Give Kevin a Chance

[UConnDan97]

If he got out of his seat and showed some passion, he'd improve his image dramatically, and the players would at least have an oportunity to feed off the energy. Calhoun got a lot of miles out of his game day attitude, and it was genuine.

If Ollie has to fake it, so be it. But he's not doing himself any favors by just sitting there like he's waiting for church to get out.

Yeah, there were definitely more than a few moments where I actually wanted him to get teed up against Memphis. It might have cost us two points, but the refs were atrocious and the players seeing that probably would have responded earlier.

Still, my comments stand. The young players are improving. Not fast enough to change the season's outcome. Not fast enough to hold off the mob. But they are improving, and that's typically the sign of a good coach...

 

[temery]

This is the absolute least of his problems.

He could do Red Panda’s routine on the sideline and the team’s deficiencies in nearly every imaginable area, save the free throw line, would still murder us almost nightly.

Attitude matters. I'm not saying it's going to magically put more balls in the basket, but a coach who looks like he doesn't want to be there does affect the team's attitude.

My guess was this wasn't his demeanor in 2014, but I could be wrong.

 

[intlzncster]

Still, my comments stand. The young players are improving. Not fast enough to change the season's outcome. Not fast enough to hold off the mob. But they are improving, and that's typically the sign of a good coach...

Unfortunately, that's only one piece of being a good head coach at the college level. You've got to be a GM, personnel director, head 'salesman', in-game coach, head of player development, media relations etc etc.

It appears that Ollie's skills align best to that of an assistant coach. No shame in that.

 

[UConnDan97]

Unfortunately, that's only one piece of being a good head coach at the college level. You've got to be a GM, personnel director, head 'salesman', in game coach, head of player development, media relations etc etc.

It appears that Ollie's skills align best to that of an assistant coach. No shame in that.

Well, I wouldn't say that. If indeed recruiting was the issue, and I think many here would agree that it is, well he let his recruiting coordinator go and brought in someone who is seen as a recruiting expert.

That's what a good head coach does; makes tough decisions for the betterment of the team. I honestly think he understands the problem and is trying to deal with it as quickly as possible...

 

[CL82]

I can't think of one good reason not to give Kevin a 2nd chance:

Because UConn men's basketball is so bad right now it makes babies drink?

 

[CL82]

I have been a UCONN Men’s season ticket holder for 33 years and Woman’s 24 years, I looked up at the banners last night 15 and realized how spoiled we are as UCONN fans. We are not entitled to championships or NCAA tournament selections. We should be ashamed of how we are treating Kevin, he who played for us and coached us to a NC in 2014. It wasn’t just a few years ago that we were worried sick that Kevin would leave for the NBA. In his short coaching tenure Kevin has replaced a HOF coach, cleaned up the fall out of a academic progress probation and still won a NC. He deserves a chance to turn this around with his new coaching staff. Kevin has 3 years left on his contract, give him a chance to succeed, get off his back, he deserves our support.

So Jim, I was right there with you at the start of the season, but the lack of progress, the disorganization on the court, and the 20+ point drubbings has beaten hope out of me. So give me something, anything at all that I can hold onto that tells me that KO has not lost control of the program, that he has some reasonable chance to successfully do the job. Not from 2014 but from 2018.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Given the numerous examples of coaches currently at the top of the conference doing just that, I fail to understand how I am the only one who even thinks that's possible.

I really try to understand what you write, but I sometimes come up short. Your second to the last word is "that's," but I can figure out what the word "that" is
referring to. In other words, you've got a pronoun, but what is the noun?

Because you are claiming an exceptional status for yourself, and I'm not sure I think or feel like those you disagree with, I'd like for you to clarity please.

We may agree, in which case you aren't the only one, OR I may offer a point of view that differs from yours as well as the bunch you take issue with. If that's the case, you might have soften your stance or otherwise incorporate additional perspectives.

In the interest of bring helpful, I'll offer that I'm interested in seeing motivated, ball-sharing, hustling, cohesive, team-oriented basketball, and I have not seen quite enough like that over the past 4 years. I speculate that this type of play would generate a healthy number of wins and then top out against superior competition after the regular season. I could like watching that type of basketball, with some years exceeding the norm and some falling short. That doesn't strike me as either greedy or unrealistic.

