Do you believe?

[whaler11]

I'll give it to you straight: This team is going nowhere. Harvard on Wednesday is going to be like getting kicked in the balls.

I imagine you remember the Iowa State drubbing - be prepared for something similar. That's how this season will end.

I still think Ollie is the right guy. He's is going to need some time. Time to grow into his position. Time to put together a staff that can develop players. Time to put together a roster that has the upside we desire.

It's an impossible time to be patient. That's the perfect time to be a contrarian (whaler11 ™). Nothing makes winning sweeter than being there through the darkest days.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Good point about the staff. Not only is Ollie a newcomer to coaching, but so are Freeman and Moore. I imagine it'll be difficult to cut ties with coaches (if need be) because they are UConn guys, but it's remarkable nobody on the team has any concept on how to box out.

I think this team can maybe get to a Sweet 16, if we get some breaks, but we've been exposed and anything deeper than that seems very improbable.

 

[Adios]

...whaler11 ™...

Since when were you Kevin Dineen?

We're sorely lacking an inside game.

 

[Ts5034]

I stand somewhere in the middle. Im holding out hope that somebody out of Brimah, Nolan, Facey, or Olander can turn the corner and give us at least something.

 

[mauconnfan]

Good point about the staff. Not only is Ollie a newcomer to coaching, but so are Freeman and Moore. I imagine it'll be difficult to cut ties with coaches (if need be) because they are UConn guys, but it's remarkable nobody on the team has any concept on how to box out.

I think this team can maybe get to a Sweet 16, if we get some breaks, but we've been exposed and anything deeper than that seems very improbable.

You really believe no one on the team has the "concept on how to box out"? Maybe they elect not to but they all know how to…..if you don't think they've had drills until they puke you are wrong. They just don't when the time comes and people need to be held accountable. But the other problem is our best rebounders, or the one's who should be, aren't good rebounders whether they box out or not. Not strong enough, not savvy enough you name it.

They've been taught how to box out numerous times, it's now on them to man up.

 

[GlastonTim]

A swing and a miss.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

You really believe no one on the team has the "concept on how to box out"? Maybe they elect not to but they all know how to…..if you don't think they've had drills until they puke you are wrong. They just don't when the time comes and people need to be held accountable. But the other problem is our best rebounders, or the one's who should be, aren't good rebounders whether they box out or not. Not strong enough, not savvy enough you name it.

They've been taught how to box out numerous times, it's now on them to man up.

I'm sure they've been taught how to in practice, but maybe whatever they are doing isn't working (as evidence by the games).

I'm a firm believer that rebounding ( and defense for that matter) aren't just results of effort but skills.

The box out is a fundamental skill, and while I'm sure it's emphasized, maybe the teaching just isn't good enough?

 

[patrick]

You asked if we believe?!

Yes I Believe.

 

[Jerry1714]

Team has a lot of issues, but I still think at the end of the day this team will finish in the Top 25.

 

[upstater]

I think Karl Hobbs and Glen Miller have been coaches for a while. They might know a thing or two.

 

[babysheep]

I believe KO knows more about basketball than all of us combined. Maybe if you had a shred of a clue comparable to his, you'd have spent more than 0 time sniffing D1 bball, let alone the NBA, let alone for 13 seasons. I also believe that a lot of people have been making themselves look like foolish knowitall drama queens these last couple weeks; as if no college coach worth his contract has ever had struggles during a season, which, by the way, isn't even half way over yet.

 

[DCUconnfan]

I think whaler11 goes too far. I put my moneyball hat on and dove in to top line statistics. I tried pasting in the tables so you all could see, but they come out all screwed up once it's posted, so I'll just give you the gist of it. In our loses, the one consistent is that if and when we shoot below 34% from 3, we lose. From a rebounding perspective, all our losses we were outrebounded, but not by a large amount, and our average rebounding margin for the year is -0.5. This needs to change. But here's the thing - looking deeper, it couldn't be any more apparent that our problem is Offensive rebounding in specific. Our O/D rebounding ratio is 28% vs opponents at 37%. So, it's as simple as this, when we miss our 3s and get 0 second chances, we lose. We're shooting on average 19 3s per game, which is about the national average. But when every long rebound goes away from us, we've got a big problem. I see it time and time again, it feels like the basketball has some gravitational pull to the other team on long boards. I see it as 50% the fact we have no big man that can take down the short rebounds, and 50% that every long rebound that's out there goes to the other team. Bazz is the only one that crashes for long boards after his shots. OC, Giffey, Boat, Daniels, they're all still after dropping a 3.

I still think this team has plenty of room to improve and plenty of talent on the roster, and am not ready to give up yet. Kick to the nuts from Harvard? Yep, possibly. And it'd def feel like it. But they're a good team, and if we win, it'll make those first two AAC games feel like an aberration.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The vast majority here aren't claiming to know more than KO or that he isn't the right man for the job. We look lost out there and our rebounding has been abysmal. Some of that has to fall on the coaches and it deserves to be called out.

I doubt many guys on here played FBS football, but does that fact alone disqualify our opinions on Coach P, knowing full well P knows more football than anyone on this board as well?

 

[CTBasketball]

I think we have a case of team problems. The body language on the court reminds me of 2011-2012. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[mauconnfan]

I think we have a case of team problems. The body language on the court reminds me of 2011-2012. I hope I'm wrong though.

