KO and this season

[aceboon]

In regards to #3....where do you guys come up with this stuff? So when the 2010 & 2012 teams didn't live up to season expectations, was it because JC did a poor job of instilling his will into the team(I actually just laughed while typing that because of how silly it sounds)? If you were to attend a practice, do you really think you could determine how much time KO spent practicing "instilling will"? When a team comes up short, and contrary to popular opinon on here, JC coached teams did actually get blown out or give up leads to teams, its not always a case of a team lacking in "will".

Most plausible complaints about KO:
1. He has failed at working the officials. It's like NBA officials calling fouls on rookies and letting stars get away with murder - the HOF 30-year coaches have been getting all the calls and KO/UConn have gotten none.
2. A number of players (DD is the foremost example) seemingly haven't progressed on the strength and conditioning front. JC's teams used to be some of the best-conditioned teams in the NCAA.
3. The team has had lapses of will from time to time. JC was always demanding his kids to impose their will on the opponent, to out-will them. KO hasn't obviously focused as much on this aspect.

(1) may not be in KO's power to change, in any case it's the least important aspect of a coach's job. Officials have the obligation to call the game fairly. (2) is something he ought to be able to leave to the strength and conditioning staff and the players. We have a new S&C staff in place and hopefully we'll see better results there next year. (3) is a concern, but teams often focus better in the post-season than in the dog days of the regular season. Also, KO has to create his own personal coaching style, different from JC's, and it may take a few years of KO maturing and/or him getting his own recruits who respond to that style, before his style begins to show its merits.

Most of the other problems with this team are limitations of the players.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

They completely imposed their will on Iowa State in the tourney two years ago. Unfortunately, they also got run out of the gym. But the will thing was important, so kudos to Calhoun for that.

 

[James]

In other news jeff goodman published an insider article today saying KO is one of five coaches who could leave for an nba HC gig , today. But a large portion of posters on this board still think he is still trying out for this uconn job , ha. Delusional

 

[Jluc]

We're 24-7 with no offensive big men. We are going to the NCAA tournament as a seed between 4-6. We have beaten Florida, Cincy, and Memphis (twice) this year. This guy is in his SECOND year of head coaching at any level and is barley 40 years old. He has not really even had his own recruits to work with yet and we know how good he's been recruiting so far. He's going to be a great coach and anybody that thinks otherwise probably should think about whether or not they actually are a UCONN fan. Relax people.

 

[pj]

In regards to #3....where do you guys come up with this stuff? So when the 2010 & 2012 teams didn't live up to season expectations, was it because JC did a poor job of instilling his will into the team(I actually just laughed while typing that because of how silly it sounds)? If you were to attend a practice, do you really think you could determine how much time KO spent practicing "instilling will"? When a team comes up short, and contrary to popular opinon on here, JC coached teams did actually get blown out or give up leads to teams, its not always a case of a team lacking in "will".

call it what you will -- toughness, tenacity, dedication, competitive spirit -- but when March came around JC's teams were sometimes defeated, but they were never beaten.

This is KO's first March so we shall see.

For the record, I was defending KO, arguing that there is little he can be criticized for. But if you don't think competitive fire and tenacious drive matter, or that the coach has something to do with whether teams have those, then I don't know what to say.

 

[freescooter]

I'll give you my measuring stick, which most of the KO cheer squad won't do (whoever said 5 years is just inane.) This year he had to: A. Make it to the Dance; B.get to the Finals of the AAC tournament; and C. get through at least the first round of the NCAA tournament. A good performance in C outweighs a poor one in B. A good perofrmance = Sweet 16.

 

[mauconnfan]

There isn't a lack of talent at all. I agree. There is a lack of bulk though. Unfortunately this UConn team has a lack of big inside players and smaller guards. This was known, I don't get why some find this to be a shock.

Watching the stats. UConn was matching UL rebound for rebound up until the ten minute mark in the second half. The bigger issue was missed shots. Open or contested. Nothing was falling. That and some bad luck.

