It's now fair to wonder about coaching . . .

[Cheeky]

1. Why is the scrub in the game in the 1st half? His guy hit two open 3s. If that was a senior night move, then it was a horrible decision. On the other hand, if it was a motivational tool, then it was a horrible decision.

2. Does anybody here want to defend Purvis being on the floor the 2nd to last offensive play? I'm not bashing Purvis here - it's not his fault. He absolutely should never be in any close game in the closing minutes. Worse yet, why on earth does he touch the ball? The worst FT shooter on the team, who is having a terrible game, and who is prone to make bad decisions. Why o why is he in the game getting the pass from Boat? This was just awful coaching.

3. We had Memphis in very early foul trouble in the 2nd half. Yet we then did not force contact and drive. Why? Why would we not ram the ball to the rim? Lord knows, we weren't hitting from outside.

4. Hamilton was on the bench too much. It felt like 10 minutes, but it was probably less. Kid needed to be out there 40 or close to it.

5. Why on the last play on D do we not foul with fouls to give (IIRC)?? Bump the big ugly on his drive and make them take it out again.

6. Why on the last play on O does Boat come up the court like it's the 3rd possession of the game? He was not guarded. Why not do the roll-up thing and pick it up at half court? And then give us a chance for a rebound? And what was the designed play, because it sure looked like 4 guys at the 3 point line and Boat going 1 on 5.

7. Calhoun had a solid game. Should have been in instead of Purvis at the end.

8. Add another one or two - I'm sure I missed something.

Fact is, we've lost a large number of very close games this year. We can dodge it all we want, but at some point you've got to look it square and wonder how many losses coaching has caused this year. I know that's an ugly comment, but we just lost to a Memphis team that had their best player out, at home for Senior night. We let some scrub have a career game. Sure, Memphis was lucky to win - 4 or more unintentional bank shots, guy has a career game, and so on, but we should have been good enough to win notwithstanding their lucky shots.

We come out flat. A lot. We have terrible in bounds plays. A lot. We seem lost on offense. A lot.

It's a cop out, at this point, to say, "but, but, the shot 28% - what can coach do about that?"

One last point - again, nobody should be blaming Purvis for his lack of court awareness on the 2nd to last shot - he shouldn't have been in the game. But I didn't join the "I'm sorry Purvis" thread last game after he had a career night because his inconsistency is exactly what defines him. It's what defined Dyson. He taketh and he giveth away. Without the great games, there wouldn't be any polarization. He is what he is. Ollie needs to recognize that. The kid was not on tonight. We - uncharacteristically - ran a great inbounds play and Purvis had a point blank, uncontested lay up. Which he missed. Badly. At some point, Ollie needed to recognize that it wasn't his night. It's feast or famine, and tonight he starved.

I'm officially worried about Ollie. The team has not looked good. Tonight's game should have been won. Notwithstanding poor shooting, this game is on the coaching.

Ollie needs to get better.

 

[Stainmaster]

What bothers me is that if Goodwin's last shot misses/if we made one more stupid duck*ing tip-in, this post doesn't happen. Nobody would be "worried about Ollie" if we won. If this were a blowout, I would understand people freaking out about his lack of coaching acumen. But this game could have literally gone either way, and if we eked out the win, nobody would've given a rat's ass about Ollie.

 

[Kitaman]

Ollie needs to get better players.

That's all you needed to say.

 

[tykurez]

I'm officially worried about Ollie. The team has not looked good. Tonight's game should have been won. Notwithstanding poor shooting, this game is on the coaching.

Would have loved to see you utter these words after Sunday. But here's the thing ... you wouldn't have. Everyone had a bad game. It's not the first time it's happened on senior night either.

 

[Cheeky]

But this game could have literally gone either way, and if we eked out the win, nobody would've given a rat's ass about Ollie.

I've been worried about coaching for a while.
This game simply galvanized it.
How could you have watched this game and not thought that our coaching was not good?

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

This meltdown going on in the boneyard tonight is hilarious

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

They had 15 made field goals for the game. Fifteen. That looks like a typo.

 

[FartMan69]

But this game could have literally gone either way, and if we eked out the win, nobody would've given a rat's ass about Ollie.

Questionable coaching decisions let the game go Memphis's way. Accept that. Ollie was off it's okay you won't have to hand in your UConn card for admitting that.

 

[Cheeky]

Would have loved to see you utter these words after Sunday. But here's the thing ... you wouldn't have.

I'm not sure what the point is here. Sunday was a great win. But there have been a fairly large number of bad losses this year, many of which were marked by uninspired play and uninspired coaching.

