Dont want to hear it

[mauconnfan]

If you think KO did a wonderful job..you do realize we don't run anything different from when we won a NC...the difference is the players. Secondly you can absolutely win a NC with relative poor strategy/ coaching if you have players are incredibly dominate. Look at Cuse with Melo, UConn with Bazz, UK with Davis, none of those teams ran incredible stuff they had a player who was transcendent in college basketball for that year.

Or UConn with Kemba?

 

[Pudge]

Or UConn with Kemba?

Well. You absolutely can convince yourself of anything. And rationalize. Rationalize. Rationalize.

Dump on Kevin Ollie. But he’s got a NC. The Davis + Melo + Danny Manning stories ... don’t equate to Kemba or Shabazz. IMHO. They were crafted Star + role players playing well.

There’s really is no analogy to Ollie in my mind ... Tubby Smith? Jim Harrick? Both were better than average coaches with Long tenures. Nobody with any sense would listen to your “fluke” argument and say what you do about Ollie.

I hope I see a far better Team the rest of this year. But ... my best case has KO going to the NBA and succeeding coaching again. Yup. I blame his Ex (wink).

 

[intlzncster]

I don’t know that WE can assume that Calhoun isn’t intimately involved these days. Practices. An ear? If it was me - my legacy - I’m there. Plus it’s Kevin. Something is wrong; kicking Glen Miller out (after Karl Hobbs left) didn’t solve it.

Most people report that JC isn't around much; that's not hard info to come by. Two of JC's guys have been fired. And he's doing his St. Joes thing now. It's not that hard to put three and three together.

 

[intlzncster]

Mostly agree, but there are two points. 1. I don't agree with the bolded part. I think they could have been much better.

Perhaps. As anyone who watches knows, damn near everybody can shoot in the NBA these days, and offenses are geared to this fact. Our guys categorically can't shoot. Would their %'s increase with better looks? Probably, but I can't imagine by a large amount. So maybe it would just look better with similar results? I would prefer something that got the guys more open looks, but I wouldn't be that hopeful for appreciably different success.

Even with the talent Calhoun had, I think that, in general, his later teams would have been more successful on offense running a different system. Teams like 2004 and 1999 were too loaded to be anything but great and the game hadn't yet shifted.

This could be idk. The emphasis for JC was always D and rebounding, transition, and then letting (long) athletes do their thing.

 

[Whtdmd]

He had two good seasons, one of which was great. For both of those seasons he had JC attending all the practices and experienced former head coaches on the bench. Coincidence? Since those coaches are gone, and JC stopped helping, the team has been pretty bad. Coincidence? He also had players almost entirely recruited by Calhoun those two seasons. Coincidence?

If Miller or Hobbs were so good, please explain to me how they were failures as head coaches. Please explain to be how they turn Rutgers around or other programs beating down the door to hire Miller. Kevin Ollie accomplish a lot in the first 4 yrs. The last two has been rough. He made the tough but necessary changes. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with the new players n recruits. I m a believer

 

[Chief00]

I don’t know that WE can assume that Calhoun isn’t intimately involved these days. Practices. An ear? If it was me - my legacy - I’m there. Plus it’s Kevin. Something is wrong; kicking Glen Miller out (after Karl Hobbs left) didn’t solve it.

We have a culture. It’s clear to me that there still are good players ... but they aren’t developing as well nor playing well together. And they aren’t dominating boards or getting 50/50 balls.

This. The buyout tells me that UConn can’t do it. The LEGACY tells me that we will get important change.

Calhoun isn’t intimately involved, KO’s choice.

 

[intlzncster]

If Miller or Hobbs were so good, please explain to me how they were failures as head coaches. Please explain to be how they turn Rutgers around or other programs beating down the door to hire Miller. Kevin Ollie accomplish a lot in the first 4 yrs. The last two has been rough. He made the tough but necessary changes. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with the new players n recruits. I m a believer

Just because you aren't a great HC, doesn't mean you can't be a great assistant. Different job descriptions. This is probably a pretty common thing.

 

[UC1995]

I see what other programs are able to do bringing in a new person and see how quickly they turn it around. Look at Chris Holtmann at Ohio State... that program was on life support after they asked Matta to leave. Bad recruits and lackluster play. Matta was a very good coach and great guy but when things got to average they made the change. No questions asked. That is what good programs do. They aren't afraid to pull the trigger to late. Uconn is in a bad rut and no one on the roster coach or player is going to get them out as is.

