Let's speculate-

[Hoophound]

I tend to be a lot harder on UConn as far as style of play, the crowd etc. I watch other teams and think they look better. I think it is because i know our guys so well. I know their limitations. When Reggie Evans hits a 3 pointer I think, "whew, we got lucky there". A UMass fan watching would be thinking "f UConn, even their scrubs can drill threes and ours can barely dribble".

I never hear any of my friends say UConn is boring to watch or has crappy fans, never. They think UConn basketball is huge and legit. I live in Florida, so it isn't like they are bias. UConn basketball is considered the goods.

 

[cohenzone]

Rodney wasn't on campus yet for his visit and either way you don't want him negatively recruiting for you, that would probably turn a recruit off. also, where has this sentiment popped up that we don't have a good chance with Robinson come from?

I don't think answering a direct question by Abu to Purvis is negative recruiting. Purvis has actual knowledge. If Abu had asked Purvis why he left NCS rather than UConns coaches saying negative stuff, no issue for me.

Question if a graduate of the program, say Ray Allen or Kemba contacts a recruit it us an NCAA violation. Is it a violation if the recruit initiates the contact? If it us, it"s a dumb rule. Who better than people who have played in a program to give a kid info. Obviously, if the coach has changed, the experiences of former players is less valuable.

BTW, for the younger folks, there was a time when fans had zero idea who the school was recruiting, even superstars. Now, every recruit seems to achieve star status, they all have "camps" giving them advice, not always in the kids best interest, and fans are way too involved.

 

[DreamSeason]

A couple of facts to off set some of the points made above. First the ACC is 5th among conferences in ave BB attendance per game. NCST had a very nice jump last year in attendance to 16k+, however the previous years were 13k +. They play at the PNC center which hold almost 20k for BB games. Very rarely does NCST sell out. Usually they play to 60-70 % of capacity. The ACC has been very overrated with only 4-5 teams out of 12 making the NCAA. I expect the AAC will have 5 which is 50% of their teams making the NCAA. Only the BE and BIG had about 50% of their teams make the NCAA' s in the past. While the AAC is not the old BE, they will hold their own in BB and will be rated higher than several of the so called power conferences.

Although I don't love our current conference and would be happier in the ACC.....I think as a conference it was overrated. Every Big East team we lost to them became irrelevant. That is where BE teams go to die. Although Miami seems to be making a comeback.

 

[Goat]

Anyone who competes for customers knows that there is always a guy that will say whatever he has to to make the sale. Nothing about Ollie makes me think he will ever be that guy. I agree that the AAU coach is probably the key. Where did he recommend that Terrell go?
Coach Calhoun likes to say, "to be honest with you." To be honest with you, we really don't know what style of play KO would prefer if he could get all the personnel he wanted. He did a heck of job with what he had last season. I think he is a strong strategic and game coach, but it will be interesting to see if not having Blaney changes this.

I think KO has seen and studied many great NBA coach's schemes and learned how to exploit match up weaknesses. So, I think the team is in good hands. Many here seem to think that Cooley and Gottfried, for examples, have recruiting gifts, but are poor bench coaches. I don't think it is fair to say that Ollie is a poor recruiter, Purvis and Hamilton preclude those remarks.

From Ollie's remarks about "great motors," I infer that his preference may be to run other teams out of the gym. Phil Nolan and Amida Brimah may be good for that. If Facey can play, we have some depth and could run alot. Many players seem to be of above average speed, except perhaps compared to Louisville. I think that is what we will see this year. Kemba showed what speed can do. It will also be a style that will help recruit elite players. With the two new players for 2014 and possibly more Boatright, we will be speedy again. Abu would have been great for that style. He has speed and size. I am OK with thin and fast. I am not as excited with slow but effective.

 

[Scot-e]

I personally think that we have no idea who we are going to get or when we are going to get them. I did not see DH coming and all the talk about kids on this board does not change what Ko is doing and who he really believes we are going to land in the end. It's fun to talk about - to some degree- but the last few weeks have been painful. I know more about Pc basketball then I ever wanted to know.

 

[EricLA]

I personally think that we have no idea who we are going to get or when we are going to get them. I did not see DH coming and all the talk about kids on this board does not change what Ko is doing and who he really believes we are going to land in the end. It's fun to talk about - to some degree- but the last few weeks have been painful. I know more about Pc basketball then I ever wanted to know.

Totally agree (also with the PC comment). For some strange reason some UCONN fans have made that into a big time rivalry, and frankly not only do I not think it's big, I barely would call it a rivalry. I get that they are another regional team, but that's about it. Of course, when a team goes after the same kids as we do, and gets some of them, I guess fur is bound to fly.

I also was shocked to see DH's verbal. Not shocked in the sense I didn't think we had a shot, just shocked that it came so fast seemingly without much hoopla. I logged into the BY one morning, and BAM. We landed a top 5-star kid. I'd be perfectly happy if the rest of the recruits fly that way. It's ultra competitive out there and most fans (myself included) have zero idea why kids REALLY choose one school over another. Sure they sometimes make their comments about it, but I bet more times than not, there's something else going on they aren't saying. Not in every case, and not that kids are hiding something, it's just publicly I can't imagine them always laying out all the reasons they chose one school over another.

Hamilton's verbal already gives us the core of a great class. Add to that Purvis and there are 2 kids who could in theory play together for 3 years. We will know a lot more about how long Boat might stay, if Purvis is going to be a PG, and how the rest of the kids look this coming year. I'm actually really excited...

 

[tzznandrew]

Expectations do play a role. The 1999 season was very stressful - we ended 34-2, but we had Final Four angst and there were a lot of tight wins in that 34 (El-Amin on scorer's table, UMass was close, Miami in OT, Seton Hall in BET, etc.). Heck, we were off the rails on the Boneyard (assuming we were ever on rails) when our exhibition with Marathon Oil came down to the wire. 2004 was kind of stressful - preseason No. 1 and didn't show it at times. The bounce-back years tend to be fun rides. Donyell's year, Caron's year, Khalid's freshman year, Kemba's year.

I guess I can see some degree of late-February frustration in 2011 because the spectacular start began to look like a tease and we might not get back to our A game again. I know I was banking on a postseason second wind that would bring the Maui team back, but perhaps that was a leap of faith. Didn't think we would win it all, mind you, due to the heavy reliance on frosh going through it the first time, but I felt comfortable we would be a tough out. I was on board with Maker's Muppet from the first paragraph.

I just wanted to get into the NCAAs with a good draw. I figured the 11-0 was not a fluke. As has been discussed over and over again, the BE refs just let teams kill Kemba. I expected a good showing in the NCAAs, if they could get a 6 seed or better...but that started looking less and less likely.

What I didn't expect was the BET championship--not at all. Not with that veteran Pitt team sitting there in our way.