Jacobs Q+A with KO

[Letsgohuskies11]

It's amazing to read an article this long with Q and A and have nothing new, no real revelations about the players leaving. He alludes to defense which is no news, and while he does doesn't want to trash anyone he skirts around the questions, says nothing and sounds like a politician being interviewed. Nothing new about MAL either. Understand that 1000 players are transferring and sit just happens. The Glen Miller thing was to go in a different direction, case closed. He talks in a convoluted way about defense (doesn't come out and say Enoch and Jackson couldn't or wouldn't buy in), about going "big" with Brimah and Facey, and making adjustments on the fly. To me that was something he did not do well last year even with the injuries. The one thing I do not question is KO's work ethic and desire to make the team better and he does have a talented and solid core to add to but we don't walk away from this interview with any real insight.

why would a coach want to publicly trash players? You think that would look good on our Men's basketball program and the University?

 

[The Funster]

Good interview. Good read. Very encouraging outlook. It sounds like KO has a good feeling for where both he ad the program are right now and is going about correcting issues his way. Go get em Kev.

 

[tykurez]

It's obvious that KO is learning and changing his approach, which obviously hasn't been working. That's good.

The question is, why did it take 5 years to figure out that you can't just recruit for talent and that you need to have a feel for who actually wants to be here, who's actually willing to buy in and work hard?

It's especially surprising given that KO was a "lunch pail" sort of player himself, and that his success in 2013-2014 was largely predicated on that sort of buy-in and toughness (Bazz, Boat, Giffey, etc.). He should have had an appreciation for this from the outset.

He inherited the recruiting sanctions that finally expired in 2014. When you're limited in visits, contacts, etc. you have to decide what you want to spend your energy on. On top of that, it was basically Ollie and Miller and it's increasingly difficult to have your head coach be your primary recruiter in today's landscape.

So now we're heading into the second class without the sanctions and finally a staff of legitimate, proven recruiters outside of KO. It would have been great to have the ability to implement this plan from the start, but I just don't think that was realistic given the circumstances.

 

[Tenspro2002]

He inherited the recruiting sanctions that finally expired in 2014. When you're limited in visits, contacts, etc. you have to decide what you want to spend your energy on. On top of that, it was basically Ollie and Miller and it's increasingly difficult to have your head coach be your primary recruiter in today's landscape.

So now we're heading into the second class without the sanctions and finally a staff of legitimate, proven recruiters outside of KO. It would have been great to have the ability to implement this plan from the start, but I just don't think that was realistic given the circumstances.

That would be a reasonable argument if we weren't getting highly-rated guys. Yes, we could and should have done better, but we actually did decently in that regard. KO's newfound appreciation for toughness has little to do with that.

The problem is that so many of the highly-rated guys we did get (e.g. Hamilton, Durham, Jackson, MAL, even Enoch) were absolute zeroes in terms of toughness, BBIQ, or willingness to compete.

Getting the "right" guys at a given level of talent should be independent of recruiting limitations.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Wow this is super accurate and exactly what played out on the court this year.

You do this all the time and it is obnoxious. The poster makes a few good points, and of course all you do is take one line as an absolute fact and proceed to call him out on it while completely ignoring all other points and the larger meaning of the post.

Did the poster actually mean that literally every single time we went down low to Brimah, the ball ended up out of bounds? Of course not, and you know that. Does his larger point stand? Absolutely.

Time to give that shtick up.

 

[Stainmaster]

You do this all the time and it is obnoxious. The poster makes a few good points, and of course all you do is take one line as an absolute fact and proceed to call him out on it while completely ignoring all other points and the larger meaning of the post.

Did the poster actually mean that literally every single time we went down low to Brimah, the ball ended up out of bounds? Of course not, and you know that. Does his larger point stand? Absolutely.

Time to give that shtick up.

Maybe I wouldn't be so eager to do so if people had the ability to raise legitimate criticism of KO without dressing it in hyperbolic garbage. You guys need to do better.

 

[CL82]

Maybe I wouldn't be so eager to do so if people had the ability to raise legitimate criticism of KO without dressing it in hyperbolic garbage. You guys need to do better.