KO was able to motivate these guys while not even playing for anything last year……that hasn't gone away. I guess the question now lies in the hearts of the kids themselves……and the sacks.

Also the way they are playing is showing on their faces because early when things were good they had some smiles and some fun, there hasn't been any in a while. They are pressing as players and a team. Time to have fun again and time to win again.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

Calm down. Don't post something like this until after we play harvard, Memphis and Louisville. We're 11-3, not 7-7....

 

[HawkHusky]

I don't blame Ollie for their performance, and I don't think it's a motivation issue. I think the guards (particularly Boatright and Shabazz) are tired from having to do most of the work every single game. How well UCONN does depends on how well the bigs (Brimah, Nolan, Facey, Olander) develop and mature by the end of the season.

 

[sdhusky]

It's an impossible time to be patient. That's the perfect time to be a contrarian (whaler11 ™). Nothing makes winning sweeter than being there through the darkest days.

I don't think it will be a many dark days. Ollie will have this turned around by March and we'll make a nice run.

I'm not surprised this team has WTF losses. Its not built to grind out wins no matter how its shooting.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

We have the best player in the country who has a ring. We haven't been blown out in either of the 3 losses. We're simply in a slump, which the 2011 team had plenty of.

 

[HawkHusky]

Calm down. Don't post something like this until after we play harvard, Memphis and Louisville. We're 11-3, not 7-7....

Exactly. And it's not like Houston and SMU are the bottom of the AAC. If we start losing to Rutgers and Temple...then that may be time for the questioning.

 

[tykurez]

I think whaler11 goes too far. I put my moneyball hat on and dove in to top line statistics. I tried pasting in the tables so you all could see, but they come out all screwed up once it's posted, so I'll just give you the gist of it. In our loses, the one consistent is that if and when we shoot below 34% from 3, we lose. From a rebounding perspective, all our losses we were outrebounded, but not by a large amount, and our average rebounding margin for the year is -0.5. This needs to change. But here's the thing - looking deeper, it couldn't be any more apparent that our problem is Offensive rebounding in specific. Our O/D rebounding ratio is 28% vs opponents at 37%. So, it's as simple as this, when we miss our 3s and get 0 second chances, we lose. We're shooting on average 19 3s per game, which is about the national average. But when every long rebound goes away from us, we've got a big problem. I see it time and time again, it feels like the basketball has some gravitational pull to the other team on long boards. I see it as 50% the fact we have no big man that can take down the short rebounds, and 50% that every long rebound that's out there goes to the other team. Bazz is the only one that crashes for long boards after his shots. OC, Giffey, Boat, Daniels, they're all still after dropping a 3.

I still think this team has plenty of room to improve and plenty of talent on the roster, and am not ready to give up yet. Kick to the nuts from Harvard? Yep, possibly. And it'd def feel like it. But they're a good team, and if we win, it'll make those first two AAC games feel like an aberration.

Great post.

Ultimately, I think the "long rebound phenomenon" still comes down to boxing out. Our guys watch the other guy's shots instead of looking for a man to box out. It's teachable. It's fixable. I hope they're hammering it home in practice.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Do I believe in Ollie as the long-term solution? Yes, though I'd like to start seeing some on-court evidence.

Do I believe in the 2014 team's ability to deliver a satisfying season? Increasingly less.

We've had too many seasons lately (2010, 2012) where we've stumbled and bumbled through the early part of the schedule, with posters clamoring to keep the faith that we'll turn it around, where we've never turned it around. More often than not, the team you have on January 6 is the team you'll have on March 6, especially with a roster as veteran as this one (similar to 2010). Hopefully a mediocre season in the first year of the post-realignment era doesn't bury us as a national program in the way I fear it will.

 

[Strummer]

I'm holding out hope that somebody out of Brimah, Nolan, Facey, or Olander can turn the corner and give us at least something.

I respect the hope for Brimah, Nolan, and Facey.

But if, after 3.3 seasons of watching Tyler Olander, you expect that he will "turn the corner" in the 90 or so days that are left in his career at UConn, then that hyper optimism warrants your new nickname - Solar Ass - because you're pooping sunshine son.

 

[HawkHusky]

Do I believe in Ollie as the long-term solution? Yes, though I'd like to start seeing some on-court evidence.

Do I believe in the 2014 team's ability to deliver a satisfying season? Increasingly less.

We've had too many seasons lately (2010, 2012) where we've stumbled and bumbled through the early part of the schedule, with posters clamoring to keep the faith that we'll turn it around, where we've never turned it around. More often than not, the team you have on January 6 is the team you'll have on March 6, especially with a roster as veteran as this one (similar to 2010). Hopefully a mediocre season in the first year of the post-realignment era doesn't bury us as a national program in the way I fear it will.

UCONN is fine with their veteran guard play..it's their inexperienced freshmen/sophomore bigs (Brimah, Facey, Nolan) that we need more from. If you need an example of a freshman big who was mediocre/inconsistent but developed as the year progressed (especially end of the year)...

Here you go:

http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/pl...&chart3=assists&chart4=rebounds_total&chart5=

 

[patrick]

Just a thought but why not let Brimah play more?
Doesn't he have the biggest upside?