Ollie on benching Adams

[Tenspro2002]

I'm sorry, but if any quote sums up the lunacy of internet board crap it's "we continue to be irrelevant year after year." Applied to a team that won national championships less than 2 and less than 5 years ago.

The pessimistic equivalent of the optimistic "Well, other than that Mrs. Lincoln did you enjoy the play?"

I'm as ticked off as anyone about the collapse last night and handing away a game we had won. And yet, I was somehow able to resist calling us "irrelevant" year after year. Just sayin ....

We were irrelevant last year. We're irrelevant this year. That's year after year.

If you want to be technical about it, we've been irrelevant 4 years out of 5, and 5 years out of 7. Either way, it's unacceptable for a program that wants to consider itself in the Duke/UK/Kansas/UNC class.

College sports is predicated on status. You lose status, you lose recruits, you lose success, you lose status, etc. It's a vicious cycle. A down period like this threatens to initiate such a cycle. Our conference situation exacerbates it. Now, fortunately, as I said in my post, our recruiting for 2016 (and 2017 so far, with Brown) points in the direction of stabilizing things. But you need on-court success to stay relevant and to keep getting top recruits.

 

[UCONN in OKC]

It appears he did have a choice, because he put him back in the game once the flood gates had bust open... I'd be interested to hear what JA said, if this is true; because you can't ask the kid to be a leader out on the floor and then punish him when he vocalizes his frustrations.

Sometimes I feel the KO is bi-polar when he coaches.... one min. the team is playing well and he make some odd sub.... then they are playing sloppy and he just sits there and watch them implode.... Thank god I stoped watching this team since the Tulsa debacle.... can't handle having a heart attack watching poor basketball IQ from this team and lack of effort or grit

 

[Kitaman]

True, that was the other game where he blew it. But for him to throw that pass last night (then try to fob off the blame) shows a level of cluelessness that we haven't seen in a long time. That's our savior?

That was a bonehead play for sure, but I suspect his head was up his arse from dealing with coaching matters. He was just taken off of punishment on national TV, so the error is not out of the world.

My parents don't let me go to the party then I'm knocking over something 'by accident'. Frustration causes bad decisions that may appear as cluelessness. He'll mature but he is not our savior, tragically and sadly it appears AG has that title.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

How about the last time Adams was benched for disciplinary reasons? This the first player I can remember Ollie overtly doghousing, a 5 star freshman no less. Idk what the hell he is doing

I hope the "he" you're referring to is Adams, but I suspect it isn't. And what does being a 5-star have to do with anything? I'm reading posts on here blaming Ollie for sitting the kid for disrespecting the coaching staff?

This board is flat out nuts sometimes.

Like most people, I think it's idiotic to "discipline" a player and then put him in when you panic at the end of the game. But this team has had a player publicly disciplined twice this season, and both times it's been Jalen Adams. I'd start there when assessing what went wrong. Controversial, I know.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

Yup accomplishes nothing and is bizarre.

If prodded KO would simply say "internal matters".

And I think this is why there are so many problems with Ollie. Calhoun would call out a player to the media after the game. He'd tell what the problem is and why he did what he did. Ollie doesnt seem to put things on players like that, he keeps it in house. I would say its just a different coaching style BUT its not working. maybe some of these guys would do better if they were called out publicly. Only guy i can remember being called out some is Dham recently. Who else has Ollie called out?

 

[jibsey]

We have to find out what's happening with Adams since the 2 situations with him this year are "disciplinary". Is he a smartmouth? Is he in the face of teammates he thinks are doing wrong? Does he not take coaching well? He seems like a great kid, always a smile on his face. We shouldn't need the CIA for this.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

Exactly my point. They're up 12 with 6 mins to go. He's not rescuing that debacle of a finish and nothing he did in the first half suggests they would even take the lead with him on the floor.

They would have scored more than 4 points in the final 6 mins with JA on the floor. He actually moves TOWARD THE BASKET with the ball and forces defenses to react. With Gibbs defenses get 25 seconds of being able to catch their breath.

 

[HuskyHawk]

We were irrelevant last year. We're irrelevant this year. That's year after year.

If you want to be technical about it, we've been irrelevant 4 years out of 5, and 5 years out of 7. Either way, it's unacceptable for a program that wants to consider itself in the Duke/UK/Kansas/UNC class.

College sports is predicated on status. You lose status, you lose recruits, you lose success, you lose status, etc. It's a vicious cycle. A down period like this threatens to initiate such a cycle. Our conference situation exacerbates it. Now, fortunately, as I said in my post, our recruiting for 2016 (and 2017 so far, with Brown) points in the direction of stabilizing things. But you need on-court success to stay relevant and to keep getting top recruits.

