KevinOllie addresses crowd at FirstNight

[James]

It could also be possible that dd was a very overrated recruit with the upside being his potential/length. If dd has gained some kind of awareness/aggressiveness on both sides of the court, be could be a nice dorell wright kind of player. But point is he needs a HUGE jump. I don't see this, "he was just as talented as anybody"... How exactly?

 

[mets1090]

DD has a beautiful stroke and was clearly rattled at times (almost all times). It seemed that when he made a shot the next time he touched the ball he would force a shot in an effort to get hot or find his rhythm. This is something that can be fixed with experience. Or he is a head case and will never be more than a rotational guy. Time will tell. But with his height and length it should be hard to block his shot, so if he pulls it together he should be a solid player.

 

[James]

He does have a great stroke...but pulling off the dribble? He was nothing more than spotting up last year for wide open threes ( he bricked mostly). I'm not trying to on the kid, we just need to manage our expectations from him as a sophomore. Listen I'm not totally cynical, I still believe while healthy Napier is easily one the best guards in the country.

 

[mets1090]

Oh I'm not saying he's gonna blow up this year and go pro. I think he'll be a solid 4 year player that develops a good shooting game and maybe (due to his size/length as you said) someone will take a flyer on him in the NBA. He could blow up and do better than that and he could just never really put it together. He's far from a sure thing either way, IMO.

 

[ctchamps]

I forget what Manuel said, but it seems like the criteria should include things like his ability to lead the team effectively, including game management, team motivation, and skills development for both the team and players. For example, will the team know what to do when running offense, how to attach different defenses, and respect his authority when the going gets tough. Will he come up with effective game plans that maximize our strengths and attack the opponents weaknesses? Can he give the refs a hard time when needed?

These are the parameters I would like to have WM consider, but when it comes down to it things are more complex than this.

For one thing, each of the criteria can be looked at subjectively. For instance, for some people effort and success are intertwined, while for others, there is a separation between effort and success because they consider things such as skill sets, the presence or absence of complementary players, opponents skill level, luck, and so on. But even in this latter group there is a difference in what factors are included and excluded, there are differences in the order of importance and there are differences in the weight each factor receives. We can make the same argument about all the various criteria you have stated - there is a wide range of evaluation and assessment towards each of the criteria.

Additionally WM, being human, has his own agenda. WM may consider it important to continue making a name for himself. And hopefully he considers the best way to do that would be to insure the continuation of the men's bb program's success. If KO has what it takes to accomplish this goal, an objective observation could help him come to this conclusion. But what if Manuel has an ego problem. What if WM believes, as some posters in this forum assert, that KO would be considered a JC hire and not a WM hire. If WM believes this and has the need to make a name for himself regarding the bb program, he will find a way to justify replacing KO and put his own person in place. And he can do this because there is such a diversity of opinion within the community of fans and supporters of what constitutes success and adequate performance.

But WM isn't autonomous in the decision making process. There are a lot of outside influences, with varying degrees of influence, that will contribute to his decision. When Hathaway chose PP to be the football coach, who knows how much of that choice was made just to irritate and put in place an overreaching booster. It seems hard to fathom that a person in the capacity of an AD, with such an important decision, can be that petty. But there was a pattern to Jeff that suggest this, especially in regards to how he handled Randy and JC. I'm not absolutely certain that this took place, but it is possible. I think we all know people who have the capacity to make boneheaded decisions just to get back at someone, boneheaded decisions that have tremendous negative consequences towards themselves and/or others.

Going against my scenario in a prior paragraph, WM may not need a name for himself. He may be willing to listen to an important booster if there are incentives to accept that boosters opinions. In short there is no way of knowing how WM will react to boosters and alumni. None of us really know what makes anyone tick, what underlying motivators contribute to a decision.

There is one additional point to be made: Warde has the president of the university to contend with in the selection process. Jeff did not have this issue when he chose PP. You can be certain President Herbst will want to be consulted, whether you consider this appropriate or not, particularly with how things turned out with the previous AD. Remember Jeff left with the condition that matters regarding his performance be withheld from the public. None of us know what took place that made Jeff leave quickly and, as a condition for the quick departure insist that his evaluation be withheld. President Herbst does know the factors and there may have been issues which makes her feel justified in overseeing and contributing to the decision making process of JC's successor.

For those who need and insist on neat and simplistic answers to understanding things I'm sure my contribution in this matter will be ignored.

For these people I offer one simplistic absolute: the Boneyard will have no influence in the outcome of next years men's bb coach, but various contributors in this forum will believe otherwise.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Think we will be seeing some new tees with "10 toes in" look??

they already have this might have to hold it up at the first game http://www.theuconnblog.com/2012/9/27/3420764/get-your-escalators-are-for-cowards-shirt-right-here

 

[UConn990411]

If this is true then Warde Manuel is the wrong man for the job. There is such as thing as loyalty and tradition. WM should be looking at the football program and HCPP and associates some more.

Honestly, I've always found this mindset to be illogical.

I want Manuel to hire the best option available. Who cares if it's a former UConn player or not?

 

[Sky ball]

He needs to get the word "Ya-all" out of his vocabulary. At least not every 6th word.

 

[UConn990411]

Why? Because it's not common among rich, white Northeasterners?

 

[Joseph Zocco]

Only problem with my theory is, does ollie keep his job if he goes 500

I agree unfortunately. I am not sure if he keeps his job if the team goes .500. I actually wrote an article about fan reaction to the Ollie hiring and from what I heard everyone expects Ollie to be the coach of the future. Check out my article here.

 

[Sky ball]

Why? Because it's not common among rich, white Northeasterners?

No not because it's not common to rich Northeasteners (so it common with the poor and middle class northeasterners?) because in that 4:23 speech he said it 20 times or once every 13 sec on average. Annoying to listen to. Reminds me of people who talk and say "um" every 2-3 words. In my former Toastmaster Club we used to drop a marble in a can making a loud noice everytime some said "um" in their presentation.