Kevin Ollie killed the momentum.

[JMick]

It hurt no doubt, but there was ample opportunities afterwards and I do not think we remotely quit afterwards, we just did not make enough plays.

My issue is with people who said it cost us the game and want to pin it all on Ollie.

Even without the T there's a lot you can pin on Ollie after tonight...

 

[ASweet3781]

Ollie did something stupid. He can't do that and has to learn how to effectively work officials earlier in the game.

But there is no doubt that for the first time in a while, in the close games against good teams, tonight and vs Syracuse, we are not getting the calls. Check that. We are not getting any calls. The officiating feels one sides and the stats indicate so.

The only reason you call that on Jalen Adams at that point in the game after a team cut a 20 pt deficit to 3 is to save Maryland's skin. Which it did. And while Ollie can't lose it like that there is something going on with us when it comes to the officials. Feels like since Ollie has been coach we are on short end of the calls. He has been very subdued and was probably holding it all in since the Syracuse 2nd half.

 

[JMick]

Ollie did something stupid. He can't do that and has to learn how to effectively work officials earlier in the game.

But there is no doubt that for the first time in a while, in the close games against good teams, tonight and vs Syracuse, we are not getting the calls. Check that. We are not getting any calls.

The only reason you call that on Jalen Adams at that point in the game after a team cut a 20 pt deficit to 3 is to save Maryland's skin. Which it did. And while Ollie can't lose it like that there is something sketcky going on early in this season. He has been very subdued and was probably holding it all in since the Syracuse 2nd half.

Ok so now we have conspiracy theories explaining our losses. jesus.

 

[TerryA88]

Don't ever doubt or question Kevin Ollie. He's got a lot of talent, with NOTHING in the middle. Neither Brimah nor Nolan can catch a ball and bounce it 3 times. Miller is All we have in the post. Facey brings energy, but he is NOT doing much (8 points /4 boards ) on a consistent basis.

Enoch has ADHD as it relates to defensive principles. I'll attribute it to being a freshman. We are doomed !! But we WILL make the tournament.

 

[aceboon]

He cost them 1 point, MD got 3 points out of the trip instead of 2. They weren't going to win that damn game, what we saw tonight was the same damn thing we've seen out of Purvis and DHam in 95% of this team's big games during their tenure together. They come out with no sense of urgency on either end and fall down big, then score a lot of points with no pressure on them to close the gap, then choke late(Purvis's bricked corner 3 when they were down by like 3 or 4). Why do they continue to get the pass that they do? How many games can you win and how far can u go as those two as centerpieces of your offense?

 

[Rocktheworld]

How can you not be outraged?

Maybe because at the end of the day, it's a basketball game.

 

[DogMania]

wow. I have lost a ton of confidence and respect for him over this terrible stretch.

I figured this was as good a spot to chime in. Wow! You lost respect on that?!?! I'd hate to be a family member or friend of yours and dare say make a mistake! Egad!

KO is a class guy. Now was that a bad time to lose your cool? H*ll yes! Did he cost them the game? No. Trimble was already going to the line, though I think it was a 1:1. If my memory serves me, didn't he hit the first FT but miss the second? If that was the case, we would have been down 2 possessions, though still some solid time left. That T definitely didn't help, but the ref's call was absurd since first of all, you don't make that kind of call late, and second of all, I don't think it was even a foul.

Lastly, the team put themselves in that horrible hole to begin with, down, what, 20 at one point? They actually outscored MD by 6 in the 2nd half.

KO usually does a good job of keeping his cool. I think he's earned a Mulligan. Let's hope he's learned from this. We all make mistakes in the heat of battle, and losing respect for someone in this type of situation seems like an overreaction to me, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[DogMania]

Momentum is real. You can't be that naive.

The bad foul call was the Mo-Buster IMO. The KO T was ill timed but not the main reason we lost. If the T didn't occur, and Trimble hit 1 or 2 as he did, we're down by 2 Pos (4 pts) and if the next trip down the floor both ways turned out as it did, the nails were getting hammered in that coffin.

