Okay I’m off the Ollie train

[superjohn]

So you're saying they all had great attitudes and put in lots of time conditioning and working on their games?

No, I said they didn't believe in their coach and no longer wanted to play for him.

 

[Stainmaster]

No, I said they didn't believe in their coach and no longer wanted to play for him.

So that excuses refusal to learn schemes and spend time in the weight room/practicing one's game?

 

[nychuskyfan]

So you're saying they all had great attitudes and put in lots of time conditioning and working on their games?

So you’re saying they’re that much different than any other D1 player in these categories? I didn’t hear any concerns about their attitudes / work ethic before they arrived. If what you’re saying is true something or someone turned them off.

 

[nychuskyfan]

VJ, probably. The others, no those are dumb BS reasons you're making up. Based on performance throughout the year I find it reasonable to question effort among them.

I was being sarcastic - kind of a Boneyard Best Hits of excuses why they transferred (agree that VJ’s is probably the one that may be accurate).

 

[TRest]

I’ve had it described to me as that he has a hard time not being “a player/peer with lots of seniority” when he needs to be a coach. In the NBA that line can be blurry because coaches are peers. That’s not the case in college.

Considering his own kids are college-age you would think he would be able to maintain some separation.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

I would love nothing more than to hear that Kevin Ollie just tendered his resignation. Save the taxpayers 3.1 million a year. That would allow the potential for JC to return for a year or two until we can find a good replacement and save the program. Right now it makes no sense keeping him on given who will be left next year. I’m so done with him as a coach. He bleeds blue but coaching college basketball is not his specialty. Worst of all, what is that horrible body language on the bench. No engagement, no motivation for the players...the same thing we saw the last year. So last 4 years now likely heading towards 1 tournament appearance in 4 years

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Obviously the head coach gets all the blame, he changes coaching personnel to better recruit , players have to be accountable too, need to check their pride as well. Like I said it was embarrassing to watch a team play so poorly but Ollie can’t play for them.. like can we at least take pride in playing D

Sorry dude but you are clueless

 

[Towney007]

Players transferring for reasons Ollie created

AND

Players being lazy and unmotivated and not good fits for the program as people


....can both be true.

 

[Stainmaster]

Players transferring for reasons Ollie created

AND

Players being lazy and unmotivated and not good fits for the program as people


....can both be true.

100%

 

[Paesano]

I understand that Oregon may not be the team we thought they were but I saw enthusiasm and energy in that game. It was promising. How does that instantly evaporate? This program is flat out baffling. It is like there is something in the water that makes the team insane. We are stuck with KO for the season. Maybe he will drive us more nuts by turning the team a full 180 YET AGAIN. Or, maybe they will be bipolar all year and just torture us. Barring a miracle, KO is gone. I really think he needs to get a gig as an NBA assistant and stick with that. That is his best role.

 

[KodiacKemba]

Sorry dude but you are clueless

You must don’t know basketball

 

[Bonk]

Dare I say it? There is a man by the name of Tom Crean jobless right now. He basically turned a struggling Indiana back into a respectable program again. Also if we were to decide to fire KO I'd almost rather do it sooner than later. Chances are we'll get some decommitments but are any of our 2018 recruits irreplaceable? We may be able to get a head start on recruiting and poach a couple decommitments from other schools (which naturally happen every year).

 

[intlzncster]

Dare I say it? There is a man by the name of Tom Crean jobless right now. He basically turned a struggling Indiana back into a respectable program again. Also if we were to decide to fire KO I'd almost rather do it sooner than later. Chances are we'll get some decommitments but are any of our 2018 recruits irreplaceable? We may be able to get a head start on recruiting and poach a couple decommitments from other schools (which naturally happen every year).

Tom Freakin Crean?

He also got fired by Indiana for sucking. Too old anyway.

 

[superjohn]

Tom Freakin Crean?

He also got fired by Indiana for sucking. Too old anyway.

He's certainly not too old.

 

[intlzncster]

He's certainly not too old.

Isn't he in his 50s? If not I'm wrong. I'd prefer somebody under 45 if possible.

 

[superjohn]

Isn't he in his 50s? If not I'm wrong. I'd prefer somebody under 45 if possible.

He's 51.

 

[Adios]

Benedict's chance to make his mark here....

We need a new hockey coach, too.

 

[BlueMAB]

Isn't he in his 50s? If not I'm wrong. I'd prefer somebody under 45 if possible.

