Hard questions

[UConnNick]

The rally at the end was nice, but meaningless. This felt like a loss five minutes into the game.

1) Kevin Ollie doesn't have this team ready to play. It's February and the games that we could stick in with our defense have evaporated as other teams have improved offensively throughout the year. Ollie's team hasn't improved one iota on offense.

I don't know if Ollie has ever shown himself to be a great coach - it's too early in his career to expect him to be one - but the one thing he has shown is that he is a magician in terms of managing and getting his players to play hard.

That is not happening now.

2) And the talent. People actually think that our roster scares off recruits...I have no idea why. Who gets the blame for this roster? There isn't a single shooter on the team. We have one ball handler. Not a one of them outside of Boatright can get their own shot. Our center is a project, our power forward is a project and our off guard spot is an interchangeable trio of guys who can't shoot or dribble a basketball. Our front court reserves are a pair of players who are MAAC-level talents. "But we win championships after bad years"...not with these parts, kids. We need the projects to get better, we need Omar and Rodney to play like they're capable, but we also need more talent.

3) I have high hopes for Rodney Purvis over the next two years, but I am starting to wonder if KO has ever seen a Ferrari. I think he saw a Fiat once and got confused.

4) Our players are routinely pushed all over the court. Our guys look juiced at the end of games. Nagging injuries sprout like daisies. Cincy and Houston look like they just walked out of a gym - we look soft as hell. Weight room.

5) If there was any justice in this world, Ryan Boatright would grow three inches between now and the draft. The difference between a truly humiliating defeat and a narrow loss was that superhuman little dude. Because of what he did in the the last eight minutes, Kevin Ollie won't be asked what exactly he spent the previous two hours doing.

6) I absolutely hate the AAC. I despise how they're selling us out to help the rest of the conference sell tickets on their Saturday dates and I hate how they are selling us out to fill gaps in weekend programming on Sundays. The defending champion just played a game 1,800 miles from campus in front of a dozen fans. You can hear the high-fives in Bristol, Syracuse and Chestnut Hill.

6) These are dangerous times for UConn athletics. If you want to see what happens when a program gets aced out of a major conference and has to make due in a mid-major league, take a look at Houston. They are the cautionary tale.

We can't afford to string together down years and we're not replacing players the way we need to. We didn't have a player to fill in next to Boatright in the backcourt. After a couple of years of failing to recruit a decent backcourt player, we're going to try to replace both Boatright and Napier next year with Adams. Enoch will help fill in the gap where Lubin and Nolan have thus far failed.

But that's not enough - we need another impact player in the backcourt. If we can weasel back into the Stone derby, great, but we need someone who can shoot and handle the ball. If that's one player, fine. If it takes two players to get that done, then get two.

This year is already f---ed - time to make sure that next year isn't f--ed, too.

I agree with almost all of these points, except Houston's history. Yes, they got bounced out of the SWC when Texas decided to axe the entire conference, but they had already been on a steady decline in athletics across the board when that happened in 1994, and that had nothing to do with conference affiliation. First they lost Guy Lewis to retirement and Bill Yeoman got forced out because of NCAA violations in the mid-1980's. They were on probation in football for a couple of seasons, which unfortunately coincided with Andre Ware's career. They couldn't even go to a bowl game when they went something like 10-1 in 1990. Then they got knocked down into C-USA.

Houston's other big problem is they're a commuter school, just like Temple, Memphis, UCF and USF. Commuter schools have a horrible problem getting alumni engaged in their alma maters after they graduate. They get their degrees and never give anything back to the schools. Historically these schools do not have great athletic depts. across the board because of it. They also tend to be the ugly red-haired stepchildren in whatever states they occupy, because there's some giant flagship state university that dwarfs them, both economically and in terms of local fan interest. Somehow Louisville has been savvy enough to overcome all of these obstacles, but they're a rare exception. What's killing UCONN right now is we are in a conference with all of these schools, none of which will ever likely ascend to the elite level of college sports schools.

UCONN may drift for a while toward that kind of existence, but on a long term basis I don't think we will ever see the depths that Houston has seen. UCONN has a solid base of very engaged alumni, and we benefit from being the only dog in the show in a very affluent state.

 

[Danzz]

With Hobbs, Moore and Ollie coaching you would think point guard problems would be non-existent or at list solutions forthcoming.

Adams will be part solution, but come on get another reliable ball handler, more than a floor pounder. A Taliek type would suffice.

