I admire this team

[yukonyc212]

Great post @August_West. I have a feeling that we'll all be able to look back on this as the year of tribulations that catalyzed an extended stretch of excellence, like 92/93 or 00/01.

And I agree 100% that several of Calhoun's teams quit on him, but we've never seen that from Ollie's group. My guess is we don't see it this year, either, even with all the injuries.

Welp the team quit today so it didn't take very long to prove your hypothesis wrong.

 

[superjohn]

People for whatever reason, forget the terrible years. It goes in cycles, the kids have to grow up. We were terrible Dyson/Sticks Freshman and Senior seasons, and we rebounded from that wonderfully...because the kids have to grow up.

And I agree, what we learned from this season is that we've got a bunch of kids with a lot of heart. They are certainly easy to root for.

I remember those seasons well, this is a lot worse. This is hands down the worst team we've had in 30 years or as long as I've been watching.

 

[blackbird]

I remember those seasons well, this is a lot worse. This is hands down the worst team we've had in 30 years or as long as I've been watching.

Not really. They were equally as infuriating. I remember those teams well, and neither group had injuries as an excuse. (Except maybe the freshman year with AJ recovering.)

 

[Towney007]

This team's the worst team i've ever seen at UConn and it's not even *close*

 

[SouthBayHusky]

People for whatever reason, forget the terrible years. It goes in cycles, the kids have to grow up. We were terrible Dyson/Sticks Freshman and Senior seasons, and we rebounded from that wonderfully...because the kids have to grow up.

And I agree, what we learned from this season is that we've got a bunch of kids with a lot of heart. They are certainly easy to root for.

As someone pointed out recently, Ollie is 42-30 in AAC conference play over the past four years. First you cannot even come close to comparing this conference with all of the sub 150 teams to the Big East Yet in the span of four years his record is 42–30. It's time to bring a little perspective to the table.

 

[gtcam]

This team's the worst team i've ever seen at UConn and it's not even *close*

You haven't been around as long as some of us
That's the problem with the naysayers and bashers - most have short experience and history to work.

 

[gtcam]

I'm pretty certain Gonzaga fans would trade places with our results the past 6 in a heartbeat. Also... It doesn't matter how well we do in the tournament next year (if we make it). I just want to see 1 year where we dominate this mid-major conference we're in to be sold on Ollie going forward. There's no reason why we can't be like Memphis was in the old CUSA when Squid was there. We should be rolling off 16 - 2...15 - 3 years regularly. If we dominate the regular season and get upset in the tournament... fine... There are no excuses for next season. If we have another ugly season than I really hope we wave some money around and see who else is out there A prolonged downturn of multiple missed tournaments and losing seasons will have a devastating effect on recruiting..

When Bobby Knight was fired at Indiana in 2000, the interm coach Mike Davis took over the program. He locked down the permanent position a year later. In his second year at Indiana (2002) they win a share of the Big 10 title and get a 5 seed in the tournament. They go on to make a run all the way to the title game where they lose to Maryland in a terrible final. With the majority of their team coming back for the next season, they end up on the bubble ultimately getting a 7 seed and losing in the 2nd round. The next 2 seasons they finish 15 - 14 and 19 - 12 respectively, missing the tournament each year. During the 05 - 06 season IU comes out of the gate strong, but stumbles mid season. Following the Uconn upset of IU in Indiana, Davis announces his resignation amid public pressure and rumors he was going to be fired at years end.

After Davis's ouster they hire Kelvin Sampson, who proceeds to get them put on probation for illegal recruiting contact after 1 season. They then hire Tom Crean who goes 28 - 66 in his first 3 seasons before righting the ship with 2 straight sweet 16s in 11 and 12.. Fast forward to today where they struggle to be relevant on a yearly basis and will miss the tournament again this year... Indiana has only gotten out of the first weekend 3 times since 2002 and haven't gotten past the sweet 16. 15 years, 7 missed NCAA Tournaments, and only 3 sweet 16s to show for it from a "Blue Blood" program.

