Enoch is transferring

[TheChamps990411]

Didn't really expect this, but I guess I can see why it is happening.

Best of luck to Steve. Hope everything works out for him.

Wish him the best but it really puts us i a bind. Man can we get a break?!!! This season has been a frikking nightmare.

 

[TheChamps990411]

This makes sense to me. He wants to develop and it's a weakness of the staff and the system that big men have made little progress under KO.

Thats not a good sign at all. Clyde Vaughn needs to be brought back asap!!!

 

[UConnfan8]

Not sure if I like that. I'd prefer that KO be the one to make the decisions about his staff. What do you think JC would have done if Jeff Hathaway started telling him who to put on his staff?

JC was a much better coach than KO.

 

[NielsisGood]

This makes sense to me. He wants to develop and it's a weakness of the staff and the system that big men have made little progress under KO.

What? Facey was legit good this year and that DeAndre Daniels guy was pretty great as a stretch 4 in 2014, and would very possibly be playing in the NBA right now if he had come back for another year. The reason why Brimah never developed more is simply because he was just a limited player that doesn't have the body coordination or understanding of the game to be any better than he was.

 

[champs99and04]

The staff may have fell short developing some big men, but I think it's a largely overstated problem. Brimah was a project who got much better as a rebounder during his carer, Facey was a skilled but raw/thin kid from Jamaica that got much better defensively, and all of the other guys - Nolan, Olander, etc. - were what they were.

So I've got some news for Enoch: your deficiencies have nothing to do with skill, and really, nothing to do with offense at all. And I suspect that, if you're honest with yourself, this has nothing to do with development at all. Of all the things Ollie may struggle as a coach, teaching defensive fundamentals is not among them. What you needed more than anything was a grad level course in defending within a system and instead you opted to get your GED and find a program (and there are plenty) willing to take you for what you are.

This is about trying to find somebody who will tolerate your ineptitude defensively. And that's fine. I would do the same thing. Go to a school like Creighton that doesn't mind playing 90-80 games, average 18 and 8, and perhaps draw some interest from the NBA.

Let's just not act like this is about you getting better as a player. Ollie not only refuses to hide you defensively, but he runs a system that demands everything from you on that end. And the NBA isn't going to hide you defensively either, so you'll probably post better numbers at whatever program you end up with next, but you won't be a better player in the long run. That's just my opinion.

I'll be rooting for Steve, but this is not the time for the gnats to swarm to the "the staff can't develop big men!" narrative. This was the program naturally selecting another player, even if they wanted him back in a vacuum (and I wanted him back, too, so don't get me wrong).

 

[huskyharry]

You guys go to games and watch what happened ? It tells a lot more than what you see on TV.

When Enoch was on the floor and UConn was defending near their own bench Ollie would literally have to coach Enoch for full possessions . Point to areas of the floor to stand. Everything . It was like watching a coach in a tee ball game positioning kindergarteners.

This is a high division 1 college player.

I like Steve and I think he has some skills.

Not a good fit for the way KO wants to play. We will be fine .

I hope you are right!

 

[huskyharry]

Darn, that doesn't sound good!

 

[huskyrob1]

So why would one transfer when you are next up for the starting spot with only 1 other player in your position?

Maybe because he was insulted having to watch from the bench UCONN lose game after game, and play behind a guy with the footwork of Natambu Willingham, the scoring ability of a giraffe, and the court sense of a bat. I don't know what's worse, Ollie never seeing this coming or he did see it coming and just didn't care.

 

[tower1]

God, what a scummy guy you are.

Uconnfan8 is right he didn't show anything. He was slow seemed out of it. Where the hell hell did you guys see all the potential? He showed none. You guys are dreaming.Wake up!

 

[80shusky]

What did I miss? Sad about Steve. I would have thought he starts at the 5 next year, warts and all and could develop into a good big. Best of luck Steve wherever your career may take you.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Hasn't been mentioned amid the other discussion, but this could be yet another case of addition by subtraction in terms of toughness and basketball IQ, particularly for the frontcourt.

A part of me doesn't mind at all a full "cleaning house" of the frontcourt players from this era.

 

[mauconnfan]

Uconnfan8 is right he didn't show anything. He was slow seemed out of it. Where the hell hell did you guys see all the potential? He showed none. You guys are dreaming.Wake up!

