If you were AD

[lange10]

so what about by statement do you disagree with again? why am I kidding?

the only thing I see here is you begging the question

I disagree with the sentiment that this team suddenly playing with effort each and every game (which shouldn't be an issue to begin with) being the deciding factor in keeping Ollie around another year.

 

[Danzz]

Finish out the season with ollie, meanwhile start putting out feelers for a replacement.

Feelers won't work because news travels too fast. Either fire KO or keep him but playing it half way is not the answer.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Reality check - my reality, anyway.

1. They won’t, and probably shouldn’t, fire Ollie during the season. But I would have to see some serious development in team and individual play, team chemistry, defensive intensity and offensive play to think he should be back next year, and I haven’t so far. There is no big with a single go-to post move, for example, and yet bigs keep posting up calling for the ball. The assist number is shocking, even with the unreliable shooting. And we give up way too many open threes.
2. I’m unimpressed by the coaching assistants. Recruiting by Chillious? Maybe. But your primary assistant has to be more than that. A lot more.
3. In the meantime, buy a subscription to Towson games and vet Skerry, watch how his team plays, not just the W’s and L’s. Do the same with Konkol and D. Hurley. Rebuild starts with a motivator who knows x’s and o’s, even more than recruits.
4. Everyone was thrilled when Adams was recruited, because of his ranking. He drives very well and makes difficult finishes, but is iffy at running the offense, draws defenders but rarely gives it up, and isn’t a reliable shooter from outside 12 feet. There are complaints about Ollie whining that plays don’t get run. Adams is the guy who has to run them, but Ollie can’t/won’t take him off the floor.
5. Larrier is a solid shooter, perhaps the only one on the team. As soon as he puts it on the floor all bets are off.
6. The young guys can be good players, but they’re not being put in a position to be what they can be. Adams, Larrier and Vital continuously hunt their own shots, so the others are underutilized, not given the chance to produce. Hence the lack of production by other starters.
7. They’ve had three games against high ranked teams - MSU, AZ, and WSU - that were winnable into the final 10 minutes. They fell apart primarily on offensive execution largely due to hero ball, and slacking on defense giving up those open threes.
8. They played better against Wichita, in the game until late. Yeah, it’s a loss, but they competed. I’m bummed, but better.
9. I’ll be astounded if Larrier and Adams are back next year. So Wilson, Polley, Matthews, Akinjo, Whaley, Carlton, Diarra, Gilbert(if) - those are the guys you will be counting on. A new coach starting there has plenty to work with. Teach them all to shoot. All of them. Now.

 

[Huskygrad88]

I would get Calhoun involved.

Ummmm...KO was JC's hand picked successor.

 

[Paesano]

This narrative of becoming irrelevent is a bit overblown. We’ve won more championships than anyone else in the past 18 years. 2 down years does not make you irrelevant. There’s a reason we always get other teams best punch and it is very much because of the name on our jersey which in college b-ball is still very much relevant

Our recruiting says you are wrong.

 

[auggie22]

I disagree with the premise of your argument, we shall see. We do have recruits ranked as high as any we have had under the coach I love as much as anybody, JC. So I'm going to suggest that your statement is categorically incorrect. And AG is actually one of a dozen or so burger boys we've ever had.

I will concede we have to see if KO can get these kids to the next level, and it's unlikely he'll be as successful as JC in doing such because JC was arguably the best of all time in developing players.

Ollie will be here this current season unless something illicit is discovered. He MAY be here next year, too - particularly if the financial side of the decision cannot be resolved. But I think you are being far too generous to say he deserves another year. He buys the groceries and cooks the food - yet has not made an appetizing meal going on four years now. You say that he hit the reset button but don't acknowledge it was a reset of the mistakes he himself made. He does not develop or motivate talent. He is not a strategist. The rap on him now is that he is not much of a worker, either. He makes $3M.

I am sorry to say it, but short of a complete turnaround this season, there is no ray of hope that warrants another season.

 

[Jaker]

Too early to really make an informed opinion on Chili as a recruiter or an assistant. But the program should try to retain him. Although a new coach will probably bring his own people with him.

 

[mauconnfan]

Dan Hurley, Tom Moore, Donyell Marshall, Glen Miller.

Looks like an 0-4 to me.

Do better or don't do it. To just fire him to get someone who can't take you to the level expected is ridiculous.

 

[Jaker]

Feelers won't work because news travels too fast. Either fire KO or keep him but playing it half way is not the answer.

Yes you are right. But I still let the season play out. After all Ollie might walk on his own after this season.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Reality check - my reality, anyway.

1. They won’t, and probably shouldn’t, fire Ollie during the season. But I would have to see some serious development in team and individual play, team chemistry, defensive intensity and offensive play to think he should be back next year, and I haven’t so far. There is no big with a single go-to post move, for example, and yet bigs keep posting up calling for the ball. The assist number is shocking, even with the unreliable shooting. And we give up way too many open threes.

