Kevin Ollie: 'If They Rebound, They'll Play.'

[Tenspro2002]

Olander is the most experienced reliable big on the roster. He's shown flashes of potential and I think that KO didn't allow him back on the team and made him miss the first week of practice after the DUI charges were shown to be bogus in order to figure out a way to motivate a young kid, who has thus far been unable to maximuize his potential. Olander was huge in the Michigan State upset last year and when he is focused has the potential to be a 25 - 30 minute player. If KO can get him to just play his best when he's out there, not even overachieve, Olander can easily average 10 and 6 a night, throw in 3 assists an a block with it. He's always reminded me of a Gavin Edwards type player and this could finally be his year to shine.

Experienced? Sure. Reliable? No.

He is too physically limited to be anything more than a part-time contributor. He doesn't have the athleticism to defend the post or to get rebounds either in or out of his area.

If he were slightly more skilled and we had a stud post player, he could be a stretch 4 -- though not "stretch" enough in that he can't hit 3's and he can't dribble.

 

[joober jones]

I believe Olander still has something to contribute and I'm rooting for the guy. However, he needs to earn the minutes. I'd like see Nolan start initially. If Olander manages to out-hustle and out-perform the other bigs, then by all means, give him the minutes. If he doesn't, then he can't be option #1 at center. If he manages to pull off a Hilton Armstrong-esque or even Gavin Edwards-esque senior year, congratulations will be in order.

 

[Chief00]

I hate that Bazz can beat up on our front court players. I think we will miss Wolfe. Contrary to the usual feel good Tyler articles by the CT media the boy can't rebound! Hoping Nolan improved; Tyler's plus/ minus ratio is always in nightmare territory unless playing cupcakes or ND.

 

[Chief00]

Before we dump on TO to much remember these facts:
He was a contributor on our 2011 who stayed Loyal to UConn in are darkest hour.
He never hurt the program academically.
He played most of last year with an injury.
Never complained once.

He was key in our road win at Notre Dame. (If we were eligible it would have been a the key road win for the NCAA tourney.)
He was not strong enough or big enough to play the 5 yet he went out their and played the best he could as we had limited options.
Actually he wasn't bad as a low post distributor which was his primary function.
He has gotten minutes for tough guys like JC because he works hard in practice which serves as an example to younger more talented players.

As Luke H said after that game, the ND scouting report, said to leave Tyler open. But give him credit he did knock down the open shots.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I hate that Bazz can beat up on our front court players. I think we will miss Wolfe. Contrary to the usual feel good Tyler articles by the CT media the boy can't rebound! Hoping Nolan improved; Tyler's plus/ minus ratio is always in nightmare territory unless playing cupcakes or ND.

Tyler did really struggle to rebound last year. He seemed to have put on some weight and it seemed to hamper him more than help. I know he also had foot problems. In any case, he has not shown himself to be able to rebound consistently and it would be a big help to the team if he is able to contribute in that area this year. Last year Nolan seemed to get in touch with his inner beast late in the year and really went up strong at times. He did not seem to be able to sustain it, but he did show some glimpses of an "I will not be denied" attitude that makes someone a good rebounder. Ollie has put it out there that if you want to play, you have to rebound, so I'm hoping that there will be more of a focus on that and less on trying to block every shot. Neither Tyler nor Phil seems to be an instinctive shot blocker and we'd be a lot better off if they tried to play solid D and block out to rebound than to get out of position by trying to block shots.

 

[aceboon]

As Luke H said after that game, the ND scouting report, said to leave Tyler open. But give him credit he did knock down the open shots.

Who is Luke H? And I rag on Tyler as much as anyone but in fairness to him in the ND game he was doing alot more than shooting jumpers, he was showing off some nice post moves in order to get his points.

 

[selles]

Who is Luke H? And I rag on Tyler as much as anyone but in fairness to him in the ND game he was doing alot more than shooting jumpers, he was showing off some nice post moves in order to get his points.

Watch out chief, it's a trap!

But in fairness, Cooley did say something of the sort and that whole string of ND stars looks alike to me too.

Also agree that Tyler showed everything on O that day, much more than just j's. He was good against MSU as well (not so much the O, but his overall play). Here's hoping he can bring a lot more of that this year.

 

[Chief00]

Bottomline ND players said that was the plan, as I said give Tyler credit for making the open shots.