Love Ollie

[pj]

From http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20170108/amida-brimah-uconn-stand-tall-in-dominant-win-over-ucf:

Added Ollie: “You can’t read all the stuff on social media, that will get you down. You’ve really got to focus on things you can control and the people that are gonna be in your corner when things are down. Those are the real people that are gonna be with you.

“Chris Paul ain’t showing up, James Harden isn’t showing up. It’s the same players. They started moving the basketball. This is what we’ve been preaching. And we got some shots to go in. You can’t be selfish. You can’t say, ‘Oh, we’re having a bad season, I’m just gonna get my numbers.’ We’ve got to play as a team. This is not a bad season, it’s a character-building season. We’ve got to keep performing.”

You can't read the Boneyard, it'll get you down - too many fair weather fans are not in the team's corner. Hami Diallo ain't showing up. But the team can build its character and perform.

And that's what I love to watch, and why I'm a UConn fan! Thanks KO for carrying on the JC tradition of developing character, players, and teams.

 

[art4life]

"Sometimes you have setbacks in order to have comebacks..."

~KO~

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

I don't think anybody is questing KO's mentality. Or whether he has any shortage of positive sayings/metaphors.

People are questioning the on court (non) performance of his teams. All his sayings on hard work and preparation, and yet our teams regularly show up un-prepared and repeatedly get out worked.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I don't think anybody is questing KO's mentality. Or whether he has any shortage of positive sayings/metaphors.

People are questioning the on court (non) performance of his teams. All his sayings on hard work and preparation, and yet our teams regularly show up un-prepared and repeatedly get out worked.

A teacher can teach until his/her face turns blue, but at the end of the day its up to the students to put the effort in to apply the knowledge they were taught. Same thing in basketball. This is not on KO, the players need to figure it out.

 

[CL82]

I truly believe that we will look back on this season as the price that was paid for future success. Take a look at @tcf15 's scholarship grid. These guys are going to be around Storrs for a while. They are building experience. Remember Bazz's sophmore year? Bazz was no Kemba... until he was.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

I truly believe that we look back on this season as the price that was paid for future success. Take a look at @tcf15 's scholarship grid. These guys are going to be around Storrs for a while. They are building experience. Remember Bazz's sophmore year? Bazz was no Kemba... until he was.

I agree. And I sure hope so. The injuries have dealt us a tough hand this year. And extra work for vital and Jackson will be one benefit to the season.

But we've been playing this excuses and "next year" game for a while now.

Some of the excuses have been legitimate handicaps, but every team faces its challenges. At some point we have to start seeing some results.

Keep in mind, the players we lost this year played a total of 5 games for the program. And, as has been repeatedly pointed out here, we lost to Wagner and NEU with a full (albeit somewhat inexperienced) roster.

Also, part of the coaching staff's job is to make sure you have a roster that isn't one injury away to a freshman pg from having a throw away season.

This team has 3 seniors on the team. 3 guys that have had 4 years under Ollie. Throw in Jalen, and that alone should be enough to beat some of the teams we've lost to.

 

[HungryHuskies]

I've already said it, but I'll say it again there is no guy I would rather have in this situation than Kevin Ollie. Kevin Ollie performs his best in situations with adversity. KO played on 12 different teams in the NBA over the course of a 13 year career. He pushed 2012 team in his first year as coach to a 20-10 season when all the players were all bummed over not being postseason eligible. This year is a similar situation. Most teams would most likely look to next year when battling with injuries, but this will not be the case for KO's team. To KO, this is just another bump in the road.

Coaching a bunch of freshmen is not an easy task and it takes time. I think we are beginning to see the freshmen gain confidence and take some of the weight off of Adams and Purvis' shoulders. To me, this seems like another year where UConn makes some noise when they go under the radar and people "doubt them".

 

[gtcam]

I agree. And I sure hope so. The injuries have dealt us a tough hand this year. And extra work for vital and Jackson will be one benefit to the season.

But we've been playing this excuses and "next year" game for a while now.

Some of the excuses have been legitimate handicaps, but every team faces its challenges. At some point we have to start seeing some results.

Keep in mind, the players we lost this year played a total of 5 games for the program. And, as has been repeatedly pointed out here, we lost to Wagner and NEU with a full (albeit somewhat inexperienced) roster.

Also, part of the coaching staff's job is to make sure you have a roster that isn't one injury away to a freshman pg from having a throw away season.

This team has 3 seniors on the team. 3 guys that have had 4 years under Ollie. Throw in Jalen, and that alone should be enough to beat some of the teams we've lost to.

