KO

[60'sfan]

From everything I have seen and heard so far, Kevin Ollie is the perfect coach for Uconn. Everyone on the team seems to really like him and I have read virtually no negative comments. The team is becoming a family who really believes in him and will do anything for him. Even the opponents and the media seem to have great respect for him. He is talking to the right recruits and is bringing in some pretty good ones. The future is bright.

I tip my hat to Jim Calhoun who brought him in and practically forced Uconn to give him the job.

 

[bear]

I believe that we are extremely lucky to have him. And lucky to have had Calhoun set him up as the replacement.

 

[CTBasketball]

Agree. But he needs to manage the game better.

 

[Danzz]

Agree. But he needs to manage the game better.

Maybe but we are 4-0. Like many I was calling for a TO against BU but it all worked out so it is hard to argue with success. We'll get a better idea when we get into some close games with under 2 mins left. KO was the perfect successor to JC and the good thing is he doesn't appear to have any NBA aspirations.

 

[James]

Agree. But he needs to manage the game better.

Haha wot? How could one surmise that from 3 games of inferior competition , which we won... he let the team play through mistakes, thats not really a bad thing . See Phil Jackson

 

[caw]

Well the team isn't perfect by any means, have trailed 5/160 minutes after all. All but 20 seconds being in a game UConn won by nearly 50, the other 20 seconds coming in a game UConn won by 15+

Unlike last year, UConn is doing a pretty good job of beating teams they should beat, by a lot.

Maryland, I blame the closeness of the score on Napier fouling out because of an interesting T, and nervous freahmen shooting foul shots down the stretch.

 

[rbny1]

Agree. But he needs to manage the game better.

It's only his second year as head coach of any team. I hate to think what a numbskull I was entering the second year of my first job. He'll learn to manage the game better as he gains experience. We are very lucky to have him. He is definitely a keeper.

 

[Kembacity]

I agree that this years team is already showing less of that playing down to inferior competition we've seen the last decade maybe. Blowouts even against weak non-conference opponents have been few and far between. I like that this years team seems capable of starting off a game hot and putting the foot on the gas. I hope we can continue to show that and be a tough first half team to compete with.

 

[CTBasketball]

We've played garbage teams and its been too close for comfort. At this point being 4-0 is irrelevant because we have 10x more talent than anyother team we've played.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

We've played garbage teams and its been too close for comfort. At this point being 4-0 is irrelevant because we have 10x more talent than anyother team we've played.

Too close for comfort? Lol. Please tell what margins of victory would be available for you.

 

[Gurleyman]

Maybe but we are 4-0. Like many I was calling for a TO against BU but it all worked out so it is hard to argue with success. We'll get a better idea when we get into some close games with under 2 mins left. KO was the perfect successor to JC and the good thing is he doesn't appear to have any NBA aspirations.

When were you calling for a TO? Last minute of the half? You just can't call one there when we used our first half 30 already (no point in "stopping momentum" with 60 seconds left in the half).

When they took the lead in the second half after that quick 8-0 spurt, he certainly could have called one, but we responded ok there. I'm sure we were one bad play away from a TO, though.

 

[aceboon]

We've played garbage teams and its been too close for comfort. At this point being 4-0 is irrelevant because we have 10x more talent than anyother team we've played.

if these games have been too close for comfort I would love to hear what you thought of the games last year when they were strugglin to beat mid/low majors. At this point you just need to come out and tell us exactly what is your issue with KO being the coach at UConn, because you've been saying slick comments for awhile, most nobably your manifesto when Wolf wasn't welcomed back with open arms.

 

[PRHusky]

We've played garbage teams and its been too close for comfort. At this point being 4-0 is irrelevant because we have 10x more talent than anyother team we've played.

Are you sure you are talking about the UConn Huskies? You might be confusing us with some other team. Other than the end of the Maryland game, which was the result of a fluky and questionable T on Shabaz, it cannot possibly get much more comfortable than it has been so far.

 

[Tenspro2002]

KO looks like the right answer in terms of the off-court elements of the job: he clearly motivates his players and gets them to play hard for him and buy into the team concept; he connects very well with recruits.

This year will address some of the questions about his on-court coaching abilities. Opponents always remarked about JC that his teams channeled JC's will and imposed it on the other team. Is KO able to do the same in terms of execution? Will he correctly manage the ebbs and flows that characterize the college game? Can he make adjustments, add a new wrinkle in real time, in games of consequence?

I'm looking forward to finding out.