Sam Jr. is a decent ball handler but his D will limit his minutes. Maybe a Jr. college player could fill the void.

 

[djct1999]

I think Fishy pretty much nailed it on the head. Something just isn't right. What I watched yesterday was not UConn basketball. It was embarrassing and brought me back to KOs introductory pressor, when he said that "we play for the name on the front of the jersey". Outside of Boatright(and maybe Dham), no one else came even close to that yesterday.
I knew that long term getting shut out of the P5 would cripple the UConn athletic department. I felt then that UConn had a 5-10 year window for that to happen. I now feel that window is much smaller. As Fishy stated, "this is a very dangerous time for UConn athletics."

 

[HailUConn]

The rally at the end was nice, but meaningless. This felt like a loss five minutes into the game.

1) Kevin Ollie doesn't have this team ready to play. It's February and the games that we could stick in with our defense have evaporated as other teams have improved offensively throughout the year. Ollie's team hasn't improved one iota on offense.

I don't know if Ollie has ever shown himself to be a great coach - it's too early in his career to expect him to be one - but the one thing he has shown is that he is a magician in terms of managing and getting his players to play hard.

That is not happening now.

----> Cannot put that entirely on KO. Remember what/how JC did after 2011 champ season with a lineup of Napier, Boat, Lamb, AO, and AD? One word, chemistry!

3) I have high hopes for Rodney Purvis over the next two years, but I am starting to wonder if KO has ever seen a Ferrari. I think he saw a Fiat once and got confused.

---> Again, I ask you to look at his rebounds and assists stats in his entire season at his former school, or in his entire basketball career if there is one. no pun intended. This guy does not rebound, assist, or think on the court. We don't need Ferrari, we need hard working horses.

Otherwise, great post as always, Fishy. Very insightful!

 

[shakes65]

Yes, I too think Fishy nailed it. I have little hope for Purvis, mostly because his judgement and basketball savvy is pretty sad. I also think of the MAAC when I watch Kenton and Samuels. (I live in Siena's backyard). I would love to think that Kenton could develop into a Rakeem Christmas, but I don't think it is in his personality. TSam is high energy but limited in ability. Nolan has no hands and is limited, Lubin is way over his head, and we will struggle with the rest.

There is also something wrong with the chemistry in terms of the offense. Every team we play seems to have a certain rhythm to their ball movement and we look like we are out there for the first time. Coaching? I don't know, but the offense just continues to fail, except when Boat plays one against five.

We definitely need more than Allen next year. A real point guard is a must. I'm willing to chalk up this year, if we can see some hope for next year.

I am still a big KO fan, but he has to figure this out for the rest of the year and for next year.

 

[Fishy]

Daniel Hamilton is about the 2,736th thing we have to worry about - he'll be a 15 and 8 guy next year.

Tyler Dorsey would be perfect.

So much for that.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Something beyond our conference affiliation is going on with this program.

It's certainly a huge negative but huge positives are our tradition, new facility, Ollie and guys making the league.

It's got to be the assistants doing a poor job initially and Ollie being an poor closer.

What else could it be?

 

[djct1999]

Something beyond our conference affiliation is going on with this program.

It's certainly a huge negative but huge positives are our tradition, new facility, Ollie and guys making the league.

It's got to be the assistants doing a poor job initially and Ollie being an poor closer.

What else could it be?

Good question. The positives you mentioned go practically unmatched nationally. It just doesn't add up.

 

[Paesano]

$$$$$$$$$

Anyone that thinks dirty crap isn't going on everywhere is delusional beyond hope. Give their AAU or HS coach a job...give momma a job...pay off handlers...whatever it takes. Cover your track and make sure you maintain plausible deniability. I don't care what sleazy tactics are required...WE NEED MORE TALENT!!! If we don't get it AND we stay trapped in this conference we WILL fade into irrelevance and fast. No memories of miracle championship runs with one or two 5 star players over the goliaths of the time will stop it. The past does not predict the future. You have to keep getting better to stay relevant.

 

[Stainmaster]

$$$$$$$$$

Anyone that thinks dirty crap isn't going on everywhere is delusional beyond hope. Give their AAU or HS coach a job...give momma a job...pay off handlers...whatever it takes. Cover your track and make sure you maintain plausible deniability. I don't care what sleazy tactics are required...WE NEED MORE TALENT!!! If we don't get it AND we stay trapped in this conference we WILL fade into irrelevance and fast. No memories of miracle championship runs with one or two 5 star players over the goliaths of the time will stop it. The past does not predict the future. You have to keep getting better to stay relevant.