1. Sometimes what some deem to be excuses are in fact reality and hard for some to swallow
2 . Yes every team faces challenges but losing arguably the two of your top players as well as someone who can rebound are huge handicaps. I feel Sunday was a start of seeing results.
3. You answered your own argument about losing the 1st two games - inexperience. The team lost its 3 top players from last year.
4. Yes recruiting is an area that can be looked at but AG's injury isn't the only reason of the crappy start
5. Senior doesn't mean quality. Remember that both Wagner and NEU are upper class laden teams and in the early part of the season that makes a huge difference - a man vs boys thing

I know you aren't degrading the team or staff I'm just giving you my feedback to your statements. Just an opinion

 

[80shusky]

I agree. And I sure hope so. The injuries have dealt us a tough hand this year. And extra work for vital and Jackson will be one benefit to the season.

But we've been playing this excuses and "next year" game for a while now.

Some of the excuses have been legitimate handicaps, but every team faces its challenges. At some point we have to start seeing some results.

Keep in mind, the players we lost this year played a total of 5 games for the program. And, as has been repeatedly pointed out here, we lost to Wagner and NEU with a full (albeit somewhat inexperienced) roster.

Also, part of the coaching staff's job is to make sure you have a roster that isn't one injury away to a freshman pg from having a throw away season.

This team has 3 seniors on the team. 3 guys that have had 4 years under Ollie. Throw in Jalen, and that alone should be enough to beat some of the teams we've lost to.

You say we have "been playing the excuses and next year game for a while now." But how long have we really? We as fans spoiled by success might have been playing that for a while. But the team in Ollie's tenure has gone:
2012 20-10 - ineligible for post season
2013 32-8 - national championship
2014 20-15 - NIT lost first round
2015 25-11 - Won AAC tourney, lost to #1 seed Kansas in 2nd round of NCAA
2016 Not good so far

People make it sound like Ollie's entire tenure has been a total disaster.

 

[UConnJim]

I agree. And I sure hope so. The injuries have dealt us a tough hand this year. And extra work for vital and Jackson will be one benefit to the season.

But we've been playing this excuses and "next year" game for a while now.

Some of the excuses have been legitimate handicaps, but every team faces its challenges. At some point we have to start seeing some results.

Keep in mind, the players we lost this year played a total of 5 games for the program. And, as has been repeatedly pointed out here, we lost to Wagner and NEU with a full (albeit somewhat inexperienced) roster.

Also, part of the coaching staff's job is to make sure you have a roster that isn't one injury away to a freshman pg from having a throw away season.

This team has 3 seniors on the team. 3 guys that have had 4 years under Ollie. Throw in Jalen, and that alone should be enough to beat some of the teams we've lost to.

The Wagner game, the first game of the season, was a bad loss. Northeastern is having a decent year. They are 11-5 and ranked 99 in the Sagarins and ahead of UMass, BC, and Harvard. UConn is ranked 93.

By the way, according to the Sagarin's, UConn has played the 18th toughest schedule so far this year.

 

[Jaker]

Ollie is our man, he will get things figured out. Fans that can't be patient can leave or find another team because they are not "true" fans. IMO

 

[pnow15]

Has anyone ever explained to Ollie that too many "character building seasons"
generally leads to the building character experience of looking for a new job?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

There was a time when my signature below read, "Defensive stops, made free throws, low turnovers." There are teams with lesser personnel that play that way. I don't think it's spoiled or greedy to hold such an ambition for this shorthanded bunch. If Sunday was the beginning of this, terrific.

 

[Hugo]

A teacher can teach until his/her face turns blue, but at the end of the day its up to the students to put the effort in to apply the knowledge they were taught. Same thing in basketball. This is not on KO, the players need to figure it out.

Have to disagree as it is partially on KO. As a coach you need to recruit players that can be taught. You need to recruit smart players who can be coached to develop, not only their court skills, but they also need to have a relatively high BB IQ or have the smarts to learn and apply what you the staff teaches them. Overall this team has a low BB IQ as evidenced by high turnover rates, defensive lapses and poor court sense. It's on KO for not recruiting a group of players who have a good BB IQ and who can be coached to play as a team. Smart players will figure it out if coached well, not so smart players may never figure it out.

 

[BUConn10]

I don't think anybody is questing KO's mentality. Or whether he has any shortage of positive sayings/metaphors.

People are questioning the on court (non) performance of his teams. All his sayings on hard work and preparation, and yet our teams regularly show up un-prepared and repeatedly get out worked.

Nope. Every single person who has questioned KO on this board has questioned his heart and love for UConn, why else did OP make this post.

 

[mauconnfan]

Have to disagree as it is partially on KO. As a coach you need to recruit players that can be taught. You need to recruit smart players who can be coached to develop, not only their court skills, but they also need to have a relatively high BB IQ or have the smarts to learn and apply what you the staff teaches them. Overall this team has a low BB IQ as evidenced by high turnover rates, defensive lapses and poor court sense. It's on KO for not recruiting a group of players who have a good BB IQ and who can be coached to play as a team. Smart players will figure it out if coached well, not so smart players may never figure it out.

Top Dog was right to a point but yes, it's on KO for not recruiting players who know the game already coming in no doubt. Hopefully the trend will change and people will realize these guys can coach but they aren't magicians.