man in the corner (on the guys second straight three) and Omar came in for him. Brimah bit on a fake needlessly, and got caught out of position, so Nolan came in (then got beat on a fake and fouled from behind - although the rebound on the ensuing missed FT was actually pretty impressive - an angry rebound he snatched from everyone). Facey came out once when he was beaten on the glass. Boat also came out after napping on a back door cut, but he might have been due for a break anyway.

I don't think we were going to blow them out by 30+. They do too many things well. We threw the first punch, but they punched back.

 

[nyhusky89]

I agree with everything you said, but i think the point remains that he is more willing than many other coaches to sit those guys down, while getting younger/depth players important minutes). Those two plays (ham/brimah) stuck out especially. they definitely looked like they got a bit lazy, but would you ever expect samuel/cassell/calhoun/lunin/nolan to play any time together, much less 3+ minutes in a row?

I guess my point is he is the anti-boeheim. He has no problem putting guys in uncomfortable situations and letting them play through things, even if it means the team goes down by a few baskets. He does the same thing in any number of games, coaching for the long term. I did not mean to suggest that he wont/doesnt have a quick leash sometimes (was especially tough on samuels last year) or that he is happy to watch a lead slip away, but that he does a lot of teaching in the games.