1. Shy of something near criminal (on KO's part) occurring between now and April there is no way he doesn't finish the season (as an in-season firing would not make much sense). I could well be wrong but due primarily to the buyout, unless he does something off the court that embarrasses the university, I don't see KO being relieved of his duties prior to the end of the 2018-2019 season.

   [*][*]I’m unimpressed by the coaching assistants. Recruiting by Chillious? Maybe. But your primary assistant has to be more than that. A lot more.

   I agree fully. I still see the first (of a few) things that started the fall of the program was when Donyell was overlooked (I believe in favor of promoting Ricky Moore to assistant and hiring Kevin Freeman as Director of Ops). My belief (I could again be wrong) was that KO didn't want someone with Donyell's veritas on his staff, basically preferring a weaker than possible staff out of comfort.

   [*]Everyone was thrilled when Adams was recruited, because of his ranking. He drives very well and makes difficult finishes, but is iffy at running the offense, draws defenders but rarely gives it up, and isn’t a reliable shooter from outside 12 feet. There are complaints about Ollie whining that plays don’t get run. Adams is the guy who has to run them, but Ollie can’t/won’t take him off the floor.

   This is a situation where there is sufficient blame to pass around. Adams has a ton of questionable habits on the floor (and possibly during practice as well) and he seems very content in falling back to them at critical times. KO (perhaps due to the limited roster over the past couple of seasons, perhaps due to his nature) has refused to punish JA (or any other player) for questionable, insufficient or even misguided effort. The thing is leadership starts at the top and this is fully on KO for not doing whatever is necessary to have the guy leading the team on the court demanding the best from all players, including himself, at all times. Granted, JA is not the type of PG we've become accustomed to here (he really isn't a PG) but there is no reason someone who wants to be the leader (JA obviously does) can't be required to be a leader.

   [*]Larrier is a solid shooter, perhaps the only one on the team. As soon as he puts it on the floor all bets are off.

   I'm curious as to what Larrier's best role (outside of being a scorer in a different setup than what we can offer) would be. He seems to want to be a 20 ft from the basket two (doesn't really have the game for that) and shies away from a lot close to the basket. He did look good at times yesterday and hopefully he'll continue to improve (it could be health of his knee or confidence in the strength of his knee). He's a bit too passive at the moment to be the offensive player we need and I believe he would be more effective if we had another forward who could play close to the basket and somewhat consistently score and rebound.

   [*]The young guys can be good players, but they’re not being put in a position to be what they can be. Adams, Larrier and Vital continuously hunt their own shots, so the others are underutilized, not given the chance to produce. Hence the lack of production by other starters.

   At different times (I believe against Columbia) we had one of Polley, Whalley and Carlton on the floor for decent periods of times. While the game didn't allow for it (once again a questionable effort) I would have loved to have seen a three to four minute stretch with all three (this may be our future front court) on the floor together. Each has some skill, good size and athleticism, each being someone that an earlier version of UConn could have turned into quite a productive player a few years in. Now there is only hope we can do that.

   [*]They’ve had three games against high ranked teams - MSU, AZ, and WSU - that were winnable into the final 10 minutes. They fell apart primarily on offensive execution largely due to hero ball, and slacking on defense giving up those open threes.

   This is the most frustrating part. The lead players seem to think they can turn it on at will. Quality teams, teams that win through will when talent is reasonably equal, teams that make runs in March (instead of disappointing their fans more often than not) always put in the effort. This team has taken a game off after every legitimate effort to date. That's on the coach. That's on the players. That's on everyone and everything involved with the program.

   [*]They played better against Wichita, in the game until late. Yeah, it’s a loss, but they competed. I’m bummed, but better.

   See my answer to #7. The effort against Tulsa will speak volumes.

   [*]I’ll be astounded if Larrier and Adams are back next year. So Wilson, Polley, Matthews, Akinjo, Whaley, Carlton, Diarra, Gilbert(if) - those are the guys you will be counting on. A new coach starting there has plenty to work with. Teach them all to shoot. All of them. Now.

If Adams and Larrier are gone so be it. They may have talent but neither is a guy a legitimate program can do without. I don't know what either sees himself as but I'll wager heavily that it is far above what most who make a living judging basketball talent sees them as. We will have some nice pieces next year and hopefully KO can learn to again be a teacher. Perhaps within the current freshman class there is someone who can be an on-court leader (something we haven't had since Napier).

 

[Stinger92860]

If you were AD

What's your plan for getting the MBB program back on track?

Follow the Louisville or UNC blue print. Why not, 2 years of probation is better than this.

 

[Glastonhusky]

I hope all of you "Give him another year" posters don't invest in the stock market. Yikes.

Buy low(now), sell high.

 

[RichZ]

If I was AD, I'd be averaging double digit rebounds in the...

Oh. Wait. That AD.

Never mind.

Emily Litella

 

[CardiffGiant]

Anyone who thinks Benedict is waiting until the end of the season to evaluate KO is reporting fake news. In fact he’s having weekly progress meetings with him right now. AD Dave is unbelievably forthcoming with fans and alums and he knows the current status quo is unacceptable....as does Ollie. At the end of day Ollie bleeds blue he’s just in so far over his head running every aspect of a big time blue blood program like UConn.

