Looking Ahead

[Jaker]

We can still have a good season if Purvis would step it up and start scoring like he is capable of.

 

[upstater]

Sadly, this is very true. The UConn brand, the one time blue blood is no longer a destination job. This has gone downhill fast- faster than even the most pessimistic could expect. Worse yet, with the injuries to Larrier and Gilbert, the coaching staff will most likely get a free pass on the season. In other words, this hot mess will continue for the foreseeable future.

Lets not let Maui blind us. Ollie is a great motivator of men and thrives with their backs against the wall. I really applaud the effort put forth after Larrier went down. Even good fundamental coaches can lose a team when there seems to be very little to play for. This type of scenario plays into Ollie's strength as a person. Forget the results, this team will play hard. But I saw all I needed to see with Wagner and Northeastern. That simply should never happen at UConn. Nor should it be dismissed. Those two losses were a major red flag of where this program, from coaching on down, stands.

I expected much worse post-Calhoun.

I am optimistic.

I expected worse results, and worse recruiting.

 

[huskymagic]

He has a McD AA who is out and will most likely be out for the year, would have been a huge impact. A kid who he recruited originally and left another school to come here because he loved KO, was our leading scorer and is OUT. Diarra is likely out and he would've helped on the boards. Yeah KO should have seen this was going to happen and had back up plans, maybe better walk ons. What was he thinking?

Yet despite having 2 MCD AA and Larrier and Adams on the roster Ollie couldnt beat Wagner or Northeastern back to back game at home to start the regular season. It's great to be very positive and all but we are in a position that we need to think harder and smarter than our peers with our conference situation. I believe being in the Big East will help us recruiting wise, basketball wise(top 25 wins), and coaching wise. That does not mean our ambitions for a Power 5 bid ends. Being in the American puts too much pressure on our team and coaching staff to be and play perfect to start the year to compensate for our weak conference. We tried waiting it out but now we are expected to wait another 10 years for the next realignment to occur to possibly be selected by the mercy of the P5 Gods. It's wishful thinking at best.

I said Ollie was a good recruiter not great as he hasn't recruited at that level yet and the guys he has recruited haven't turned out to be what we expected mostly. Hamilton, Adams, and a diamond in the rough Brimah were good recruits. The 2016 Class was a great haul by Ollie, but we got a 5-9 point guard with a bad shoulder and we beat out Louisville and Syracuse for him not Duke and Kentucky. Same thing with Juwan top guy with ACL tears in his knees who top teams backed off of. I love the class especially Juwan and Vance but let's look at things rationally instead of exaggerating. Makai is a very solid recruit but again we beat out Louisville for him and Polley and Carlton are yet to be determined what they will be. If we get Hamidou and or Bamba then we can say Ollie is a great recruiter. One guy in the top 40 every recruiting class is not elite recruiting.

Calhoun's last recruiting class 2012 he got Drummond(top 2 recruit), Daniels(top 20 recruit) and Boatright(top 70 recruit). That's elite recruiting. Or our 2011 recruiting when we got Napier and Lamb(2 future NBA players) along with Giffey and Roscoe(two excellent college players), and Olander.

 

[huskymagic]

Sadly, this is very true. The UConn brand, the one time blue blood is no longer a destination job. This has gone downhill fast- faster than even the most pessimistic could expect. Worse yet, with the injuries to Larrier and Gilbert, the coaching staff will most likely get a free pass on the season. In other words, this hot mess will continue for the foreseeable future.

Lets not let Maui blind us. Ollie is a great motivator of men and thrives with their backs against the wall. I really applaud the effort put forth after Larrier went down. Even good fundamental coaches can lose a team when there seems to be very little to play for. This type of scenario plays into Ollie's strength as a person. Forget the results, this team will play hard.

If Ollie were a great motivator of men, we wouldn't have lost back to back home games to start the season to Wagner and Northeastern. We also wouldn't get thrashed and punked on the perimeter by teams or defensively showing no will or heart to contain the opposing player. Other than Amida and Adams who have self-motivated themselves, I haven't seen it from anyone else. Jim Calhoun was a great motivator. He could fire up anybody. Ollie is a preacher, but needs to be a pontificator and or motivator. You don't have to have the most elite players to play solid defense and fundamentally sound basketball, which we are not doing in the slightest. That's coaching or motivating. Again we lost the first 2 games when Alterique and Larrier were fully healthy so that is not an excuse.

 

[joober jones]

I'm not writing off this season until the last game is played. The basketball season is too short and I enjoy it too much to write it off in November. Clearly the preseason praise was too much, too soon, even without the injuries. So what's the silver lining? With a short bench everyone gets more time and time where they will need to contribute. Even if this is a tough season, it will pay dividends next year.

So enjoy the ride. Watch Adams grow into a star. Watch the other kids develop. Enjoy the occasional Brimah dunk or more frequent blocks. Watch Rodney heat up, cool down and heat up again. Enjoy it, because it is the only 2016-2017 season we are going to get.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll still watch and enjoy every minute, that's for sure. My point was more that firing Ollie for not making the tournament in this particular season would be rather nonsensical.

 

[pnow15]

Yet despite having 2 MCD AA and Larrier and Adams on the roster Ollie couldnt beat Wagner or Northeastern back to back game at home to start the regular season. It's great to be very positive and all but we are in a position that we need to think harder and smarter than our peers with our conference situation. I believe being in the Big East will help us recruiting wise, basketball wise(top 25 wins), and coaching wise. That does not mean our ambitions for a Power 5 bid ends. Being in the American puts too much pressure on our team and coaching staff to be and play perfect to start the year to compensate for our weak conference. We tried waiting it out but now we are expected to wait another 10 years for the next realignment to occur to possibly be selected by the mercy of the P5 Gods. It's wishful thinking at best.