Point of the history lesson is that Indiana is Indiana. They have history and legacy and are considered by everyone to be a "Blue Blood" program. They play in one of the 2 best conferences in the nation for athletics. They have no recruiting limitations like we do. We can't afford to stumble like they did and expect to recover easily. Their fan base and institution would not accept 3 straight NITs and thus forced Mike Davis's hand into resigning even after getting them to the title game 3 years before. Just because you win a title / get to the final 4 / title game, it doesn't give you a free pass forever. You still have to produce results, and the bar is set much higher at blue blood programs. (We most certainly are a blue blood program) We are a 75 foot prayer away from 3 straight missed tournaments after winning an NCAA title. Next year, anything less than winning this crap conference will be a failure as far as I'm concerned. I hope Ollie can turn it around, but I'm skeptical. I truly hope he turns into another Bobby Knight, not a Mike Davis.

You write all this just to AGAIN present your point that you think KO sucks????

 

[Towney007]

You haven't been around as long as some of us
That's the problem with the naysayers and bashers - most have short experience and history to work.

I've been watching since the early-mid 80s. I've seen some stinkers here.

I didn't get to watch the previous 30 years of semi-wasteland.

But no one's a basher. This isn't a good basketball team. That's just an objective fact. They shoot poorly. They defend poorly. They pass poorly. They check in and out of games frequently. And they've played one of the easiest schedules a UConn team has played in 35 years and have become the program's first team with a losing record since 1960.

That's not being a naysayer. That's just seeing reality.

And this team is awful. Absolutely awful. Great kids. Most of the time, the effort's absolutely there. They care a lot. But they're a bad college basketball team.

 

[UConnDad]

Welp the team quit today so it didn't take very long to prove your hypothesis wrong.

Who specifically quit? I was there and I didn't see that.

 

[superjohn]

You haven't been around as long as some of us
That's the problem with the naysayers and bashers - most have short experience and history to work.

Well it's certainly the worst team in the past 30 years, that's not arguable and it's bad enough.

 

[Towney007]

Who specifically quit? I was there and I didn't see that.

I was there, too. The 2nd half looked like a team that would rather be anywhere else other than a basketball team.

Why that is - who knows. They're banged up. I'm sure there's other stuff we don't even know about. They're younger. Sure didn't envision their first season here being like this. They're tired. Fans are giving them crap. They just look cooked.

But they def. checked out.

 

[yukonyc212]

Who specifically quit? I was there and I didn't see that.

We scored 13 points the last 15 minutes of the game. We got dominated in the paint and on the boards. I thought the only player that played hard was Kentan. Adams was either still bothered by his injury or mailed it in. Purvis shot his usual 35% from the field. The freshman are what they are. Brimah got bullied in the paint as usual.

 

[whaler11]

You haven't been around as long as some of us
That's the problem with the naysayers and bashers - most have short experience and history to work.

I'm 43. This is the worst team since the formation of the Big East.

There are some valid excuses but this team is awful.

 

[UConnDad]

I was there, too. The 2nd half looked like a team that would rather be anywhere else other than a basketball team.

Why that is - who knows. They're banged up. I'm sure there's other stuff we don't even know about. They're younger. Sure didn't envision their first season here being like this. They're tired. Fans are giving them crap. They just look cooked.

But they def. checked out.

I assume you could see Jalen barely walking then. Shouldn't have even played. Finally hobbled to the bench with over 8 minutes to go. Could you see Amida gasping for air or Christian grabbing a water bottle during free throws. They were frustrated they weren't making shots I'll grant you that.

 

[yukonyc212]

You write all this just to AGAIN present your point that you think KO sucks????

Well if you can't read or get the theme out of the post I'll help you like 6 year old. As a "blue blood" fan base we shouldn't put up with awful / mediocre results on a yearly basis and we shouldn't have to, considering we pay our coach 3mm per year. Indiana didn't put up with it either and looked elsewhere when they were threatening to miss 3 straight NCAA tournaments. Why should we lower our expectations? We're a top 3 program in the modern era of college basketball. Would any of the other "blue bloods" of college basketball put up with these results? I'll let you answer that one.