The turning point was a ball that bounced through a bigs hands off Boats head, off the floor between the two UConn players and to ULs big SVT. It looked like it was UConn on a delayed fast break down 7 (or 9?) and turned into a quick UL score which set up their press and began the quick slide. Not saying that UConn would have won if that had landed in a UConn players hands, just pointing out how sometimes even luck is against you.

There may not be a lack of talent but there is a lack of "game"……..Everyone needs to explain the me the many talents that DD, Omar, Niels, Lasan, Phil, Tyler, Omar have? please remember in basketball "talent" means being able to dribble more than once with someone guarding you, pass to someone without someone stealing it, dribble past someone who does guard you so you can get a lay up twice a year, rebound with a guy next to you whom you have to beat to the ball and stop a guy who is a bench player normally from getting 13 rebounds? I'm missing something people if you believe these guys are better than they are….we have a 5'11 guy leading them in everything and the 5'9 guy may be 2nd………KO has some blame but please, real it is not much. Kids have the chance to get better if they want…..let's remember our HOF coach had to deal with 2 kids who refused to come back ready in 2011 in AO and Roscoe and I'm guessing they're off season wasn't all that much of hard work……certainly showed!!

 

[James]

There may not be a lack of talent but there is a lack of "game"……..Everyone needs to explain the me the many talents that DD, Omar, Niels, Lasan, Phil, Tyler, Omar have? please remember in basketball "talent" means being able to dribble more than once with someone guarding you, pass to someone without someone stealing it, dribble past someone who does guard you so you can get a lay up twice a year, rebound with a guy next to you whom you have to beat to the ball and stop a guy who is a bench player normally from getting 13 rebounds? I'm missing something people if you believe these guys are better than they are….we have a 5'11 guy leading them in everything and the 5'9 guy may be 2nd………KO has some blame but please, real it is not much. Kids have the chance to get better if they want…..let's remember our HOF coach had to deal with 2 kids who refused to come back ready in 2011 in AO and Roscoe and I'm guessing they're off season wasn't all that much of hard work……certainly showed!!

Mentioned Omar twice! ha. Also Napier is 6'1 people. DD's skills are so absolute, he's good at two things : set jumpers and blocking shots (preferably weakside). I have a hard time believing he can even complete a competent ball handling drill. He's obviously staying this year, he better chug whey protein and bring spalding with him everywhere on campus.
On another note, recently i was looking back at a fonder time when I had believed Olander could turn into a marginial nba player when he was in HS... wow It really hurts he never developed since his freshman year. A developed olander, (see tim abromitis, TO had much higher upside in HS; dunking, hitting threes) would be the perfect solution for this squad. A guy who could knockdown midrange jumpers when a small gets trapped and also rebound. All in all KO is coaching is ass off so theres nothing really for me to complain about.

 

[mauconnfan]

Didn't mean the Omar squared mention….sorry

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

call it what you will -- toughness, tenacity, dedication, competitive spirit -- but when March came around JC's teams were sometimes defeated, but they were never beaten.

I mean, that's just completely untrue. I'm sorry but in Calhoun's last game as a coach they got embarrassed.

 

[Taco]

WM didn't choose KO - JC did. He kept his impending retirement close to the vest so that WM had to choose KO - at least in an interim basis. In JC we trust!

KO earned his contract with the great job he did last year and he's followed it up with another very good year - that's not over BTW (maybe a little inappropriate to be talking about next year and incoming players while our conference tourney stating any day and March Madness following right behind).

Players play the game & coaching only goes so far sometimes. - it happens.

 

[aceboon]

call it what you will -- toughness, tenacity, dedication, competitive spirit -- but when March came around JC's teams were sometimes defeated, but they were never beaten.

This is KO's first March so we shall see.

For the record, I was defending KO, arguing that there is little he can be criticized for. But if you don't think competitive fire and tenacious drive matter, or that the coach has something to do with whether teams have those, then I don't know what to say.

Welp, I guess all I can say is I'm glad you've recovered from whatever ailment caused you to slip into a coma and miss the Iowa St game, because that UConn squad was beaten the moment they hopped off the plane.

