If KO bolts bring back JC with the plan of making Ray Allen head coach

[Gurleyman]

Didn't know it all along, but I certainly wouldn't have said the game passed him by one year after having probably the best team in the country when 100 percent healthy (or 1 and 1A with UNC). A decent case could be made that recruiting was becoming problematic, due to the uncertainty of Calhoun's longevity, but that's a different issue than the game passing him by. It doesn't happen that quickly.

 

[Husky25]

Wait a minute, so you knew this year's team was as championship squad all along? The team looked underwhelming and uninspired much of the year. They went into the postseason on the heels of one of the biggest spankings in UCONN's last 30 years!

No. Where did I say that? I did not even mention the 2014 team.

I will offer this up, however. Before the season I did think UConn was at least an Elite 8 team with upside, based primarily on last year's team (20 game winner without the prospect of the post season, no significant personnel losses). Watching games up to a through the first Louisville game, I amended my expectations to Sweet 16 at best because I thought their inside play and rebounding (or lack there of) was a fatal flaw.

Who cares if people think they knew it all along? That is more a reflection on fans' negativity and subjectivity than anything else. I know I certainly didn't think the game had passed JC by (neither did many others on this board). The guy's been doubted his whole life, and punched the doubters square in the mouth every time.

I think you mean objectivity. The man is a Hall of Fame coach and a UConn Legend. but he was a Hall of Fame coach and legend BEFORE 2010-11. I take none of that away from him, and resent your implication that I do.I Thank you for your opinion, but I had mine...along with many others as well (many does not mean majority. Many people voted for Mitt Romney, just not as many as Obama). During that season, he was 68 years old, coaching 18-22 year olds (who some, in my opinion, quit on the team the year before). He was coming off an NCAA investigation and subject to pretty severe penalties. It aslo seemed at that point that either he was not getting the caliber recruits and/or coaching them up as he once did. It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

If you are going to count any negative, you have to count every positive. And frankly, positives count far more than negatives in the grand scheme of things anyway. Struggling during the season isn't a big deal; it's part of the process. We proved that in 2011 and 2013. Nobody remembers the regular season. The NCAA and league championships are all that matters.

Struggling through the season IS a big deal. It determines seed in the conference tournament (or if a team is even allowed to participate in some leagues), and how many games a team plays. By extension, the regular season play determines if the team, as a whole, loses sleep the night before selection Sunday. UConn is not a 3 seed if they don't knock off 5 teams (4 ranked) in 5 days.

You discount Maui like it was nothing. That was all JC from a coaching standpoint. If you say that's largely because of Walker, then Ollie's championship is largely because of Shabazz. And Calipari's largely because of A Davis. And pretty much any other championship coach the result of some great player. In 2004, 2011 and 2013 (probably 1999 too with Rip who I liked more than Langdon), we had the best player in college basketball.

1) I did not discount Maui in any way, shape, or form, But consider this: MSU was not ranked in the final poll before the Tournament and Kentucky was ranked 15 and 16 in the AP and Coaches' polls, respectively. Might they each have been a tad overrated in the preseason?

2) Correct. UConn doesn't win in April without Shabazz Napier on the team and Calhoun doesn't win without Walker. Where's the confusion? Neither Calhoun, nor Ollie took one shot, grabbed one rebound, or recorded one assist. They may have drawn up a few plays, but the greatest scheme in the world means exactly zero without execution. Walker and Napier were the unquestioned leaders of the 2010-'11 and 2013-'14 teams on the floor, respectively.

The tale of the tape says the following: from 2010 to 2011, a Maui Invitational championship, a BET championship [including a historic 5 in 5], and an NCAA Championship. That's better than any other school during that time period (you can argue UK too). If you were to include one more year (2009), you can throw another Final Four in there. In fact, 2011 might be one of the top 10 coaching performances in college basketball history. With a very young team, who has posted better results?

At the end of the day, the final results tell the tale. Not peoples' preconceived notions.

How can the results tell the tale when hadn't happened yet? I am talking about events before the 2010-2011 season even got underway and then at season's end. the 11-0 streak had happened.

