I'm starting to think it isn't Ollie.

[BigErnMcCracken]

What I said was not wrong. I never said they were not highly recruited, I said RELATIVELY SPEAKING they (Williams and Nurse) were not as highly RANKED as the ones among the top 5 ranked players Geno gets every year, and Williams was injured during her recruitment yet Geno saw something in her that made him want her anyway. Listen you can spin things however you want, quote some one out of context or twist things around a bit to make things seem wrong, and just what "people" am I coming after. You a-.....holes (meaning men's team fans) are the ones going after people. This is a brutal fan board. GF yourself!!!

You seem upset. And yeah, you couldn't have been more wrong. You made an incorrect observation in service of a dumb point and you were called on it. Have a nice day. Maybe get a massage or something, you seem a little tightly wound.

 

[RoderickSpode]

Who from Calhoun’s teams did Ollie ring in as a recruiter? Deandre?Jeremy?boat?

Not Jeremy, as he was signed before KO was hired as an assistant. I'm certain he had some role in helping to land the other two. His LA connection couldn't have hurt with signing DeAndre.

 

[KembaStepback]

I skipped most of this thread, but one poster said something along the lines of a top 10 recruiting class is what replaced Hamilton. While true, the best of the bunch got hurt. The next best one was coming off 2 knee surgeries and barely played. VJ and CV were thrust into roles they weren't ready for. We cant expect too much out of freshman. We just cant. This team needs time to grow up a bit. The good news is it seems like we have a solid nucleus. CV, JC and IW look like solid players. Tyler Phommachanh shows flashes. These are guys I look forward to watching a year or 2. I have high hopes for AG when healthy as well as SW. I like what I see from JA and EM. If they can land some solid 2019 guys to help grow with the guys they have...they'll be back to where they need to be and where we expect them to be.

 

[QDOG5]

@JustAFan Jalen is the only truly talented guy on the team and you want to sit him down? With him we're a .500 team, without him we're in USF, ECU territory. There is a lot of arguing in this thread. I give you credit for initiating the sit Jalen argument. Best of luck with that. JA is not the problem. I know KO doesn't agree with you. At one point this season JA was AVERAGING 40 plus minutes a game.

 

[huskyrob1]

You seem upset. And yeah, you couldn't have been more wrong. You made an incorrect observation in service of a dumb point and you were called on it. Have a nice day. Maybe get a massage or something, you seem a little tightly wound.

As I said in the last sentence.....

 

[uconnever]

So let's take a step back. People said we weren't winning because Purvis Facey and Brimah were not good players. Let's assume that that's true just for the sake of argument.

People said KO hit the reset button by having Enoch, Jackson and Durham transfer because they weren't UConn players and didn't want to play D. Ok, let's assume that's true.

Now you are implying this is not a good group of players. Let's assume you are right.

So that's 3 sets of players that all werent/aren't right for UConn to win consistently. At some point after repeated sets of failed players, do you begin to see a trend and realize that the coaching staff simply is not recruiting adequately?

I believe the issues are more widespread that that, but if the players are constantly "not good enough" isn't that on the coaching staff who brought them in?

I would argue that lack of an inclusive, effective offense is far more of a factor than inadequate recruiting. I would agree, however, that we have not landed enough shooters and strong, sound big men. Those don't really seem to be the typical KO recruit. He seems to connect with athletic, raw types with limited offensive skills like Whaley who I happen to like alot.

He doesn't pick these guys. He takes what he can get. Recruiting hasn't been good, but as much as I love Uconn, if I'm a kid, I'm going to the acc, sec,big 10,12. Recruiting is gonna be tough for any coach in the American. Maybe I'm missing someone, but I can't think of any great players in our conference.

 

[3rdbass]

He doesn't pick these guys. He takes what he can get. Recruiting hasn't been good, but as much as I love Uconn, if I'm a kid, I'm going to the acc, sec,big 10,12. Recruiting is gonna be tough for any coach in the American. Maybe I'm missing someone, but I can't think of any great players in our conference.

Still doesn't explain why we can't compete with the top of the AAC. We are never going to be a powerhouse again but we should be in the top 3 of this average league every year. To have just one top 3 finish in 5 years in this league is embarrassing to say the least and with our trajectory we soon will be one of the worst teams in the league if we aren't already there. I guess we can thank ECU and USF for being total train wrecks this year.

 

[glastonbury50]

Obviously Ollie can't go out on the floor and play for these boys, but he is the man responsible for bringing in this group of players...

 

[KembaStepback]

@JustAFan Jalen is the only truly talented guy on the team and you want to sit him down? With him we're a .500 team, without him we're in USF, ECU territory. There is a lot of arguing in this thread. I give you credit for initiating the sit Jalen argument. Best of luck with that. JA is not the problem. I know KO doesn't agree with you. At one point this season JA was AVERAGING 40 plus minutes a game.