 

[PradaMane]

if Goodwin makes or misses the last shot, the OP is still valid

 

[Cheeky]

Questionable coaching decisions let the game go Memphis's way. Accept that. Ollie was off it's okay you won't have to hand in your UConn card for admitting that.

Very well put.

 

[Stainmaster]

I've been worried about coaching for a while.
This game simply galvanized it.
How could you have watched this game and not thought that our coaching was not good?

I never said it was good or bad. I'm saying that this is a knee-jerk reaction. The point of good coaching is to make sure the team wins. Ollie could've done everything exactly the same, made every bad sub and poor playcall and if that last shot misses or if Rodney doesn't get the heebie-jeebies at the FT line, completely different end result.

 

[ASweet3781]

Nobody would be "worried about Ollie" if we won. .

Disagree.

With this conference, unless UConn has a GREAT non conference performance, they need to be locked in ready to go EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and take advantage of playing a schedule of the good but not great (SMU, Cincy, Temple), mediocre (Tulsa, Memphis), bad (Memphis without Nichols), very very bad (Tulane, ECU, USF, UCF, Houston.)

UConn is no where near locked in and ready to go every nigh. Maybe that is impossible this day and age although it doesn't seem to be for the top programs like Kansas who actually play in leagues where you could lose on any night. We toy around for 35 minutes, play like crap to start the games off, and just hope to make 1 or 2 more plays and squeeze it out. Some near disasters were adverted (Tulane, ECU, UCF at home) and some weren't (Houston, tonight.). That won't cut it in this league for us.

After watching this program navigate a league where in a 2 week span you could have road trips to Louisville and Syracuse, a home game vs Pitt and ND, and than a trap game against either Providence or St. John's, forgive me for being mystified why this program cannot handle what was the easiest conference schedule they may have had in front of them since the Yankee Conference.

 

[mauconnfan]

I've been worried about coaching for a while.
This game simply galvanized it.
How could you have watched this game and not thought that our coaching was not good?

Sorry but I watched the game and the only thing I blamed on the coaching was the fact they recruited those guys who were playing dreadful, stupid basketball. So yeah kind of on them, but the stupidity isn't.

 

[aceboon]

Memphis was in the bonus so you can wipe out that point there. I agree with the Dan Guest insertion and DHam spending too much time on the bench, but DHam didn't have the greatest of games. To me this whole season boils down to Purvis, he just has too many wild swings from game to game and sometimes within the game. If we could rely on him for a dependable 12pts game in and game out, which is what you would hope for from a 3rd year/former top 20 recruit, the wins and losses would look a whole lot different on the ledger. They don't need 28pts or even 20, hell all they needed was just a couple of baskets from him to pull this one out. In every loss besides the ones he was injured you can pretty much go to the boxscore and see him MIA on the offensive end. This team is just not deep enough or talented enough to not get any production out of someone with his talent.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The Dyson comparisons are pretty insulting to Jerome.

 

[Ts5034]

To all the people that are putting this on coaching instead of execution, what do you suggest be done about it? And please be realistic...

 

[jibsey]

Memphis was in the bonus so you can wipe out that point there. I agree with the Dan Guest insertion and DHam spending too much time on the bench, but DHam didn't have the greatest of games. To me this whole season boils down to Purvis, he just has too many wild swings from game to game and sometimes within the game. If we could rely on him for a dependable 12pts game in and game out, which is what you would hope for from a 3rd year/former top 20 recruit, the wins and losses would look a whole lot different on the ledger. They don't need 28pts or even 20, hell all they needed was just a couple of baskets from him to pull this one out. In every loss besides the ones he was injured you can pretty much go to the boxscore and see him MIA on the offensive end. This team is just not deep enough or talented enough to not get any production out of someone with his talent.

Agree but I hate to put it mostly on one player, Rodney. We have no post game which would be fine if we had four or five 3 point shooters, We have a backup point guard that can't shoot from the perimeter. Need 2 guards and an impact big man so I hope the staff is balls to the wall on this.

 

[Cheeky]

The Dyson comparisons are pretty insulting to Jerome.

You know, the comparison is only one of the inconsistency, not the overall game.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'd swap JD, any year, for RP in a heartbeat. Jerome was frustrating, and he had plenty of 1 for 12 type games, but kid always was a lock down defender, and was good for 3 or 4 boards, 1 or 2 steals, and 2 or 3 assists a game, even if he wasn't hitting.
You put JD on this team and we have 5 more wins.
I think I like JD more right this second than I did since his freshman year, when I loved his game.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

What bothers me is that if Goodwin's last shot misses/if we made one more stupid duck*ing tip-in, this post doesn't happen. Nobody would be "worried about Ollie" if we won. If this were a blowout, I would understand people freaking out about his lack of coaching acumen. But this game could have literally gone either way, and if we eked out the win, nobody would've given a rat's ass about Ollie.