Your use of the word 'irrelevant" is ill suited. We haven't been irrelevant in many years, except perhaps the stupid ban year. If you want to suggest that UConn is not as "consistently excellent" as some programs, that is true. But not as many are as you think. Duke is off this year. UK has had off years. UNC has had recent off years. But the current UConn team is on track to make the tournament still, and is far from irrelevant.

 

[2north]

They would have scored more than 4 points in the final 6 mins with JA on the floor. He actually moves TOWARD THE BASKET with the ball and forces defenses to react. With Gibbs defenses get 25 seconds of being able to catch their breath.

I highly doubt that. Even in the last few mins when the game was already out of hand, you don't try a behind the back pass for no reason. An experienced player knows that. Some have mentioned he was probably not in a good state of mind after the benching either so he's going to fine with 6 mins to go versus 3?

And don't get me wrong I think he's GOING to be great, he just isn't the end all right now. Very few first year players coming through here have been.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Your use of the word 'irrelevant" is ill suited. We haven't been irrelevant in many years, except perhaps the stupid ban year. If you want to suggest that UConn is not as "consistently excellent" as some programs, that is true. But not as many are as you think. Duke is off this year. UK has had off years. UNC has had recent off years. But the current UConn team is on track to make the tournament still, and is far from irrelevant.

I agree with you that "consistent excellence" should be the goal. We used to achieve consistent excellence, from the mid-90's through late-00's (11/16 years with a #1 or #2 seed), but that has been missing this decade.

But what I'm saying is more than merely that we've failed to be consistently excellent.

In a given year, consider 3 tiers of teams.
1) Title Favorites: Top 5-10 wire-to-wire, constant media buzz
2) Sleepers: Generally Top 25, not in that first category but you hear about them often enough and they are thought to have a chance
3) Irrelevant: Unranked, not heard about, minimal presence in March (either on the air or on the court)

During our heyday, we had maybe a 40:40:20 split between those 3 categories. This decade, it's been more like 0:50:50. The fact that we've won 2 championships from a "sleeper" position is a credit to our coaches in those years, but that's not where we want to make a living.

 

[Candyman]

Adams probably would have made a difference on the offense when we hit that wall offensively the last 6 minutes. However, DHam taking quick threes when we needed to eat some clock and get a good shot off doesn't help with Adams or not on the floor.

I will say that when he came in the game he took the only decent shot we had the the last 5 minutes of the game, he just missed it when he drove. Gibbs, Purvis and DHam couldnt beat their man and Miller was having a hard time getting post position at the end.

 

[superjohn]

I hope the "he" you're referring to is Adams, but I suspect it isn't. And what does being a 5-star have to do with anything? I'm reading posts on here blaming Ollie for sitting the kid for disrespecting the coaching staff?

This board is flat out nuts sometimes.

Like most people, I think it's idiotic to "discipline" a player and then put him in when you panic at the end of the game. But this team has had a player publicly disciplined twice this season, and both times it's been Jalen Adams. I'd start there when assessing what went wrong. Controversial, I know.

I think everyone is calling Ollie out for disciplining him and then giving up on the disciplining when he wants the freshman to go in and rescue the game, it's pretty gutless and sends the wrong message IMO.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If JA laid into and went off on a coach or fellow player at halftime what should KO do? Just a matter of time until we find out what went down.

Well, not putting him in with a minute left would be reasonable.

You can't partially bench a player and have control of team.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I think everyone is calling Ollie out for disciplining him and then giving up on the disciplining when he wants the freshman to go in and rescue the game, it's pretty gutless and sends the wrong message IMO.

I don't get that from this, john.

How about the last time Adams was benched for disciplinary reasons? This the first player I can remember Ollie overtly doghousing, a 5 star freshman no less. Idk what the hell he is doing

 

[methodology]

I agree with you that "consistent excellence" should be the goal. We used to achieve consistent excellence, from the mid-90's through late-00's (11/16 years with a #1 or #2 seed), but that has been missing this decade.

But what I'm saying is more than merely that we've failed to be consistently excellent.

In a given year, consider 3 tiers of teams.
1) Title Favorites: Top 5-10 wire-to-wire, constant media buzz
2) Sleepers: Generally Top 25, not in that first category but you hear about them often enough and they are thought to have a chance
3) Irrelevant: Unranked, not heard about, minimal presence in March (either on the air or on the court)

During our heyday, we had maybe a 40:40:20 split between those 3 categories. This decade, it's been more like 0:50:50. The fact that we've won 2 championships from a "sleeper" position is a credit to our coaches in those years, but that's not where we want to make a living.

Do the 2006 and 2009 seasons not exist in the world you live in?

They were plenty in the media in other seasons from 2006-2016 also but 2006 and 2009 are egregious omissions on your part because they were very much media darlings and touted as one of the best teams in the countries those years.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Do the 2006 and 2009 seasons not exist in the world you live in?