This is true. Jalen does have his limitations. (No left hand, not a great shooter, not a great athlete) but his skills and saavy are very good. What hurts him most is teams keying in on him because we lack any other true scorers. Not to mention that hes gotta be getting tired. He plays so many minutes. I feel bad for Jalen. If he had some talent around him he wouldn't force as many shots as he does sometimes. This is why I keep bring up the AG injury. If he's on the ball, Jalen can play off the ball and do some other things. It also means less of AA.

I think Jalen would benefit from another year in Storrs. Not sure it will happen. I don't know his family situation or whatever so we will see. I don't see him transferring.

 

[Huskybass]

He doesn't pick these guys. He takes what he can get. Recruiting hasn't been good, but as much as I love Uconn, if I'm a kid, I'm going to the acc, sec,big 10,12. Recruiting is gonna be tough for any coach in the American. Maybe I'm missing someone, but I can't think of any great players in our conference.

And yet Mick Cronin has his Cincinnati team ranked #6 in the entire country despite being in the AAC.

By comparison, UConn is the number 10 team in the AAC, ahead of only ECU and USF.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

He doesn't pick these guys. He takes what he can get.

This is a nihilstic view of the role of a college basketball coach. Players just arrive on campus, like snow in winter. KO, sadly, has no say in the process.

Let’s pretend that no players in the Top 100 ever have any interest in coming to Connecticut and there is nothing KO can do about it. (Note: this is not actually true and it would be worth asking WHY we are paying KO $3M/yr if it actually were true).

There are 600+ more players who will start at the D1 level. You’d think a National Champion coach from a school with 4 banners that routinely plays in prestigious invitational tournaments and nationally televised games would be well placed to pick from among these remaining players. He’s literally spoiled for choice.

KO’s job is to build a team with complementary strengths and some measure of depth. Yes that’s harder in the AAC than the ACC, but it’s certainly achievable for a good coach.

Instead, KO seems to have simply decided to take the highest-ranked players who are willing to come here. The result is a group of players that are somewhat incoherent together, with a glaring shortness of depth in certain positions.

Ultimately, you may be right that KO is not actively “picking” players so much as he is “taking what he can get.” But if so, that is an indictment of KO’s recruiting, not a defense.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

In the four games he played, the team scored over 70 points in each of them. There is no question this would be a better team with him.

He was a defensive demon just learning where he fit on offense our additional pts primarily came on steals. For anyone who has a concept of B.B. rewatch the MS game until he was injured we were a much scappier bunch.
Maybe our win total wouldn’t be that much more butthe energy he brought would have prevented those embarrassing blowouts and kept real fans interested . With some normal learning his offense would also improve.
Having an one additional shooter and a having a bunch that brings it on defense every night and this becomes a pain in tne butt team to play. With our inexperience in front and brutal schedule the NCAA might have been a stretch but this would have been a good NIT team. More importantly only stupid front runners can’t support a team like that. But who needs them?

 

[Lefty2one]

This is true. Jalen does have his limitations. (No left hand, not a great shooter, not a great athlete)

He's a pretty damn good athlete. There aren't many college PGs around who you can draw up a backdoor alley-oop for and have them finish with a two-handed dunk. His speed in the open court is among the best in the country and his body control in traffic is elite.

 

[jibsey]

He's a pretty damn good athlete. There aren't many college PGs around who you can draw up a backdoor alley-oop for and have them finish with a two-handed dunk. His speed in the open court is among the best in the country and his body control in traffic is elite.

Jalen has thrown up 103 3 point attempts and shoots 31%. He shoots 40% from the field. These are not elite stats. I grant you that if he played with better players it could be different. Overall he’s a good player and a so so shooter.

 

[KembaStepback]

He's a pretty damn good athlete. There aren't many college PGs around who you can draw up a backdoor alley-oop for and have them finish with a two-handed dunk. His speed in the open court is among the best in the country and his body control in traffic is elite.

I think NBA scouts would disagree with you. He's a combo guard with no left hand. He absolutely lacks explosion. I've seen him dunk maybe twice all year. He's a very good player but has some things to work on

 

[Paesano]

He doesn't pick these guys. He takes what he can get.

My god. Please, for all that is holy, TELL me you are being sarcastic.

 

[AdamaNation]

Jalen has thrown up 103 3 point attempts and shoots 31%. He shoots 40% from the field. These are not elite stats. I grant you that if he played with better players it could be different. Overall he’s a good player and a so so shooter.

Athlete >shooter

 

[Scrutineer]

This is true. Jalen does have his limitations. (No left hand, not a great shooter, not a great athlete) but his skills and saavy are very good. What hurts him most is teams keying in on him because we lack any other true scorers. Not to mention that hes gotta be getting tired. He plays so many minutes. I feel bad for Jalen. If he had some talent around him he wouldn't force as many shots as he does sometimes. This is why I keep bring up the AG injury. If he's on the ball, Jalen can play off the ball and do some other things. It also means less of AA.

