Is this season making Ollie a better coach?

[CL82]

One example is that Ollie has always liked man to man, but this season we are, out of necessity, playing a lot of zone. Is Ollie getting more used to teaching and using it? Will he be more comfortable going to it?

It seems to me that Ollie is at his best when overcoming adversity. This year he's had plenty. I feel like this year's experience will give him more to draw upon.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think so and hope so. I also think he has realized some of his early season mistakes in analyzing the roster. Starting Adams at SG for example. If this team had more weapons Adams would be an assist machine. Facey has probably surprised him as well (but not me). The other thing is letting young guys play through mistakes. He was forced to, and now look what he has.

Overall I think Ollie needs to have a greater appreciation for the differences that college ball has from the NBA. So I do think this has been a good learning experience for him.

 

[AfgHusky15]

One example is that Ollie has always liked man to man, but this season we are, out of necessity, playing a lot of zone. Is Ollie getting more used to teaching and using it? Will he be more comfortable going to it?

It seems to me that Ollie is at his best when overcoming adversity. This year he's had plenty. I feel like this year's experience will give him more to draw upon.

Ollie really doesn't play zone a lot. 80-90% it's man Defense. He throws the zone out there for a few minutes and sometimes for just one posesssion at a time to throw off opposing offenses.

yes he's using zone a lot more than previous years, that's because he rarely ever used zone before. With the use of zone he has gone from a great defensive tactition to an elite guru.

Defense will only get better with return of guys like AG and Larrier.

While I have always thought KO to be a fantastic coach, during this challenging year he has improved even more. Blessed to have him as our coach.

 

[elmcityboy]

every year will make him a better coach.

new successes, new challenges. this is still only his 5th year, coaching against guys who have been doing it for decades. i'm excited for the future!

 

[gtcam]

Ollie really doesn't play zone a lot. 80-90% it's man Defense. He throws the zone out there for a few minutes and sometimes for just one posesssion at a time to throw off opposing offenses.

yes he's using zone a lot more than previous years, that's because he rarely ever used zone before. With the use of zone he has gone from a great defensive tactition to an elite guru.

Defense will only get better with return of guys like AG and Larrier.

While I have always thought KO to be a fantastic coach, during this challenging year he has improved even more. Blessed to have him as our coach.

Agreed but he turns to the zone this year to help give his guards "a rest" from chasing in man to man. Not sure what D Larrier will bring but AG does seem to be a down and dirty type player.
Isn't it weird that opposing coaches seem to think hat UConn is a strong defensive team yet when you read comments on this board yo would think that UConn has not played a lick of D all year - or at least since JC left.

 

[chiller99.5]

He [Ollie] is making the team look better versus the team making him look better

 

[Travelman6]

I have never been super negative about this year but I have been bummed. Kind of an ¨mmmph¨kind of expression when you look at the schedule and see close loses to Neastern, Ohio State, Auburn, Gtown and Tulsa...Imagine the buzz Uconn would have right now if they had gotten 3 of those (very realistic they could have held on vs gtown, gotten auburn before OT and beat Neastern at least). So close. This would be a different season with just those 3 (17-9). This is not a horrible team in other words, they have been crushed by injuries and been unlucky. A few bounces go their way and this is a 17 or 18 win team we are looking at now that is firmly on the bubble.

Considering the tough luck this year has brought, yah, he has done a good job (lately). Uconn could have easily folded like Texas (who is 10-17 ) after that gtown game, that was crushing, and they did for a game vs smu. But after that, the troops have rallied to go 7-1 since. That 7-1 I think is all coach, it is all positive motivation. Many of us did not even see it, but now it is apparent. A lesser coach, even with more, would have folded. A stronger coach has really pushed this team and LOOK!

 

[pj]

Ollie is a winner and he teaches players how to win. He's done that every year and he's done it again this year.

There are lots of things he's improved upon as a coach, sure, but that winning character and toughness is something that has set UConn apart in both the JC and KO eras.

 

[UConn990411]

I think this is a terrific question. It's easy to forget that young coaches (just like young players) can also improve significantly.

I think that's something a lot of people on here forget - myself included. I tend to judge him against Calhoun, but Calhoun was able to train on the job at Northeastern in the 70s, where the scrutiny and pressure to win was a lot lower than UConn in the 2010s. So, yes, I think Ollie will be a better coach for this season.

One thing that stands out, though - Ollie's teams never quit no matter the circumstances. Postseason ban? They go out and win 20 games in the last year of the Big East. Getting screwed over with a 7 seed? They go and win the NC. And this year, they have the injuries and a horrific start, but they keep battling through it.

Even as one of the bigger Ollie critics on this board, it's tough not to admire that.

