For those calling for Ollies head

[NielsisGood]

That's a blue glasses take. Our basketball brand has taken a huge hit. Academics and history don't mean much. Our facilities were in dire need of an upgrade before the Werth Center got built, but they're not head and shoulders above the schools we want to compete with or anything.

Maybe financially with respect to TV and conference money, the brand itself isn't much different now though. We were never on that Duke/UNC/Kentucky brand level to begin with, but we still get into all the big early season tournaments, still schedule at least a few high profile OoC games that usually always have legit TV slots. There's no irreparable damage to the perception of the brand.

 

[polycom]

Maybe financially with respect to TV and conference money, the brand itself isn't much different now though. We were never on that Duke/UNC/Kentucky brand level to begin with, but we still get into all the big early season tournaments, still schedule at least a few high profile OoC games that usually always have legit TV slots. There's no irreparable damage to the perception of the brand.

...If you really believe that UConn is that same brand it was prior not sure if we watch the same games. UConn in it's current construction unless things improve...we'll quickly become a forgotten program. We'll see what happens v. Nova, W State and AZ.

 

[NielsisGood]

...If you really believe that UConn is that same brand it was prior not sure if we watch the same games. UConn in it's current construction unless things improve...we'll quickly become a forgotten program. We'll see what happens v. Nova, W State and AZ.

You didn't say a single thing that addresses any of my points. Ollie needs to go but saying things like "forgotten program" is so out of touch with reality. The program would need a lot more than 3 poor years to not retain their cache, there's been too much equity built up over the previous 25-30 years.



Look at Indiana and UCLA, both are mediocre/bad as often as they are good, and it's been like that for some time, yet when either program has a good year they're suddenly one of the main storylines of the season.

 

[polycom]

You didn't say a single thing that addresses any of my points. Ollie needs to go but saying things like "forgotten program" is so out of touch with reality. The program would need a lot more than 3 poor years to not retain their cache, there's been too much equity built up over the previous 25-30 years.



Look at Indiana and UCLA, both are mediocre/bad as often as they are good, and it's been like that for some time, yet when either program has a good year they're suddenly one of the main storylines of the season.

You think are brand is at the level of Indiana and UCLA? UConn is not being mentioned on other boards...like UCLA and to a lesser extent Indiana are mentioned. Have you been to a UConn game lately arena is barely full outside of Cuse at MSG... Things are currently bad, I thought this season would be different but it's shocking to me how much worse things are. Did you not watch the last 2 seasons? The culture is much worse than we know as fans...

 

[NielsisGood]

You think are brand is at the level of Indiana and UCLA? UConn is not being mentioned on other boards...like UCLA and to a lesser extent Indiana are mentioned. Have you been to a UConn game lately arena is barely full outside of Cuse at MSG... Things are currently bad, I thought this season would be different but it's shocking to me how much worse things are. Did you not watch the last 2 seasons? The culture is much worse than we know as fans...

Doesn't seem like you're a reasonable poster and we don't seem to totally understand what it is I'm saying about the brand or why I mentioned Indiana/UCLA. Have a good day.

 

[polycom]

Doesn't seem like you're a reasonable poster and we don't seem to totally understand what it is I'm saying about the brand or why I mentioned Indiana/UCLA. Have a good day.

You're right I'm not a reasonable poster, because I don't understand why you compared us to Indiana and UCLA. I hope you have an awesome day living in a fantasy.

 

[NielsisGood]

You're right I'm not a reasonable poster, because I don't understand why you compared us to Indiana and UCLA. I hope you have an awesome day living in a fantasy.

I know you don't understand lil buddy! That's why I said have a nice day. Remember to look both ways before crossing the street, okay champ?

 

[polycom]

I know you don't understand lil buddy! That's why I said have a nice day. Remember to look both ways before crossing the street, okay champ?

I'm unreasonable but you like to label people? Goood work on the derail.

 

[NielsisGood]

I'm unreasonable but you like to label people? Goood work on the derail.

You're not smart enough to be getting into all that, lil buddy.

 

[Cuse Socks]

UCONN men's basketball coaching job is not a very attractive job at this juncture and its not one many will accept. We play in a terrible conference, UCONN is located in the cow pasture... no top recruit will want to play for UCONN at this Juncture unless Ollie's diamond in the rough start producing and he send players to the NBA. The schools that are having success in the AAC are Cincinnati and SMU. Larry Brown is a legend and laid a great foundation before he left. Mick Cronin has longevity and success. Rome wasn't built in a day, our only chance to not be a complete dumpster is to have Ollie pull us through this tough cycle.

Yeah Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was Jim Calhoun's dynasty. Ollie hasn't exactly started this program from scratch. He inherited an incredible situation. It takes some serious skill to make UConn, an incredibly prestigious program look unappealing to so many top recruits in just a few years.

 

[Stainmaster]

He inherited an incredible situation

Not quite.

 

[intlzncster]

Yeah Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was Jim Calhoun's dynasty. Ollie hasn't exactly started this program from scratch. He inherited an incredible situation. It takes some serious skill to make UConn, an incredibly prestigious program look unappealing to so many top recruits in just a few years.