The only one's who are clueless are the ones who didn't see the potential. I mean it wasn't jumping out at you if you never played the game or have little understanding, because the numbers people like that look for aren't there. But the ability to get to the rim, the power he had, the rebounds in a traffic which others could not get, the foul line and baseline jumpers that went in more at the end of the year and the NBA body type were all there. Obviously in regards to all of those good things he needed to learn to finish around the rim and explode, rebound MORE and ultimately play much better defense. But the word potential is just that and he had it there was no doubt to those who have an inkling to the game.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The only one's who are clueless are the ones who didn't see the potential. I mean it wasn't jumping out at you if you never played the game or have little understanding, because the numbers people like that look for aren't there. But the ability to get to the rim, the power he had, the rebounds in a traffic which others could not get, the foul line and baseline jumpers that went in more at the end of the year and the NBA body type were all there. Obviously in regards to all of those good things he needed to learn to finish around the rim and explode, rebound MORE and ultimately play much better defense. But the word potential is just that and he had it there was no doubt to those who have an inkling to the game.

The problem is we are two years in and we are still only seeing "potential" . Not sure if that's on the player or coaches but at 6'11" 250+ pounds you should walk on the court and get 3points 2 rebounds but this was his average. This team needs production if we are ever going to be good again not just potential. This is UConn not some instructional development league.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Not sure if I like that. I'd prefer that KO be the one to make the decisions about his staff. What do you think JC would have done if Jeff Hathaway started telling him who to put on his staff?

JC was a much better coach than KO.

The easiest way to keep your boss out of your business is to perform at a level that they boss doesn't need to be in your business. Even if this whole season came down to injuries, the team didn't perform. Perfectly normal for a boss to come in make sure all other aspects of the program are functioning so that once injuries are overcome, the team excels.

Funny thing about organizational behavior, separate of KO and DB, perform two surveys/interviews.

First ask a boss who has several underlings, who he/she has to spend the most time monitoring/mentoring/developing. Second, ask the underlings how much they feel like they are being micromanaged. The correlation between people bosses dive in to and people who feel like they are micromanaged is strong.

Lesson? Perform and be given leeway. You can use your results to explain your processes. Underperform and be given attention. Need to see if process is affecting results.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'd be interesting in knowing if transfers get an exit interview with the AD besides the coaching staff.

In many organizations you find common themes when employees leave. Your best run organizations have robust exit surveys when people are leaving for another company.

 

[dennismenace]

I certainly don't agree with the people who said that, but there were people who viewed Enoch that way outside of the insane BY posters

That was then. Now, maybe not so much.

 

[Caronimo]

Yes, very credible.

Well I hope he's blowing smoke

 

[champs99and04]

I think Bilas did call him the best pro prospect on the roster last season, FWIW. Not that we had a team loaded with them, but it isn't just hacks like Rothstein who are seeing the physical tools here. One poster - and that poster was definitely me - even compared him to Cousins. Wide body, lots of potential to put on muscle, good footwork, soft hands, nice touch. Even for as raw as he was, he was excellent at sealing his man, operating as a primary screener, and attacking the rim off the bounce. There is a reason Adams appears to be upset about him leaving - they worked great together as a pick and roll tandem and I was really excited to see what they could do together next season.

But at least the Cobb signing makes more sense now, as he appears to be the same type of player Steve was. My problem with the Cobb signing was never the player but the fact that he was redundant with what we already had. If we can add a rim protector & rebounder (maybe Rooks), we'll be alright.

If @husky99 is right about losing one of our top guards (and I take that to mean one of three players), only one of them makes any sense. Adams obviously isn't transferring and Vital would shock me. Hopefully that's not the case, but I don't think it would be as debilitating, at this point, as it might seem. I've long wondered how the back court works logistically next season.

Vance would be a huge surprise to me, not because I have any inside info but because of all the players, he seemed to be the one who enjoyed being here the most. Guys who tweet "much love to year one" right after the season ends don't seem like the types that are in a hurry to leave, and just watching his mannerisms at the conference tournament (after the Houston game he walked right up to the crowd and started waving his arms, as if to soak it all in...it was just one of those moments that made you feel he was one with the school and program), I came away pretty confident he'd be back.

