JA, KO Offer Reassurance UCONN Will Be Back | Page 2 | The Boneyard

JA, KO Offer Reassurance UCONN Will Be Back

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Let's see how the next season plays out. Either KO is correct and has a handle or he is flailing. This will be binary- either he gets to the NCAAs or it will be time to move on.
 

dennismenace

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I don't think of it as rebuilding at all. A good part of the "building" went down to injury last year and many other parts of the former "building" were continued disappointments that truly won't be missed including their attitudes towards team. If you are going to have a Uconn team it has to act like a Uconn team. No quit, head out of a......, team player. We want to attract that kind of player; not prima donna's. If you are going to be here for yourself you're not going to be happy here (does this sound like GA?). These past couple of years do not look like the Uconn teams prior. We do have some very good warriors coming back. We need more. I think this is what we will see the staff recruiting going forward. I am confident that they will turn this around.
I think KO brought in a sports psychologist the first year as Head Coach. They spent a weekend together as a team and probably had some interesting things to talk about in terms of expectations. Maybe time to revisit that one.
 

Banta55

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I don't think of it as rebuilding at all. A good part of the "building" went down to injury last year and many other parts of the former "building" were continued disappointments that truly won't be missed including their attitudes towards team. If you are going to have a UConn team it has to act like a UConn team. No quit, head out of a., team player. We want to attract that kind of player; not prima donna's. If you are going to be here for yourself you're not going to be happy here (does this sound like GA?). These past couple of years do not look like the UConn teams prior. We do have some very good warriors coming back. We need more. I think this is what we will see the staff recruiting going forward. I am confident that they will turn this around.
I think KO brought in a sports psychologist the first year as Head Coach. They spent a weekend together as a team and probably had some interesting things to talk about in terms of expectations. Maybe time to revisit that one.
I agree, seems like out of all of them Enoch stings the most on a personal level for him....Other programs were recruiting the players as much as Uconn did to get them here..
 
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Vital is a purvis replacement in my eyes.
I think Vital is an upgrade over Purvis. The last three games of his frosh year he shot 6 of 11 from 3, 50% from 2, averaged about 6 boards a game, and went balls to the walls for 39 minutes a game. Kid has got "IT," and I mean the thing that infected Kemba and Bazz, not the thing in Derry. Love what this kid brings - he comes to play every play. More of him please.
 
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I've got to put an onus on myself to find those right people that value our culture.
This, undoubtedly, is the key line. This is how nice-guy-Kevin-Ollie expresses, with decorum, the thought that, "I brought these guys in based on talent and ranking, but I failed to take into account that their fundamental approach to the game did not fit the going-to-war mentality that me and a a massive pantheon of former players - and the remaining current players - have all held as dear. Lesson learned. Will not make that mistake again."

I take it to mean that VJ, Enoch, and Durham never bought in to the system, and Ollie, retrospectively, knows that their failure to make said purchase may have been predictable.

Fact is, he's a great recruiter. Fact also is, he's very, very new at it. How many years did Calhoun toil at Northeastern in relative obscurity honing his recruiting talents?

I'm very much looking forward to next season. I was on campus when JC arrived. watching Phil and Cliff start the engine on the Juggernaut was thrilling. The bright side here is that we could well be looking at a similar course for Ollie.
 
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We're honestly not rebuilding. We're wasting a good core to be only good, not great.

The problem is that there is no bridge to the next core, except Gilbert.
No bridge at all and far from guaranteed we will be good next season. We were always ok with a down year, I suspect some people on the board will need to be hit over the head with a few bad years before they start to change their tune.
 
C

Chief00

So he basically CONFIRMED he doesn't talk to Coach Calhoun anymore. They have the same core principles - they don't need to actually talk - does best coaching after he leaves - blah, blah, blah.

I do agree about recruiting tougher players and building them up.

With the negative recruiting that will be out there, KO needs to get a much better narrative about how he wants to use a Big. That part of an otherwise enlightening interview was almost incomprehensible.

So was KO saying other coaches were tampering - such as perhaps PC - if so, report them to the NCAA.

Did Pitino tamper?
 
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I don't think this is how it's going to go.
The scary part is another missed tourny kills us for recruiting '18 and '19. Jalen and Larrier will be gone, Ollie simply can't afford another bad year next season.
 

gtcam

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Rebuilding, not rebuilding , I don't care what anyone on here calls it or perceives it to be. There are those who think that the glass is near empty like BU, some who think it's half full and others who are quietly optimistic. I place myself in the later group and while I am unsettled at the numbers that the team now has I am not overly concerned about the talent level. IF everyone stays healthy and plays up to potential this team will make noise. If 2 of the 3 bigs stay out of foul and hit the boards that will be great.
KO has a plan, it's his plan, no one here knows what the full story is eventhough some pretend to think they know. The 3 kids left for reasons no one but they and KO may know and to be honest, the only one that pisses me off is JD because KO stuck his neck out for him and got nothing in return. I have stated my views on both VJ and SE - I'm not going to miss either.
UConn has not been UConn BUT a lot of things beyond KO's control played into it. IF KO sits in this same place in 3 years then I will be also thinking a change may be needed. I have faith that the recruitment picture will get brighter.
 

