Ollie post game interview

[QDOG5]

I hope the shoulder isn't serious

It is.

 

[LStudfellow]

He said he was proud of the guys and it was a great win for the U.

I guess I've never heard a UConn Coach talk like that after a beating Columbia in OT.

Just saying he seemed pleased and not upset at all. All smiles and all is well I guess.

His hollow platitudes are just cringe inducing at this point. I feel like I'm watching a caricature of a head basketball coach.

As one of the up-until-now Ollie defenders on here, I admit that both of you, Whaler and others are right. I'm mystified that KO feels in any way, shape or form that this was a good win, or that Columbia is a good team (a 1-5 Ivy league team... seriously?). And even worse to say, it does have a Diaco-esque feel to it, and it does seem to be a consistent pattern. He has become satisfied with lackadaisical play, inconsistency, and all around mediocrity.

Did anyone see the Steve Kerr press conference from last night? Hey, his team won, in overtime, against an "up and coming" Los Angeles Lakers team. Brandon Ingram in particular played an excellent game for the Lakers. Did Steve Kerr talk about how good the Lakers played, and what a job his team did fighting back to force overtime and win the game?

HELL NO. He came right out and dissed his own team for bad passing and inconsistent play.

From Anthony Slater, a Golden State beat reporter: Steve Kerr on the Warriors "galling" passing tonight and Steph Curry's rough 4 quarters and then strong overtime pic.twitter.com/EjyXCCy92N

For me, KO gets until the end of the year... and although I really want to see what Akinjo, Matthews Jr. and Kisunas can bring to our program, I fear we will see the same play from them that we see from too many guys now if Ollie does not stop celebrating what should be unacceptable play by anyone in a UConn uniform.

 

[freescooter]

"We were down one of our soldiers" about AG...


stop.

But you played Columbia. I remember being down or 2 best guys and beating a top 5 Stanford team on the road. Ollie has more excuses than some yarders. After the next loss I half expect him to tell us they might have lost the game but the won breakfast by a huge margin and gave lunch a run for its money too.

 

[LIuconn]

It is.

F

 

[Stinger92860]

Watch us beat Monmouth by 25, Syracuse by 10, and we all have us in the final four again...

I hope you are right, but I don't think it happens like that.

 

[UCDaveD]

But you played Columbia. I remember being down or 2 best guys and beating a top 5 Stanford team on the road. Ollie has more excuses than some yarders. After the next loss I half expect him to tell us they might have lost the game but the won breakfast by a huge margin and gave lunch a run for its money too.

Or when we walked into Bloomington sans Dyson and Wiggins and took down Eric Gordon and #7 Indiana.

 

[ctchamps]

I thought the innuendo last year about KO was that he tore into players and that's why players transferred. Did I read those innuendos incorrectly?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I thought the innuendo last year about KO was that he tore into players and that's why players transferred. Did I read those innuendos incorrectly?

It was more than innuendo. The experts on here said last season KO's problem was that he was too mean. This year he's too nice.

 

[ctchamps]

It was more than innuendo. The experts on here said last season KO's problem was that he was too mean. This year he's too nice.

That's what I thought. The team has nothing on these fans.

 

[Paesano]

Anyone ever hear of the importance of consistency? Integrity? This is basic leadership stuff. Great coaches, like great supervisors or great parents or great generals, send a consistent message that is distributed as fairly as possible. The standard never changes. The consequences never change. Excellence is a habit. Good habits can't be established if the person being led doesn't know what to expect from day to day.

 

[Allbite]

It is.

Do you think it's a career ending injury?

 

[elmcityboy]

It was more than innuendo. The experts on here said last season KO's problem was that he was too mean. This year he's too nice.

On the Hartford Courant podcast, they imply that KO often goes off on players in the locker-room, but then puts on a smile for the media. Amore and Jacobs seemed to think that dynamic had confused & bothered some of the players last year.

 

[Saab04]

i agree TL can not dribble but i disagreed with u on everything else. Im sorry but Ollie has to find a way to develop his players or pass the baton. He won with Calhoun players and did nothing after.....

Facts! I don’t see Ollie taking UConn to another championship.

 

[Saab04]

Adams is just so frustrating to me. lots of talent but disappears and when he wants to show up and dominate, he does but that's not always the case so that why I said that about him not having heart or grit. Tough following two warriors in Napier and Walker. I think Gilbert has high level talent but he's a tbd because of injuries. Poor kid..I hope the shoulder isn't serious....and I do agree with you that Ollie has to develop his own recruits. So far we haven't seen that.

Adams is very inconsistent. I think it’s his immaturity level. The kid has tremendous talent, but he needs to own it

 

[Saab04]

As one of the up-until-now Ollie defenders on here, I admit that both of you, Whaler and others are right. I'm mystified that KO feels in any way, shape or form that this was a good win, or that Columbia is a good team (a 1-5 Ivy league team... seriously?). And even worse to say, it does have a Diaco-esque feel to it, and it does seem to be a consistent pattern. He has become satisfied with lackadaisical play, inconsistency, and all around mediocrity.

