Isaiah Briscoe (Committed to Kentucky)

[CGarr]

Actually if the F5 wanted UConn they would have taken you already. And Cincy is before you. They have good basketball AND decent football. You only offer basketball. Hell, UCF and ECU are more attractive to them than UConn because they have solid football. The point is that it's very likely that UConn DOESN'T get the invite. And if so, then what?

Has nothing to do with how good a football team is. It's all about the TV market size. that's it. Again, things are changing. Pay attention.

 

[Fishy]

It didn't take 40 post for me to realize that the St. John's fan was a moron, but it did take me 40 posts to get completely worn out by it. He be gone, so move on.

 

[Gurleyman]

It didn't take 40 post for me to realize that the St. John's fan was a moron, but it did take me 40 posts to get completely worn out by it. He be gone, so move on.

Dammit - I haven't been able to taunt St. John's fans since I moved to California. I finally get a nice steak thrown in my cage and you take it away when I'm still working on the bones.

 

[sammydabiz]

Johnny is either a really dumb kid or a mentally challenged adult, no other explanation makes sense...

 

[Scot-e]

It didn't take 40 post for me to realize that the St. John's fan was a moron, but it did take me 40 posts to get completely worn out by it. He be gone, so move on.

Thank you.

 

[David 76]

I like "the Yankees were a dynasty for 20 years"

Now I really hope Briscoe goes anywhere but St. John's

 

[jleves]

I like "the Yankees were a dynasty for 20 years"

Now I really hope Briscoe goes anywhere but St. John's

That cracked me up to - I was tempted to respond 'yeah, 5 times in a row.' (and I hate the Yankees)

 

[champs99and04]

I know Johnny was out of his depths, but it really does amaze me how many outsiders believe that Ollie inherited this ready-made situation from Calhoun. The narrative went from "how can this young guy possibly succeed with what Calhoun left him?" to "he needs to prove he can do it with his own players" in two short years. Sure, there were some awesome players left over from the Calhoun years, but nobody was describing kids like Napier, Daniels, and Boatright as studs at the time. Ollie played a big role in them developing into great players.

 

[intlzncster]

I know Johnny was out of his depths, but it really does amaze me how many outsiders believe that Ollie inherited this ready-made situation from Calhoun. The narrative went from "how can this young guy possibly succeed with what Calhoun left him?" to "he needs to prove he can do it with his own players" in two short years. Sure, there were some awesome players left over from the Calhoun years, but nobody was describing kids like Napier, Daniels, and Boatright as studs at the time. Ollie played a big role in them developing into great players.

I think the truth of it lies somewhere comfortably in the middle. By no stretch of the imagination was the cupboard bare. But they weren't full up with lottery picks either.

 

[PAHusky]

I think the truth of it lies somewhere comfortably in the middle. By no stretch of the imagination was the cupboard bare. But they weren't full up with lottery picks either.

What most of the casual observers and diehard haters are overlooking is that Calhoun had a team loaded with talent that imploded the year before he left. Some of the players left over were ostensibly Calhoun's kids, sure, but they'd just gone through a year of huge expectations that the team never came close to realizing and they were facing a year long tournament ban. Bazz, the leader of the team, had a self admitted attitude problem at that point in his career. DD was a talented kid who'd never come close to touching his full potential. Boat was a supreme athlete who was wildly inconsistent. Ollie came in, kept the team together mentally in a season made meaningless by the NCAA, primed them for the following year, then kept them cohesive through an up and down regular season and a crushing loss in the AAC final. 99.99% of teams in the last few decades of college bball would have folded in the face of any of that (the one exception, ironically enough, might have been our 2011 team).

We won a chip instead. He took a barely ranked Brimah and turned him into a guy getting huge NBA attention and a key cog of a championship team. Bazz turned into a sangfroid assassin under his tutelage. Boatright turned into whatever hybrid shark/human/bulldog creature he unleashed on those poor opposing point guards all March. He outcoached sure fire Hall of Famers on the biggest stage. He singlehandedly assured that UConn went from "the monolithic superpower Calhoun built" to just "the superpower".

