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This is why it's tough to hire a coach who as a former player/a guy you grew up really liking. Remember telling one of my Nets friends how at some point things would go sour with the Nets and Jason Kidd and it might be hard to separate the player my friend grew up idolizing from Kidd the coach. I think this is something we'll all struggle with regarding KO.
I think we can all agree on what KO meant to this program as a player, and during the early part of his tenure. He took over a program with crippling sanctions and had a successful first year, and culminated with a championship the next. However - when you look at everything after that you see a program that has become a shell of itself. Whenever a national media figure is talking about UConn it's usually about how mediocre we've become/how irrelevant we are. That's on KO the coach. KO the coach has led us to some of the lowest of lows in modern UConn basketball history. So while it's easy and nice to say KO's an alum, don't be too hard on him on the way out -- fans are taking it out on KO the coach -- not KO the player or even the man people think he is. It's hard to tell someone who has invested their time and money how to feel about something and I think those who would say the KO era has been a failure have extremely valid points. Again I think it comes to down to people having to view KO the player as different than KO the coach. People aren't turning their back on KO the player that came from across the country, who fought to stay on NBA rosters...we're upset with KO the coach who has led us to a point of an irrelevant, mediocre program under NCAA investigation.
It's a tough balancing act, but I think it's one everyone here struggles with in some capacity.
I think we can all agree on what KO meant to this program as a player, and during the early part of his tenure. He took over a program with crippling sanctions and had a successful first year, and culminated with a championship the next. However - when you look at everything after that you see a program that has become a shell of itself. Whenever a national media figure is talking about UConn it's usually about how mediocre we've become/how irrelevant we are. That's on KO the coach. KO the coach has led us to some of the lowest of lows in modern UConn basketball history. So while it's easy and nice to say KO's an alum, don't be too hard on him on the way out -- fans are taking it out on KO the coach -- not KO the player or even the man people think he is. It's hard to tell someone who has invested their time and money how to feel about something and I think those who would say the KO era has been a failure have extremely valid points. Again I think it comes to down to people having to view KO the player as different than KO the coach. People aren't turning their back on KO the player that came from across the country, who fought to stay on NBA rosters...we're upset with KO the coach who has led us to a point of an irrelevant, mediocre program under NCAA investigation.
It's a tough balancing act, but I think it's one everyone here struggles with in some capacity.