 

[UConnfan8]

Stop it. That's nonsense don't make me go dig up some your past predictions. Everyone and their momma thought he was coming when he visited before auburn.

Diallo was never coming here after Calipari spoke to him. Auburn loss or not. We could have been 15-0 and top 5 in the country and as soon as Diallo flew into UK it would still be game over. Its the kind of effect Cal has on the country today.

Sad, but true.

 

[Chief00]

Stop it. That's nonsense don't make me go dig up some your past predictions. Everyone and their momma thought he was coming when he visited before auburn.

Sorry not true.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Sorry not true.

Obviously we all humor you but you had Diallo committed a dozen times over the past year - including a bunch of your BS "stay tuned" nonsense that never became anything - so your shtick doesn't play on this one.

 

[Chief00]

Obviously we all humor you but you had Diallo committed a dozen times over the past year - including a bunch of your BS "stay tuned" nonsense that never became anything - so your shtick doesn't play on this one.

Not true. I was even more blunt with people who IM me.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Maybe I wouldn't be so eager to do so if people had the ability to raise legitimate criticism of KO without dressing it in hyperbolic garbage. You guys need to do better.

Just because you took what he said in absolute terms doesn't mean it was "hyperbolic garbage". I guarantee you are the only person who took it that way.

People raise legitimate criticisms on here all the time. Unfortunately, there has been a lot to be critical of lately.

Some people clearly go overboard and need to be called out. But you pretty much take offense every single time a post is negative.

You know a lot about the school and our program. When you sarcastically call people out on every detail, while completely ignoring the actual meaning of the post, it doesn't add anything to this board.

 

[upstater]

It's obvious that KO is learning and changing his approach, which obviously hasn't been working. That's good.

The question is, why did it take 5 years to figure out that you can't just recruit for talent and that you need to have a feel for who actually wants to be here, who's actually willing to buy in and work hard?

It's especially surprising given that KO was a "lunch pail" sort of player himself, and that his success in 2013-2014 was largely predicated on that sort of buy-in and toughness (Bazz, Boat, Giffey, etc.). He should have had an appreciation for this from the outset.

Because up until this year his guys worked hard?

 

[jibsey]

Jacobs could have done better. The one thing he admitted that was decent was that he's specifically looking for more basketball IQ in players but you don't come away from the interview with much that we didn't know IMO. In the next one I expect "ten toes in" and "UCONN basketball."

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Not true. I was even more blunt with people who IM me.

Hilarious. You posted some variant of "good news in the next day or so" a dozen times with Diallo. You can pretend otherwise, though, it's cool. You can pretend that people IM you too.

 

[husky429]

Hilarious. You posted some variant of "good news in the next day or so" a dozen times with Diallo. You can pretend otherwise, though, it's cool. You can pretend that people IM you too.

It's called a PM on here. Makes me wonder if anyone has actually ever PM'd him if he doesn't know the name...

 

[David 76]

It's obvious that KO is learning and changing his approach, which obviously hasn't been working. That's good.

The question is, why did it take 5 years to figure out that you can't just recruit for talent and that you need to have a feel for who actually wants to be here, who's actually willing to buy in and work hard.

Probably wasn't trying to change a lot when they won the championship.

 

[Chief00]

Hilarious. You posted some variant of "good news in the next day or so" a dozen times with Diallo. You can pretend otherwise, though, it's cool. You can pretend that people IM you too.

No, I was immediately critical of them spending the official visit going over the course catalog and class schedule. I was upset they just didn't put a uniform on Diallo and get him out in the court.

LOL - In case you missed it, I have been rather critical of Coach Miller's recruiting approaches for at least a couple years.

You seem like you are living in a surreal World - people on the BY IM me all the time and some follow me.

 

[whaler11]

Some interesting parts:

KO mentioned a core 5 rather than 4. Seems to be bullish on Diarra being an impact player.

This also caught my interest as it confirms what we thought. Vance Sr's twitter rampage early in the season was like dumping chum with Jaws in his vicinity.

Looking back at the Jackson Sr saga - at the time I was happy he stayed hoping to
improve the season but in hindsight I wish he just left then.