 

[Austin316]

Say he returns next year...

We could go 20-10 with these new recruits or 10-20.

We get a new coach and I think the above statement might be the same or worse with transfers out.

Dare I say it... who do we think would transfer after this year if Ollie stayed? How about if he left? I don’t even want to answer that question

In the end it comes down to what’s best for the program and the university.

There’s going to be pros and cons for him leaving vs him staying.

One thing is for sure KO was dealt with nasty injuries 2 years in a row. He wasn’t able to player develop to combat those loses. I think Memphis is made of all juco players and they are doing better than we are. Idk if KO knows what to do and from the interviews with the players after games it seems like they don’t really know what the solution is either. I think it’s the person driving the ship :/

Money-minded Austin316 might say keep him for now.
My head says we gotta cut the man loose.
My heart says give him another year.
... now my heart and head are saying I wanna beer.
Ugh.

 

[Northbound]

People need to accept this and try there best to support him. He’s still our coach, UConn alumni hate seeing him being treated the way he has been. He hates losing just as much as we do. It’s been tough but the fans don’t help. At the end of the day complaining and negativity gets us no where, if we want this program to get back on track the fans need to step up.

KO is the guy that has the ability to stop he losing and the overall trajectory of the program, but he seems unable or unwilling to do what is necessary (I'm not speaking of his effort because I can't comment on that) - but he's done a very poor job of managing the program and there is no way to argue differently.

Should he be cut loose, yes, should he have been hired originally, no. Was unfortunate for all involved and if he's giving JC the proverbial heisman as rumored that just shows he wasn't astute and/or comfortable enough to keep a guy close who knows a bit about running a program for advice, perspective, etc. The staff as it's constructed has nobody that knows how to run a program - Hobbs ran his own program, Miller ran his own program - and I'm not saying if they were still on the staff we'd be jumping for joy, but having those types of guys on staff allows experienced folks to suggest course corrections to KO be it in game or practice plans and recruiting strategy, etc. If he's too insecure to take that type of advise or have those types of guys on staff that's a bad deal.

Part of his profession and why you make all that coin is having a thick skin to put up with the lunacy from passionate fans, the idea that he's not getting the ol' atta boy from fans is insulting to any rational fan. With some credit to Dan Hawkins - KO should go coach intramurals if he craves positive reinforcement.

Folks pay their money, they have the right to complain and complain loudly about the product when its piss poor and calling the product on the floor piss poor is an insult to piss poor.

Very few are actively routing for KO to fail, even I who thought the hire was ill-advised wanted him like hell to succeed because the vast majority of fans want the program to succeed above the success of a player or a coach.

For the life of me I can't understand what glimmer of progress folks see that have them advocating for KO to stay on? Someone please tell me what you see - he's an alum, he won a title, or geez he's a good guy that cares are not signs of moving the program forward.

I do know that if KO goes that there's no guarantee that there's a better guy walking through the door - hope there is but no guarantee.

Sorry for the mini diatribe

 

[Danzz]

KO is coaching a flawed team. Our only true PG is injured and Jalen is forced to play a million minutes out of position. Our only other PG option is Anderson. We had 3 transfers but with maybe the exception of Durham these players would not have made a enough of a difference to salvage the season. Our first year players are playing too many minutes and we have way too many turnovers.
At least some of this is on KO but it is crazy for some all backyard fans to think that KO doesn't get the game after a 13 year NBA career.
Whether or not KO should coach UConn in the future is another question. On one hand I'd like to see what he could do with the help coming next season but on the other hand KO looks like the pressure to win and the failure to do so has consumed him.

 

[whaler11]

Yeah, there were definitely more than a few moments where I actually wanted him to get teed up against Memphis. It might have cost us two points, but the refs were atrocious and the players seeing that probably would have responded earlier.

Still, my comments stand. The young players are improving. Not fast enough to change the season's outcome. Not fast enough to hold off the mob. But they are improving, and that's typically the sign of a good coach...