Let's not put the blame on KO for this loss. The players are the ones on the floor that keep on laying fricken eggs for long stretches putting themselves in holes too big to dig out of. They must learn how to play a 40 minutes game. H*ll, I'll settle for a 35 minute effort. If they can do that, they likely win 2 of those 3 games, if not all of them. You just can't stink out the joint for a 15 or more minutes stretch and expect to come away with a W.

 

[TerryA88]

Don't ever question or criticize Kevin Ollie. He's playing 4 verses 5 evertime we step on the court. Other than Millerror we have no post presence. Yes Brimah will block 3-4 shots a game and score 6-9 points against scrub opponents.

Other than Miller wich of our 4/5 positions can do the following. 1) Bounce a basketball 3 times without turning it over 2) Create ANY effective offensive move off the dribble / in the low post . 3) Pass effectively should either 1 or 2 take place.

I won't speak about catching a basketball, or positioning for a rebound , or defensive rotation, or finishing with minimal contact, or doing anything minimally effective SHOULD a player actually get a ball off a screen and roll, communication. ...

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

He cost them 1 point, MD got 3 points out of the trip instead of 2. They weren't going to win that damn game, what we saw tonight was the same damn thing we've seen out of Purvis and DHam in 95% of this team's big games during their tenure together. They come out with no sense of urgency on either end and fall down big, then score a lot of points with no pressure on them to close the gap, then choke late(Purvis's bricked corner 3 when they were down by like 3 or 4). Why do they continue to get the pass that they do? How many games can you win and how far can u go as those two as centerpieces of your offense?

I'm with you on this.

D ham is our best player and he's legit.

But i can't understand everyone killing Gibbs on here over and over and nobody says a word about purvis who is outrageously inconsistent and out of control.

In our three big games this year, he was awful for the first 30-35 min then hit a few shots at the end.

He has no position and Doesn't really create for others (although he tries to) he's A very streaky shooter, and misses a ton of big shots. He's out of control and turns it over in key moments all the time.

Purvis is a decent player. And he can make some plays. But I don't see why his starting position and 25-30 min of playing time is guaranteed. Sadly we just don't have anyone better.

 

[aceboon]

I'm with you on this.

D ham is our best player and he's legit.

But i can't understand everyone killing Gibbs on here over and over and nobody says a word about purvis who is outrageously inconsistent and out of control.

In our three big games this year, he was awful for the first 30-35 min then hit a few shots at the end.

He has no position and Doesn't really create for others (although he tries to) he's A very streaky shooter, and misses a ton of big shots. He's out of control and turns it over in key moments all the time.

Purvis is a decent player. And he can make some plays. But I don't see why his starting position and 25-30 min of playing time is guaranteed. Sadly we just don't have anyone better.

Purvis deserves more of the share but I can't give DHam a pass, too many times he is invisible when they either come out flat or let a game spiral away from them(Syracuse). If you can play to that level in the 2nd half, then you need to come out like from the rip and not when you are down damn near 20+ because like we've now seen against Gonzaga and MD, its too late. I thought he he had a breakthrough in the Mich game with those shots he hit in the 2nd half when Mich made a run but now its looking like an aberration.

 

[uconngb]

The ironic thing is: if Ollie has any kind of a sideline presence, works the officials at all throughout the preceding 38 minutes, they probably don't call that foul on Adams in the first place.

He is completely out of his depth when it comes to managing the officials.

This

 

[uconndoit]

If we had converted in next possessions, gotten stops and ended up winning everyone would be calling Ollie a genius for getting that T.

 

[Bonehead]

When a college BB team wins a game the coach is credited with a victory.
When a college BB team loses a game the coach is credited with a loss.

Ollie is most certainly responsible for each loss and each win, accordingly. Otherwise coaching records would not be kept.

Its great to see the difference between the FB board and BB board.

On the FB board, when a QB throws an interception it is Bob Diaco's fault and responsibility, and coaches are vilified if they ever use the E word (execute) in regards to their players.