I don't know if Crean is the answer but he is far from too old. He was very good in CUSA and the Big East with Marquette where he won 20+ games half his years there, 19 games the other two, and never had a losing record. He won the Big Ten twice, and was COY in 2016. I'm not saying he could take us to a championship, but without that one ring, his resume is much deeper than Ollie's.

If he started here at 52 he could coach 15 years and still be younger than Calhoun was when he retired. He's also a guy who spent 9 years at Marquette and 10 years at Indiana, so he doesn't bounce around a lot, and at 50, he may be happy to stick around until he retires if he's successful.

Again, he may not be the answer, but we aren't in a position to cast him aside without consideration.

 

[UConnNick]

We were probably in. The irony is if he missed it we may have gone farther in the tournament instead of meeting Kansas in the second round

We were definitely in, and an OT loss to a tourney team wasn't going to derail that. Tulsa made it with way more warts than we had. We also proved we belonged by winning a game, and we gave a No. 1 seed a competitive game.

However, your point about the seeding is well taken.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Please god no Tom Crean.

 

[UConnNick]

What happened to these guys since Thursday? I don't get it.

Michigan State? Maybe after the Oregon game we got a tad bit full of ourselves. Beating a Final Four team from the previous season on a de facto home court for them may have been too much of a confidence booster. Then reality set in, with a vengeance.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Bottom line this has been coming for a while . . . conference realignment has destroyed UConn. It happened more quickly to the rapidly growing UConn football program (2011 New Year's Day Bowl Huskies). The fact is they didn't have the same resume as basketball with national championships. Now it IS happening to Basketball dispite it success.

Conference realignment effects money, television exposure, which ultimately effect recruiting. UConn no longer gets Top 25 players. Now we get the Mamadou's when we really wanted Hamadou's, or Diarra when we specifically needed a Diallo. In the past when we got the wrong Lamb (Jermemy instead of Kentucky's Deron), it turned out the joke was on the Wildcats as JC coached our player into a star. And even further in the past and we couldn't make up our minds, we brought in both Marshalls (Donyell and Donnie) to avoid confusion. Now we get players who are getting declining interest from power programs because they are hurt in their senior year of high school.

Conference realignment and the Cartel 65 are rapidly driving out the competion and UConn hoops may one day become Loyola of Chicago (1963 National Champions) or Texas Western, now known as Texas - El Paso ( the 1966 National Champs). Proud programs that soared among the stars and now just another chapter from a bygone era, never to return to prominence.

 

[Towney007]

I don't think we're to irrelevance. I think we've still got a shot to save the basketball program - but they've gotta act fast. And make a terrible decision to do it - which is basically just take a hard pass on football. Which comes with all sorts of implications on its own.

It's the least-bad decision they can make.

 

[Milo65]

Bottom line this has been coming for a while . . . conference realignment has destroyed UConn. It happened more quickly to the rapidly growing UConn football program (2011 New Year's Day Bowl Huskies). The fact is they didn't have the same resume as basketball with national championships. Now it IS happening to Basketball dispite it success.

Conference realignment effects money, television exposure, which ultimately effect recruiting. UConn no longer gets Top 25 players. Now we get the Mamadou's when we really wanted Hamadou's, or Diarra when we specifically needed a Diallo. In the past when we got the wrong Lamb (Jermemy instead of Kentucky's Deron), it turned out the joke was on the Wildcats as JC coached our player into a star. And even further in the past and we couldn't make up our minds, we brought in both Marshalls (Donyell and Donnie) to avoid confusion. Now we get players who are getting declining interest from power programs because they are hurt in their senior year of high school.

Conference realignment and the Cartel 65 are rapidly driving out the competion and UConn hoops may one day become Loyola of Chicago (1963 National Champions) or Texas Western, now known as Texas - El Paso ( the 1966 National Champs). Proud programs that soared among the stars and now just another chapter from a bygone era, never to return to prominence.

Tell that to Cincy and UCF... both in football and basketball. You want to hang your hat on that, I call BS. Witchata State built a nice little basketball program. Don’t give Ollie, Diaco, or Paul Pasqualoni any excuses.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Tell that to Cincy and UCF... both in football and basketball. You want to hang your hat on that, I call BS. Witchata State built a nice little basketball program. Don’t give Ollie, Diaco, or Paul Pasqualoni any excuses.

Cincy and Central Florida are in much more fertile recruiting grounds.