If the young players are improving why are the losses getting worse? Why do they continue to slide down the efficiency rankings?

Against the KenPom top 150 they are..
3-16.

THREE AND SIXTEEN!!!!

The fourth best team they beat this season is Monmouth: An 11-19 outfit out of the MAAC which is ranked 20th best conference.

Do you want another football program on your hands? If they don’t fix this now it’s just going to get harder to dig out of the hole. They botched the coaching decisions so badly in football the program’s continuing existance is in doubt.

He was a great player - that can’t be one the critieria for coaching decisions. Maybe his effort is better than it looks, but candidly what I can see without even considering the long term rumors... loyalty is a two way street. They aren’t paying him $3 million a year for what he did as a player 25 years ago.

 

[nychuskyfan]

Not one person here would walk away from ten million dollars. None. The only compromise would be to spread it out over 10 to 20 years.
.

This offseason may be our only opportunity to negotiate a reduced buyout if his contract really does say that any NCAA violation allows termination for cause. Unless the NCAA investigation is resolved in UConn’s favor before the season ends, which seems very unlikely, feels like there’s a deal to be had where Ollie takes a couple million bucks and walks away rather than roll the dice and possibly get $0 while having to resign in shame. If I were advising him I’d be asking how many times the NCAA has done a detailed investigation with 100 hours of taped interviews and not come down with some infraction.

 

[temery]

This offseason may be our only opportunity to negotiate a reduced buyout if his contract really does say that any NCAA violation allows termination for cause. Unless the NCAA investigation is resolved in UConn’s favor before the season ends, which seems very unlikely, feels like there’s a deal to be had where Ollie takes a couple million bucks and walks away rather than roll the dice and possibly get $0 while having to resign in shame. If I were advising him I’d be asking how many times the NCAA has done a detailed investigation with 100 hours of taped interviews and not come down with some infraction.

I agree, but I seriously doubt the 100 hours of taped interviews. I've heard it, but I don't believe it.

 

[freescooter]

Couldn’t have said it better.

Plus we’ll have Ajenko so no worries.

 

[freescooter]

When I’m talking alumni I’m talking basketball alumni. Not students. Former players aren’t happy with the way Kevin has been treated by the fans.

Poor babies. Ask em how they’d be treated by Calhoun if they played the way he has coached...

 

[Huskybass]

UConn has made one NCAA tournament in 4 seasons and the last 2 seasons have been awful by any objectiive standard. I don't see how anyone could advocate this continuing next season. The time has come to make a change.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I have been a UCONN Men’s season ticket holder for 33 years and Woman’s 24 years, I looked up at the banners last night 15 and realized how spoiled we are as UCONN fans. We are not entitled to championships or NCAA tournament selections. We should be ashamed of how we are treating Kevin, he who played for us and coached us to a NC in 2014. It wasn’t just a few years ago that we were worried sick that Kevin would leave for the NBA. In his short coaching tenure Kevin has replaced a HOF coach, cleaned up the fall out of a academic progress probation and still won a NC. He deserves a chance to turn this around with his new coaching staff. Kevin has 3 years left on his contract, give him a chance to succeed, get off his back, he deserves our support.

I couldn't help myself. Had to log in at work to like this. The way many have attacked Kevin this year is almost criminal and is not making things any easier to fix the issues our program has. It almost feels like they never liked KO to begin with. How can anyone in any job perform the job the best they can with so much constant adversity. I am sure KO is used to this his whole career, but it is unnecessary. It's fine to provide constructive criticism, but once it crosses the line into personal insults and calling to end one's career its sickening. There are many factors that contributed to the mess we are in. KO did have some part in it, but not nearly as big a part as people make it out to be. The program and ones at the top are just as much to blame if not more to blame.

 

[mauconnfan]

I knew BigJim OP was starting a potential storm that hit us hard and then turned back around to hit us yet again.