 

[ucp990411]

I like KO but this is a bunch of BS. He recruited these guys. He probably said they were his type of players. He has a lot to prove I believe.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Jacobs could have done better. The one thing he admitted that was decent was that he's specifically looking for more basketball IQ in players but you don't come away from the interview with much that we didn't know IMO. In the next one I expect "ten toes in" and "UConn basketball."

yeah that coaches are recruiting players while they're at other schools

 

[Whtdmd]

The three transfers feed off one another. Probably sharing how it sucks here stories. I am surprised with Steve, him n Diarra were well spoken individuals who always were cheerful. They had the confident walk. I am not surprised with Durham, he never looked comfortable here. Hopefully last yr was our 2010 team that had a lot of talent n did not produce. The 2011 team was unranked and I was just hoping for a tournament berth back then. I remember then trailing vermont at halftime, thinking it was going to be a long yr. I hope Ollie name 2 captains ( Adams n Larrier) fast. Kemba would never tolerate the BS with the 3 parting amigoes from last yr.

 

[intlzncster]

ten toes in with a team first attitude. That is the one thing that Purvis really displayed to me over time. He sat on the bench at times and fought his way back to the court appearing to have the right attitude.

I respect the hell out of that dude. I wish he could have put it all together consistently, but I've no complaints about him coming to and playing at UCONN.

 

[intlzncster]

It's obvious that KO is learning and changing his approach, which obviously hasn't been working. That's good.

The question is, why did it take 5 years to figure out that you can't just recruit for talent and that you need to have a feel for who actually wants to be here, who's actually willing to buy in and work hard?

It's especially surprising given that KO was a "lunch pail" sort of player himself, and that his success in 2013-2014 was largely predicated on that sort of buy-in and toughness (Bazz, Boat, Giffey, etc.). He should have had an appreciation for this from the outset.

He didn't have a whole lot of choices when he started, given that he was handicapped recruiting wise. This brought in some subpar players, and he probably over compensated by looking for absolute studs to fill out the team.

I think too that he was dealing with all sorts of 'firsts' HC-wise. Learning how to manage all facets of a program can't be that easy. So that takes time away, from focusing on the absolute correct way to do something like recruit. The default was 'get the best talent', and he's learned that's not the way to go.

It's tough in a way that he won a NC his second year, because that probably validated a lot of his thinking going into his career. Why would he think of changing what he was doing when he just won it all? He needed to fail, before recognizing there was a problem.

Also, he had the echo chamber of UCONN assistants with no outsider perspective. Notice that he's starting to change his tune now that new blood (and voice) has come into the program.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Kind of a hardo move to quote Art of War

 

[Marty Jackson]

Jalen Adams was a top guard. UConn recruited him almost exclusively. UConn has always had success by recruiting one or two real talents to feature.

UConn should not ignore that.

Think of how key players like Kemba Walker and Deandre Daniels have been. These were high level 5 star recruits.

Daniel Hamilton and Jalen Adams are in the same category.

Of course, yes, what makes UConn special is the Jeremy Lambs, Emeka Okafors, Shabazz Napiers, etc. that did not have that very high pedigree. But Ollie has already reeled in two such players in Adams and Hamilton. Also a McD All-American in Alterique Gilbert. It would be preposterous to say Ollie should not recruit these types of players anymore just because of Diallo.

I thought Bazz was a very high recruit.... But for the following year.
Didn't Calhoun bring him in for an earlier recruiting class in the 12th hour to fill an open scholarship?

 

[rip7774]

I thought Bazz was a very high recruit.... But for the following year.
Didn't Calhoun bring him in for an earlier recruiting class in the 12th hour to fill an open scholarship?

Seemed like Shabazz was in the 50s or so but you could see he was a shotmaker on the vids. Yes, he came a year early. He may have been the right age to reclassify I recall (meaning older for that jr. class so a reclass made sense).

I remember where I was when Shabazz committed. Maybe I should be committed!!!!

 

[Dogdeacon]

Kind of a hardo move to quote Art of War

I'm fine with quoting the Art of War, but (nitpicking) I find it a little precious to cite it.