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

[3rdbass]

Hobbs has been recruiting for 20 years. Rip, KEA and Caron were his guys as an assistant. He had some success at GW too before tailing off. They were 29-3 in 2006. On paper, his resume blows the doors off of Slice, who's big gets as an assistant were Chris Taft, Sam Young, and Levance Fields and who was an abject failure as a head coach by any reasonable analysis. Now of course Slice is well plugged in to the NYC AAU world and has a good reputation, otherwise Kentucky wouldn't have waved big money at him. And obviously after a couple years at Kentucky, he'll have some bigger names to drop than Chris Taft.

But Slice isn't coming to us. A young rising star of the AAU circuit (say, Book Richardson a couple years ago before landing at Arizona) might not want the challenge of recruiting to the AAC. If we cleaned house, do we find anyone better than Hobbs willing to come here? Maybe, but maybe not. My feeling is that the early leg work hasn't been a problem in the last two years - we've cast a wide net and gotten in on a lot of quality guys. That's what the assistants need to do. Closing to some degree has been an issue, and to me, that falls on the head guy, and I'm wiling to be patient with KO on it. It was a challenge to recruit a wing one class behind Hamilton, and Stone was never going to be an easy get. It's still too soon to make a panic move until at least we see how the 2016 class (and/or early commitments from 2017) pan out.

So you don't think we can find anyone better than Karl Hobbs because any decent recruiter wouldn't want to come to UCONN? I find that funny because I think there are enough younger ones out there that would want the chance to recruit for a school like UCONN even in a conference as bad as ware are in now. Now keeping them might be an issue but I don't think KO would have a problem replacing a guy like Kayleigh Heckel if that is the weak link in our recruiting. We aren't Towson St. yet as far relevancy in college basketball.

 

[azescobar]

I didn't want to even read this thread or chime in, but here I am. This post is beyond dumb. We are one year removed from a national championship, and don't forget, two years removed from a 20 win season in which we were banned from postseason play.

Last year was a disappointment, and we can all point to games/situations where Ollie made some questionable decisions, but damn, talking about firing KO if we miss the tournament next year, really? That's beyond insane.

I actually have relatively high hopes for next year, and while I won't say we're a lock for the tourney, I would be very surprised if we don't make it. I think we are capable of more than just getting in also. Which other teams really scare you? I think on a good night we can beat anyone.

KO may not have job protection forever, but you have to give him at least 5 years before you even think about a change at the top. A change at the bottom with assistant coaches, sure, but this board should be far more concerned about NBA jobs opening up this summer and rumors linked to KO, than KO losing his job.

 

[Pudge]

Interested to hear what people think.

I think you a Flipping idiot!!!

 

[3rdbass]

I didn't want to even read this thread or chime in, but here I am. This post is beyond dumb. We are one year removed from a national championship, and don't forget, two years removed from a 20 win season in which we were banned from postseason play.

Last year was a disappointment, and we can all point to games/situations where Ollie made some questionable decisions, but damn, talking about firing KO if we miss the tournament next year, really? That's beyond insane.

I actually have relatively high hopes for next year, and while I won't say we're a lock for the tourney, I would be very surprised if we don't make it. I think we are capable of more than just getting in also. Which other teams really scare you? I think on a good night we can beat anyone.

KO may not have job protection forever, but you have to give him at least 5 years before you even think about a change at the top. A change at the bottom with assistant coaches, sure, but this board should be far more concerned about NBA jobs opening up this summer and rumors linked to KO, than KO losing his job.

Unfortunately UCONN doesn't have five years. We can't afford it in this new era of conference realignment. I do agree him losing next year and getting fired is not going to happen. Though if he backs that up with another bad recruiting year and a third season of missing I think KO's days are numbered. We can't have the program struggle for almost 5 years if we want to stay relevant. The landscape is changing so fast.

 

[UCbcm]

Unfortunately UCONN doesn't have five years. We can't afford it in this new era of conference realignment. I do agree him losing next year and getting fired is not going to happen. Though if he backs that up with another bad recruiting year and a third season of missing I think KO's days are numbered. We can't have the program struggle for almost 5 years if we want to stay relevant. The landscape is changing so fast.

Conference realignment for our purposes depends heavily on outside factors and UConn football developing... If realignment was based solely on basketball, UConn would already be safely in a P5 conference.

 

[3rdbass]

Conference realignment for our purposes depends heavily on outside factors and UConn football developing... If realignment was based solely on basketball, UConn would already be safely in a P5 conference.

Yes, but our basketball team becoming irrelevant isn't going to help our cause. We need to stay relevant in the men's basketball landscape and hope Fooball can start winning.

 

[Kembacity]

I swear to god, the whining on this site is unbearable. I'm not apologizing for interpreting your stupid thoughts in a perfectly reasonable way. You think next year's team should be a tournament lock, I'm sorry, that's not supported by the facts.

Well I'm not you, sitting here saying that next year's team is barely talented enough to make the NIT. I think that's offensive, and you said it here, clear as day.