I love Ollie and wish him well. I got to hang out with him as a student and him and Boo were always around hanging our dorm. Personally great guy, but he just has lost that "IT" factor. The guys he had who bought in were older guys who had a chip on shoulder. The new guys just never got what he was preaching.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I grant you, it is all relative. Whether you are taking #10 instead of #5 or #100 instead of #50, the reason you are making that choice is what matters. Differences in ability between similarly ranked players are bigger at the elite level than they are in the 50-100 range. In the end, you need to be able to spot "the right players" "that want to be here". It isn't just about raw physical ability.

Again, I'm not sure the UConn women's team is your best exemplar. Taking a 4-star transfer ranked 50th in the country is a luxury you have when you're rolling out a starting lineup of 5 stars and you only need 6 points a game from last year's #1 recruit in the country.

 

[MASSconn]

This take SUCKS.

 

[Pudge]

I see what other programs are able to do bringing in a new person and see how quickly they turn it around. Look at Chris Holtmann at Ohio State... that program was on life support after they asked Matta to leave. Bad recruits and lackluster play. Matta was a very good coach and great guy but when things got to average they made the change. No questions asked. That is what good programs do. They aren't afraid to pull the trigger to late. Uconn is in a bad rut and no one on the roster coach or player is going to get them out as is.

I love Ollie and wish him well. I got to hang out with him as a student and him and Boo were always around hanging our dorm. Personally great guy, but he just has lost that "IT" factor. The guys he had who bought in were older guys who had a chip on shoulder. The new guys just never got what he was preaching.

I don’t think so. Apples and oranges. Just on Budget. Few Universities could act like Ohio State

Comparables?

 

[Huskymagic]

Ollie is soft. The team is soft. Forget shooting or offensive sets. Not completely but they are secondary.

Ollie built an NBA career by putting his head down, working hard, never complaining and never giving up. He was selfless, a great teammate. He didn't cause any trouble. He deferred to the leaders on his teams. He listened to coaches and was self motivated. He exemplified being a good pro. He was all about basketball and team all the time. He was selfless yet carried himself with class.

He now has a much different job. JC, Bobby Knight, Coach K, these guys are obnoxious. They are not likable. They yell, swear, complain, are demonstrative, they ride the refs, they get technical fouls and kicked out of games. Sometimes they pull the starters and put in walk ons. They go right to the line and bully players. They are not nice.

When was the last time Ollie used a technical foul to motivate his team or put a ref on notice? I can't recall ever. He only receives technicals when he loses his cool. When he can't control himself. He doesn't understand that technicals are tools. I don't recall Kevin ever grabbing a kid by the shirt to get his attention. Hell, I don't remember ever seeing him mad.

The things that made Kevin valuable in the NBA are not the things that will make him valuable as a college coach. The things that made him survive in the NBA, now make him look passive. Fighting quietly doesn't look like fighting at all. Being under control looks like lack of passion. Courtesy comes off as surrender. Respecting the refs is much less important than defending your players.

Unfortunately, the things that set an example as a player, send the wrong message as the coach. The players reflect his softness not his work ethic.

Can KO evolve as a coach? Become a mean, tough, SOB? Respect is great but fear is better, can he instill it? That will eventually determine his future success.

When we see an mean, tough SOB standing in front of the bench berating a ref, that will be progress to me.

Great post, and I agree with your post, but Ollie won't develop into that because its a personality thing. People don't change personalities, they are who they are for the most part especially at Ollie's age.

He's a Pollyanna and there is no changing that. Anyone who uses lines like "ain't nothing crushing us" after losing for the 4th year in a row to Tulsa and coming from consecutive losses isn't in the right frame of mind and can't be taken seriously.

PS: This is typical especially when a UCONN player makes a boneheaded and undisciplined play or the team allows wide open 3 after wide open 3 and a timeout is called, Ollie instead of hammering the team and getting into his players, he CLAPS his hands and motivates them by clapping as though he is applauding them. Positive behavior techniques don't work.

 

[DMIL]

Maybe is soft in some areas however stern in others. You are comparing a relatively young college coach to HOF coaches that have been coaching for 35 to 40 years plus. This is not the right comparison and short sighted as Calhoun is not returning. The kids are much different now, a different time. The guys you are referencing are a dying breed and will be extinct soon. The things they get and got away with you cannot get away with today. There are a lot more different ways to coach, motivate and mentor than doing it by fear man. Ollie is his own man and let's not act like his style has not worked before because it has. I love Jim Calhoun but he is not coming back. Your analysis of their differences are on point but the premise that the only way to coach and get ideal results is by coaching with fear and straddling the line of ethics is simply not true. Kids don't respond to that style like they used to. The remaining coaches that coach this way get a pass because of their HOF credentials.

