How Jim Calhoun's coaching career started

[tentoes4rings]

There are many distinguishing factors between our coach and the coaches who have been brought up in this thread. I am pretty sure by their 6th year as a head coach guys like Dean Smith were doing lots of things very well. What is it exactly that Kevin Ollie does very well?

The first 2 to 3 seasons it was fielding a strong defensive team. Now, even the defense is weak, despite having a roster of his guys.

 

[willie99]

The lack of returning rotation players is largely due to transfers, why can’t you see that Willie? Injuries happen to every team. We’re down ONE player, albeit an important one. Successful programs find ways to overcome injuries, usually through quality depth. Last season’s injury situation was devastating but with only one injured player this year, we have enough talent to play significantly better.

He pushed a reset button after last year, and kids didn't like what they heard left. I have no problem with that. Many thought at that time this season was already going to be a total disaster, but he managed to resurrect some hope. All his detractors argued he'll never be able to recruit kids to come here again, he already proved that to be wrong. A highly regarded recruit decommitted after the coach that recruited him was fired, that's collateral damage.

And this year's team will be better, with more time together and the more distance we put behind us with respect to Larrier's injury. Gilbert's loss CANNOT be simply discounted as meaningless, and not recruiting over him should not be called his fault either. Kids know Gilbert is here, we can't hide that, and Gilbert deserves some respect for choosing us to begin with.

We were in a bad place just 6 or 7 short months ago, and significant progress has been made since then. So once again I'm going to argue he needs more time, especially since he's not going anywhere.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Agreed on the last point, the issue is whether he has learned and will avoid those mistakes in the future.

I think this year like last it's impossible to judge KO because without a true point guard, the team is going to struggle. Next year he will have his roster with his players and his coaches. He has to perform with it. I think he gets to the end of 2018-19 season and if he doesn't make the 2019 tourney, then he has failed.

Fair enough, I appreciate the reply. I for one am willing to give him your timetable IF the team plays with heart, execution and pride. Unfortunately we haven't seen much of those the past 3 plus years. The 12-13 team had nothing to play for but pride. While they had Boat, Bazz etc. I give all the credit in the world to KO for keeping that team hungry and focused that entire season. If he can get this team to defend, play hard for 40 minutes and make us proud of their progress, one more season would be fair. If however we continue to struggle mightily against significantly inferior programs and get embarrassed routinely by better teams, this has to end this year.

 

[boog204]

I'm sure it's been said but I don't feel like reading everything... Using JC and K at MID-MAJORS with little to no legacy is like comparing apples to ferrari's. KO took a team that had won three national championships in 15 years and has "coached" into struggling with a 0-9 Coppin State team. For years, most of us fought off the criticism that KO just won w/ JCs players. But I can't do it anymore. Did he do a great job coaching that team? Of course. But they still had a JC stamp on them. What we've done since then is mediocre at best and he has pedaled out the same excuses and we have come up with every rationale for why things have gone south. But I cannot take any more "we've got to execute the game plan" or "we didn't come out with the energy we needed." That's YOUR JOB. And if you are doing it to the best abilities and the players are not playing for you, then the disconnect is far too extreme to fix.

 

[Fishy]

all at Northeastern

1) 19-7
2) 12-11
3) 12-12
4) 12-13
5) 12-14
6) 14-12
7) 13-13

8) 19-8, then he started to become the legend that he is today

What I'm saying is that it takes time to find what works for you as a coach

Such a load of horse crap.

Stop trying to justify this tire fire - it didn’t have to happen.

You know what Jim Calhoun also did? He worked hard every day.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This is an idiotic premise and that is frankly extremely disingenuous.

Citing a few hall of fame coaches that are considered the best in their sport, who started out slow, while ignoring the literally thousands of head coaches who started out slow, because they were frankly bad.

Post this all you want, because it is a fact, but to be angry when people say its completely irrelevant is absurd.

 

[willie99]

Such a load of horse crap.

Stop trying to justify this tire fire - it didn’t have to happen.

You know what Jim Calhoun also did? He worked hard every day.

I suppose if you know something about Ollie's work ethic the rest of us don't, that can be a game changer.

Everything about Ollie's life suggests he works hard, his NBA career was all about working, but people can and do change.