 

[CTBasketball]

He is doing a better job than in the beginning of the season. Of course he knows the teams strengths and weaknesses and is coaching with that in mind.

Cincinnati, Houston, and SMU will be serious benchmarks for this team and Ollie. Part of me wants to see Ollie throw out some junk defenses. Every coach knows UConn goes man 90% of the time. There is no way those teams can out maneuver a killer 1-3-1 or Triangle/2 on the spot. Especially with limited play makers outside of their stars.

 

[80shusky]

Fire Tom Crean.

 

[tzznandrew]

I have never been super negative about this year but I have been bummed. Kind of an ¨mmmph¨kind of expression when you look at the schedule and see close loses to Neastern, Ohio State, Auburn, Gtown and Tulsa...Imagine the buzz Uconn would have right now if they had gotten 3 of those (very realistic they could have held on vs gtown, gotten auburn before OT and beat Neastern at least). So close. This would be a different season with just those 3 (17-9). This is not a horrible team in other words, they have been crushed by injuries and been unlucky. A few bounces go their way and this is a 17 or 18 win team we are looking at now that is firmly on the bubble.

Forget Chaminade, because they don't matter.

They win those 3, they're 16-9, RPI 52, SOS 70. That looks okay, but they'd still be 0-4 vs. RPI 50 (with 2 left), and 3-6 vs. RPI Top 100. Add 3 sub-100 losses and their bubble resume wouldn't be great.

But they'd be in the discussion. You make Tulsa a win too and their RPI is 42 with one less bad loss and gives them a winning (7-6) R/N record.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

AAC Coach of the Year? Preseason expectations will hurt him, hard to say he did a good job when we were picked second and we'll finish likely 4th or in a miracle-third. Probably goes to Sampson who is a lot like Calipari running from investigations minus the success but oh well.

 

[WrenchFan69]

AAC Coach of the Year? Preseason expectations will hurt him, hard to say he did a good job when we were picked second and we'll finish likely 4th or in a miracle-third. Probably goes to Sampson who is a lot like Calipari running from investigations minus the success but oh well.

I could see Ollie winning it if by some miracle we finished second, meaning we win out and Cincy loses out. Short of that, this could be a year where it goes to whoever finishes first in the conference. Cincy was supposed to be good, but they look like maybe the best team Cronin has had and SMU hasn't missed a beat in conference without Larry Brown.

 

[pj]

Cincy or SMU coaches will win, but there's no doubt the other AAC coaches will respect what Ollie has done with this group.

 

[kobe]

Jankovich is going to get COY. They were picked to finish a distance 3rd but will likely share the title and only lose 1 or 2 games.

 

[HungryHuskies]

Absolutely. Ollie isn't getting out-coached every game and is beginning to dig into the referees after bad calls. I think Ollie and the fans will look back on this year in the future as a turning point in his career as a head coach. "Defense wins championships" seems to be a motto this team is buying into.

Spending some time at the Calhoun household, KO?

 

[ctchamps]

One example is that Ollie has always liked man to man, but this season we are, out of necessity, playing a lot of zone. Is Ollie getting more used to teaching and using it? Will he be more comfortable going to it?

It seems to me that Ollie is at his best when overcoming adversity. This year he's had plenty. I feel like this year's experience will give him more to draw upon.

He's had adversity since he was named head coach. The APR sanction are still being felt and now the injuries and next year the loss of Zach Brown.

There is no way he survived the NBA as a journeyman without understanding the game and learning to modify his game based on experiences. So yes he will continue to grow and develop his coaching, but I took that as a given before he was named head coach based on his resume and the accolades NBA hall of fame coaches applied to him. I would have been shocked if he did anything less than be effective based on those 13 years in the NBA and what he did at UConn as a player.

When he finally is free of the sanctions and this recent bad luck I expect this program to be back to it's glory days. And some of you will create the narrative he needed time. I'm sticking to the narrative he faced incredible odds and in spite of those difficulties which would have crushed most coaches he actually succeeded.

 

[Matrim55]

When he finally is free of the sanctions and this recent bad luck I expect this program to be back to it's glory days. And some of you will create the narrative he needed time. I'm sticking to the narrative he faced incredible odds and in spite of those difficulties which would have crushed most coaches he actually succeeded.

This is why you're my favorite poster on this board. It is so nice to see someone understand context so clearly.

 

[mauconnfan]

No, he still sucks!

 

[Tenspro2002]

Isn't it weird that opposing coaches seem to think hat UConn is a strong defensive team yet when you read comments on this board yo would think that UConn has not played a lick of D all year - or at least since JC left.

