Ollie Speaks | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Ollie Speaks

Tenspro2002 said:
That may be true practically, but this is a fanbase that needs to be excited again.

And on the practical side, if we struggle through another OOC schedule, that basically condemns us to irrelevance for most of the year. The program can't afford too many more years of that.
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My god you’re a miserable bastard.
 
My problem with the article is Ollie stating that Jalen was forced into the focal point as point guard last year due to Gilberts injury. Jalen should have been and should still be the focal point of our offense.

We need to come out swinging in December and beat Oregon and the Cuse at minimum. Yes we want to get better as the season goes on but not at the expense of missing the NCAA tournament.
 
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MSGSeven said:
KO's just being modest we're gonna come storming out of the fn gate
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I hope you remember saying that when it's 18-4 bad guys in one of the early games. Ollie is absolutely right to temper expectations early on. Lots of potential, but my guess is it will take awhile to gel.
 
Huskybass said:
I hope you remember saying that when it's 18-4 bad guys in one of the early games. Ollie is absolutely right to temper expectations early on. Lots of potential, but my guess is it will take awhile to gel.
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The same could be said of a lot of teams. And I know 18-4 is a figure of speech, but it's triggered my PTSD given that we trailed 18-3 against both Oklahoma State and Oregon in the Maui Invitational last year (so maybe 18-4 would be an improvement). Slow starts have been a problem for us in these marquee games dating back to what seems like the Maryland game in 2015. Stretches of bad play are going to happen, but there's no reason to extend a mulligan to this team before the season has even started. They're a group that is capable of winning or at least giving themselves a chance on most nights.
 
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pj said:
Go to 2019 Top Basketball Recruits and recruit. Commence #1 ranked class.
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Obviously not gonna be easy, but having 4 of the top 8 kids from NY/NJ/CT gives me some optimism. And I remember hearing their names with UConn at one point so hopefully we can lock down one of those guys
 
Ollie knows that this team is young, inexperienced, has 3 starters coming off serious injuries, and frankly isn't that talented. I see them as an 18 win team that will be on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament.
 
TitleTown said:
Ollie knows that this team is young, inexperienced, has 3 starters coming off serious injuries, and frankly isn't that talented. I see them as an 18 win team that will be on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament.
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If they have 18 wins they won't be near the bubble.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
That may be true practically, but this is a fanbase that needs to be excited again.

And on the practical side, if we struggle through another OOC schedule, that basically condemns us to irrelevance for most of the year. The program can't afford too many more years of that.
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I think their effort, attitude and team play will determine how well they do. There are a lot of athletes and if they can jell as a unit they actually could be formidable. Wonder (hoping) if aggressive defense will be there trademark. Nightmare city for opponents. Need to hang together. Go Huskies!
 
80shusky said:
If they have 18 wins they won't be near the bubble.
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I was just going to post the same thing. They'll need to win some of those marquee out of conference games and probably need at least in the 23 win range to get into the NCAA Tournament.
 
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Ollie's comments from last year were pretty spot on: "We have some great players," Ollie said. "They are very, very young. Understand that, but there are no excuses. They are very, very talented, also. They do not understand what it takes to be a UConn man right now. They are getting an introduction to that very quickly. Have patience with us, I'm going to have a lot of patience, there's going to be a lot of struggling, a lot of coaching, that's what I get paid for. We're going to take our time."
 
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nashusky109 said:
Considering we had the "top 5" last year and expectations through the roof for RP, JA, and AB I think KO is tempering our expectations. I personally expected a lot last year and judging from the stuff a majority of y'all posted..so were you guys.

KO is telling us to not get too down from some some early season struggles but rather to rally and push for a strong march finish.
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Unfortunately we aren't in any sort of position where we can struggle early, losing early games is the difference between us being a tournament team or not.
 
superjohn said:
Unfortunately we aren't in any sort of position where we can struggle early, losing early games is the difference between us being a tournament team or not.
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Probably true, but reality is, with so many team members new to system, to each other and to college BB, some coming back from injuries and being away from competition for awhile, considering the fair number of strong teams early in our schedule, when the team gels and plays its best (however good that develops into) will occur probably after early to mid January.
 
huskiesouth said:
Probably true, but reality is, with so many team members new to system, to each other and to college BB, some coming back from injuries and being away from competition for awhile, considering the fair number of strong teams early in our schedule, when the team gels and plays its best (however good that develops into) will occur probably after early to mid January.
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Who are all these early teams we play that we should expect losses from? Oregon and Syracuse are way down this year, I don't see any reason why we should lose to them. Of course Arizona will be incredibly tough to beat. Auburn?
 
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Last year we were all surprised by Vital, and to a slightly lesser degree by Jackson. I think the play of several members of this years squad will surprise, and it always puzzles me when I read pessimism on players before they even tie their shoes simply because of their recruiting rankings. Use your eyes too, you've watched enough basketball by now.
 
Doctor Hoop said:
Last year we were all surprised by Vital, and to a slightly lesser degree by Jackson. I think the play of several members of this years squad will surprise, and it always puzzles me when I read pessimism on players before they even tie their shoes simply because of their recruiting rankings. Use your eyes too, you've watched enough basketball by now.
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I'm feeling good because I think we have some very good players, and we have enough spaghetti to throw it against the wall and see what sticks. Somebody is going to be an upside surprise, we just don't know who. My guess is that's why KO is hedging. It may take some time to settle on a rotation.

Side note: the Courant has the worst website access. Just awful.
 
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