I said Ollie was a good recruiter not great as he hasn't recruited at that level yet and the guys he has recruited haven't turned out to be what we expected mostly. Hamilton, Adams, and a diamond in the rough Brimah were good recruits. The 2016 Class was a great haul by Ollie, but we got a 5-9 point guard with a bad shoulder and we beat out Louisville and Syracuse for him not Duke and Kentucky. Same thing with Juwan top guy with ACL tears in his knees who top teams backed off of. I love the class especially Juwan and Vance but let's look at things rationally instead of exaggerating. Makai is a very solid recruit but again we beat out Louisville for him and Polley and Carlton are yet to be determined what they will be. If we get Hamidou and or Bamba then we can say Ollie is a great recruiter. One guy in the top 40 every recruiting class is not elite recruiting.

Calhoun's last recruiting class 2012 he got Drummond(top 2 recruit), Daniels(top 20 recruit) and Boatright(top 70 recruit). That's elite recruiting. Or our 2011 recruiting when we got Napier and Lamb(2 future NBA players) along with Giffey and Roscoe(two excellent college players), and Olander.

The AAC is closing the perceived and real gap with the P-5 schools. If his league would pledge to stay together, I believe it will compete very successfully with the P-5 leagues and get an improved contract.

 

[Edward Sargent]

This game was over in the first 3 minutes and predictably as we trudged out there with a lineup of Facey and Brimah. Facey should not be starting or playing big minutes unless its to sub in for Brimah. Durham should be starting at the 4 and playing 20-25 minutes a game. He is not on minutes restrictions, and if he needs rest let him ask to be taken out. We can't keep rewarding mediocrity. Ollie needs to hold players accountable.

--If we don't make the tournament this year, Kevin Ollie's seat should be hot for next year. There is no excuse for this type of performances for the last 3 years. We need to be seriously looking at all options right now. I am not a fan of the Dwayne Killings hire as Ollie has hired his twin basically. Hobbs leaving does not look good in hindsight for us. We need some serious coaching strategy changes.

P.S. I think we need to be looking at the Big East for our basketball team if they will take us. If we need to go independent in football so be it. We need to be in a league that gives us opportunities for top 25 wins and incentive for guys to play at the highest level without thinking they will rely on the tournament to enter the NCAA tournament. We can't keep hoping for the carrot from the Power 5 to fall our way after 10 years with the next realignment. Our basketball program will not be the same UCONN that we know and love at that time with what we are seeing in the present.

Noticed the number of likes - hmm

 

[BUConn10]

The AAC is closing the perceived and real gap with the P-5 schools. If his league would pledge to stay together, I believe it will compete very successfully with the P-5 leagues and get an improved contract.

 

[upstater]

Or our 2011 recruiting when we got Napier and Lamb(2 future NBA players) along with Giffey and Roscoe(two excellent college players), and Olander.

This board was nearly unanimous in agreeing that the Napier class was one of the poorest recruiting classes in a very long time for UConn. You are looking at the class in hindsight, not what it was when they were freshman.

 

[mauconnfan]

Noticed the number of likes - hmm

Took the words right off my keyboard Ed!

 

[7774]

Yet despite having 2 MCD AA and Larrier and Adams on the roster Ollie couldnt beat Wagner or Northeastern back to back game at home to start the regular season. It's great to be very positive and all but we are in a position that we need to think harder and smarter than our peers with our conference situation. I believe being in the Big East will help us recruiting wise, basketball wise(top 25 wins), and coaching wise. That does not mean our ambitions for a Power 5 bid ends. Being in the American puts too much pressure on our team and coaching staff to be and play perfect to start the year to compensate for our weak conference. We tried waiting it out but now we are expected to wait another 10 years for the next realignment to occur to possibly be selected by the mercy of the P5 Gods. It's wishful thinking at best.

I said Ollie was a good recruiter not great as he hasn't recruited at that level yet and the guys he has recruited haven't turned out to be what we expected mostly. Hamilton, Adams, and a diamond in the rough Brimah were good recruits. The 2016 Class was a great haul by Ollie, but we got a 5-9 point guard with a bad shoulder and we beat out Louisville and Syracuse for him not Duke and Kentucky. Same thing with Juwan top guy with ACL tears in his knees who top teams backed off of. I love the class especially Juwan and Vance but let's look at things rationally instead of exaggerating. Makai is a very solid recruit but again we beat out Louisville for him and Polley and Carlton are yet to be determined what they will be. If we get Hamidou and or Bamba then we can say Ollie is a great recruiter. One guy in the top 40 every recruiting class is not elite recruiting.

Calhoun's last recruiting class 2012 he got Drummond(top 2 recruit), Daniels(top 20 recruit) and Boatright(top 70 recruit). That's elite recruiting. Or our 2011 recruiting when we got Napier and Lamb(2 future NBA players) along with Giffey and Roscoe(two excellent college players), and Olander.

If you're going to post consistently idiotic stuff, can you at least cliff note it instead of these large paragraphs? It's not like it will impact the value of your thoughts.

 

[7774]

This board was nearly unanimous in agreeing that the Napier class was one of the poorest recruiting classes in a very long time for UConn. You are looking at the class in hindsight, not what it was when they were freshman.

Not only that, but trying to shoehorn Niels and Roscoe into the category of "excellent college players" in order to make his point is just so hilarious. If we had the freshman - junior year Niels on this team huskymagic would be murdering him.