Did anyone see the Steve Kerr press conference from last night? Hey, his team won, in overtime, against an "up and coming" Los Angeles Lakers team. Brandon Ingram in particular played an excellent game for the Lakers. Did Steve Kerr talk about how good the Lakers played, and what a job his team did fighting back to force overtime and win the game?

HELL NO. He came right out and dissed his own team for bad passing and inconsistent play.

From Anthony Slater, a Golden State beat reporter: Steve Kerr on the Warriors "galling" passing tonight and Steph Curry's rough 4 quarters and then strong overtime pic.twitter.com/EjyXCCy92N

For me, KO gets until the end of the year... and although I really want to see what Akinjo, Matthews Jr. and Kisunas can bring to our program, I fear we will see the same play from them that we see from too many guys now if Ollie does not stop celebrating what should be unacceptable play by anyone in a UConn uniform.

Lol so true. Ollie stays clapping every time I see these kids play poor defense.

 

[Adios]

Lol so true. Ollie stays clapping every time I see these kids play poor defense.

Diaco-itis strikes again.

 

[KodiacKemba]

I get tired of ppl keep Reiterating who players they were, well they weren’t Ollie’s players they were Calhoun, but I’m sorry wasn’t Ollie there to recruit said players , who cares JC left for reasons I’m still confused about but Ollie first year 20 wins no tournament why cuz of JC , 2nd season he wins the whole damn thing and wasn’t Brimah a freshmen um yes Ollie’s player , KF but wasn’t really in the mix oh and this guy Lason Kromah!! We get so caught up with this bs that we forget that the players have to still play n the coaches still have to coach.. & looking at the roster we overachieved thanks to KO n getting players to believe in themselves n play hard n you’ll get everything else that comes with it , which was a championship!!

 

[BlueDogs]

"DiaKOism"..the phenomena of self delusional, positivity disconnected from the actual state of play or results.

 

[QDOG5]

Do you think it's a career ending injury?

There are Drs. on this board that are able to give a better prognosis than me. AG has injured the shoulder more than once, will probably wear a harness in games for the rest of his career and winced when a teammate was trying to help off the floor. All of those are troubling to me. Maybe he strengthens it over time. I hope it's not a career ender but I do think he'll miss games because of it throughout his career.

 

[LStudfellow]

I get tired of ppl keep Reiterating who players they were, well they weren’t Ollie’s players they were Calhoun, but I’m sorry wasn’t Ollie there to recruit said players , who cares JC left for reasons I’m still confused about but Ollie first year 20 wins no tournament why cuz of JC , 2nd season he wins the whole damn thing and wasn’t Brimah a freshmen um yes Ollie’s player , KF but wasn’t really in the mix oh and this guy Lason Kromah!! We get so caught up with this bs that we forget that the players have to still play n the coaches still have to coach.. & looking at the roster we overachieved thanks to KO n getting players to believe in themselves n play hard n you’ll get everything else that comes with it , which was a championship!!

Actually KK, I agree with you on this point, and have come out in previous threads and stated that giving Calhoun all or even most of the credit for the 2014 championship is a canard that is not supported by the facts, only by those who really dislike Kevin Ollie for whatever reason and have wanted him gone for awhile.

The fact is that I am not sure there are 5 coaches on the planet who could have done a better job in those first two years than Kevin Ollie did, and that includes JC. Yes, Shabazz and Tyler O and DeAndre and Giffey and O. Calhoun were brought in by Calhoun, but at least 3 of the 5 of those guys showed significant development under Ollie (particularly DeAndre) that most Ollie haters believe would have happened under Calhoun - sorry, but that is a false assumption. I can back up my point with plenty of guys who did not develop under Calhoun (starting with a guy who used to come to our parties when I was an undergrad, Toraino Walker). It happens. Every one of the all-time great coaches, including Calhoun, have had guys who did not develop under them. As further proof, do not discount the recent words from Shabazz himself, who gives KO a ton of credit for his development throughout his time at UConn under KO's direct tutelage and during his time in the NBA.

Which is what makes Ollie's regression so baffling. Why has he come to the point that celebrating mediocrity is acceptable? To celebrate that performance on Wednesday night with platitudes for our players and referring to a 1-4 Ivy League team as "great" when it is obviously not true is a loser's mentality. And to celebrate the fact that we did not quit against them as if we never quit - when we pretty obviously quit in just the last game before this one against Arkansas - makes him come across as out of touch with reality and frankly, untrustworthy. It is not only a bad look, but you would think after his own experiences he would know better.

Even worse, that type of mentality seeps down to the players, and their uneven and sometimes lackadaisical play shows it.

 

[ctchamps]

Actually KK, I agree with you on this point, and have come out in previous threads and stated that giving Calhoun all or even most of the credit for the 2014 championship is a canard that is not supported by the facts, only by those who really dislike Kevin Ollie for whatever reason and have wanted him gone for awhile.