I love Jim Calhoun, maybe he was hoodwinked by Ollie too

 

[willie99]

“It’s hard sometimes, because we’re trying to develop our front court, do this, this and that. We have a very good back court, five guys who can play on the perimeter, most teams don’t have that. And we’ve got to simplify what we do and hope to continue to work on what we’re really good at, and do that. Syracuse, you know what they did? Play a zone, protect the rim, and won because of the 2-3 zone. We’ve got to find our niche as the season goes on. I have a lot of confidence in Kevin. I think we have good players.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

Has anybody told Jim Calhoun he's totally wrong about this? What on earth is he talking about?

"find our niche as the season goes on" whaaaaaaat? r u kidding me? how stupid is that?

"I have confidence in Kevin" I guess he doesn't know it's over already

 

[freescooter]

Northeastern was in the College World Series in 1966, they have always been Division 1

Not in basketball. You could be multiple divisions for different sports back then. Some sports didn’t even have divisions. UConn played obviously major college basketball but in the “college” division in football and division 2 in hockey I think. Top division in baseball too. But Northeastern absolutely was D2 in hoops.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This team stinks, the future looks bleak, Ollie seems like a disaster at the moment, and all that being said, the idea that anyone is seeking out Freescooter's thoughts on the matter is laugh out loud funny.

 

[Paesano]

“It’s hard sometimes, because we’re trying to develop our front court, do this, this and that. We have a very good back court, five guys who can play on the perimeter, most teams don’t have that. And we’ve got to simplify what we do and hope to continue to work on what we’re really good at, and do that. Syracuse, you know what they did? Play a zone, protect the rim, and won because of the 2-3 zone. We’ve got to find our niche as the season goes on. I have a lot of confidence in Kevin. I think we have good players.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

Has anybody told Jim Calhoun he's totally wrong about this? What on earth is he talking about?

"find our niche as the season goes on" whaaaaaaat? r u kidding me? how stupid is that?

"I have confidence in Kevin" I guess he doesn't know it's over already

What the hell do you expect him to say?!?!?! It is the exact right thing to say in this situation. If you think that is what he is saying in private too, well, you are hopeless.

 

[uconnphil2016]

These examples are called outliers. It's like telling your son that he's going to the NBA after being cut from his freshman high school basketball team just because the same thing happened to Michael Jordan. Sure, KO could become Dean Smith, Coach K, JC, but the odds are not in his favor and I'm not sure we've seen anything to suggest that a future turnaround is immanent

 

[willie99]

Good god, another one who thinks he knows what other people are saying behind the scenes, so much so that he has the audacity to call posters like me "hopeless" if they don't know what Jim Calhoun is REALLY saying in private

Exasperating sigh

 

[Huskybass]

I suppose if you know something about Ollie's work ethic the rest of us don't, that can be a game changer.

Everything about Ollie's life suggests he works hard, his NBA career was all about working, but people can and do change.

I love Jim Calhoun, maybe he was hoodwinked by Ollie too

Such a load of horse crap.

Stop trying to justify this tire fire - it didn’t have to happen.

You know what Jim Calhoun also did? He worked hard every day.

Maybe it's just me. Or perhaps the time of year. But I feel like Fishy just told Willie the truth about Santa Claus, and Willie doesn't want to believe it.

 

[tentoes4rings]

What the hell do you expect him to say?!?!?! It is the exact right thing to say in this situation. If you think that is what he is saying in private too, well, you are hopeless.

Right. Did you expect him to publicly say "I can't believe he ruined my program in 4 years and the product on the floor has been a complete embarrassment"? Let's get real here.

 

[UConnNick]

Of course they are, it doesn't fit your narrative

Suggesting anything other than "it's over" or "Ollie has to go" or "the sky is falling" is all useless. Nothing else matters, daring to have a little perspective is just unacceptable.

The one thing you have right is that it's no predictor of future events, wasn't meant to be. The biggest difference is not the fact that experience is the world's greatest teacher, that's still true today. The biggest difference is that we have social media and an instant gratification society. Many great coaches would have been run out of town before they were given a chance to be successful.

At the end of the day, Ollie's not going anywhere anyhow, so I suppose y'all can choose to scream at the sky if it makes you feel better.

Hey willie, you're preaching to the wrong choir here. I've largely been what some here have described as a "pollyanna".

I still don't put much stock in side-by-side coaching comparisons, especially from different eras.

Due to last season's injury epidemic, I have often stated I'm willing to give Ollie this season to turn things around. I will likely be looking for a change if he can't make that happen. I also agree that it's going to be very difficult financially to get rid of him, even if the AD wants to.