They were plenty in the media in other seasons from 2006-2016 also but 2006 and 2009 are egregious omissions on your part because they were very much media darlings and touted as one of the best teams in the countries those years.

"This decade" = 2010's, i.e. 2010-present. Sorry if there was any ambiguity.

2006 and 2009 are among the best and most-recent examples of vintage, dominant UConn teams. Sadly, teams of that caliber have been more a part of UConn history books than of the present UConn program. That needs to change.

 

[James]

I don't get that from this, john.

How about the last time Adams was benched for disciplinary reasons? This the first player I can remember Ollie overtly doghousing, a 5 star freshman no less. Idk what the hell he is doing

I have no problem with benching players, but kos fickle disciplinary behavior towards the starter Adams is puzzling to me. I know for a fact in past seasons he had a real loose rope as far as letting his starters bark @ each other and @ the staff. Is Adams Napier or boat as far as gravitas ? No but I still don't know what the hell he is doing when he brings a DISCPLINED player off the bench to make winning plays . Players don't respect that and it's not really the norm at any level of basketball.

 

[donyell34]

Mystery team, mystery coaching. Don't know what I could add that hasn't been posted in all of these threads other than another mystery coming Sunday, could be good, could be bad. Buckle up boneyarders got a feeling this is going to be a bumpy ride going forward.

 

[Rico444]

Mystery team, mystery coaching. Don't know what I could add that hasn't been posted in all of these threads other than another mystery coming Sunday, could be good, could be bad. Buckle up boneyarders got a feeling this is going to be a bumpy ride going forward.

I feel pretty good about our chances of avoiding defeat on Sunday.

 

[blue93]

I have no problem with benching players, but kos fickle disciplinary behavior towards the starter Adams is puzzling to me. I know for a fact in past seasons he had a real loose rope as far as letting his starters bark @ each other and @ the staff. Is Adams Napier or boat as far as gravitas ? No but I still don't know what the hell he is doing when he brings a DISCPLINED player off the bench to make winning plays . Players don't respect that and it's not really the norm at any level of basketball.

Do you honestly think bringing JA back in after sitting the bench made the 19 minutes of being in the doghouse meaningless? Not trying to single you out, but it blows my mind how many people seem to think that putting him in at the end undid the punishment. I have to believe the message was sent and JA knows that whatever he did cost us a win. 1 minute at the end of the game doesn't erase that.

And to clarify, I don't think I would have brought him back into the game, but I don't think it's nearly as big deal as a lot of people are making it out to be. It's silly to think the message wasn't sent.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Do you honestly think bringing JA back in after sitting the bench made the 19 minutes of being in the doghouse meaningless? Not trying to single you out, but it blows my mind how many people seem to think that putting him in at the end undid the punishment. I have to believe the message was sent and JA knows that whatever he did cost us a win. 1 minute at the end of the game doesn't erase that.

And to clarify, I don't think I would have brought him back into the game, but I don't think it's nearly as big deal as a lot of people are making it out to be. It's silly to think the message wasn't sent.

The problem I have with the JA situation last night is if the kid did something so egregious you're going to sit him for half the game, stick to that. Don't wait until the game is falling apart and then hope he can go in cold and bail everyone else out. It doesn't negate the message, but it definitely waters it down.

 

[pj]

Sitting for 19 minutes is punishment to a competitor. And letting him fail to bring the team back in the last 3 minutes accentuates the lesson: the team needs to work together in harmony to be effective. Take the beam out of your own eye before complaining about the mote in others' eyes.

Look, every coach will have his own style. You cannot evaluate discipline apart from the communication that teaches the lesson the discipline supports. We're not privy to KO's communications to his players, so we are not in a position to second-guess his discipline.

I for one have faith in KO. He'll find his way with Jalen and with the team.

 

[UConniki]

Obviously a lot of people on this board dont have kids, that was a terrible way to send a message. Your not behaving properly, your being diciplined, your given a time out(he kinda was) and then the punishment is rescinded for what ever reason, the person in charge calling the shots making the rules just lost credibility. Next time no one will take you seriously or listen to you. Bad move. Ollie looks like a self serving hypocrite.

 

[jibsey]

Obviously a lot of people on this board dont have kids, that was a terrible way to send a message. Your not behaving properly, your being diciplined, your given a time out(he kinda was) and then the punishment is rescinded for what ever reason, the person in charge calling the shots making the rules just lost credibility. Next time no one will take you seriously or listen to you. Bad move. Ollie looks like a self serving hypocrite.

Don't agree, even kids in time outs are set free at some point.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Don't agree, even kids in time outs are set free at some point.

But imagine the peace and quiet if they weren't.