The fact is that I am not sure there are 5 coaches on the planet who could have done a better job in those first two years than Kevin Ollie did, and that includes JC. Yes, Shabazz and Tyler O and DeAndre and Giffey and O. Calhoun were brought in by Calhoun, but at least 3 of the 5 of those guys showed significant development under Ollie (particularly DeAndre) that most Ollie haters believe would have happened under Calhoun - sorry, but that is a false assumption. I can back up my point with plenty of guys who did not develop under Calhoun (starting with a guy who used to come to our parties when I was an undergrad, Toraino Walker). It happens. Every one of the all-time great coaches, including Calhoun, have had guys who did not develop under them. As further proof, do not discount the recent words from Shabazz himself, who gives KO a ton of credit for his development throughout his time at UConn under KO's direct tutelage and during his time in the NBA.

Which is what makes Ollie's regression so baffling. Why has he come to the point that celebrating mediocrity is acceptable? To celebrate that performance on Wednesday night with platitudes for our players and referring to a 1-4 Ivy League team as "great" when it is obviously not true is a loser's mentality. And to celebrate the fact that we did not quit against them as if we never quit - when we pretty obviously quit in just the last game before this one against Arkansas - makes him come across as out of touch with reality and frankly, untrustworthy. It is not only a bad look, but you would think after his own experiences he would know better.

Even worse, that type of mentality seeps down to the players, and their uneven and sometimes lackadaisical play shows it.

I doubt he's celebrating. He's making a change from how he approached players last season. Last season the stick. This season the carrot.

 

[pj]

I doubt he's celebrating. He's making a change from how he approached players last season. Last season the stick. This season the carrot.

You need both. Behind both, the players need to know you love them and the stick is for their long-term benefit. The coach has to be part father.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Actually KK, I agree with you on this point, and have come out in previous threads and stated that giving Calhoun all or even most of the credit for the 2014 championship is a canard that is not supported by the facts, only by those who really dislike Kevin Ollie for whatever reason and have wanted him gone for awhile.

The fact is that I am not sure there are 5 coaches on the planet who could have done a better job in those first two years than Kevin Ollie did, and that includes JC. Yes, Shabazz and Tyler O and DeAndre and Giffey and O. Calhoun were brought in by Calhoun, but at least 3 of the 5 of those guys showed significant development under Ollie (particularly DeAndre) that most Ollie haters believe would have happened under Calhoun - sorry, but that is a false assumption. I can back up my point with plenty of guys who did not develop under Calhoun (starting with a guy who used to come to our parties when I was an undergrad, Toraino Walker). It happens. Every one of the all-time great coaches, including Calhoun, have had guys who did not develop under them. As further proof, do not discount the recent words from Shabazz himself, who gives KO a ton of credit for his development throughout his time at UConn under KO's direct tutelage and during his time in the NBA.

Which is what makes Ollie's regression so baffling. Why has he come to the point that celebrating mediocrity is acceptable? To celebrate that performance on Wednesday night with platitudes for our players and referring to a 1-4 Ivy League team as "great" when it is obviously not true is a loser's mentality. And to celebrate the fact that we did not quit against them as if we never quit - when we pretty obviously quit in just the last game before this one against Arkansas - makes him come across as out of touch with reality and frankly, untrustworthy. It is not only a bad look, but you would think after his own experiences he would know better.

Even worse, that type of mentality seeps down to the players, and their uneven and sometimes lackadaisical play shows it.

There's a subtlety here. The 2014 team were KO's players, but they were JC's recruits.

JC was able to identify the right players who would evince UConn toughness and buy into the methods and attitude that made our program successful for 25 years. KO got the most out of those recruits and deserves credit for their development.

However, KO has been an abject failure at developing his own recruits. His signature recruits -- Purvis, Hamilton, Brimah, etc. -- have not developed at all. He hasn't gotten his guys to buy in. Whether it's a failure of identifying the mental makeup of those recruits or of his coaching getting through to them, it's been a major problem that doesn't seem to be getting better.

 

[David 76]

I may go back to defending Ollie. The KO bashers are just too angry and stupid to sit with.
There is nothing I'm aware of that gives any evidence of Ollie being anything but a good person. He is not able to coach. That is all. And as Studfellow said, it is confusing because he was an excellent coach for two years. He was. Not Glenn Miller, not Blaney, not Saint Jim (who was never mean to his players like that nasty Kevin)
God, if you think Ollie is not trying and not miserable, despite his press comments, you haven't reached 16 years of age or you aren't very bright. Too many just hate Ollie's guts and if they tarred and feathered him you wouldn't be satisfied.

He's can't coach effectively. End of story. We have more distracted and unsuited leaders affecting our real life.

 

[Bonk]

For anyone still making the injury excuse, it is getting harder and harder to make. Last year I gave him the benefit of the doubt but you have to be able to coach through injuries, they'll always be part of the game. When you play this no structure, free for all type of offense especially with undersized bigs you're just asking for injuries. Bad coaching.