 

[mauconnfan]

No doubt Iowa State hammered that Husky team……but that team was mentally flawed as we all know thanks to some veterans who weren't happy. Never had a shot without 2 returning starters form a NC team leading and instead they came back unprepared and never bought into the year and they felt they had it coming to them. While some is on JC, most was on the veteran leadership, included in that Shabazz, for not putting "tea" ahead of themselves.

This team, minus a couple games of mental breakdown, has been solid and I believe will bring the mentality and teamwork required to compete at the highest level. Not predicting wins here but by no means will they be beaten off the plane!!

 

[freescooter]

The 2012 team became disfunctional the day Drummond tweeted he was coming. That team had the opposite problem of this one in the sense that they had too many good front line players and never quite figured out a rotation that both worked effectively and kept everyone happy and into the game. Throw in Lamb's inability to really be the man, which I attribute to immaturity because he certainly had the talent, and that team was just a mess.

This team on the other hand is flawed in a different way. Lacks any real front court presence and relies on a pair of very talented but smallish guards. If you have guards who can play with them, take them out of their game, UConn usually lacks the alternatives to over come that.

 

[UCweCONN]

While not a bad season, I don't think you can call it an unqualified success either. Before the season someone posted a question on what the team's regular season record would be. Most predicted 4 or 5 losses and the result was 7. We were picked 2nd or 3rd in the conference.....We lost both games to Louisville (badly) and SMU. The team did not improve since the start of the season and Ollie never really got a handle on the personnel.

 

[freescooter]

While not a bad season, I don't think you can call it an unqualified success either. Before the season someone posted a question on what the team's regular season record would be. Most predicted 4 or 5 losses and the result was 7. We were picked 2nd or 3rd in the conference.....We lost both games to Louisville (badly) and SMU. The team did not improve since the start of the season and Ollie never really got a handle on the personnel.

I think that's a decent summary. A solid post season performance will wipe out the disappointing, and I use the term advisedly because it wasn't awful by any means, regular season. Losing both SMU games, both Louisville games and losing to Houston were the biggest disappointments. Stanford was too, but it was a non-conference affair and early in the year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

While not a bad season, I don't think you can call it an unqualified success either. Before the season someone posted a question on what the team's regular season record would be. Most predicted 4 or 5 losses and the result was 7. We were picked 2nd or 3rd in the conference.....We lost both games to Louisville (badly) and SMU. The team did not improve since the start of the season and Ollie never really got a handle on the personnel.

This is a fair summary to date.

I think the average semi-realistic projection going into this year was: 26-5, 2nd in conference, solidly ranked ~10-15th throughout the year, AACT finals, 3 seed, Sweet 16/Elite 8.

The returns so far are: 24-7, 4th in conference, fringe top 25 throughout the year, ~50% chance of making the AACT semis, likely 5-6 seed, ~30% chance of making the Sweet 16.

There's still some season left to go, but short of an AACT finals and a Sweet 16 appearance, it will be hard to say that we fully met our expectations going into the year.

 

[freescooter]

The other thing I'd say is that if we were to lose in the first round of both the AAC and the NCAA this will have gone from an OK year to a pretty disappointing year.

 

[sparky]

Ollie is young, but should have acquired enough knowledge through his years in the pros etc to understand when it's time to look to the future. Omar is not the future and Samuel is. He should have played more. Boat, for all the things he can do he can't or won't try to make the players around him better. He is a ME player not a WE player. PT is important to players and the coach can control PT. We are a flawed team but the coaches flaws have not helped.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Some of you seem to think that Ollie is a miracle worker. 26-5, make the AAC finals, cure the blind. Those are lofty expectations based on...what? When we lost Wolfe, even though he was a middle of the road player, he was an experienced middle of the road player and would have been better than anyone we have. You had to know there would be a big donut hole in the middle. No legit power forward since DD plays like a small forward. It’s hard to win when you can’t rebound. I think we were pretty successful this year given those issues.

