If we don't make the tourney next year, does Ollie deserve to get fired?

[Tenspro2002]

Over the next 4 years, including this one, he needs 2 NCAAT appearances and 1 Sweet 16 to keep his job, in my opinion.

That's still a far cry from the dominant UConn program of 1994-2009 and not enough for where we need to be, but less than that is simply unacceptable.

 

[amory]

The problem is the short leash in this conference. In Calhoun's waning years in the Big East we could beat anyone on any given night and we could also lose to anyone on any given night. That drove me insane, but in the end we'd almost always still end up firmly in the tournament field.

I see the same things with this team. The problem is we're playing down to our opponents far more often than we play up, because the competition is inferior.

Calhoun never seemed to prioritize the regular season and he could get away with it. Ollie needs to prioritize every single damn game and make sure the team does too.

 

[UC990411]

The problem is the short leash in this conference. In Calhoun's waning years in the Big East we could beat anyone on any given night and we could also lose to anyone on any given night. That drove me insane, but in the end we'd almost always still end up firmly in the tournament field.

I see the same things with this team. The problem is we're playing down to our opponents far more often than we play up, because the competition is inferior.

Calhoun never seemed to prioritize the regular season and he could get away with it. Ollie needs to prioritize every single damn game and make sure the team does too.

We had multiple seasons in the big east where we would only lose 5 games all year. Now we can't get to Mid January without losing 5 games

 

[nychuskyfan]

Firing Ollie is a great idea. Maybe we can scrape together $120 million over 10 years for Coach Calipari. It's only the entirety of our AAC TV money through the year 2100.

 

[UC990411]

Bump

 

[joober jones]

Bump

Not the best time for that.

 

[UC990411]

Not the best time for that.

Why? Because he sucks? Or because we suck?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Not the best time for that.

Generally speaking, discussions about firing someone rarely occur at a "best time".

 

[joober jones]

Generally speaking, discussions about firing someone rarely occur at a "best time".

Touche.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Generally speaking, discussions about firing someone rarely occur at a "best time".

Especially on this board after a loss like that. I'll get ripped but I'm going to say no. And not for a couple years. He's filled the recruiting void with transfers and players who shouldn't be on the team. There isn't any leadership on the floor. There is no bball iq out there. There isn't a true pg( adams is a frosh) talking about Gibbs and purvis, we barely have any 2 guards. I can count on my hand how many times a player dove on the floor for a ball this year. Ollie has screwed up with rotations/subs, clock management, certain things. But when Gibbs dribbles the air out of the ball, or refuses to get the ball to miller, or when there's a clean break to the rim and they miss every single lay up or miss a wide open three that's not on Ollie. You saw what he wants in players with bazz boat giff and Daniels. He hasn't had that for two years.

 

[Stainmaster]

Has anyone considered what awful, awful mojo this thread is?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Especially on this board after a loss like that. I'll get ripped but I'm going to say no. And not for a couple years. He's filled the recruiting void with transfers and players who shouldn't be on the team. There isn't any leadership on the floor. There is no bball iq out there. There isn't a true pg( adams is a frosh) talking about Gibbs and purvis, we barely have any 2 guards. I can count on my hand how many times a player dove on the floor for a ball this year. Ollie has screwed up with rotations/subs, clock management, certain things. But when Gibbs dribbles the air out of the ball, or refuses to get the ball to miller, or when there's a clean break to the rim and they miss every single lay up or miss a wide open three that's not on Ollie. You saw what he wants in players with bazz boat giff and Daniels. He hasn't had that for two years.

I'd counter and say when Gibbs dribbles the air out of the ball and then off his foot but still gets 30 mpg, that's an endorsement from the staff.

Playing time is the ultimate endorsement by the staff of player performance.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I like Ollie and love the loyalty he has shown to the program.

With that being said (a long-winded way of saying "but"), there are 100+ coaches who could coach this team to the SME record and have the players ay at the intensity level of this team.

There literally is no identity to this team. No way of seeing a coach's grit in their play. Take the jersies off and none of is would identify this as a UConn team.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'd counter and say when Gibbs dribbles the air out of the ball and then off his foot but still gets 30 mpg, that's an endorsement from the staff.

Playing time is the ultimate endorsement by the staff of player performance.

I agree, but who comes in for him. Purvis? When he's hot he's really good, but that spurt is 4-8 minutes. Omar same thing, maybe better defense

 

[Chin Diesel]

I agree, but who comes in for him. Purvis? When he's hot he's really good, but that spurt is 4-8 minutes. Omar same thing, maybe better defense

Somewhat circar argument, but that supports my position from other threads that the entire roster is the same player they were at the beginning of 2014-2015 season. Player decelopment- PG's, wings and bigs are stagnating.