 

[sparky]

The nba seems fixated on young college coaches who are successful, especially if they are x-nba. Even if Ray came in he , would be a short timer. In any event, KO is not leaving so stop all this plan B BS

 

[Inyatkin]

So we're still on board for this Ray Allen coaching thing?

 

[intlzncster]

No. Where did I say that? I did not even mention the 2014 team.

I was only making the point that having confidence going into the tournament as a fan is meaningless towards the outcome. I didn't have much confidence going into this year's' NCAAs. I had a lot more going into the 2011 NCAAs (post BET). In neither case does it mean anything as far as a coach's ability goes.

I think you mean objectivity. The man is a Hall of Fame coach and a UConn Legend. but he was a Hall of Fame coach and legend BEFORE 2010-11. During that season, he was 68 years old, coaching 18-22 year olds (who some, in my opinion, quit on the team the year before). He was coming off an NCAA investigation and subject to pretty severe penalties. It aslo seemed at that point that either he was not getting the caliber recruits and/or coaching them up as he once did. It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

That's just it though, it was only in fan's heads. I guess we view things from different perspectives. I saw him as still reeling in good recruits (Lamb, Napier, Drummond, Roscoe, Boatright, Daniels etc etc). The final conclusions are ultimately subjective, not objective. We can look at the same basic facts and see different things. Now for sure, there were a lot of things going wrong with the program, but the least of my worries was JC's ability to coach (or the game passing him by). He was still the best coach in America in my opinion.

2) Correct. UConn doesn't win in April without Shabazz Napier on the team and Calhoun doesn't win without Walker. Where's the confusion? Neither Calhoun, nor Ollie took one shot, grabbed one rebound, or recorded one assist. They may have drawn up a few plays, but the greatest scheme in the world means exactly zero without execution. Walker and Napier were the unquestioned leaders of the 2010-'11 and 2013-'14 teams on the floor, respectively.

My point was that you said JC predominantly operated by giving the ball to Kemba and getting out of the way (an oversimplification but whatever), and I was countering that Ollie used Shabazz in a similar fashion. The way you worded your point sounded like you were discounting JC's involvement and impact in 2011.

From my perspective, JC's and Ollie's coaching, especially through the difficult stretches, was what lead to both of those teams' evolution. Their growth was directly attributable to what both coaches did throughout the year. Neither of those teams win the championship without their coach.

How can the results tell the tale when hadn't happened yet? I am talking about events before the 2010-2011 season even got underway and then at season's end. the 11-0 streak had happened.

My point there was that anyone who did think that 'the game had past JC by' ahead of 2011 ended up being incorrect in their assessment. That's all. JC put on a coaching performance for the ages in 2011. Ahead of time, of course it was only opinion, as the future was unwritten.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

This may just be the dumbest thing said in this thread. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

We have 4 (four) national championships. We've won the most national championships since 1999. We've won 2 in the last 4 years. We've been to 3 final fours in the last 6 years. We've won championships in 3 different decades.

We are NOT a stepping stone program.

Think about what you said, go practice the games on Lumosity, have fish for dinner, and then when you've gained some intelligence you come back and apologize.

No I will not apologize. This is not the 70's, 80's, 90's etc. Coaches that stay at one program are becoming fewer and farther between. More and more programs want to crash the upper echelons. As long as there are NBA teams, and other schools wanting to improve, Kevin Ollie and other "flavors of the month" will always be on the radar of these clubs, and it's big money contracts. The fact that Uconn won 4 national championships, and 2 in the last 4 years, to paraphrase Jay Carney....................."that was a long time ago". I don't do Lumosity, or fish, but I understand the realities of the game. It's not what you have done, it's what you are going to do, next season. Yeah, I enjoyed the run to the championship. There is going to be a new factor for Uconn fans from now on, to be concerned about. Whether or not Kevin takes the next vacancy in the NBA, or another high profile college program. As to the comment that 5 million is a pretty big "stone", just consider this, Steve Kerr signed a contract for 25 million, so just think on that.