Stop whining about people whining who aren't whining about anything but your awful analysis skills and out of left field commentary on what you think other people think with the words they type. If I didn't write it, don't tell me I did, moron

 

[Tenspro2002]

KO's job security is an idiotic question.

A more appropriate question is: in absence of a P5 life raft, can the program survive another year or two of mediocre recruiting?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

A more appropriate question is: in absence of a P5 life raft, can the program survive another year or two of mediocre recruiting?

What are you talking about, recruiting is going great!

 

[Gurleyman]

So you don't think we can find anyone better than Karl Hobbs because any decent recruiter wouldn't want to come to UCONN? I find that funny because I think there are enough younger ones out there that would want the chance to recruit for a school like UCONN even in a conference as bad as ware are in now. Now keeping them might be an issue but I don't think KO would have a problem replacing a guy like Kayleigh Heckel if that is the weak link in our recruiting. We aren't Towson St. yet as far relevancy in college basketball.

Hobbs is a veteran recruiter who was the point person for two players who went on to be NBA All-Stars, and worked extensively with a third as an assistant coach (Ray Allen). That was a long time ago, so is he still good enough now in his early 50s to be the lead guy? I honestly don't know. My outside impression is that finding talent and making it down to the final few schools on the lists of some good players hasn't been a problem -which is what the recruiting assistant's role is, so I'm inclined to say he's doing his job reasonably well. The head coach has to be the one who closes. Nobody is going to Kentucky to be coached by Slice (or Antigua before him), no matter how good a job they do working their contacts. The head coach doesn't have enough time to beat the bushes and do the early leg work, but when you're in the last three or four schools, they have to be the ones who make the final sell and make the recruit want to come.

There isn't a long list of people out there who are going to swoop onto a staff and start making the difference in reeling in top 50 recruits as soon as they get a company cell phone. Someone like Book Richardson was considered that type of guy and landed at Arizona - the next guy in those shoes who thinks of himself as a high demand sort of person, and who doesn't have any personal connection to UConn, might just possibly study the situation and decide that there's a risk factor in trying to make your reputation at a place where there's currently an inherent recruiting disadvantage, and decide to hold out for a Michigan or UCLA or Florida or somewhere. There's probably plenty of young and up and comers in the next tier down with slightly lesser resumes or rolodexes who would pounce on the chance to be the lead recruiter at UConn, but would one of those guys be good enough to be an upgrade over what we already have? It'd be a risky hire.

 

[UC990411]

KO's job security is an idiotic question.

A more appropriate question is: in absence of a P5 life raft, can the program survive another year or two of mediocre recruiting?

So should we change the question?

 

[Waquoit]

So should we change the question?

What do you mean we, kemo sabe? Ignore.

 

[Husky25]

Unlike the Dumb and Dumber clip, this scene never gets old.

 

[freescooter]

The issue really is that with UConn stuck in this league for the foreseeable future, going 2 years without a tourney appearance has the possibility of starting the Huskies on a road in the wrong direction. Let's remember that the guys who led the team to the 2014 title were by and large Calhoun's guys, not Ollie's. I think the jury is still way out on whether Ollie can recruit. Now you can argue that he had some handicaps in his first class, but last year, coming off a national championship, he brought in one blue chipper, and even he is not a Kentucky ready to go today blue chipper, but more of a kid with a huge up side. The other guys he's brought in are Meh at best. Samuels is a 3rd guard, Facey has backup written all over him, Brimah has really taken a step back from where he was in the Spring of '14 I thought. He's 7-2 and you can't teach that, but he gets beat up by smaller stronger guys way too often. The team desperately needs a true power forward in the Kevin Freeman mold.

Basically missing the Tourney next year means we've missed 3 of the last 4 and in 2012 we barely got a cup of coffee. Stuck in the no respect AAC we could well end up trodding the path of teams like Indiana, Houston, St Johns, Providence and a few others who were once national powers and are now afterthoughts.

 

[ctchamps]

The issue really is that with UConn stuck in this league for the foreseeable future, going 2 years without a tourney appearance has the possibility of starting the Huskies on a road in the wrong direction. Let's remember that the guys who led the team to the 2014 title were by and large Calhoun's guys, not Ollie's. I think the jury is still way out on whether Ollie can recruit. Now you can argue that he had some handicaps in his first class, but last year, coming off a national championship, he brought in one blue chipper, and even he is not a Kentucky ready to go today blue chipper, but more of a kid with a huge up side. The other guys he's brought in are Meh at best. Samuels is a 3rd guard, Facey has backup written all over him, Brimah has really taken a step back from where he was in the Spring of '14 I thought. He's 7-2 and you can't teach that, but he gets beat up by smaller stronger guys way too often. The team desperately needs a true power forward in the Kevin Freeman mold.

Basically missing the Tourney next year means we've missed 3 of the last 4 and in 2012 we barely got a cup of coffee. Stuck in the no respect AAC we could well end up trodding the path of teams like Indiana, Houston, St Johns, Providence and a few others who were once national powers and are now afterthoughts.

Why am I not surprised this is appearing!

 

[UC990411]

Why am I not surprised this is appearing!