So, when no one is developing and testing to jump on the depth chart substitution patterns become irrelevant. You're swapping out interchangeable mediocre flawed players.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

I absolutely hate the voting results and the opinion of some recent posts in this thread. At best that ideology is basically saying KO isn't any worse than coach Y-X 200 other coaches? If that is the case, why can't we acknowledge, that as a 4 time national championship program, we deserve better than this? We are not Indiana with a death penalty, or UCLA having very little success in the modern era. We also have the same amount of titles as Kansas, and more than MSU, Louisville, Arizona, why should we accept "he's an average coach"?

 

[shizzle787]

Kevin Ollie deserves one more year (next year). Since 1999, we have been in the running for a national championship at least every third year (Elite 8 or better). 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, ?
If we are not a national championship contender next year, fire him.

 

[Stainmaster]

I absolutely hate the voting results and the opinion of some recent posts in this thread. At best that ideology is basically saying KO isn't any worse than coach Y-X 200 other coaches? If that is the case, why can't we acknowledge, that as a 4 time national championship program, we deserve better than this? We are not Indiana with a death penalty, or UCLA having very little success in the modern era. We also have the same amount of titles as Kansas, and more than MSU, Louisville, Arizona, why should we accept "he's an average coach"?

Future Hall of Famers don't grow on trees. Some of us happen to be very pessimistic about what the open market has to offer (my apologies to freescooter but Shaka Smart isn't leaving Texas anytime soon).

 

[Tenspro2002]

I've said it elsewhere, but I'll say it again. After this year, KO has 2 years to show he's making a significant turnaround.

Next year might be tough, after losing Miller, Gibbs, Calhoun, Nolan, and probably Purvis. One could argue there will be some addition by subtraction there, but especially in the case of Miller, these guys will leave significant gaps that will have to be filled by younger (e.g. Gilbert) or much less talented (e.g. Facey) players. I don't think it's fair to dump Ollie if next year's team goes through some growing pains.

But the year after that? With the recruiting-restricted Brimah class behind us, led by junior Adams, possibly with a senior Hamilton, junior Enoch, and this year's highly-regarded recruiting class as sophomores, that team had better be in a position to dominate the AAC and earn serious national championship consideration. If not, it will speak to a major failure in player and team development.

I would say a top 4 seed and/or a Sweet 16 at a minimum in 2018, after some evidence of growth among this year's returning players in 2017, is necessary for Ollie to deserve his job beyond April 2018.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

Future Hall of Famers don't grow on trees. Some of us happen to be very pessimistic about what the open market has to offer (my apologies to freescooter but Shaka Smart isn't leaving Texas anytime soon).

Like I said, I don't want Ollie gone right now. He has 1 more year to put his imprint on this program in my eyes. You being pessimistic about the "job market" or whatever really means you are pessimistic about UConn's ability to hire a top coach. If next year shows that Ollie is more of the same, why can't this program at the very least hire a guy like Archie Miller? This is by all right a top 6-7 program in the history of the sport (regardless whether the success is recent, recent success should trump something from 1954), settling for "just an average coach" should be beneath this program.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

I've said it elsewhere, but I'll say it again. After this year, KO has 2 years to show he's making a significant turnaround.

Next year might be tough, after losing Miller, Gibbs, Calhoun, Nolan, and probably Purvis. One could argue there will be some addition by subtraction there, but especially in the case of Miller, these guys will leave significant gaps that will have to be filled by younger (e.g. Gilbert) or much less talented (e.g. Facey) players. I don't think it's fair to dump Ollie if next year's team goes through some growing pains.

But the year after that? With the recruiting-restricted Brimah class behind us, led by junior Adams, possibly with a senior Hamilton, junior Enoch, and this year's highly-regarded recruiting class as sophomores, that team had better be in a position to dominate the AAC and earn serious national championship consideration. If not, it will speak to a major failure in player and team development.

I would say a top 4 seed and/or a Sweet 16 at a minimum in 2018, after some evidence of growth among this year's returning players in 2017, is necessary for Ollie to deserve his job beyond April 2018.

Please don't write a 4 paragraph post saying early on that you think Purvis is going anywhere. How delusional do you have to be to think Purvis has any options anywhere other than return next year?

 

[Stainmaster]

Please don't write a 4 paragraph post saying early on that you think Purvis is going anywhere. How delusional do you have to be to think Purvis has any options anywhere other than return next year?

He'll be in Europe making six figures and helping his mother out.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

He'll be in Europe making six figures and helping his mother out.

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on this board in 2016. Name all the American born players in the UConn program that have ever left early to go play European pro basketball.

 

[Stainmaster]

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on this board in 2016. Name all the American born players in the UConn program that have ever left early to go play European pro basketball.

It's not a ridiculous statement at all, and I stand by it. You're just riled up after a loss. He'll graduate this spring, he's made statements about not being able to play with next year's recruiting class, and he comes from a single-parent household. Just because "we're high and mighty UConn" doesn't mean something like this won't end up happening.

 

[intlzncster]

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on this board in 2016. Name all the American born players in the UConn program that have ever left early to go play European pro basketball.

It's not that absurd. He'll have spent 4 years in school and have graduated. He'll be 23. It's not really leaving early. And he's hinted a number of times that he's not coming back.