I think Jalen would benefit from another year in Storrs. Not sure it will happen. I don't know his family situation or whatever so we will see. I don't see him transferring.

Maybe not always right, but never in doubt.

Where's Adams going to go if he leaves? Are NBA teams looking for shooting guards with stat lines like: 40.9% FG, 31.1% 3Pt, 4.1 t0 3.1 assists to turnover ratio?

Giffey worked hard to become a great shooter by his senior year and hopefully Adams will too. Could be a really good team next year if they learn how to run some offense and commit to playing defense, improve their shooting and ball handling, and...........oh maybe that's not as easy as it sounds.

 

[KembaStepback]

Maybe not always right, but never in doubt.

Where's Adams going to go if he leaves? Are NBA teams looking for shooting guards with stat lines like: 40.9% FG, 31.1% 3Pt, 4.1 t0 3.1 assists to turnover ratio?

Giffey worked hard to become a great shooter by his senior year and hopefully Adams will too. Could be a really good team next year if they learn how to run some offense and commit to playing defense, improve their shooting and ball handling, and......oh maybe that's not as easy as it sounds.

I agree it's not that easy, however they young players will have gained a lot of experience. JC Tyler Phommachanh and IW are getting better every game. Adding a player like SW and getting AG back to pair with JA, JA2 and EW will help create a few more scoring threats. Which causes teams to have to guard everyone and not focus on just Adams.

 

[Mr. French]

This is a nihilstic view of the role of a college basketball coach. Players just arrive on campus, like snow in winter. KO, sadly, has no say in the process.

Let’s pretend that no players in the Top 100 ever have any interest in coming to Connecticut and there is nothing KO can do about it. (Note: this is not actually true and it would be worth asking WHY we are paying KO $3M/yr if it actually were true).

There are 600+ more players who will start at the D1 level. You’d think a National Champion coach from a school with 4 banners that routinely plays in prestigious invitational tournaments and nationally televised games would be well placed to pick from among these remaining players. He’s literally spoiled for choice.

KO’s job is to build a team with complementary strengths and some measure of depth. Yes that’s harder in the AAC than the ACC, but it’s certainly achievable for a good coach.

Instead, KO seems to have simply decided to take the highest-ranked players who are willing to come here. The result is a group of players that are somewhat incoherent together, with a glaring shortness of depth in certain positions.

Ultimately, you may be right that KO is not actively “picking” players so much as he is “taking what he can get.” But if so, that is an indictment of KO’s recruiting, not a defense.

Nicely done.

 

[huskyharry]

Alienated guys like who Jackson , Enoch , Durham cmon lol
Again we saw how they played Jackson was the closest to being counted on .. Durham wasn’t ready n still thought he could play n Enoch well

Absolutely, too many fallacious takes on this board. Enoch and Durham both got a much needed year to work on their game and they are on P5 teams. Jackson was tall wing with a good three point , what this team needs desperately. To state that Coach Ollie drove them off is ridiculous.
I suspect that Jackson was the one who planted the transfer thought in the minds of the other two.

 

[huskyharry]

I have some problems with Ollie but let's leave that for now.

Red Auerbach would have problems winning with this bunch.

They can't shoot.
They can't rebound.
They have mediocre handles.
They can't draw fouls.

Except for that we should be undefeated.

True.
Also, Coach Ollie is not teaching TL to shoot as soon as he touches the ball, not teaching the bigs to set moving screens an direction forget to box out and not teaching JA to take the ball one on four in the half-court. The offense ran well against Tulane...that is what they were taught.

 

[KodiacKemba]

Absolutely, too many fallacious takes on this board. Enoch and Durham both got a much needed year to work on their game and they are on P5 teams. Jackson was tall wing with a good three point , what this team needs desperately. To state that Coach Ollie drove them off is ridiculous.
I suspect that Jackson was the one who planted the transfer thought in the minds of the other two.

I know ppl don’t want Ollie here after this season n its fine .. it’s their opinion... ppl say Ollie wasn’t a great recruiter so he brings in chill, I want to see this through at least 2 years to see what this guy can do for uconn .. I really believe our 2019 class with chill Ollie n kill could be top 15 .... I’m not for losing recruits after they sign again

 

[Huskybass]

I know ppl don’t want Ollie here after this season n its fine .. it’s their opinion... ppl say Ollie wasn’t a great recruiter so he brings in chill, I want to see this through at least 2 years to see what this guy can do for uconn .. I really believe our 2019 class with chill Ollie n kill could be top 15 .... I’m not for losing recruits after they sign again

Do you realize that Chill's team went 9-22 last year, losing their last 13 games? Our staff isnt exactly crushing it.

 

[KodiacKemba]

Do you realize that Chill's team went 9-22 last year, losing their last 13 games? Our staff isnt exactly crushing it.

Romar team wasn’t it .. n they got a lot top talent to go there so to me chill did his job ...