Magic number next year

[EBonz30]

20 wins I'll be happy, anything over I believe is a very strong season for the predicament of this roster.

 

[intlzncster]

In other words, freescooter hasn't been this excited about a team in years.

He's not even excited about National Championship teams. Though I guess you would never know since he disappears at the first sign of massive success.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

20 wins I'll be happy, anything over I believe is a very strong season for the predicament of this roster.

I would not be happy with a 20 win season since that would likely mean another year of missing the tournament again, and further irrelevance. If that happened it would mean we made the tournament 1x in 4 seasons. But, I do get your point in that 20 wins with this roster might be a good result, but I pray it doesn't end up like that. This is completely make or break for Ollie, and potentially the program as a nationally relevant/dominant program.

 

[TitleTown]

So you're saying no tournament? 2 more seasons of no tourney and KO is gone regardless of his contract.

No chance.

 

[TitleTown]

Larrier and Gilbert are better than any of those five guys. Diarra? Unknown, but probably better than Durham or Enoch. As for what was added, a senior center, a JUCO pf/c, a senior defensive oriented guard, a freshman PF, a Freshman sf/pf. I'd say this roster is clearly better than last years after the injuries. It's probably not quite as good as last year's pre-injuries, but that team was preseason #16. Also, Adams as a junior beats Adams as a soph.

With Larrier and Gilbert last year, we lost to teams like Wagner, Northeastern, Oklahoma St.(Larrier injury game) and beat Loyola Marymount by a mere 3 pts. Larrier and Gilbert are solid players but they are not the second coming of Ray Allen and Shabaz Napier either,

 

[jibsey]

We are thin so one injury of a top player toasts the season.

 

[UChusky916]

There's no such thing as a 'magic number'. What a dumb thread.

This board has turned into a disaster.

 

[Fishy]

There's no such thing as a 'magic number'. What a dumb thread.

This board has turned into a disaster.

Yes, this board is the problem.

The basketball program is riding on the rims, but the problem is here.

 

[UChusky916]

Yes, this board is the problem.

The basketball program is riding on the rims, but the problem is here.

The program has hit a rough patch, yes. No arguing that.

That doesn't mean that this board has to descend into a board full of hot takes and inane statements. The negativity surrounding the program has made this place insufferable.

 

[King Husky]

I would not be happy with a 20 win season since that would likely mean another year of missing the tournament again, and further irrelevance. If that happened it would mean we made the tournament 1x in 4 seasons. But, I do get your point in that 20 wins with this roster might be a good result, but I pray it doesn't end up like that. This is completely make or break for Ollie, and potentially the program as a nationally relevant/dominant program.

If the field is as weak as last years, we will likely have a strong enough schedule to have a decent chance of making the tourney with 20 regular season wins.

 

[UConnDan97]

With even a relatively healthy squad, we'll have 20+ wins as we always did with Ollie. I'm already on record of saying that we will definitely be in the tournament. The squad that we currently have contains both high level talent and role players at all positions. That almost always is the formula for success. Is this our 2004 team? No, but it wouldn't have been that with Waters or Moretti either.

Sometimes, the negative echo chamber that we create here has a way of shaping the most pessimistic of future visions...

 

[HuskyHawk]

With Larrier and Gilbert last year, we lost to teams like Wagner, Northeastern, Oklahoma St.(Larrier injury game) and beat Loyola Marymount by a mere 3 pts. Larrier and Gilbert are solid players but they are not the second coming of Ray Allen and Shabaz Napier either,

Yes. They weren't ready to play. Ollie totally and completely owns those early losses. But the rest of the team, after the injuries, 3 months later would have crushed those teams.

 

[ucp990411]

We are thin so one injury of a top player toasts the season.

Yes, we are hanging our hopes on one player with an ACL and another one who had season ending shoulder surgery. And with those two we lost to Wagner and Northeastern.

 

[TheDude]

I'm not sure the team goes .500 in OOC play, 24 wins is way too high of a benchmark.

I remember I was in Hawaii for my birthday in November 2010, I got off the golf course and the bag boy took my clubs to the car. we started chatting
and he said he was from Mansfield Ct, went to UConn. He said he just talked to his father and UConn was ranked number 9, by beating all those ranked
teams in Maui. He was a great UConn fan, I tipped him and he said "enjoy the 12 hour plane ride home."

The same thing can happen at the PK 80. The only magic number when a tem gets in the big dance is.....6/7 games

 

[UCDaveD]

We'll be around 19 or so wins, give or take.

 

[David 76]

20-22 wins

 

[Wordbomar]

I'd say around 20, right on the bubble

 

[Travelman6]

I made a post about this a few months ago. I do not remember what I said.

I would think they could at least split with UCF, Cincy, WSU but I think 2-4 is more likely there and go 6-2 vs the 8 games they play against Tulsa, Temple, ECU and Memphis. I think they will split the USF/SMU games, likely losing by about 8 to 10 vs SMU and they will likely split on the road vs Houston and Tulane, losing a close one vs Houston.

I would be happy with 2 games above .500 in the OOC. That would be like 7-5 or something? Maybe get to the semis of the AAC.

Who knows, I have low expectations, high hopes.

 

[JMick]

Let's just win the games we're supposed to and steal a couple that we arent. Ollie's teams have had a habit of losing games we have no business losing.

 

[Guapo]

I like that they are playing tough games early on. Since the later Calhoun years, we've always played up or down to our competition and that issue has become more pronounced under Ollie. So, hopefully we get some wins out in Portland and ride some positive momentum.

Semi related note: It seems Ollie's teams can get sort of "moody," when they're rolling they have a ton of confidence and swagger but when they're down they get very down. So, again, hopefully some early wins give them some swagger; I think that'll go a long way to determining if this season is a success or not.

 

[Hi-Low]

We have plenty of quality OOC games & at least 5 quality AAC games.....we MUST find a way to beat some good teams. The magic number is a quality season, top 3 in AAC & off the bubble.

 

[Guapo]

We have plenty of quality OOC games & at least 5 quality AAC games.....we MUST find a way to beat some good teams. The magic number is a quality season, top 3 in AAC & off the bubble.

I really think we can. Having the best player on the floor goes a long way in helping to steal games and I think we'll be in plenty of games where Adams is the best player.

 

[gtcam]

Let's just win the games we're supposed to and steal a couple that we arent. Ollie's teams have had a habit of losing games we have no business losing.

I agree that UConn seems to lose games it shouldn't but it's not just a UConn thing and not just a KO team - I remember folks complaining about the same thing with JC and especially Perno

 

[Huskyforlife]

19

 

[Huskyforlife]

I agree that UConn seems to lose games it shouldn't but it's not just a UConn thing and not just a KO team - I remember folks complaining about the same thing with JC and especially Perno

I hate everyone who compares KO to JC, he hasn't earned JCs benefit of the doubt.