 

[BRG 1]

This is an idiotic premise and that is frankly extremely disingenuous.

Citing a few hall of fame coaches that are considered the best in their sport, who started out slow, while ignoring the literally thousands of head coaches who started out slow, because they were frankly bad.

Post this all you want, because it is a fact, but to be angry when people say its completely irrelevant is absurd.

These examples are called outliers. It's like telling your son that he's going to the NBA after being cut from his freshman high school basketball team just because the same thing happened to Michael Jordan. Sure, KO could become Dean Smith, Coach K, JC, but the odds are not in his favor and I'm not sure we've seen anything to suggest that a future turnaround is immanent

When Tim Welsh came to PC he brought stability, as previous coaches (Pete Gillen, Rick Barnes, Rick Pitino) used PC as a stepping stone to bigger high profile jobs. But with stability came mediocrity, followed by a bad hire.
It is tough to be the guy who follows a Hall of Famer (see Steve Spurrier / Ron Zook) even though Ollie was hand selected.
Can Ollie turn it around or is it mediocrity?

 

[Paesano]

Good god, another one who thinks he knows what other people are saying behind the scenes, so much so that he has the audacity to call posters like me "hopeless" if they don't know what Jim Calhoun is REALLY saying in private

Exasperating sigh

you are blind. Look at the man's body language at the games. Look at what he is saying in other interviews and, more importantly, what he is not saying and what he is avoiding. The picture is there, staring you in the face, but you refuse to see it.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The fan base already disappear in football and it is not coming back. The sad reality is that with the AAC, we will not have an excited base because most casual fan do not care for playing football against Tulsa, Tulane etc. They watch 1-3 games a yr. The attendance against our old big east rivals in basketball will be a better gauge of our fans impact. I went to the Providence game and it was UCONN 2/1 over Prov fans. I know one sure way to an empty arena for the program is to fire Ollie, destroyed our recruiting for 2018 and 2019. None of the coaches being mentioned has any pedigree to bring in high level recruits for the AAC. Now if we have 8 million a yr for somebody like Donovan with the state budget. He probably cant do any better

That’s BS try actually establishing a winning tradition . Go 11-0 and see if you can get a ticket
We’re playing in the very best non P5 conference that has produced good football and had actual drawn
Stop blaming a conference you have won a dozen games in 5 years for your own screw-ups

 

[traitor71]

Did say anything other to give this team time. Nobody should lower expectations, but no reasonable person should think this team is going to play like national titles contenders 5 weeks into the season with two returning rotation players AND once again hampered by injuries

National title contender? This team doesn't even look like a contender for the top half of the AAC. People should be content with this?

 

[Kitaman]

Who made an excuse? Just pointing out history

Ollie had a program on the mountaintop and considered elite in the basketball world. To me his only job in the early part of his career, was to not see UConn descend to the ranks of irrelevance. Oh the others you mentioned jobs was to ascend their programs which gives them latitude and time (luxuries for a coach).

Programs on top rarely never bring in rookies. Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA and other blue bloods didn't do that and they remain relevant. Even Texas went out and replaced Barnes with Smart, and Arizona went and got Miller both 'not settling'.

Sadly with declining post season NCAA appearances, middle of the pack conference ranking, no NBA player accessions, and mediocre season records we have descended so quickly that we are becoming a irrelevant and certainly less attractive to our fan base (empty seats) and national media.

Ollie does not have the time and latitude afforded the HOFer's you mentioned, because UConn is not looking to become an elite program but looking to remain one. Our Coach needs to prove he belongs, and that is done through winning games (a whole lot of them), conference domination and post season successes.

Anyway, I think Tom Izzo who had some assistant coaching experience and took over a well known and established Big Ten program as his 1st head coaching gig, is a better one to make Ollie comparisons to:

1995-96 Michigan State Big Ten 32 16-16 .500
1996-97 Michigan State Big Ten 29 17-12 .586
1997-98 Michigan State Big Ten 30 22-8 .733 NCAA Tournament; Reg. Season Champion
1998-99 Michigan State Big Ten 38 33-5 .868 NCAA Tournament; Reg. Season Champion; Conf. Tournament Champion; NCAA FF
1999-00 Michigan State Big Ten 39 32-7 .821 NCAA Tournament; Reg. Season Champion; Conf. Tournament Champion; NCAA FF; NCAA Champion
2000-01 Michigan State Big Ten 33 28-5 .848 NCAA Tournament; Reg. Season Champion; NCAA FF

