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This is all nonsense. You know what statistics matters at the end of the day? Wins and Losses. There are multiple ways to win. And multiple ways to lose.
This is all nonsense. You know what statistics matters at the end of the day? Wins and Losses. There are multiple ways to win. And multiple ways to lose.
The Grass is not always greener!!!
You think any of these name are going to convince our better players or ones with potential to stay here ??? LOL
We need a big upgrade not a slight upgrade or even trade.. I don’t like any of the names.
We will be having same convo in 2-3 years..
By all indications that is exactly what would happen.And I'm not so sure an exodus doesn't occur if Ollie stays.
The Grass is not always greener!!!
You think any of these name are going to convince our better players or ones with potential to stay here ??? LOL
We need a big upgrade not a slight upgrade or even trade.. I don’t like any of the names.
We will be having same convo in 2-3 years..
You are scared to death of him coming to UConn, aren't you?Hurley is a worse version of Mick Cronin imo
Hurley is a worse version of Mick Cronin imo
Now, since we like to compare the last two seasons, I have to go the speculation route.
Some people continue to bash Ollie and consider him a lessor coach because of more recent results, which begs this question if you really want to have a fair discussion.
What if Hurley's best player unexpectedly declared for the NBA draft before the 16/17 season?
And then, a big recruit gets hurt in August of 2016 and misses the 16/17 season. And then 2 of his three best remaining players go down for the season in November of 2016.
I wonder how good RI would have been last year.
Then his best recruit for 17/18 decommits because the coach who recruited him was fired. And then his mostly higher regarded recruit goes down for the season again, And then his team's second leading scorer fractures his nasal canal while still recovering from his torn ACL and essentially sucks down the stretch.
I wonder how good RI would be. If RI had all those injuries, and CT had none of them, who do you think would look like the better coach?
Again, I'm not bashing Hurley, I'm really not, I just think a little balance goes a long way
Our program has been absolutely devastated by injuries the last two seasons, and other stuff didn't help either. Now I do think the team should have competed more even with the injuries, but let's not pretend they didn't happen and they weren't significant.
If that's some sort of "agenda" of mine, so be it, it's legit.
Here's basically all the coaching candidates and their rankings according to KenPom at the schools where they built their name or are currently building their resume. Just from looking at this graph, Hurley, Crean, and Musselman are the most impressive in my opinion and I guess Mack too for retaining Xavier as an excellent program (not as much from building something).
Ollie lost to Wagner & Northeastern with a completely healthy roster and nearly lost to Loyola Marymount the next game with Alterique only missing the 2nd half. Then proceeded to lose to ECU & Tulsa later that season, should I also mention that a team that had Ryan Boatright, Daniel Hamilton, & Rodney Purvis failed to score 50 points v. Yale and lost? Ollie has not beaten Tulsa since February 2016. Required OT to beat Monmouth & Columbia.
Would Hurley's teams be as good as we have witnessed the last two seasons applying the circumstances highlighted above? No, of course not. Would teams play below their talent level so consistently? I would bet not.
For the 2,014th time, we would not be having this discussion today if Ollie had not lost Wagner/Northeastern/ECU/Tulsa last season, which would have put them at a 20 win season. All 4 games UConn should never lose considering how much more talent was and is on the UConn roster. We would not be having this conversation today if Ollie's team could pick off 1 quality win here and there. UConn has not beaten a ranked opponent since February 2016.
There best win this season is Oregon who will not be dancing this year like UConn that has now missed 3 of the last 4. College basketball is a volatile game in terms of outcomes. Think about all the upsets you see on a week in/week out basis. Now think about how many quality teams UConn played this season. I'll list them out:
That's all 9 games UConn played against tournament teams and they went 0-9. And even worse, they didn't even compete: average margin of loss was 19.9 points/game. Once Alterique went down, I think we all understood we weren't dancing this year, but Ollie's job was to hold the line, play respectable basketball, beat the less talented teams, and maybe pick off a good opponent here and there, get to the NIT, show team growth. I personally have seen none of these things, not even close.