Leave now. https://kentucky.rivals.com/forum.asp

 

[Paesano]

Leave now. https://kentucky com/forum.asp

Can't handle the truth buttercup? I'm not going anywhere so you had better stop reading my posts if you don't have the spine to handle it.

 

[Stainmaster]

Can't handle the truth buttercup? I'm not going anywhere so you had better stop reading my posts if you don't have the spine to handle it.

You seem to be confused. Since you were poking around here looking for paying off handlers and coaches, I figured I would point you in the right direction to somewhere where that could actually be gotten away with. I think you'll like it much better over there. More "fans" like you.

 

[Paesano]

And fans like you want to ride the high road to total irrelevance. I direct you to www.umasshoops.com

You seem to be confused. Since you were poking around here looking for paying off handlers and coaches, I figured I would point you in the right direction to somewhere where that could actually be gotten away with. I think you'll like it much better over there. More "fans" like you.

 

[Stainmaster]

And fans like you want to ride the high road to total irrelevance. I direct you to www.umasshoops.com

No, it still isn't clicking with you. You'll get it soon. Tourney bans, scholarship docking, and probation fade programs into total irrelevance -- that's why we're in the mess we're in right now. What you propose leads us straight into that.

I'll take the (relative) high road and staying relevant over whatever people like you who jack off to Calipari want.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Good thoughts. I might add to your point about the AAC. This team is road weary. Flights to Tulsa, Stanford, Houston, Cincinnati do take its toll, especially on younger players. We used to look at thge schedule in the BE and see three or four road games in "our backyard". PC, BC, St Johns in the Garden even SHU, RU and VU always had a good representation of UCOON fans. Now our closest road game is Temple and our best representation is probably at USF and UCF. No one travels well to Tulsa, Houston etc. Maybe New Orleans who knows but it does seem like our team like our fans do not seem to be getting up for these games.

 

[CTBasketball]

Good thoughts. I might add to your point about the AAC. This team is road weary. Flights to Tulsa, Stanford, Houston, Cincinnati do take its toll, especially on younger players. We used to look at thge schedule in the BE and see three or four road games in "our backyard". PC, BC, St Johns in the Garden even SHU, RU and VU always had a good representation of UCOON fans. Now our closest road game is Temple and our best representation is probably at USF and UCF. No one travels well to Tulsa, Houston etc. Maybe New Orleans who knows but it does seem like our team like our fans do not seem to be getting up for these games.

Exactly...the wonderful minds of conference realignment decided to not take geographical preferences into consideration during their massacre of the old conferences.

 

[BUConn10]

Good thoughts. I might add to your point about the AAC. This team is road weary. Flights to Tulsa, Stanford, Houston, Cincinnati do take its toll, especially on younger players. We used to look at thge schedule in the BE and see three or four road games in "our backyard". PC, BC, St Johns in the Garden even SHU, RU and VU always had a good representation of UCOON fans. Now our closest road game is Temple and our best representation is probably at USF and UCF. No one travels well to Tulsa, Houston etc. Maybe New Orleans who knows but it does seem like our team like our fans do not seem to be getting up for these games.

Woah, lets not start getting racist now.

 

[7774]

Yes, I too think Fishy nailed it. I have little hope for Purvis, mostly because his judgement and basketball savvy is pretty sad. I also think of the MAAC when I watch Kenton and Samuels. (I live in Siena's backyard). I would love to think that Kenton could develop into a Rakeem Christmas, but I don't think it is in his personality. TSam is high energy but limited in ability. Nolan has no hands and is limited, Lubin is way over his head, and we will struggle with the rest.

There is also something wrong with the chemistry in terms of the offense. Every team we play seems to have a certain rhythm to their ball movement and we look like we are out there for the first time. Coaching? I don't know, but the offense just continues to fail, except when Boat plays one against five.

We definitely need more than Allen next year. A real point guard is a must. I'm willing to chalk up this year, if we can see some hope for next year.

It's bizarre to me that people think Facey is a MAAC level talent when he had very good games against some of our toughest competition, and has been pretty solid overall. I wouldn't put him in our top 10 problems this season. Also, his name is spelled Kentan. And our recruit coming in next year is Adams, not Allen.