On the BB board Ollie is not responsible for too much, the players don't execute, continuously start games in lulls and the losses are on them.

 

[minidarren]

He got p!ssed that one of his players made a mental mistake and Ollie matched Adams' mistake.

At least we know Ollie brings 40 minutes of intensity.


I'd like to see how the game plays out without the T, but remember Turtle was still shooting FT's even without the T.

Does he really bring 40 minutes of intensity? The last 3 games I have seen him spend about 50% of the game sitting in the chair with his face in his hands. He did the same thing last year!

 

[Kitaman]

We weren't going to win that game, and didn't deserve to. Ollie is not the only scapegoat here, there are about 6 others.

If a frog had wings . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[UConnDad]

Does he really bring 40 minutes of intensity? The last 3 games I have seen him spend about 50% of the game sitting in the chair with his face in his hands. He did the same thing last year!

Sounds a little bit like me!

 

[djct1999]

Not sure what happened, but this entire team from the coaching staff down to our last player is a deer in headlights.

 

[uchusky32]

The game was lost in the first half. Yeah we came back. We always do. But this group of players doesn't know how to win big games and KO coaches like he's coaching NBA players and lets them try to play out of their funk. It hasn't work since Bazz was here. He needed to use all his TO in the first half and got in some of the players ears early. He didn't and his frustration boiled over to getting a tech when he did. It was a petty call but In this day and age of free movement Adams impeded his movement and weakly bumped him. When you play scared and the other team plays aggressive refs adjust to the flow of the game.

 

[polycom]

You can't go down 20+ versus a good team and expect to win. Even though what Ollie did was boneheaded, we should have at least given them a game in the first half. We have some of the worst rotations and closeouts I've ever seen.

 

[Bonehead]

You can't go down 20+ versus a good team and expect to win. Even though what Ollie did was boneheaded, we should have at least given them a game in the first half. We have some of the worst rotations and closeouts I've ever seen.

HEY!

 

[Athlete94]

The offensive flow this team has through 8 games is minimal at best. Clearly they have talent, but the decision making and offensive schemes at times are just awful. The energy level past UCONN teams would bring to start these type of games was unmeasurable. I have yet to see that from this group. Is it Chemistry, too much one on one? Who knows?? Until that fire inside burns the same to both start and finish the game the same way , I'm afraid we could be in for a bumpy ride.

Having said that, We are UCONN, we always expect to win these games. This isn't the 80s when we accepted moral victories by keeping it close vs GTown, Cuse etc... Something needs to be done to fix this, at some point coaching can only do so much, if the players don't share that same passion to put that uniform on, the end result will show that. COACH will fix this or there will be changes sooner than later. I believe it will show soon, and they need to start with the pedal down hard vs Ohio State, this is a must win game.

The last thing is defensively. I'm ok with a big that isn't that gifted offensively, but where's that Kevin Freeman/Jake Voskul type guy. JC always had that type of guy, it seems like we are going away from that style. It's so obvious when a shot goes up and everyone is pretty much already assuming a miss and sprinting back to set up. There's nobody crashing the glass. That translates to the defense, either we don't teach how to box out or to close off driving lanes, but the interior defense is practically non existent. Frustrating! I hope we can recruit "that" guy soon, because I don't see him on our roster.

 

[Kembacity]

I'm assuming it might be TCF who is up on this but if anyone sees a nice GIF of the Ollie Technical I'd like to see it. I thought it was hilarious how cartoonish the papers flying was, and how as soon as he realized what he had done he immediately dropped to the floor to try to pretend it wasn't him

I am frustrated by the loss but I want to take enjoyment out of that scene

 

[UconnFanDC]

Regardless of Ollie's error, we had a horrible first half that put us in the situation we were in. Lets get more Jalen, Facey and more Ollie's energy throughout the game.

 

[gtcam]

wow. I have lost a ton of confidence and respect for him over this terrible stretch.

then go to another team and board