- Michigan State
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Auburn
- Wichita State (x2)
- Villanova
- Cincinnati (x2)
We were surprised to see UConn beat Temple, #83 KenPom Temple, who will not be dancing. That's how far the program has fallen and that should be alarming. I would like someone at the helm who has a history of fixing messes not creating them.
Ollie lost to Wagner & Northeastern with a completely healthy roster and nearly lost to Loyola Marymount the next game with Alterique only missing the 2nd half. Then proceeded to lose to ECU & Tulsa later that season, should I also mention that a team that had Ryan Boatright, Daniel Hamilton, & Rodney Purvis failed to score 50 points v. Yale and lost? Ollie has not beaten Tulsa since February 2016. Required OT to beat Monmouth & Columbia.
Would Hurley's teams be as good as we have witnessed the last two seasons applying the circumstances highlighted above? No, of course not. Would teams play below their talent level so consistently? I would bet not.
For the 2,014th time, we would not be having this discussion today if Ollie had not lost Wagner/Northeastern/ECU/Tulsa last season, which would have put them at a 20 win season. All 4 games UConn should never lose considering how much more talent was and is on the UConn roster. We would not be having this conversation today if Ollie's team could pick off 1 quality win here and there. UConn has not beaten a ranked opponent since February 2016.
There best win this season is Oregon who will not be dancing this year like UConn that has now missed 3 of the last 4. College basketball is a volatile game in terms of outcomes. Think about all the upsets you see on a week in/week out basis. Now think about how many quality teams UConn played this season. I'll list them out:
That's all 9 games UConn played against tournament teams and they went 0-9. And even worse, they didn't even compete: average margin of loss was 19.9 points/game. Once Alterique went down, I think we all understood we weren't dancing this year, but Ollie's job was to hold the line, play respectable basketball, beat the less talented teams, and maybe pick off a good opponent here and there, get to the NIT, show team growth. I personally have seen none of these things, not even close.
- Michigan State
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Auburn
- Wichita State (x2)
- Villanova
- Cincinnati (x2)
We were surprised to see UConn beat Temple, #83 KenPom Temple, who will not be dancing. That's how far the program has fallen and that should be alarming. I would like someone at the helm who has a history of fixing messes not creating them.
RI is a good team, I wish them well, I tend to pull for the underdogs. But I've read a lot of comments about how well coached they are, how great their defense is and about how Hurley teams resemble Calhoun teams. This stuff peaked my interest, so I decided to do a little research.
One of the best things about Calhoun teams over the years is great defense, always national leaders in defensive FG%, so I looked it up at Field-Goal Percentage Defense | DI Men's Basketball Statistics - NCAA.com
Defensive FG %
Rhode Island 45.3%, ranked 254th
Connecticut 43.2%, ranked 135th
So RI's defense does not remotely resemble anything Jim Calhoun ever put on the court (usually under 40%) , and Ollie's defense is considerably better than Hurley's despite playing significantly tougher competition.
While looking at this stat, I thought noting the following might be interesting to some people
1) Mich St
2) Cinci
3) VA
6) Houston
8) Cuse
9) UCF
41) Rutgers, Steve Pikiel appears to be teaching a Calhoun type of defense
Next, rebounding margin
Hurley is a worse version of Mick Cronin imo
As requested, 3pt FG% defense
RI 67th at 32.9
1) Grand Canyon
2) UK
3) Penn
4) S AL
5) SD
6) VA
7) Northeastern
8) Sam Houston
9) Middle TN
10) N KY
11) Green Bay
12) Boise
save for UK and VA, not exactly the type of teams you find at the top of the statistical charts I value most and posted, and URI is not near the top of that stat either
again, FWIW, somebody who thought I was posting "garbage numbers" thought looking at this would be more valuable
Three Pt FG Defense | DI Men's Basketball Statistics - NCAA.com
So to be clear here, you created a "Hurley = the new Calhoun" strawman, cherry picked two statistics you personally identified with Calhoun teams, showed us that Hurley is not, in fact, equal to a Hall of Fame level coach coaching a national power in a premier conference, didn't compare Hurley's numbers at all to KO's pathetic showings the last few years. I think KO needs to go but I will say there are times - after the Temple win, thinking about Sid and what he'll add to the team next year, etc - that I personally think he should maybe get another year at the helm. And then I read these threads where you critique a presumptive replacement's stats and realize that these stats are infinitely, infinitely better than the team KO has been putting on the floor with much better resources and supposedly better recruiting and it's pretty obvious again that he needs to go.