 

[Fishy]

ahhh ...

Here is the rub: Kevin Ollie is in his - 6th? - not very experienced in understanding that type of recruiting. The "Right Kind of Guy" stuff. Auriemma, Calhoun, Edsall, Penders ... all of them had years to develop that feel.

If Ollie made big mistakes, shame on us. We expected him to have this cold; the reality is that he started with limited years of evaluation on this component.

This is not a good take.

Ollie doesn’t like recruiting, so he has tended to just not do it.

I don’t know that WE can assume that Calhoun isn’t intimately involved these days. Practices. An ear? If it was me - my legacy - I’m there. Plus it’s Kevin. Something is wrong; kicking Glen Miller out (after Karl Hobbs left) didn’t solve it.

Calhoun is not “intimately involved.” He’s not welcome.

 

[DMIL]

Have to disagree with you. It's not his fault Vance's dad decided he wants Vance to be Kobe. That's not on Ollie. Durham was a risk, but we waited him out, and Durham decided to bolt. Again, I don't blame Ollie.

He's been unlucky. Gilbert is a player. He's played all of what 5 games for us in 2 yrs? You can tell from watching him he's a good player. If passed on him for a lower ranked player people on this board would have KILLED him like they're killing him now. Hindsight is 20/20. I think Ollie deserves a chance to right the ship. If we're still treading water in 2 yrs, then we can discuss a firing.

Turnover at head coach is not a good thing. Ask the Cleveland Browns.

Right on the mark man....

 

[TyroneShoo]

Ollie needs to go

 

[David 76]

So, KO went from NC coach to not being able to get above .500 in 5 seasons, if that is what you choose to believe thats cool.

I think that is pretty clearly fact. Except it is < 4 years.

 

[David 76]

Most people report that JC isn't around much; that's not hard info to come by. Two of JC's guys have been fired. And he's doing his St. Joes thing now. It's not that hard to put three and three together.

Didn't one leave for a better job?

 

[David 76]

Just out of curiosity, who are the "lesser players" in this current iteration of the women's team, because looking at their bios, we must be working with different definitions of the word.

Players 8-13

 

[traitor71]

What must be done inevitably, should be done immediately. Having said that, I am against mid season firings unless you have a total disaster or some sort of off the court controversy. Crazy as it sounds, I don't think this has reached total disaster status just yet. There is still some slim hope that by playing hard and getting some luck, this team can have a season that isn't a complete disgrace. I think that is the best that can be hoped for however. This team isn't going to have a good record, isn't going to have any postseason to really get excited about, and just doesn't appear to have enough guys that can actually play basketball at a high level.

The really scary part to me is looking at the schedule and asking myself what games can be expected to be a win. I pretty much feel like we can lose every time we step on the court and I don't feel like that ends anytime soon. That is the program that KO has "built". I don't have any confidence that he can turn that around and I have a hard time imagining him being around next year if the season completely tanks as I fear it will.

I'd like to be wrong, I am sure we would all like to be wrong about this, but I feel like I have seen this before at other programs, in other sports, and it pretty much never turns around as each bad season makes it harder to get back to relevance, much less prominence.

 

[Pudge]

This is not a good take.

Ollie doesn’t like recruiting, so he has tended to just not do it.



Calhoun is not “intimately involved.” He’s not welcome.

I only know one thing about Storrs ... I’ve got a semesters tuition bill to pay + there’s a nice apartment rental bill.

If Calhoun isn’t involved, DB has to figure out a new way forward. That’s like stripping the buildings of FFE and plumbing.

 

[CTBasketball]

Other than attending some games for a laugh, Calhoun hasn’t been involved with the program in some time.

 

[Fishy]

I only know one thing about Storrs ... I’ve got a semesters tuition bill to pay + there’s a nice apartment rental bill.

If Calhoun isn’t involved, DB has to figure out a new way forward. That’s like stripping the buildings of FFE and plumbing.

One of the kids goes to UConn now?

 

[tentoes4rings]

I realize the pickings were thin last spring but KO and Chill should have known that a real 3 pt threat was really needed. Even if he took a kid that was not as athletic but could hit a 3 and knock down his FT.
We have streaky scorers not shooters.

This is the exact type player KO has ignored the past 5 years and we’ve paid the price dearly. Basketball IQ has been a major issue as well.

 

[Pudge]

One of the kids goes to UConn now?

Yup.

I should have parked myself in CT or bought a land ... paid property taxes. Then, this year, I find her at the Oaks. Big room, yoga and spin class; and seriously studying. They grow up.