 

[Stainmaster]

I wouldn't put him in our top 10 problems this season. Also, his name is spelled Kentan. And our recruit coming in next year is Adams, not Allen.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned that "Samuels" kid yet...

 

[RipCity]

Also how are you going to criticize Facey's personality? Kid gets into it with his matchup like every game. Once he has "senior year" muscle, he's gonna be a force. He already has nice touch.

 

[AfgHusky15]

The rally at the end was nice, but meaningless. This felt like a loss five minutes into the game.

1) Kevin Ollie doesn't have this team ready to play. It's February and the games that we could stick in with our defense have evaporated as other teams have improved offensively throughout the year. Ollie's team hasn't improved one iota on offense.

I don't know if Ollie has ever shown himself to be a great coach - it's too early in his career to expect him to be one - but the one thing he has shown is that he is a magician in terms of managing and getting his players to play hard.

That is not happening now.

2) And the talent. People actually think that our roster scares off recruits...I have no idea why. Who gets the blame for this roster? There isn't a single shooter on the team. We have one ball handler. Not a one of them outside of Boatright can get their own shot. Our center is a project, our power forward is a project and our off guard spot is an interchangeable trio of guys who can't shoot or dribble a basketball. Our front court reserves are a pair of players who are MAAC-level talents. "But we win championships after bad years"...not with these parts, kids. We need the projects to get better, we need Omar and Rodney to play like they're capable, but we also need more talent.

3) I have high hopes for Rodney Purvis over the next two years, but I am starting to wonder if KO has ever seen a Ferrari. I think he saw a Fiat once and got confused.

4) Our players are routinely pushed all over the court. Our guys look juiced at the end of games. Nagging injuries sprout like daisies. Cincy and Houston look like they just walked out of a gym - we look soft as hell. Weight room.

5) If there was any justice in this world, Ryan Boatright would grow three inches between now and the draft. The difference between a truly humiliating defeat and a narrow loss was that superhuman little dude. Because of what he did in the the last eight minutes, Kevin Ollie won't be asked what exactly he spent the previous two hours doing.

6) I absolutely hate the AAC. I despise how they're selling us out to help the rest of the conference sell tickets on their Saturday dates and I hate how they are selling us out to fill gaps in weekend programming on Sundays. The defending champion just played a game 1,800 miles from campus in front of a dozen fans. You can hear the high-fives in Bristol, Syracuse and Chestnut Hill.

6) These are dangerous times for UConn athletics. If you want to see what happens when a program gets aced out of a major conference and has to make due in a mid-major league, take a look at Houston. They are the cautionary tale.

We can't afford to string together down years and we're not replacing players the way we need to. We didn't have a player to fill in next to Boatright in the backcourt. After a couple of years of failing to recruit a decent backcourt player, we're going to try to replace both Boatright and Napier next year with Adams. Enoch will help fill in the gap where Lubin and Nolan have thus far failed.

But that's not enough - we need another impact player in the backcourt. If we can weasel back into the Stone derby, great, but we need someone who can shoot and handle the ball. If that's one player, fine. If it takes two players to get that done, then get two.

This year is already f---ed - time to make sure that next year isn't f--ed, too.

To your third point, it seems like you too have never seen a Ferrari as well...smh:

Adams was the biggest need in the class and that was handled. SE was a nice addition as well - UConn defended its home turf with both.

But it's not a great class.

They've replaced Boatright, but Purvis is likely gone after this season and you imagine Hamilton is gone after next...)

 

[Chief00]

If Ollie wants to establish a post game early - suggest goi g to Facey rather than Brimah.

 

[AfgHusky15]

If Ollie wants to establish a post game early - suggest goi g to Facey rather than Brimah.

What about Drummond?...

 

[CTBasketball]

If Ollie wants to establish a post game early - suggest goi g to Facey rather than Brimah.

Agree 100%.

 

[zls44]

6) I absolutely hate the AAC. I despise how they're selling us out to help the rest of the conference sell tickets on their Saturday dates and I hate how they are selling us out to fill gaps in weekend programming on Sundays. The defending champion just played a game 1,800 miles from campus in front of a dozen fans.

Warde has to try and put a foot down on that. UConn has ONE home Saturday regular-season game. It was in Hartford at 11 AM

No.

It is not UConn's job to make these other crap programs get more than 400 people. That's a them problem.