For the love of God too Boneyard, can we please stop with the Tom Crean joke? The guy is a laughingstock. He was the original creepy kid kissing Tom
Some very good points in here, but is your premise that if we make the NIT last year we're still not having this convo?
My point is if the program was winning games it was supposed to (and I'm accounting for injuries when I say this), not getting consistently embarrassed on National TV, and not playing such poor unimaginative basketball, then yes we would not be having this conversation. I don't think I was nor am asking for much.
Just from that graph, none of the coaches are obviously better than Ollie. It's reasonable to suppose that Ollie's skill is a coach is accurately represented by the average Kenpom rating of his years to date -- you could argue that the first few years benefited from Calhoun's support and players, while the last few were hurt by injuries, I think they balance out -- and we have to assume he has been learning how to coach and his trend will be up from here. And if he stays, having Gilbert, Jalen, Akinjo, Sid Wilson, Matthews, Kisunas added to a further year of growth for the returning players suggests next year Ollie should be back to an NCAA tourney bid.
Danny Hurley's results have been impressive but not more impressive than Ollie's national championship. There are still questions about his ability to recruit at a high level and win in March. Obviously he's a good coach. But can he ever be a national championship winning coach?
Ollie has the potential to be that again. If he rebuilds his reputation for competence and player development, then with his NBA experience and a national championship on his resume, he has a real chance to become the nation's top black coach, and top point guard coach. That would be a difference maker in recruiting for some players. If the FBI actually helps clean the cheating out of the sport, then he might become an elite recruiter.
The big difference in the graph between those coaches is not average results, but that some coaches are on uptrends and Ollie on a downtrend. But all coaches will have ups and downs, so there is a risk that the ups and downs are partly statistical fluctuations and luck. We may be overly focused on Ollie's weaknesses that we've seen on the court, and missing his strengths which shone through in 2014. Maybe with the help of good assistant coaches, the weaknesses can be fixed. Ollie's ceiling may be higher than Hurley's, even as his floor is lower.
No it’s quite fair.
We also won in 2014 playing rather unimaginative basketball, minus the change with boat attacking the ballhandler at half court (which in Ollie’s defense was brilliant).
But even if I give you that with Gilbert healthy we make the NiT last year and this year, do you think Ollie’s job is much safer than it is now?
what a weird series of responses. i dont care who uconn hires. really means nothing to me. hurley is okay but reminds me too much of cronin (defense/toughness not good offense)Sorry, no more gift wrapped Cane Broome's coming your way after this season. UCONN will soon have a coach who believes in having guard depth again.
what a weird series of responses. i dont care who uconn hires. really means nothing to me. hurley is okay but reminds me too much of cronin (defense/toughness not good offense)
Ollie lost to Wagner & Northeastern with a completely healthy roster and nearly lost to Loyola Marymount the next game with Alterique only missing the 2nd half. Then proceeded to lose to ECU & Tulsa later that season, should I also mention that a team that had Ryan Boatright, Daniel Hamilton, & Rodney Purvis failed to score 50 points v. Yale and lost? Ollie has not beaten Tulsa since February 2016. Required OT to beat Monmouth & Columbia.
Would Hurley's teams be as good as we have witnessed the last two seasons applying the circumstances highlighted above? No, of course not. Would teams play below their talent level so consistently? I would bet not.
For the 2,014th time, we would not be having this discussion today if Ollie had not lost Wagner/Northeastern/ECU/Tulsa last season, which would have put them at a 20 win season. All 4 games UConn should never lose considering how much more talent was and is on the UConn roster. We would not be having this conversation today if Ollie's team could pick off 1 quality win here and there. UConn has not beaten a ranked opponent since February 2016.