Thus quoteth the good book - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the AAC, I will fear no evil: for KO art with me; his ring and his recruiting they comfort me"

 

[intlzncster]

We won a chip instead. He took a barely ranked Brimah and turned him into a guy getting huge NBA attention and a key cog of a championship team. Bazz turned into a sangfroid assassin under his tutelage. Boatright turned into whatever hybrid shark/human/bulldog creature he unleashed on those poor opposing point guards all March. He outcoached sure fire Hall of Famers on the biggest stage. He singlehandedly assured that UConn went from "the monolithic superpower Calhoun built" to just "the superpower".

Thus quoteth the good book - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the AAC, I will fear no evil: for KO art with me; his ring and his recruiting they comfort me"

While I get you want to give (deserved) credit to KO, I feel Bazz would have made the same transition under Calhoun, as so many others before him did (Kemba Walker being the last). That transition was a product of a ton of hard work and maturity that came with age/experience.

Also, I think that tourney ban and defection of players helped Ollie in a way, rather than being a complete negative. It gave him an opportunity to steer the ship with zero pressure/consequences in how they finished. To his credit, he kept them hungry/humble and playing top shelf ball. He also instilled that chip on their shoulder that carried over to next year's championship.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I know Johnny was out of his depths, but it really does amaze me how many outsiders believe that Ollie inherited this ready-made situation from Calhoun. The narrative went from "how can this young guy possibly succeed with what Calhoun left him?" to "he needs to prove he can do it with his own players" in two short years. Sure, there were some awesome players left over from the Calhoun years, but nobody was describing kids like Napier, Daniels, and Boatright as studs at the time. Ollie played a big role in them developing into great players.

He inherited a postseason ban. It's kind of like saying Bill O'Brien inherited a ready-made situation from Paterno.

It's okay; when Jalen, Omar, DHam, Enoch and Brimah take us to our seventh Final Four in '16, it will be with pretty much all Ollie players at that point

 

[intlzncster]

He inherited a postseason ban. It's kind of like saying Bill O'Brien inherited a ready-made situation from Paterno.

It's okay; when Jalen, Omar, DHam, Enoch and Brimah take us to our seventh Final Four in '16, it will be with pretty much all Ollie players at that point

Definitely not equivalent. OBrien's scholarship loss (and being in the B1G) was more significant. As I said above, if anything, the post season ban gave Ollie a chance to test his mettle consequence free.

Make no mistake, I'm not an 'Ollie won with Calhoun's players' guy. If you win, you win, and that's that. JC himself would say as much.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Definitely not equivalent.

Hence "kind of"

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I know Johnny was out of his depths, but it really does amaze me how many outsiders believe that Ollie inherited this ready-made situation from Calhoun. The narrative went from "how can this young guy possibly succeed with what Calhoun left him?" to "he needs to prove he can do it with his own players" in two short years. Sure, there were some awesome players left over from the Calhoun years, but nobody was describing kids like Napier, Daniels, and Boatright as studs at the time. Ollie played a big role in them developing into great players.

100% agree. The consensus in the media at the time Calhoun retired was that he did not leave Kevin Ollie with a very good basketball team. The talking points were that we had an intriguing backcourt, but no frontcourt, no depth, and a subpar freshman class. That combined with the postseason ban and the new conference were supposed to quickly lead to our demise.

The "KO only won with Calhoun's great players" narrative is basically the wishful thinking of rival fanbases and Jeff Goodman.

 

[intlzncster]

Hence "kind of"

I was just pointing out that the gulf between the two was huge. PSU was basically dead in the water. UCONN was pushed under and forced to hold it's breath, but was coming back up for air in due time.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I was just pointing out that the gulf between the two was huge. PSU was basically dead in the water. UCONN was pushed under and forced to hold it's breath, but was coming back up for air in due time.

Just comparing how both had to deal with postseason ban and transfers and downstream effects on recruiting

 

[ctchamps]

I know Johnny was out of his depths, but it really does amaze me how many outsiders believe that Ollie inherited this ready-made situation from Calhoun. The narrative went from "how can this young guy possibly succeed with what Calhoun left him?" to "he needs to prove he can do it with his own players" in two short years. Sure, there were some awesome players left over from the Calhoun years, but nobody was describing kids like Napier, Daniels, and Boatright as studs at the time. Ollie played a big role in them developing into great players.

Human psychology 101. If you like something embellish it. If you dislike something negate it.