 

[CTBasketball]

if these games have been too close for comfort I would love to hear what you thought of the games last year when they were strugglin to beat mid/low majors. At this point you just need to come out and tell us exactly what is your issue with KO being the coach at UConn, because you've been saying slick comments for awhile, most nobably your manifesto when Wolf wasn't welcomed back with open arms.

Last year's team was far less-skilled than this years. KO had some questionable calls last year, most notably the OT call at Marquette, but it was swept under the rug because it was his first year.

I am a KO fan and want him and UConn to succeed, but the way he manages the game (calling timeouts, substitutions, etc) is a questionable strategy at the college level. If we continue to win, then so be it. But I don't think its a good strategy for elimination/tournament games.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I think he's done a great job so far, but the thing which made Calhoun great was UConn's performance in NCAA Tournaments. Not to take anything away from Ollie, but until we see what this team can do in do-or-die games, I think we have an incomplete picture.

 

[upstater]

Last year's team was far less-skilled than this years. KO had some questionable calls last year, most notably the OT call at Marquette, but it was swept under the rug because it was his first year.

I am a KO fan and want him and UConn to succeed, but the way he manages the game (calling timeouts, substitutions, etc) is a questionable strategy at the college level. If we continue to win, then so be it. But I don't think its a good strategy for elimination/tournament games.

Calhoun never ever ever ever ever ever fouled in that spot. Now you know better than Calhoun.

 

[Pmurph678]

We've played garbage teams and its been too close for comfort. At this point being 4-0 is irrelevant because we have 10x more talent than anyother team we've played.

We have 10x more talent than Maryland? Is 18 points not a big enough margin of victory?

This post wreaks of ignorance.

 

[CTBasketball]

Calhoun never ever ever ever ever ever fouled in that spot. Now you know better than Calhoun.

I wasn't referring to the Cadougan 3. I was referring to the start of OT where they messed up the possession after UConn made a bucket. Calhoun would have gotten T'd up. And we all know that's true.

 

[upstater]

I wasn't referring to the Cadougan 3. I was referring to the start of OT where they messed up the possession after UConn made a bucket. Calhoun would have gotten T'd up. And we all know that's true.

Calhoun would have gotten T'd up in OT? Uh-huh. You wrote that's a questionable call from Ollie?

 

[CTBasketball]

Calhoun would have gotten T'd up in OT? Uh-huh. You wrote that's a questionable call from Ollie?

Ollie didn't argue the call. Regardless, I want to see how KO does in elimination games. It tells a lot about a coach.

 

[ctchamps]

I love the way KO is running this season. He has the depth he lacked last year so he's trying different combinations and different offenses. He has the best on the court coach in the college game with SN and can trust him to work on the game plan the coaches want to run. The team has enough experience and talent to work on things they are weak on, that will be necessary down the road. Not every team has that blend of experience and inexperience. Games could be "prettier" if they stuck with their strengths, but that is self limiting.

There are literally thousands of decisions that take place over a season. If 990 are correct and ten are wrong I'm going to focus on the 990. Focusing on the ten makes me self important because everyone makes mistakes and I don't have to look at the 990 and compare it to my own inadequacies.

 

[Scot-e]

Look KO is a work in progress and commenting on it is really no big deal. You can pick apart almost anything from the comfort of your sofa.

I would not mind a few more TOs when we go on one of our "we are checking out for the next ten minutes" moments- but if that all you can say then you have to be really happy with our coach and how he is managing the games.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I wasn't referring to the Cadougan 3. I was referring to the start of OT where they messed up the possession after UConn made a bucket. Calhoun would have gotten T'd up. And we all know that's true.

So basically, your argument is that Calhoun would have lost the Marquette game by two more points than Ollie did?

On a more serious note, you're really grasping at straws here with some of your criticisms. We see ranked teams being upset by mid-majors all the time, and you're saying our three wins over mid-major teams of 17 points or more are "too close for comfort?" Are you aware that UNC and Notre Dame lost to mid-majors yesterday? Or that the #1 team in the country played a barn burner with Columbia the other day? Or that Indiana beat LIU by one point? What if you were a fan of any of those teams?

 

[Gurleyman]

The NBA tendency is to horde timeouts for the final minute so you can advance the ball 70 feet if you need to, which may be ingrained in KO's mind, and he might wait a possession or two longer than we're accustomed to. But he called one at 19-11 to stop a 7-0 BU run, so he isn't totally timeout averse.

The griping about Giffey's minutes vs Maryland were probably defense-related. DD shut down their hot shooter, and Giffey kept losing him, so we stayed with the better defensive matchup that night over the hot hand. Probably logical since we had a big lead, but Bazz's foul trouble made the end of that game kind of hairy.