That's not remotely true. Everyone here acknowledges we've been a very good defensive team under KO.

The problem has been offense. The "NBA mastermind", "PhD in basketball" reputation hasn't translated to that side of the ball. Part of it is personnel, but there's also been a general lack of creativity and inventiveness.

Sometimes it's been papered over by individual brilliance (Bazz, Boat, Adams), but the offense needs to be more than that.

 

[dennismenace]

Absolutely. Ollie isn't getting out-coached every game and is beginning to dig into the referees after bad calls. I think Ollie and the fans will look back on this year in the future as a turning point in his career as a head coach. "Defense wins championships" seems to be a motto this team is buying into.

Spending some time at the Calhoun household, KO?

Great insights. I would add that starting to see him really flash some passion and even anger at points in the game. That's good to see.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He's had adversity since he was named head coach. The APR sanction are still being felt and now the injuries and next year the loss of Zach Brown.

There is no way he survived the NBA as a journeyman without understanding the game and learning to modify his game based on experiences. So yes he will continue to grow and develop his coaching, but I took that as a given before he was named head coach based on his resume and the accolades NBA hall of fame coaches applied to him. I would have been shocked if he did anything less than be effective based on those 13 years in the NBA and what he did at UConn as a player.

When he finally is free of the sanctions and this recent bad luck I expect this program to be back to it's glory days. And some of you will create the narrative he needed time. I'm sticking to the narrative he faced incredible odds and in spite of those difficulties which would have crushed most coaches he actually succeeded.

Can someone explain how the APR sanctions are still being felt? It's an honest question and I'm tired of it as an excuse. I mean, we've won a national championship since then. It seems like a lame excuse to me.

That's not a knock on Ollie. I think he's going to be a great coach, and is already well above average. As I said, I think he sometimes thinks a little too 1990's NBA on offense. That was fine when we had Kemba or Shabazz, who could score off of isolation plays against anyone. But even the NBA has abandoned that offense. I'm more encouraged by what I've seen in the second half, but we still run too many ball screen isolation plays. Despite lesser talent, Temple had much better ball movement than UConn on Sunday.

 

[Kenny11]

I think Ollie has gotten better as a coach. We need him to be very good coach and I believe in him.
However, I don't believe in this conference. Some of these teams at the bottom are just horrible and its a bad look right now. I think if Ollie was in a Power5 conference he would absolutely kill it on the recruiting trail. He is doing good with recruiting now, but the negative recruiting against the AAC has to be taking its toll already.

 

[Matrim55]

Can someone explain how the APR sanctions are still being felt? It's an honest question and I'm tired of it as an excuse. I mean, we've won a national championship since then. It seems like a lame excuse to me.

We won a national championship largely with recruits who came in before the APR sanctions hit. Once they hit, we lost scholarships each year (meaning we couldn't sign as many players), we lost the right to go out on the road for early recruiting periods (meaning we were the only school not visible at a hugely important time in the recruiting cycle) and we were only allowed to send 2 assistants out instead of 3 (meaning it was harder to identify talents we really wanted).

How is it still being felt? Well, our 2013 class comprised 3 projects (Kentan, Samuel & Amida). For our 2014 class we landed our top target (Hamilton), then missed on our 2nd (Abu), third (Robinson), 4th (Colson) and so on down the line until we ended up with Cassell and Lubin - two guys who were clearly never going to be able to contribute meaningful minutes at this level. Those are our junior and senior classes right now.

Then, in 2015, we once again landed our top target (Adams), and also got in really early on another top-rated PG (Willie Jackson, who was a top 50 when we signed him). Except Jackson was pretty clearly a scrub, and after watching him some more we sort of mutually agreed to part ways. If we weren't hamstrung in terms of man hours on the road earlier in the cycle, there's a damn good chance we wouldn't have wasted more hours trying to sign Jackson and could instead have focused elsewhere.

But we didnt have that luxury. So while the 2015 class was the first to come in post-scholarship reduction, it was still a patchwork group because when these guys were freshmen and sophomores - when the recruiting process is really beginning - we had less access to them than literally any of the teams we were competing against. So if we made a bad early eval (as with Willie Jackson) or took a bad beat on an essential recruit (Abu) we were not able to make up for it.

Thus, the first class that we have that wasn't affected by the APR mess is the 2016 group... Which was a top 10 class in the country. And the fact remains that 3 of our 4 classes currently enrolled were the result of the APR sanctions.

IMO we won't be out from the shadow of that until the class of 2016 is in their junior season.

Apropos of everything, Syracuse is on track for their worst recruiting class in 20+ years. Sanctions work, and calling them an "excuse" is prima facie evidence that you're unable to process pretty basic information.