Interestingly, Johnny, like FriarJ, respects UConn. They, like most of us, loved the BE conference. I believe they both recognize the value UConn gave the Big East and how that filtered down to their universities. Their anger is primarily directed with CR even in those moments when they state something that disses UConn. They would welcome UConn in a heartbeat. The dissing is partly to save face and partly because some dudes in this forum don't know how to be gracious. Some of us feel the need to antagonize as opposed to find common ground.

 

[mauconnfan]

Human psychology 101. If you like something embellish it. If you dislike something negate it.

Interestingly, Johnny, like FriarJ, respects UConn. They, like most of us, loved the BE conference. I believe they both recognize the value UConn gave the Big East and how that filtered down to their universities. Their anger is primarily directed with CR even in those moments when they state something that disses UConn. They would welcome UConn in a heartbeat. The dissing is partly to save face and partly because some dudes in this forum don't know how to be gracious. Some of us feel the need to antagonize as opposed to find common ground.

Always a voice of reason -- for whatever reason!

 

[ctchamps]

Always a voice of reason -- for whatever reason!

I guess it's just who I am. Several reasons.

I can bring anger to the forefront easily and let my emotions get the better of me. I've challenged myself to control negative emotions the best I can. Sometimes I'm successful at it and sometimes I'm not. When I'm not, I hope there is someone around to help me get past them as opposed to someone who feeds them.

That's primarily what I'm doing in this instance. When I'm at my best, I'm offering advice that's not judgmental. If I wasn't human, that advice would always be perfect. But DANG IT I'm human! I wish I didn't have shortcomings. However they do allow me to be sympathetic when I observe shortcomings in others.

I'm a firm believer that all emotions are valid including fear and anger. There are circumstances when they are needed. But often they control us as opposed to the other way around. So I try to point it out whenever I observe it happening. Sometimes with an individual directly, but more frequently to a general audience.

And sometimes I sense a confusion amongst some of the posters. Confusion often leads to a misunderstanding that increases chaos. So I feel a strong compulsion to try and clarify things to do damage control.

 

[mauconnfan]

I guess it's just who I am. Several reasons.

I can bring anger to the forefront easily and let my emotions get the better of me. I've challenged myself to control negative emotions the best I can. Sometimes I'm successful at it and sometimes I'm not. When I'm not, I hope there is someone around to help me get past them as opposed to someone who feeds them.

That's primarily what I'm doing in this instance. When I'm at my best, I'm offering advice that's not judgmental. If I wasn't human, that advice would always be perfect. But DANG IT I'm human! I wish I didn't have shortcomings. However they do allow me to be sympathetic when I observe shortcomings in others.

I'm a firm believer that all emotions are valid including fear and anger. There are circumstances when they are needed. But often they control us as opposed to the other way around. So I try to point it out whenever I observe it happening. Sometimes with an individual directly, but more frequently to a general audience.

And sometimes I sense a confusion amongst some of the posters. Confusion often leads to a misunderstanding that increases chaos. So I feel a strong compulsion to try and clarify things to do damage control.

I know I know I kid .......but what an explanation! I enjoyed it and thank you for bringing a sense of positive emotion to the forefront when required.

 

[tcf15]

Jeremy Schneider ‏@J_Schneider 11m11 minutes ago
Sounding like UK has taken the lead again with Briscoe. Hard to bet against Cal, or Slice Rohrssen for that matter. #NJhoops #BBN

 

[intlzncster]

Jeremy Schneider ‏@J_Schneider 11m11 minutes ago
Sounding like UK has taken the lead again with Briscoe. Hard to bet against Cal, or Slice Rohrssen for that matter. #NJhoops #BBN

Can't lie, I hate the name 'Slice' Rohrssen.

I guess the positive is that it's easy to work in the Sleeze Rohrssen epithet.

 

[AF34]

Adam Zagoria ‏@AdamZagoria 11m11 minutes ago
Talked to George Briscoe. Said they are looking to decide this weekend & then announce on ESPN, possibly Nov. 13 but not definite.

Adam Zagoria ‏@AdamZagoria 11m11 minutes ago
George said Isaiah is feeling 'comfortable with a few things' & 'We're looking to get this done.' Still UK, SJU & UConn, UConn appears 3rd.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Yeah if he's deciding this weekend it's not gonna be us.