 

[aceboon]

Ollie is young, but should have acquired enough knowledge through his years in the pros etc to understand when it's time to look to the future. Omar is not the future and Samuel is. He should have played more. Boat, for all the things he can do he can't or won't try to make the players around him better. He is a ME player not a WE player. PT is important to players and the coach can control PT. We are a flawed team but the coaches flaws have not helped.

By playing Omar in short intervals hoping he gets going KO is thinking of the future, because if you plant him on the bench completely and don't give him a shot at recapturing his game, you can expect to see him suiting up elsewhere in 2 years and likely putting up dbl figures.

 

[pj]

I mean, that's just completely untrue. I'm sorry but in Calhoun's last game as a coach they got embarrassed.

JC wasn't the same his last few years, but from roughly 1986 to 2006 his teams were quite consistent. He had a great run. No one quits at the top. He stayed on long enough to get KO ready to take over, I'm happy with that.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Some of you seem to think that Ollie is a miracle worker. 26-5, make the AAC finals, cure the blind. Those are lofty expectations based on...what? When we lost Wolfe, even though he was a middle of the road player, he was an experienced middle of the road player and would have been better than anyone we have. You had to know there would be a big donut hole in the middle. No legit power forward since DD plays like a small forward. It’s hard to win when you can’t rebound. I think we were pretty successful this year given those issues.

I'm not criticizing Ollie, just stating that those were our expectations. In retrospect, it's easy to point out our flaws and say "no wonder the season turned out that way". At the beginning of the year, there wasn't much talk of these flaws, and DD was expected to be a monster.

 

[pj]

Ollie is young, but should have acquired enough knowledge through his years in the pros etc to understand when it's time to look to the future. Omar is not the future and Samuel is. He should have played more. Boat, for all the things he can do he can't or won't try to make the players around him better. He is a ME player not a WE player. PT is important to players and the coach can control PT. We are a flawed team but the coaches flaws have not helped.

By that standard, Facey should play more than Daniels. Omar did lose nearly all his minutes, but to Kromah and Giffey, so it's they you'd have to sit to play Samuel, or Boatright or Napier. It is hard to say Samuel is as good as any of those. His minutes are mostly learning minutes now. I am a bit surprised Facey hasn't managed to get more time to be honest, he must be a slow learner because minutes have been there to be had.

 

[aceboon]

I expected a 5 loss regular season, but I also expected Boat to be better than what he was last season, and for DD to be somewhere around the player we saw from the first Cincy game of last year until the Providence season finale. The fact that they lost 7 with both of them being as mediocre as they were is an accomplishment, but then where does the blame lie with the lack of improvement with those two guys? If DD can play like he did against Memphis, or play like he did against Temple(a bum team, but he still dominated them, something he rarely did), why can't he show something like 80% close to those games on a consistent basis? I don't think any blame should lie at KO's feet for whatever is lacking in DD that can't get him to perform like what we see in occasional flashes, just like I didn't think it was JC's fault that Rudy or Stanley couldn't dominate or consistently perform at the level of their best games. I know the west coast AAU mafia likes to blame Boat and Bazz for DD not being in the NBA already or an All American, but at this point its on him to step up and be a consistent sidekick for Bazz.

Same thing with Boat, all off season he talked about how he was going work on his jump shot so that he would be automatic on open jumpers because every NBA guard can hit an open jump shot. I have no doubt that he put in work this summer, so I'm not sure of the disconnect with his game this season where he either passes up open 3s or bricks them completely, and it's been pretty much like that from game 1 against MD. Is it KO's fault that Boat basically can't make shots from the field? I don't believe it should but I'm sure the guys who never wanted KO to get the job in the first place will blame him for that. The bigs are what they are and what we expected, a work in progress, our role players have been even better than what we expected with the way Giffey and Kromah have played. Omar, no more needs to be said and if it could be done over he probably should've been redshirted, but Giffey and Kromah have helped to offset what we haven't got from him. What nobody expected was the play of Boat and DD, and at this point its on them to step up, it's not like we haven't seen them play well in spurts in the past. From Bazz's comments in the courant about the help the other POY candidates have, I think he's frustrated with them as well and I don't blame him.