 

[willie99]

 

[Huskybass]

I'm sure it's been said but I don't feel like reading everything... Using JC and K at MID-MAJORS with little to no legacy is like comparing apples to ferrari's. KO took a team that had won three national championships in 15 years and has "coached" into struggling with a 0-9 Coppin State team. For years, most of us fought off the criticism that KO just won w/ JCs players. But I can't do it anymore. Did he do a great job coaching that team? Of course. But they still had a JC stamp on them. What we've done since then is mediocre at best and he has pedaled out the same excuses and we have come up with every rationale for why things have gone south. But I cannot take any more "we've got to execute the game plan" or "we didn't come out with the energy we needed." That's YOUR JOB. And if you are doing it to the best abilities and the players are not playing for you, then the disconnect is far too extreme to fix.

Boog,

For years I dismissed the notion that KO "won with JC's players", but can no longer due so. The body of work since 2014 is so underwhelming and in stark contrast to 2012-2014 that any objective person would conclude that JC's players were indeed vital to KO's early success.

What amazes me is that this team consistently finishes 5th in the AAC and never challenges for the league regular season title, despite often having the most talented roster. Mediocrity gets old quick.

 

[The Funster]

KO was handed the keys to a well established program and in the last three years has done nothing but drive it into the guard rails over and over again. Did anyone see him in the 2nd half of the Coppin State game? He was hanging his head like he was beaten. It looked like he wanted to give up. His team let an 0-9 team hang around and they almost pulled it off.

 

[Husky25]

His team let an 0-9 team hang around and they almost pulled it off.

UConn certainly needs to improve (especially on their perimeter defense), but that is a bit of an overstatement. Once UConn took the lead, the game wasn't really in doubt. They seemed to pull away when they needed to.

Take away the 0-8 run to start the game (should never happen at home to a team like Coppin St, but it did) and UConn wins by 21.

Those are 2 (perimeter defense and lethargic start)/3 of what UConn must improve going forward. The other is turnovers.

I liked the press. They should get into it from Jump Street. Not wait until they are down 8.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nope, even the great ones had to learn the ropes, with my point being "it takes time" to find your inner self in a tough profession

I agree with your general premise. It's the reason why I thought it was really a dumb move to hire Kevin Ollie. Like Donyell at Central and almost all others, you need to start at a lesser program with lower pressure. UConn should have hired an experienced HC that had already gotten past those early stumbles.

 

[Chief00]

He pushed a reset button after last year, and kids didn't like what they heard left. I have no problem with that. Many thought at that time this season was already going to be a total disaster, but he managed to resurrect some hope. All his detractors argued he'll never be able to recruit kids to come here again, he already proved that to be wrong. A highly regarded recruit decommitted after the coach that recruited him was fired, that's collateral damage.

And this year's team will be better, with more time together and the more distance we put behind us with respect to Larrier's injury. Gilbert's loss CANNOT be simply discounted as meaningless, and not recruiting over him should not be called his fault either. Kids know Gilbert is here, we can't hide that, and Gilbert deserves some respect for choosing us to begin with.

We were in a bad place just 6 or 7 short months ago, and significant progress has been made since then. So once again I'm going to argue he needs more time, especially since he's not going anywhere.

Agree, Chill has helped KO make progress on the recruiting front. KO needs to get out in front of things much quicker in games and make adjustments.
Maybe, in part due to Gilbert - I have not seen much progress moving towards a rotation.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Maybe.

But is Indiana considered a destination job?

Top hoops program in the Big Ten historically. Probably top ten all time. Has fallen on hard times, but the right coach could make it a big winner. Huge following.

 

[August_West]

Top hoops program in the Big Ten historically. Probably top ten all time. Has fallen on hard times, but the right coach could make it a big winner. Huge following.

And how many coaching changes since Bob Knight (Indianas Calhoun) left?

 

[JeepCSC]

Indiana had many built-in advantages when Knight was forced out, but they squandered it with the Davis hire and salted the earth with the Sampson hire. Crean took a decimated program and made it respectable, but he spent so long cleaning up the mess he walked in on that he became associated with losing for many IU fans. All this was going on while Izzo surpassed IU as the preeminent B10 team and Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin and others were pushing IU even below them. IU is a cautionary tale that no program is immune with the wrong hire and poor AD leadership.