I disagree with one thing he wrote, he called Samuel Samuels. Other than that he is spot on.

 

[ctchamps]

I disagree with one thing he wrote, he called Samuel Samuels. Other than that he is spot on.

He was one of the dudes questioning if JC's time had passed before the last JC championship. If he had his choice you would be sporting 9904 w/o the 11. He also wanted Shaka. That would have been a disaster. May not have gotten the 14 either. He appears only when the sniping gets on a roll. You're feeding him or vice versa. Good company. The two of you should go to a bar together and reinforce one another.

 

[UConnSwag11]

how it this thread still going?

 

[Rocktheworld]

The issue really is that with UConn stuck in this league for the foreseeable future, going 2 years without a tourney appearance has the possibility of starting the Huskies on a road in the wrong direction. Let's remember that the guys who led the team to the 2014 title were by and large Calhoun's guys, not Ollie's. I think the jury is still way out on whether Ollie can recruit. Now you can argue that he had some handicaps in his first class, but last year, coming off a national championship, he brought in one blue chipper, and even he is not a Kentucky ready to go today blue chipper, but more of a kid with a huge up side. The other guys he's brought in are Meh at best. Samuels is a 3rd guard, Facey has backup written all over him, Brimah has really taken a step back from where he was in the Spring of '14 I thought. He's 7-2 and you can't teach that, but he gets beat up by smaller stronger guys way too often. The team desperately needs a true power forward in the Kevin Freeman mold.

Basically missing the Tourney next year means we've missed 3 of the last 4 and in 2012 we barely got a cup of coffee. Stuck in the no respect AAC we could well end up trodding the path of teams like Indiana, Houston, St Johns, Providence and a few others who were once national powers and are now afterthoughts.

Samuels
Brimah is 7'2 and has regressed
KO can't recruit
Sky falls in 2 years' time

Nice little 4 piece of idiocy. You'd think you'd have learned and at least made a new account to spew your garbage, but then again, you're a moron

 

[Inyatkin]

You'd have a hard time convincing me that next year's team will have more talent than this year's team, assuming no further additions, and this year's team was a ways from being a tournament team.

We were 9 points from being a tournament team.
Beyond the automatic bid, we weren't nearly as far as you're making it sound. More importantly, players get better.

 

[UC990411]

Interested to hear what people think? Next year is now this year.

 

[Jerry1714]

Interested to hear what people think? Next year is now this year.

No, but he needs to get better, a lot better. The coaching this season has been horrific

 

[Bryan Lord]

One more year

 

[Tenspro2002]

I give him a pass for last year -- we didn't have the talent and it largely wasn't his fault (though coaching also wasn't great).

This year is strike one.

Next year would be strike two.

If we're not back to perennial contender status by 2018, when he's had a few recruiting classes under his belt, I would consider going in another direction.

 

[willie99]

Sitting in a bar on the road at 10:00 after losing again

I really don't care, I'll take my chances

 

[Bryan Lord]

If we draw a line in the sand, 3 NIT seasons in a row has to be it.

 

[3rdbass]

Yes, if Ollie can't do it next year without making the Tourney he needs to go. I mean he can't even finish in the top 2 of this horrible conference. UCONN can't afford out basketball team to become mediocre being in this horrible conference. I like Ollie as a person but he just isn't the same as he was his first two years. He at least had fire then. Now it seems like he is just going through the motions.

I would say he was waiting for the perfect NBA job but he let that pass in OK city unless he is waiting for KD to go to a bigger market.

 

[Stainmaster]

I give him a pass for last year -- we didn't have the talent and it largely wasn't his fault (though coaching also wasn't great).

This year is strike one.

Next year would be strike two.

If we're not back to perennial contender status by 2018, when he's had a few recruiting classes under his belt, I would consider going in another direction.

I think the main argument in favor of keeping him has to be this year's recruiting class. I'm not 100% familiar with the NCAA guidelines, but I believe that schools do let signees out of their LOIs if the head coach leaves. We as a program cannot afford to even think about passing up a class composed of four Top 100 players. Gambling that an open-market hire could pull a comparable group in is way too big of a risk.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think the main argument in favor of keeping him has to be this year's recruiting class. I'm not 100% familiar with the NCAA guidelines, but I believe that schools do let signees out of their LOIs if the head coach leaves. We as a program cannot afford to even think about passing up a class composed of four Top 100 players. Gambling that an open-market hire could pull a comparable group in is way too big of a risk.

I completely agree -- also, you have to let KO have a shot at coaching his first big class composed of entirely highly-sought players.

 

[UC990411]

I think the main argument in favor of keeping him has to be this year's recruiting class. I'm not 100% familiar with the NCAA guidelines, but I believe that schools do let signees out of their LOIs if the head coach leaves. We as a program cannot afford to even think about passing up a class composed of four Top 100 players. Gambling that an open-market hire could pull a comparable group in is way too big of a risk.

I don't want to get into a pissing match with you and don't disagree with anything you just said. However, if he can't develop a top 100 recruiting class than does it matter if 1 or all of them go elsewhere?