nomar

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I don't think you can publicly say 'yeah, we're rebuilding' at a program like this. Everyone knows that more or less - it's a rebuilding year - but not necessarily in the traditional sense. He's right - there's a good core of talent here, but there's also a lot of question marks. I do like the mentality they're taking to this year in terms of saying 'these are going to be our guys, now what are the things those guys lack that we can add to amplify that core' and that's a thing they just haven't done a good job of in the last few years. There IS a scenario where this team is quite good next year. I'm not ready to say that yet, or anywhere near ready to say that yet; but that possibility does exist. But I kind of like this plan a little more than dumping lots of pro prospecty talent into a funnel and hoping the talent peaks its head up.
 
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The scary part is another missed tourny kills us for recruiting '18 and '19. Jalen and Larrier will be gone, Ollie simply can't afford another bad year next season.

Soooo negative. Go and cheer for another team loser.
 
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I don't think this is how it's going to go.

In my ideal world where I care about entertainment and nothing else, we can Ollie after next season, immediately win with the new guy, and then proceed to blast him for winning with Ollie's recruits when he hits a bump in the road in 2021. Then we'll have come full circle.
 
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Funny that in the Q+A with Jacobs Ollie reiterates like ten times that he didn't ask any of the guys to leave after Oz (who is apparently Ollie's boy) said publically that Juwan was asked to leave. Can't imagine that KO was too happy about that and makes me question Oz's credibility as an "insider."
 

intlzncster

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Funny that in the Q+A with Jacobs Ollie reiterates like ten times that he didn't ask any of the guys to leave after Oz (who is apparently Ollie's boy) said publically that Juwan was asked to leave. Can't imagine that KO was too happy about that and makes me question Oz's credibility as an "insider."

I think Oz has either been proven to be either 1) out of the loop or 2) an idiot.
 
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I think Oz has either been proven to be either 1) out of the loop or 2) an idiot.
I'm sure Oz is a good friend of KO, but IMO it would be immature and unprofessional for KO to tell Oz every detail of what's going on in the program, and I don't think KO does that, so in a way it's a good sign that Oz was off with some stuff.
 
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I have no problems with people questioning the coach(es), questioning the use of this- but not that phrase, etc. What interests me is the certainty of purpose, the need to 'correct' something that 'calls out' for correction, the disciplining of the coach(es), etc. As if, we know better. As if, a coach cannot possibly look over is team and decides that one-half are players that he would rather do without- they do not fit his image of the guys he want to see on the bench. I'm sure coaches have won championships with players that may have had traits that they found intolerable-- even rapists (not suggesting that the latter applies here). In these days it takes courage to say things are not working out her and so let us close shop. Part of the crying here is that sports have become a win-at-all-cost enterprise: a one-and-done guy, a grad transfer (another form of the one-and-done) some bench warmers to keep the grades upward, stars and, a blind eye to the problem types. Someone mentioned our FB situation with Diaco-- interestingly, I read on their site that a poster wanted Uconn to add the fired FB coach from Waco to the list of coaches we should be looking at. There is a winning culture for YOU. I just received my yearly Spring/Summer list from my darling one on things to do around the house and yeard. Lot of fixings, throwing-out and general changes that will (usually) make the home look different (will have to find a(nother) way to hide my 3 bicycles that are in various states of repair, the 2 stereo turners and turntable from the 70/80s' that are really now art pieces in the attic, etc. She is after me. Now, I'm asking: is this just tidying-up, renovation, opportunities for more delights. What about her books in boxes in the attic? Let us just crossed our fingers that things will work out in a good way. And if not, all those who 'could have told us,' 'who saw it coming' will be polite enough to not open their mouth. Silence is always a good bourgeois trait. COME SO LET ME GO SO!
 

Edward Sargent

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What happens if Jalen, AG, & TL all have strong years. Vital is great in a utility role & Mama/Cobb both prove to be above average rebounders? Can we dream. I believe Kill is a good judge of talent after seeing his Temple teams that gave us hell. I believe Polley/Carlton if they stay (hate to say that, but it's common everywhere) could surprise folks. Challenge, I want to see the last 3/4 spots used wisely. We need a spark!
Problem with Kill's Temple teams is they gave us hell but not enough of the other teams hell to make any noise nationally
 

tykurez

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It's got to be really difficult going through life being so miserable.

That said, I love the quotes. Specifically Jalen - showing a level of maturity and thoughtfulness that he's definitely had to work on the past two years.
 

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