Right and when you lose games due to poor play calling, what do you think is going to happen? You think Deflate gate is made a big deal had the packers won the game and not the patriots? I'd rather have the OP actually make comments about coaching with examples of why rather than the idiots who just shout that the coach should be fired.

 

[Cheeky]

Sorry but I watched the game and the only thing I blamed on the coaching was the fact they recruited those guys who were playing dreadful, stupid basketball. So yeah kind of on them, but the stupidity isn't.

Yeah - this is a cop out. You constantly have banged the drum that the players suck.

Coaching is completely independent of players.

Great coaches are great coaches regardless of how good their players are.

Fact is, Ollie is not getting anywhere near the max out of this team, and that's the problem, regardless of talent.

 

[champs99and04]

Memphis was in the bonus so you can wipe out that point there. I agree with the Dan Guest insertion and DHam spending too much time on the bench, but DHam didn't have the greatest of games. To me this whole season boils down to Purvis, he just has too many wild swings from game to game and sometimes within the game. If we could rely on him for a dependable 12pts game in and game out, which is what you would hope for from a 3rd year/former top 20 recruit, the wins and losses would look a whole lot different on the ledger. They don't need 28pts or even 20, hell all they needed was just a couple of baskets from him to pull this one out. In every loss besides the ones he was injured you can pretty much go to the boxscore and see him MIA on the offensive end. This team is just not deep enough or talented enough to not get any production out of someone with his talent.

This is all true, but it's not just Purvis that has been killing us, it's been all of the role players. Last season guys like Giffey, Kromah, and even Samuel come tournament time were able to throw in the occasional double-figure scoring game. This year, it feels like there are only four guys who are even a threat to string together a few buckets on a given night. Facey has fallen off a cliff since December, Samuel is a one-man destruction unit on offense, Calhoun can't stretch the floor like we hoped he would, and Phil obviously isn't a scorer. So I agree in regard to Purvis, but at the same time people tend to forget how sporadic Boatright was for most of last season, and we were able to withstand that because of the other guys.

 

[tykurez]

Yeah - this is a cop out. You constantly have banged the drum that the players suck.

Coaching is completely independent of players.

Great coaches are great coaches regardless of how good their players are.

Fact is, Ollie is not getting anywhere near the max out of this team, and that's the problem, regardless of talent.

Then the inverse is true and Ollie was otherworldly and fantastic last year, right?

Can't have both. The guy had a bad game. He's a young coach. But you're about ready to move on it seems ...

 

[aceboon]

Agree but I hate to put it mostly on one player, Rodney. We have no post game which would be fine if we had four or five 3 point shooters, We have a backup point guard that can't shoot from the perimeter. Need 2 guards and an impact big man so I hope the staff is balls to the wall on this.

Its 2015, a post game is irrelevant if you have enough shooters/scorers. The fact is that we thought coming into the season with Boat, Purvis, Hamilton, Cassell, and a rehabilitated Calhoun we would have enough at the guards and wings and we don't have nearly enough. The 4 spot is where we thought we would lose games and the reality is its having another consistent scorer to pair with Boat so that we could put Purvis's behind on the bench when he doesn't show up to games. If there's any blame to put on KO its not having that guy here, but hey coming in I thought we had enough so who I am to kill him for that. The team is pretty much at the mercy of whether Purvis plays up to his talent level, and well, we see how that's gone.

I hate to lay it all one guy's feet, but when you see a guy who clearly has talent based on his good to great games and his scoring binges, give absolutely nothing on the offensive end on a repeated basis it just drives me nuts. I spend so many of these games thinking what would I give just to transport guys who get glossed over like Albert Mourning or TRob into this current era and on this team next to Boat.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The Dyson comparisons are pretty insulting to Jerome.

I got a good chuckle out of this.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah - this is a cop out. You constantly have banged the drum that the players suck.

Coaching is completely independent of players.

Great coaches are great coaches regardless of how good their players are.

Fact is, Ollie is not getting anywhere near the max out of this team, and that's the problem, regardless of talent.

Makes little sense. Sometimes coaches can bring the best out, and sometimes there is no "best." Your opinion but I disagree.

Boat is obviously very good, Daniel is going to be.

After that it's a crap shoot of talent, potential and short on knowing how to play. Mostly the latter with all of them, just watch the game away from the ball and see how plays become catastrophies. It's always because of something someone else should be doing and the breakdown begins. Can't have 3 guys on the floor at the same time who don't know where to be, when to hedge, when to leave space for your teammate defending or when to box out or how to pass or how to dribble can you? Well you just watched it happen for 40 minutes.