 

[Jimdish255]

The problem is we are two years in and we are still only seeing "potential" . Not sure if that's on the player or coaches but at 6'11" 250+ pounds you should walk on the court and get 3points 2 rebounds but this was his average. This team needs production if we are ever going to be good again not just potential. This is UConn not some instructional development league.

If you don't think we need to develop certain players as FR and SO I don't know what to tell you. We don't have a bunch of 1-2 and done's on this roster. Enoch was never going to be one of those guys and you're living in a dream world if you think we can snap our fingers and replenish the roster with finished products every year. The system and expectations of the Coach weren't a fit and this year's minutes and feedback he got in practice convinced him of that. We need to do better but the "We're UConn" strategy isn't going to get it done. If there's no Plan B this was a fail, but maybe there is.

 

[UConnSwag11]

This makes sense to me. He wants to develop and it's a weakness of the staff and the system that big men have made little progress under KO.

posted this in another thread.

It's hard to tell if it's all on coaching when due to recruiting restrictions, transfers, post season ban, etc, made us go for players that we normally wouldn't go after or have as our top priorites (brimah, facey, purvis(maybe)). remember Ollie didnt coach before getting hired here so the recruiting aspect is a new experience for him and learned from his mistakes. also I think starting with Adams, Ollie is starting to bring in basketball players and basketball players with a higher IQ which will go along way...

IMO bringing in someone who can help ollie with recruiting (ollie has shown he can recruit) by getting already smart and talented players can go along way with the whole development thing we have going on. Throughout the season Adams, Vital, and Jackson made great strides and Facey made the biggest of them all.

I noticed that since boat left we haven't had a player be the "coach" on the floor. Someone who can run the plays on offense without looking to Ollie, someone who can set the defense without looking to Ollie, and someone who isn't afraid to hold his teammates accountable. Adams needs to be that guy next year. If we're healthy next year I think we can be very good.

 

[huskyrob1]

I think KO could be thinking about a move back to the NBA while teams are still willing to hire him. Not saying he'll do it, but it has to be on his mind, with some teams waving all that money at him.

 

[Drew]

this feels like a decent spot for this, have a feeling KO's answer would be very similar:

 

[hardcorehusky]

What have you heard?

I have read Boneyard hysteria

 

[UC1985]

I think Bilas did call him the best pro prospect on the roster last season, FWIW. Not that we had a team loaded with them, but it isn't just hacks like Rothstein who are seeing the physical tools here. One poster - and that poster was definitely me - even compared him to Cousins. Wide body, lots of potential to put on muscle, good footwork, soft hands, nice touch. Even for as raw as he was, he was excellent at sealing his man, operating as a primary screener, and attacking the rim off the bounce. There is a reason Adams appears to be upset about him leaving - they worked great together as a pick and roll tandem and I was really excited to see what they could do together next season.

But at least the Cobb signing makes more sense now, as he appears to be the same type of player Steve was. My problem with the Cobb signing was never the player but the fact that he was redundant with what we already had. If we can add a rim protector & rebounder (maybe Rooks), we'll be alright.

If @husky99 is right about losing one of our top guards (and I take that to mean one of three players), only one of them makes any sense. Adams obviously isn't transferring and Vital would shock me. Hopefully that's not the case, but I don't think it would be as debilitating, at this point, as it might seem. I've long wondered how the back court works logistically next season.

Vance would be a huge surprise to me, not because I have any inside info but because of all the players, he seemed to be the one who enjoyed being here the most. Guys who tweet "much love to year one" right after the season ends don't seem like the types that are in a hurry to leave, and just watching his mannerisms at the conference tournament (after the Houston game he walked right up to the crowd and started waving his arms, as if to soak it all in...it was just one of those moments that made you feel he was one with the school and program), I came away pretty confident he'd be back.

Since when is Rothstein a hack? To be honest I think he's a waaaaaay better analyst than Bilas. Don't get me wrong I love Bilas, but he's starting to lean more towards a Dickie V than a real nuts and bolts analyst IMHO.. I also am not high on Vance either, don't really like his game.. Tough loss nonetheless, but it isn't a program killer.

 

[intlzncster]

Well I hope he's blowing smoke

Don't we all. Let's just hope 'grain of salt' and 'situation is fluid' prevails.