 

[mauconnfan]

I couldn't help myself. Had to log in at work to like this. The way many have attacked Kevin this year is almost criminal and is not making things any easier to fix the issues our program has. It almost feels like they never liked KO to begin with. How can anyone in any job perform the job the best they can with so much constant adversity. I am sure KO is used to this his whole career, but it is unnecessary. It's fine to provide constructive criticism, but once it crosses the line into personal insults and calling to end one's career its sickening. There are many factors that contributed to the mess we are in. KO did have some part in it, but not nearly as big a part as people make it out to be. The program and ones at the top are just as much to blame if not more to blame.

He is to blame more than even you would like to acknowledge Top Dog but mostly I agree with much of what you say. I mean no matter how many question marks were there heading into the season there so many who already gave up instead hoping they'd have their day. Well they have it, it's here and it's time to celebrate because they were right. Hope they feel real good about that because it seems they're happy.

Time to move on, will be interesting times for our program but there won't be the same fan base ever again. It will never feel the same, even on the Boneyard. It's a very sad time for a proud program yet the chests are being pounded.

 

[Huskybass]

Well, I wouldn't say that. If indeed recruiting was the issue, and I think many here would agree that it is, well he let his recruiting coordinator go and brought in someone who is seen as a recruiting expert.

That's what a good head coach does; makes tough decisions for the betterment of the team. I honestly think he understands the problem and is trying to deal with it as quickly as possible...

Sorry but I look at the coaching staff during games and I am thoroughly unimpressed. Chillious has a reputation as a great recruiter, but between Washington and here, his team has a combined record of 22 and 38 over the past 2 seasons. As to Killings and Moore, I can't tell what positive impact they are having over the past 2 very disappointing seasons.
UConn never even challenges for the AAC regular season title, and this season UConn is in the BOTTOM 1/3 of the AAC standings.

He is to blame more than even you would like to acknowledge Top Dog but mostly I agree with much of what you say. I mean no matter how many question marks were there heading into the season there so many who already gave up instead hoping they'd have their day. Well they have it, it's here and it's time to celebrate because they were right. Hope they feel real good about that because it seems they're happy.

Time to move on, will be interesting times for our program but there won't be the same fan base ever again. It will never feel the same, even on the Boneyard. It's a very sad time for a proud program yet the chests are being pounded.

No the chests are not being pounded. Those who realize that a change is going to be made (and rightfully so) can now have legitimate hope that the program can return to being relevant. That's all. Very simple.

 

[polycom]

When I’m talking alumni I’m talking basketball alumni. Not students. Former players aren’t happy with the way Kevin has been treated by the fans.

So you are talking about Kevin's teammates because recent player alumni aren't happy with UConn's play.

 

[djct1999]

I couldn't help myself. Had to log in at work to like this. The way many have attacked Kevin this year is almost criminal and is not making things any easier to fix the issues our program has. It almost feels like they never liked KO to begin with. How can anyone in any job perform the job the best they can with so much constant adversity. I am sure KO is used to this his whole career, but it is unnecessary. It's fine to provide constructive criticism, but once it crosses the line into personal insults and calling to end one's career its sickening. There are many factors that contributed to the mess we are in. KO did have some part in it, but not nearly as big a part as people make it out to be. The program and ones at the top are just as much to blame if not more to blame.

KO had some part in it? KO is the single biggest reason why the program is where it currently is. As the States highest paid employee, its time for him to take some accountability. While I agree that no one has the right to personally insult the man, his criticism and backlash for his on court performance is well justified.

 

[BlueDogs]

Here's the thing. I can rationalize all kinds of reasons why KO "deserves" another chance, and this year was one of those "chances". If we all recall, this season was the turn/around season after the prior year's losing season. But, I suspect like many here, we are not basketball dopes and the basketball eyes don't lie. You can see the product is poor and getting worse. If I saw any marginal improvement in running the O, more ball and player movement, more court awareness by bigs, better box outs, better shot selection, better perimeter D... anything resembling better execution and team play I'd say sure give him a season. It simply is not there and the reason is he's over his head in this situation and he's a piss poor coach without training wheels.. So, he has to go.

 

[BlueDogs]

You can certainly respect him for what he did in the past. I would never presume to attack his character, because nobody is in a position to do that.

But, he's currently paid $3MM to be a head coach and is failing. I don't think it's fair to conflate his past as a player with his current situation either in regards to notion we "owe" him anything.