Really? He inherited a sh#tstorm. He initially handled it well. But it's gone significantly downhill since.

 

[freescooter]

He is Kevin Ollie so we shouldn’t try to replace him if he is doing a bad job. That seems to be the argument. If we just accept Ollie’s substandard performance as many want to do then it is never getting back even close to where we were.

 

[Stainmaster]

He is Kevin Ollie so we shouldn’t try to replace him if he is doing a bad job. That seems to be the argument. If we just accept Ollie’s substandard performance as many want to do then it is never getting back even close to where we were.

No, the argument is that even if KO is deservedly replaced, we're never getting back to close to where we were. The book has been written already.

 

[Slasher]

What about Kevin Willard at Seton Hall? UConn is a big step up (even in a lesser league.) He's taken a an also-ran from the Big East and made them a tournament team in each of the last two (and probably three) seasons.

 

[CL82]

Sheesh, two beat downs and all of a sudden UConn is the worst program in America, without any notoriety, without any national championships, without outstanding facilities and without a nationally recognized brand.

Look no one is happy going 1-2 the PK80. And Arkansas may have been as bad as I've ever seen a Connecticut team look, and I was a fan during the Perno years. But it's early in the season, and we've got a lot of new pieces. As it's been pointed out multiple of times on this board, firing Ollie midseason is worse than letting him run out through the end of the year. But clearly, he needs to show significant improvement by year end, and clearly missing another post season is unacceptable.

So, let's stay the course, root for the team, and see where this season goes. There's still plenty of time for histrionics come February.

 

[Travelman6]

Uconn a forgotten program? No.

Example of why it takes more than 2 or 3 down years: When was the last real solid year for Indiana? 2002? They are anything but forgotten, even with so many down years (including 3 really bad years from 2008 to 2011 that were so bad that they would be envious of 16-17). Plus 2 subpar seasons in 04 and 05, and, 3 of their last 4 seasons have been average at best. Granted they are obviously in a better conference and all...But people have better memories than 2 or 3 bad years. I remember Indiana in 2002 and I have never even been to Indiana...So, yes, it will take a longer time than you think to forget Uconn and way more down years.

 

[Hi-Low]

="Stairmaster,...........we're never getting back to close to where we were. The book has been written already.

No, I agree.....a lot of UConn's success during the Calhoun era was tied to the Old BE as well. It was a perfect storm for a couple decades, but it's gone.

UConn can be relevant again but a power year in and year out is very hard, if it was easy UCLA & Indiana wouldn't have missed a step. KO is probably not the guy, whenever he goes maybe the next guy is "the guy" that restores some luster but the Old BE is dead and it took a lot of the programs down a notch with it, Nova the exception.

 

[Javjudah]

Yeah Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was Jim Calhoun's dynasty. Ollie hasn't exactly started this program from scratch. He inherited an incredible situation. It takes some serious skill to make UConn, an incredibly prestigious program look unappealing to so many top recruits in just a few years.

Let's dissect your opinion about Ollie "inherited an incredible situation." You're right he "inherited an incredible situation," I love Coach Calhoun but he walked away like Houdini. The school was banned from the tournament, lost scholarships, players transferred (Roscoe Smith, Alex Oriaki, micheal Bradley). Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb turned Pro. Oh, and then we had the Privilege to be put in the All American conference. Recruits herd rumors of Coach Calhoun dying, Kevin Ollie was giving a 6 months contract... you're right, Coach Ollie "inherited an incredible situation." As much as I love UCONN basketball I can't be naive to facts and truth.

 

[White Dwarf]

Can't make chicken salad from chicken

 

[Jaybird65]

Unfortunately, our men's basketball program is the big loser in the break up of the Big East that we remember; combine that with missing out in being accepted into a P5 conference & you get what we have. Our niche was the Big East as it once was; it was perfect for UConn - the ESPN program Requiem for the Big East says a lot; so many great players & such a coaches league. Right now we don't fit into where we as fans want to fit in or where prospective players would seriously consider. it seems like our recruiting hasn't adjusted to the new times. We're that planet floating around in space looking for a solar system with life. We need to learn from Cincinnati, Gonzaga & Wichita State; go after top 75 kids that fit into our brand & concentrate on kids 75-125 that have the potential to develop & be solid in sophomore/junior & senior years; grab a couple international players like we did with Henefeld, Scheffer & Giffey. We've had two major waves of desertion in the past 6 years - those couple of kids that left when the APR thing hit & last year; that's a lot to overcome. I'm a KO supporter but yesterday's performance has left me wondering. KO as a player would have never accepted that kind of performance from his teammates; I wish he would do the same now as the coach with his team.