 

[UConnDad]

We scored 13 points the last 15 minutes of the game. We got dominated in the paint and on the boards. I thought the only player that played hard was Kentan. Adams was either still bothered by his injury or mailed it in. Purvis shot his usual 35% from the field. The freshman are what they are. Brimah got bullied in the paint as usual.

Jesus, Jalen could barely walk. If you like percentages Rodney had 13 of our 23 first half points. Fairly good. Christian is the only freshman able to play significant minutes.

 

[BlueDogs]

Well if you can't read or get the theme out of the post I'll help you like 6 year old. As a "blue blood" fan base we shouldn't put up with awful / mediocre results on a yearly basis and we shouldn't have to, considering we pay our coach 3mm per year. Indiana didn't put up with it either and looked elsewhere when they were threatening to miss 3 straight NCAA tournaments. Why should we lower our expectations? We're a top 3 program in the modern era of college basketball. Would any of the other "blue bloods" of college basketball put up with these results? I'll let you answer that one.

This is a classic problem with Connecticut...built in inferiority complex and always arguing we should settle for less. Wrong conference, too many injuries, you gotta understand this and that, this the best we can do, we overachieve, Calhoun is a hall of famer, we are spoiled, yada yada. Anything but demand excellence.

 

[yukonyc212]

Jesus, Jalen could barely walk. If you like percentages Rodney had 13 of our 23 first half points. Fairly good. Christian is the only freshman able to play significant minutes.

Man there's an excuse for everything always on this board. Ok what was the excuse when we we down 30 against Cincy last time and they decided to spare us a 40 point defeat and put their bench guys in the last 10 min of the game? Jalen was fully healthy then?

 

[yukonyc212]

This is a classic problem with Connecticut...built in inferiority complex and always arguing we should settle for less. Wrong conference, too many injuries, you gotta understand this and that, this the best we can do, we overachieve, Calhoun is a hall of famer, we are spoiled, yada yada. Anything but demand excellence.

Exactly! So many people here are accepting these results and making excuses. We'll I don't.

 

[mauconnfan]

Wow what an embarrassing Yard this turned out to be, pitiful group of newbies.

 

[yukonyc212]

Wow what an embarrassing Yard this turned out to be, pitiful group of newbies.

And there he is!!! Why don't you tell everyone what they are because they don't accept the results of this misirable season. I think you're outnumbered here

 

[LIUCHusky]

I've been watching since the early-mid 80s. I've seen some stinkers here.

I didn't get to watch the previous 30 years of semi-wasteland.

But no one's a basher. This isn't a good basketball team. That's just an objective fact. They shoot poorly. They defend poorly. They pass poorly. They check in and out of games frequently. And they've played one of the easiest schedules a UConn team has played in 35 years and have become the program's first team with a losing record since 1960.

That's not being a naysayer. That's just seeing reality.

And this team is awful. Absolutely awful. Great kids. Most of the time, the effort's absolutely there. They care a lot. But they're a bad college basketball team.

Your reality is far from real. There have been at least two teams with a losing record since 1960. If I remember correctly on of them was 5-19 (1968-69?). John Wooden couldn't with a team with only one ball handler, especially since that one ball handler has been hobbled since late December.

 

[mauconnfan]

Who specifically quit? I was there and I didn't see that.

C'mon Dad didn't you know if you can't make shots or plays you quit? I mean you can't be playing hard if you turn it over or miss a shot right?

 

[mauconnfan]

This is a classic problem with Connecticut...built in inferiority complex and always arguing we should settle for less. Wrong conference, too many injuries, you gotta understand this and that, this the best we can do, we overachieve, Calhoun is a hall of famer, we are spoiled, yada yada. Anything but demand excellence.

Must be that! LOL because you know how everyone that wants to keep KO here for now feels right? Hilarious what people say and think, funny as hell. And you probably believe it too.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@mauconnfan I don't quite understand how you can play the role of Resident Brimah Basher for four years (a stance in which I joined you in more than a few times) and it's fine for you to dish out criticism when it's due, but now you're throwing a tantrum when other fans are being critical of a team and coach that was absolutely dreadful all season long.

It's pretty hypocritical and we're supposedly fair weather fans because of it? Please (Bill Walton voice).