Not good.

[QDOG5]

If we need a new coach after 3 sub-par years then I would argue we need a new fan base as well. We still have an opportunity to punch our ticket to the NCAA's on our home court, but guaranteed the place will be 3/4 empty unless we make it to the semis or finals. We have too many fair weather, entitled fans. The program needs us now more than ever. I sat in Gampel today watching half the fans leave with 8 minutes left in the game. We had 3 seniors out there playing (2 of which helped us win a National Championship) and you can't stay 8 minutes to give them a hand and see them play the last time at Gampel? I don't give a crap if we're down 50, stay in your seat and show the team you appreciate their contributions to the program. Shame on all those who left early...those are the same fans who will only show up at the XL if we make it far enough. The team needs our fans to show up EVERY game.

While I agree with your point fans are fickle and shaming them isn't going to get them back in their seats. Good basketball will.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

...Wow. just wow.

I lived in North Carolina during much of the 90's. I rember a two year block when a hack known as Coach K went:
1) 13 - 18, 2 - 14 in a weak ACC
2) 18 - 13, 8 - 8

I remember fans, hell I worked for a Duke Booster, the media, Students all calling for a coaching change. "K has lost it." "The game has passed him by." "He can't recruit (yes, credible people were saying that)!"
But, the powers that be were too stupid to make the obviously needed change. Just as they didn't make the change when he went a combined 21 - 34 in his second and third seasons.

And look at the mess that program has been since. If only the AD had heeded the call of the genius fan base and local sports writers. Alas, Duke has faded into bolivian....

Damn we are a bunch of spoiled jackasses.

Not really spoiled, we just expect to be better than 14-16 in a conference where there are two good teams. KO has the championship and that buys him time, but the rest of his tenure has been basically mediocre-to-okay basketball. Yeah we have key injuries but even then this team has enough talent to be 3rd or 4th in the conference. Some of it has to do with inconsistency and players not reaching their playing potential, but a lot has to go on KO and the staff too.

 

[Excalibur]

Seriously... he'd make that here and then some...

Nope.

 

[djct1999]

There were red flags before the injuries. Losing "key" players only masked something fundamentally wrong. Teams can win with 6-7 players. Instead, this program losses to any team that resembles a high major. I say keep KO. We just need to get rid of almost every one else.

 

[ctchamps]

Not really spoiled, we just expect to be better than 14-16 in a conference where there are two good teams. KO has the championship and that buys him time, but the rest of his tenure has been basically mediocre-to-okay basketball. Yeah we have key injuries but even then this team has enough talent to be 3rd or 4th in the conference. Some of it has to do with inconsistency and players not reaching their playing potential, but a lot has to go on KO and the staff too.

Why?

 

[yukonyc212]

I think we could've beaten cinci and houston especially with gilbert

LOL. This guy.... I applaud your glass is half full philosophy, but I think it may cloud your judgement just a little bit no???

 

[nomar]

...Wow. just wow.

I lived in North Carolina during much of the 90's. I rember a two year block when a hack known as Coach K went:
1) 13 - 18, 2 - 14 in a weak ACC
2) 18 - 13, 8 - 8

I remember fans, hell I worked for a Duke Booster, the media, Students all calling for a coaching change. "K has lost it." "The game has passed him by." "He can't recruit (yes, credible people were saying that)!"
But, the powers that be were too stupid to make the obviously needed change. Just as they didn't make the change when he went a combined 21 - 34 in his second and third seasons.

And look at the mess that program has been since. If only the AD had heeded the call of the genius fan base and local sports writers. Alas, Duke has faded into bolivian....

Damn we are a bunch of spoiled jackasses.

No, no, he didn't go 13-18. He left the team so Gaudet could be held responsible for most of those losses.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

...Wow. just wow.

I lived in North Carolina during much of the 90's. I rember a two year block when a hack known as Coach K went:
1) 13 - 18, 2 - 14 in a weak ACC
2) 18 - 13, 8 - 8

I remember fans, hell I worked for a Duke Booster, the media, Students all calling for a coaching change. "K has lost it." "The game has passed him by." "He can't recruit (yes, credible people were saying that)!"
But, the powers that be were too stupid to make the obviously needed change. Just as they didn't make the change when he went a combined 21 - 34 in his second and third seasons.

And look at the mess that program has been since. If only the AD had heeded the call of the genius fan base and local sports writers. Alas, Duke has faded into bolivian....

Damn we are a bunch of spoiled jackasses.

And for every coach that has a few bad seasons and ends up becoming the premiere coach in the game there are maybe 5,000 that had a few bad seasons and we're just not elite coaches?

No more excuses.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Why?

What are you asking why too?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

He's in Bolivia now?

Mike Tyson.......if I have to explain it was a bad joke.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

And for every coach that has a few bad seasons and ends up becoming the premiere coach in the game there are maybe 5,000 that had a few bad seasons and we're just not elite coaches?


No more excuses.

Lol. That is funny. I am sure his agent fields so many "interest" calls because KO can't coach. Excuses.

 

[superjohn]

Not sure if .500 would do that. I definitely think they will keep around another year if he is above .500 and doesn't make the tourney. I feel he should go if he doesn't make the tourney but we will see.

If we go .500 next year with Jalen as a junior and a team full of 4 and 5 star recruits it's a major indictment on KO's coaching and time to look elsewhere.