 

[Milo65]

Yes our conference and stability has cost us tremendously. Enoch, would not had worked at UCONN. Because Our shooting has been atrocious Vance could have helped but he may have given up more points on defense than he scores. Makai wouldn't have gotten much playing time as a freshman over our current guards and he can't shoot either. I will take a Freshmen Akinjo over a sophomore Makai. Now Durham could have made a difference this season. He is a skilled 6"11 player that needed more time to recover from his injuries and get stronger. A great offseason could have done wonders for him. Now please tell me who can we throw the ball to in the post to and get a bucket and not a turnover? please tell me which of our bigs can score a basket on a high screen and roll without a turnover? please tell which of our bigs can screen and pop for a jump shot? Over time Carlton, Whaley and Kisunas will be better but we're not there right now.

The problem is we haven’t had a scoring threat from anyone inside since Ollie took over. The question isn’t why UConn isn’t scoring from the inside! It’s, Why can’t Ollie recruit and keep an inside scorer? Tell UCF, Cincy, SMU about how you can’t recruit in this conference. Other excuses:

Players aren’t good enough
Offense/Defense sets not sound
Players left early/tranfered
Lack of Depth
Lack of shooters
Lack of effort

No matter which excuse is inserted, all of them point to one man. Ollie. Until we hold him accountable or more importantly he holds himself accountable, this team will continue to be a middling mid major team. I’m sick to my stomach reading posts on how we hung in the first half against MSU. We couldn’t expect to beat a team like MSU. We should be happy how we competed. Our expectations as a fan base has already sunk to lower levels. Instead of beaing upset at beating Stoneybrook by 8 or 9, I read posts about how our team is developing chemistry. How happy we should all be about the progress. There is no way that THIS team with THESE players should hang with Stoneybrook. Did any of you see chemistry yesterday?

 

[Danzz]

Yeah but the defense is now hard to watch. That's an issue, no pride on that end and it starts with the leaders and he is one of them along with JA and TL. Also the fact he didn't have enough fire left in him to not get thrown out after the Hog player walked underneath Larrier with no call is awful. A chance to at least save face and show the team you go their backs and kids aren't going to get hurt on your watch due to lackluster officiating, you need to jump down throats and get tossed swinging and fighting. I mean the refs meant little but they called 15 ticky tack fouls on us no matter so show them you're freaking alive for crying out loud.

And that is our biggest problem not scoring. We can win some ugly games against very good teams if we play D with intensity. We quit playing D at all the second half against Arkansas.

 

[Javjudah]

The problem is we haven’t had a scoring threat from anyone inside since Ollie took over. The question isn’t why UConn isn’t scoring from the inside! It’s, Why can’t Ollie recruit and keep an inside scorer? Tell UCF, Cincy, SMU about how you can’t recruit in this conference. Other excuses:

Players aren’t good enough
Offense/Defense sets not sound
Players left early/tranfered
Lack of Depth
Lack of shooters
Lack of effort

No matter which excuse is inserted, all of them point to one man. Ollie. Until we hold him accountable or more importantly he holds himself accountable, this team will continue to be a middling mid major team. I’m sick to my stomach reading posts on how we hung in the first half against MSU. We couldn’t expect to beat a team like MSU. We should be happy how we competed. Our expectations as a fan base has already sunk to lower levels. Instead of beaing upset at beating Stoneybrook by 8 or 9, I read posts about how our team is developing chemistry. How happy we should all be about the progress. There is no way that THIS team with THESE players should hang with Stoneybrook. Did any of you see chemistry yesterday?

This is from one of my earlier post that I copied and paste.

Let's dissect your opinion about Ollie "inherited an incredible situation." You're right he "inherited an incredible situation," I love Coach Calhoun but he walked away like Houdini. The school was banned from the tournament, lost scholarships, players transferred (Roscoe Smith, Alex Oriaki, micheal Bradley). Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb turned Pro. Oh, and then we had the Privilege to be put in the All American conference. Recruits herd rumors of Coach Calhoun dying, Kevin Ollie was giving a 6 months contract... you're right, Coach Ollie "inherited an incredible situation." As much as I love UCONN basketball I can't be naive to facts and truth.

 

[80shusky]

The problem is we haven’t had a scoring threat from anyone inside since Ollie took over. The question isn’t why UConn isn’t scoring from the inside! It’s, Why can’t Ollie recruit and keep an inside scorer? Tell UCF, Cincy, SMU about how you can’t recruit in this conference. Other excuses:

Players aren’t good enough
Offense/Defense sets not sound
Players left early/tranfered
Lack of Depth
Lack of shooters
Lack of effort

No matter which excuse is inserted, all of them point to one man. Ollie. Until we hold him accountable or more importantly he holds himself accountable, this team will continue to be a middling mid major team. I’m sick to my stomach reading posts on how we hung in the first half against MSU. We couldn’t expect to beat a team like MSU. We should be happy how we competed. Our expectations as a fan base has already sunk to lower levels. Instead of beaing upset at beating Stoneybrook by 8 or 9, I read posts about how our team is developing chemistry. How happy we should all be about the progress. There is no way that THIS team with THESE players should hang with Stoneybrook. Did any of you see chemistry yesterday?

We don't score inside, save for drives to the basket, because we don't try.