Most interesting post in this thread IMO. Not sure how these progress meeting go, but many would pay $ to be a fly on the wall to hear what is discussed. It almost sounds like an employee on probation, and the boss is constantly engaged in micromanaging or evaluating. One could see this being a nuisance that ultimately might lead to the employee leaving voluntarily.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This narrative of becoming irrelevent is a bit overblown. We’ve won more championships than anyone else in the past 18 years. 2 down years does not make you irrelevant. There’s a reason we always get other teams best punch and it is very much because of the name on our jersey which in college b-ball is still very much relevant

It will be 4 years in which we will have been relevant for about a week and a half in March 2016.

Current recruits don't care about 2014, nevermind 1999.

 

[uconnbill]

As the AD I wouldn't, nor couldn't do anything. I'd bring Ollie in for a heart to heart and let him know if things don't improve now and I mean now, that this will be his last season at UConn. The only thing that could keep his job is a trip to the NCAA tournament with at least a win.

 

[UCweCONN]

Buy low(now), sell high.

Buy low (a coach coming here) and sell high (he wins us another championship and leaves to take over at Duke when Coach K. retires). I'm ok with that.
But more to my point, many folks have been financially ruined by declining stocks and ride them to the bottom because they had hope that things would turn around. Good investors know when to recognize a failed investment (KO) and cut their losses (fire his )....

 

[UCweCONN]

As the AD I wouldn't, nor couldn't do anything. I'd bring Ollie in for a heart to heart and let him know if things don't improve now and I mean now, that this will be his last season at UConn. The only thing that could keep his job is a trip to the NCAA tournament with at least a win.

I hate the easy out of these conference tournaments. I prefer an automatic bid to go to the regular season champ but I know these tourneys are money makers and ratings grabbers and that won't change. A coach and team can suck all year and get bailed out by a good tourney run. With that said, that won't happen to us this year. I'd put our chances of besting Wichita, Cinci etc. in the AAC tourney at about 15%. We couldn't even do it at XL.

 

[jibsey]

I’m getting tired of hearing how Adams will be gone. We listened to this with Bazz, Boat and others. In what universe is Jalen Adams a good enough outside shooter? There are plenty of good college guards that will not play in the NBA that can actually shoot. Jalen should stick arund and take the 500-1000 shots per day that he didn’t take this last summer.

 

[UofCT]

If you were AD

What's your plan for getting the MBB program back on track?

The AD should fear for his job as well.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I would give Ollie until end of the year. Then i would persuade him in no uncertain terms to "take a different job" and make it seem like his decision. Saves face for everyone involved. Keeps his Husky legacy more intact. He's seems like a great person, there have been essentially zero scandals, the apr and graduation rate have been corrected, he's a Husky for life, he deserves this. he just is incredibly in over his head in my opinion.

 

[Guapo]

So I'm watching the UGA-UK game right now (as some of you know, my wife is a Georgia alum yada yada yada).

Amyway, Mark Fox is far from god's gift to coaching but Georgia fans do not have to worry about inbounding the ball.

They run real offensive plays.

Most of all, there's not an overwhelming sense of impending stupidity.

Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Matrim55]

So I'm watching the UGA-UK game right now (as some of you know, my wife is a Georgia alum yada yada yada).

Amyway, Mark Fox is far from god's gift to coaching but Georgia fans do not have to worry about inbounding the ball.

They run real offensive plays.

Most of all, there's not an overwhelming sense of impending stupidity.

Take it for what it's worth.

Also, one-time UConn commit Willie Jackson is a ton better than he was as a freshman. He's averaging 12/2/4 on 47/44/77 shooting splits. I'd forgotten that players are allowed to improve...

 

[tentoes4rings]

I just think that would set us back another 2, probably 3 years. I'd rather see KO work on improving in some areas, get him some help if needed. Chill has proven he can recruit, I like our 2018 class. KO should get this season and next.

KO has been known to be very stubborn about taking advice. The only way I would even consider keeping him on is if he willingly brings on an offensive coordinator essentially. Without help, trusting him to run a competent offense would truly be the definition of insanity.

 

[Sea Goat]

I'll say the unpopular opinion.

If I'm the AD, I evaluate the situation after the season is over, whereby the main criteria is "are we better positioned for success now than prior to the season?"

That considers the final record and any post-season performance. That considers recruiting and roster health. That considers development of players. And that also considers expert opinions (no, not ones from the Boneyard). I would be talking to Calhoun, for sure, and other people in the field.

And thankfully, I suspect that Dave Benedict will do all of those things and behave accordingly...

UConnDan - your approach certainly has some attraction, but I would go in a different direction. I don't like lame ducks. If this losing ugly $#!+ continues, then a mid season change might be necessary. I think keeping a "dead man walking" coach on board is the worst. In addition, we have precious little going for us other then men's BB. If it looks like we have begun to tolerate mediocrity or worse, then we will have yet another hurdle to overcome in any effort to get into a P-5 conference. DB needs to be prepared to move quickly IMO.