 

[Chief00]

I think Gilbert was our biggest loss.

We really do not have a true point guard without him.

Adams is a volume turnover machine - getting him off the ball at times would have allowed UConn to rely less on Rodney's feast or famine game.

I agree with that, plus he is a competitor.

 

[BUConn10]

Are we talking about .500 in conference play or overall record here? I feel like going under .500 is a super unlikely event but I also feel like .500 in overall record isn't really an appropriate target for the University of Connecticut.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I'm glad AD Dave said what he said today regarding expectations. He needs to put the fear of God into the coaching staff. Enough excuses. We need to be in the tournament every year.

 

[Chief00]

Me, neither.

This is not a sentimental game. We're in an awful spot relative to our conference and revenue and we cannot afford to have a coach who doesn't produce relative to expectations.

I like Kevin Ollie and thought he did a terrific job in his first two seasons, but the past couple of years have been rough and he doesn't have much runway left to get this thing moving back in the right direction.

I don't think he's getting fired next year if we go .500, but he'd be on double-secret probation.

This may be unfair to KO - so often people mentioned he had Calhoun's players in year 1 and 2. Sometimes people forget he also had Calhoun as a defacto super assistant coach who attended most practices and games. I don't believe for a minute if that was still the routine - we would be playing all these terrible gimmick zones that leave guys open for 3's and offensive rebounds. More importantly they remove the swagger from UConn basketball.

 

[Chief00]

If we need a new coach after 3 sub-par years then I would argue we need a new fan base as well. We still have an opportunity to punch our ticket to the NCAA's on our home court, but guaranteed the place will be 3/4 empty unless we make it to the semis or finals. We have too many fair weather, entitled fans. The program needs us now more than ever. I sat in Gampel today watching half the fans leave with 8 minutes left in the game. We had 3 seniors out there playing (2 of which helped us win a National Championship) and you can't stay 8 minutes to give them a hand and see them play the last time at Gampel? I don't give a crap if we're down 50, stay in your seat and show the team you appreciate their contributions to the program. Shame on all those who left early...those are the same fans who will only show up at the XL if we make it far enough. The team needs our fans to show up EVERY game.

Chief stayed for the end of the game and some more

 

[Fishy]

Are we talking about .500 in conference play or overall record here? I feel like going under .500 is a super unlikely event but I also feel like .500 in overall record isn't really an appropriate target for the University of Connecticut.

Well, yeah. That target needs to be moved - it was kind of a throw-away number.

This conference gives a half decent team 11 or 12 wins, so .500 is indeed too low a bar.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Lol. That is funny. I am sure his agent fields so many "interest" calls because KO can't coach. Excuses.

Does he? I'm sure the phone is ringing off the hook right now.

 

[The Viking]

KO has had two talented players leave before they were NBA ready and that dearly impacted us - Daniels and Hamilton.
Think about how different KO's last three years would have been if they hadn't left when they weren't quite ready.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

KO has had two talented players leave before they were NBA ready and that dearly impacted us - Daniels and Hamilton.
Think about how different KO's last three years would have been if they hadn't left when they weren't quite ready.

It's almost as if other programs don't have kids declare early for the draft.

 

[BlueDogs]

Gregg Marshall isn't leaving WSU to coach at UConn.

Here we go... the nobody will come to UConn mantra...unreal. It's the top basketball program in the country over the last 20 years. I'm sure we can find some poor sap to come here and suffer through unlimited administrative and fan support and big pay check.

 

[BUConn10]

I'm here but am turning all of them off
It's not worth my energy anymore
They have their opinion and I have mine and to hell with them
This year has sure exposed the band wagon folks and those who, in my opinion, just don't get it
Being a season ticket holder since 1965 I've seen a lot and maybe from a different perspective from all these kids who only have witnessed the last 15 years or less

See, I totally get what you are saying, but I feel as though you are bringing emotion into it way too much.

Why should those in charge of the program allow valuable brand power whither away over time purely for the sake of nostalgia? This is a super successful franchise in a huge, highly competitive field. Since 1990, the "15 years" I think you were coyly referring to, our brand has skyrocketed in value, think of us as a stock. Each of us with a UConn degree has quite literally increased the value of their degrees with the success of UConn. I'm sure your UConn diploma from 1965 wouldn't be nearly as valuable without the blood, sweat and tears from the Calhoun era which I believe played a big role in UConn's rapid expansion as a university both in size and academic rank and reputation. The "CEO" in charge needs to protect the value of the product. I'm sure shareholders wouldn't be happy if Microsoft's CEO justified year after year poor performance on the fact that he is old enough to remember when Microsoft products were developed in Bill Gates' mother's garage. That is flawed logic and unnecessarily sentimental. At some point the program needs to evaluate the direction it's heading and I think that time is approaching in the next coming years.

 

[BUConn10]

Here we go... the nobody will come to UConn mantra...unreal. It's the top basketball program in the country over the last 20 years. I'm sure we can find some poor sap to come here and suffer through unlimited administrative and fan support and big pay check.

If this was as true as you make it out to be, then why is UConn currently sitting in the position that it is, on-court results totally aside. Clearly those outside of CT see our value differently as we do for us to be in the American years later. Yes I know it's a multifactorial issue but value is value.