There best win this season is Oregon who will not be dancing this year like UConn that has now missed 3 of the last 4. College basketball is a volatile game in terms of outcomes. Think about all the upsets you see on a week in/week out basis. Now think about how many quality teams UConn played this season. I'll list them out:
That's all 9 games UConn played against tournament teams and they went 0-9. And even worse, they didn't even compete: average margin of loss was 19.9 points/game. Once Alterique went down, I think we all understood we weren't dancing this year, but Ollie's job was to hold the line, play respectable basketball, beat the less talented teams, and maybe pick off a good opponent here and there, get to the NIT, show team growth. I personally have seen none of these things, not even close.
- Michigan State
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Auburn
- Wichita State (x2)
- Villanova
- Cincinnati (x2)
We were surprised to see UConn beat Temple, #83 KenPom Temple, who will not be dancing. That's how far the program has fallen and that should be alarming. I would like someone at the helm who has a history of fixing messes not creating them.

Awesome, now Houston's not even a quality team to the dumpster fire crowd, but Davidson is to the Hurley jockstrap crowd
Ollie only coached three good weeks in his career, that makes sense to some people
12/13 never happened, neither did the conference championship when the season was ended by one seed KU, nope, and a national championship was nothing more than THREE GOOD WEEKS
Ollie ejaculates more hoop knowledge than most posses, he's had real success as a coach without much experience, injuries matter, and we've had two very disappointing seasons by every standard of measurement
I think he gets another year, I haven't heard of even one better long term prospect at this point, That too is very important
Dear Willie,Awesome, now Houston's not even a quality team to the dumpster fire crowd, but Davidson is to the Hurley jockstrap crowd
Ollie only coached three good weeks in his career, that makes sense to some people
12/13 never happened, neither did the conference championship when the season was ended by one seed KU, nope, and a national championship was nothing more than THREE GOOD WEEKS
Ollie ejaculates more hoop knowledge than most posses, he's had real success as a coach without much experience, injuries matter, and we've had two very disappointing seasons by every standard of measurement
I think he gets another year, I haven't heard of even one better long term prospect at this point, That too is very important
Been a great exchange BTW STORRS & WILLIE though. Def 5* postings. Love it.I think you are fooling yourself by saying he gets another year. The writing is on the wall. That is if you actually allow yourself to read it.
You know why you are unhinged and irrational? Because, deep down, you know he is done. I think you know Hurley is a better option too.Awesome, now Houston's not even a quality team to the dumpster fire crowd, but Davidson is to the Hurley jockstrap crowd
Ollie only coached three good weeks in his career, that makes sense to some people
12/13 never happened, neither did the conference championship when the season was ended by one seed KU, nope, and a national championship was nothing more than THREE GOOD WEEKS
Ollie ejaculates more hoop knowledge than most posses, he's had real success as a coach without much experience, injuries matter, and we've had two very disappointing seasons by every standard of measurement
I think he gets another year, I haven't heard of even one better long term prospect at this point, That too is very important
You know why you are unhinged and irrational? Because, deep down, you know he is done. I think you know Hurley is a better option too.
Again, you go back to the injury excuse. Again, I present to you the Wagner and Northeastern games from last year. In those games we had a McD AA as a redshirt SENIOR in Purvis, a 5 star sophomore in Adams, a SENIOR center in Brimah who, as a freshman made a play that was critical to Ollie's championship and subsequent contract extension, a SENIOR PF in Facey who was a high 4* recruit, a healthy McD freshman guard in Gilbert, a healthy redshirt sophomore forward who was a high 4* recruit in Larrier and a top recruiting class. With that LOADED team, he lost to Wagner and Northeastern. If that doesn't scream SYMPTOM to you, you are blind. Even after losing Gilbert and Larrier, we were STILL a loaded and experienced team relative to the rest of the AAC. And, yet, they struggled. The injury excuse for last year is a horrible excuse with no basis in reality.
This year, losing Gilbert hurt more. Why? Because a huge number of current players and recruits RAN AWAY from him. The lack of talent is more on Ollie than it is on losing ONE player to an injury.
So, to summarize, Ollie bombed with a loaded team and then he bombed because too many kids quit on him. I really don't care how many more games you THINK we might have won with Gilbert. We all saw what happened last year with Gilbert against Wagner and Northeastern. We all saw what happened last year with a loaded and experienced team. And we all saw how this team regressed from bad to worse this year even if you only look at games played after Gilbert was injured.