Ollie on benching Adams

[jibsey]

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.

 

[uconnever]

Is he not responsible for the plays called? If they aren't executed properly, then put someone else in. That possession out of a TO with the game tied was dreadful. Ollie has to start owning this .....or he's gonna lose his team.

oh you mean the play Purvis turned it over....or the one Gibbs showed us his terrible dribbling display for basicly the entire shot clock.....not Ollie's fault

 

[James]

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

 

[Vancat]

whomever was in earshot of the bench would know. I guess no one here was.

 

[superjohn]

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.

If Adams was just trying to be passionate and trying to lead then Ollie should have been excited that his freshman point guard wants to lead, if Adams was being a jerk and being destructive than he should have sat him for the whole half to teach him a lesson. Putting him in when your team has choked and already blew the game is ridiculous and doesn't teach any lesson.

 

[James]

If Adams was just trying to be passionate and trying to lead then Ollie should have been excited that his freshman point guard wants to lead, if Adams was being a jerk and being destructive than he should have sat him for the whole half to teach him a lesson. Putting him in when your team has choked and already blew the game is ridiculous and doesn't teach any lesson.

Yup accomplishes nothing and is bizarre.

If prodded KO would simply say "internal matters".

 

[dtrumpet]

Oz the resident insider on TOS said jalen went off on coaches and a player at half.

Sounds like ollie didn't have a choice

That certainly is plausible, but I hope its not true. Because the punishment rings hollow once you put him back in. If JA did go off and you decide to bench him, you have to stick to it.

 

[QDOG5]

I missed the game last night so after reading the recap I have one opinion. Ollie screwed up. You can't give mixed signals when you're disciplining a player. JA is either out for the second half or he plays his regular minutes. His mistake was predictable. I'm sure his mindset was "I'm not going to mess this up " rather than "I'm going to make a play". I'm really disappointed Ollie resorted to putting him back in the game. I was going to Zoolander 2 tonight but it only got 1 1/2 stars. I guess I'll watch a horror movie called "Up 12 with 6 to go".

 

[Waquoit]

That pass had little or nothing to do with the game.

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?

 

[TasteofUConn]

I was going to Zoolander 2 tonight but it only got 1 1/2 stars.

I'm shocked that the Zoolander sequel sucks. Shocked I tell you. Shocked.

 

[Hugo]

I missed the game last night so after reading the recap I have one opinion. Ollie screwed up. You can't give mixed signals when you're disciplining a player. JA is either out for the second half or he plays his regular minutes. His mistake was predictable. I'm sure his mindset was "I'm not going to mess this up " rather than "I'm going to make a play". I'm really disappointed Ollie resorted to putting him back in the game. I was going to Zoolander 2 tonight but it only got 1 1/2 stars. I guess I'll watch a horror movie called "Up 12 with 6 to go".

Sub title "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory".

 

[HuskyHawk]

so you guys think our coach lost this game? up what 12 6 min left? def not his fault. we couldnt make layups and temple hit big shots. the only thing that was a bad move by Ollie was leaving Gibbs in. But the players lost that game. Choked!

He didn't lose it. He also didn't do what was needed to make sure the team won it. He isn't blameless.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Oz the resident insider on TOS said jalen went off on coaches and a player at half.

Sounds like ollie didn't have a choice

If true, then bringing him in at all may have been the mistake by KO. Judging KO without knowing his reason to not play JA was not a great idea.

I missed the game last night so after reading the recap I have one opinion. Ollie screwed up. You can't give mixed signals when you're disciplining a player. JA is either out for the second half or he plays his regular minutes. His mistake was predictable. I'm sure his mindset was "I'm not going to mess this up " rather than "I'm going to make a play". I'm really disappointed Ollie resorted to putting him back in the game. I was going to Zoolander 2 tonight but it only got 1 1/2 stars. I guess I'll watch a horror movie called "Up 12 with 6 to go".

But once again, we don't know if KO spoke with JA, worked through the outburst (if true), or what. Dealing with the pressure of where this team is at ("bubble situation") is likely to be extremely difficult for the whole team, but especially freshman. Bazz had some real rough spots his sophomore year that were maybe like JA's reaction. But, bringing him back in if nothing was different may have been a mistake.

 

[KingOPancakes]

He didn't lose it. He also didn't do what was needed to make sure the team won it. He isn't blameless.

Great way of looking at it. This loss can't be pinned on any 1 person, it was a complete team effort

 

[businesslawyer]

As soon as we give him a raise, off of 3 great weeks, he turns around and s*** the bed as a coach.

The recruiting classes are a nice step, but if we continue to be irrelevant year after year, because of poor in-game coaching and non-existent development of talent, that well will dry up.

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 ....

 

[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.