Ollie

[superjohn]

You won't find a bigger Ollie fan than me but those saying we'll be fine and Ollie is just fine are in denial. I spoke about these signs last season, as did Fishy and a couple other posters. Don't see how people can deny it anymore. Can't use talent as an excuse, the team is comprised of pretty much all 4 and 5 stars. Can't use youth as an excuse. We are supposed to be starting 3 seniors, a sophomore transfer and a sophomore.

He did a great job motivating a team who was banned from the tourney in his first season and then magic happened in his second season. He outcoached some of the best in the game during the tournament but he also had hands down the best backcourt in the country and the best player in the country. There were signs that season that he may not be a great or even good coach of offense. Well now it's the start of year 5 and it's pretty clear he can't coach offense. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world considering Calhoun was never a great half court offensive coach. What is beyond alarming is that all those areas where Calhoun made up for it just aren't there with Ollie. We don't set screens, we don't box out, we don't rebound. In the past few years I've seen us get punked by teams more than in Calhoun's whole career, mid majors are punking us. At 74 years old if Calhoun saw this he would be a raving lunatic on the sideline, he would be in players faces, he would bench the whole five on the floor, he would get a tech or two to fire up the troops........Ollie just sits there with cry face the entire time.

With the disaster that is football, We all waited for many grueling months to watch this group and they are totally unprepared. The veteran players have regressed and none of the fundamentals are there. I knew a long time ago Diaco wasn't the guy and am devastated to say I feel more like Ollie isn't the guy than that he is the guy. Haven't felt this down as a UConn fan in an incredibly long time.

 

[UConnStats]

Honestly we need to vastly improve just to keep the young talent we do have in the roster. This is a terrible look.

Also, we have a lot of opportunity to come back from it. So Ollie can't sit around in despair, he's got to persevere.

 

[BUConn10]

I'm more worried about next year, and frankly the few years after that. It just seems like the last few years have been a critical turning point for UConn in almost all aspects of athletics, and we seem to be tripping over more obstacles than not. Between football, conference realignment, and now the program's crown jewel in men's hoops, it just seems like we can't catch a break when we need it.

As for firing Ollie goes, I dont know what the hell to think, but I tend to weigh on the side of reality, in that seeing the landscape and overall perception of where UConn is, that we probably can't do much better than Ollie right now. At the very least he's getting attention from top players in a conference none of them would typically be caught dead in, so stats tells me eventually one of these guys has to be the next "one" and we will know it when we see it.

In the meantime I think the most beneficial change in the coaching staff would be to bring in more basketball minds onto our bench. Right now we have too many guys who are there for the sole purpose of motivation, "connecting" with the players, recruiting and what should resemble player development. But it's clear as day that something isn't working in-game. One thing I have always noticed under Ollie's teams is this slight hesitation when our guys catch the ball most times, like they are unsure of what to do next or where to go, who to look for. And sure enough they tend to just dribble around where they got the ball until they find the first open man while others kind of stand around hoping their defender forgets about them and they get open for a 3 pointer.Ollie's system right now is an NBA system, lots of ball screens and attacking one on one, one that would excel with one and dones or blue blood level talent coming in each year, guys at every position who can beat their man one on one, but we simply dont have that type of firepower on our roster, despite how good the talent coming in has been. What we need is a real system designed for the guys we do have, he should watch Steven's back when he was at Butler, or Few's teams at Gonzaga. I guess one of the problems with hiring and working with close friends is that it becomes awkward or difficult to cut ties, and that's something that's probably something that complicates this process internally at UConn.

 

[joober jones]

Phil Nolan could at least set screens. We could actually use him on this team right now.

 

[Adios]

We won a freaking championship under Ollie. Gotta see how this season and maybe next go. If he fails to deliver in this God forsaken conference in that time span, then the axe is justified.

Diaco has been hopeless from the start. Can we erase Diaco from the archives?

 

[James]

killings was suppose to bring some player development chops, he had dleague experience in that department. none of that is showing though.

 

[HuskyFich]

Phil Nolan could at least set screens. We could actually use him on this team right now.

just stop.

 

[huskyrob1]

You won't find a bigger Ollie fan than me but those saying we'll be fine and Ollie is just fine are in denial. I spoke about these signs last season, as did Fishy and a couple other posters. Don't see how people can deny it anymore. Can't use talent as an excuse, the team is comprised of pretty much all 4 and 5 stars. Can't use youth as an excuse. We are supposed to be starting 3 seniors, a sophomore transfer and a sophomore.

He did a great job motivating a team who was banned from the tourney in his first season and then magic happened in his second season. He outcoached some of the best in the game during the tournament but he also had hands down the best backcourt in the country and the best player in the country. There were signs that season that he may not be a great or even good coach of offense. Well now it's the start of year 5 and it's pretty clear he can't coach offense. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world considering Calhoun was never a great half court offensive coach. What is beyond alarming is that all those areas where Calhoun made up for it just aren't there with Ollie. We don't set screens, we don't box out, we don't rebound. In the past few years I've seen us get punked by teams more than in Calhoun's whole career, mid majors are punking us. At 74 years old if Calhoun saw this he would be a raving lunatic on the sideline, he would be in players faces, he would bench the whole five on the floor, he would get a tech or two to fire up the troops...Ollie just sits there with cry face the entire time.

With the disaster that is football, We all waited for many grueling months to watch this group and they are totally unprepared. The veteran players have regressed and none of the fundamentals are there. I knew a long time ago Diaco wasn't the guy and am devastated to say I feel more like Ollie isn't the guy than that he is the guy. Haven't felt this down as a UConn fan in an incredibly long time.

I hear ya, let me add tonight showed that coaching is everything. Right now we have a clown for a football coach, we have a mens basketball coach who is giving it everything but is coming up short in some aspects. We also have the greatest coach in the history of the women's game, and some might lump him with the greatest coaches in any sport. Not sure if anyone caught the women's game tonight, but after losing those great seniors from last year's team, many expected them to lose on the road tonight, but they pulled out a very close win with the bench going crazy. They pulled out a win with mostly non starters from last year playing smart, playing confident, and playing their hearts out.

 

[JMick]

Phil Nolan could at least set screens. We could actually use him on this team right now.

Or we could recruit a big who can actually play basketball...

 

[Kitaman]

I'm willing to wait and see for a couple more seasons. He's got his players now so you can start the clock.

Too early though to ring the bell.

 

[Walker11]

killings was suppose to bring some player development chops, he had dleague experience in that department. none of that is showing though.

I think its too early to critique Killings. And KO still has a good track record in development. The only non-big who hasn't developed is RP and I think that is more on Rodney and his lack of hoops IQ. The issue is clearly our offensive scheme and the fact that KO doesn't tailor it to the players on the roster. And maybe KO's motivational skills. I don't know what he is like in practice but I can't imagine players being inspired by KO's sad game face.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Honestly we need to vastly improve just to keep the young talent we do have in the roster. This is a terrible look.

Also, we have a lot of opportunity to come back from it. So Ollie can't sit around in despair, he's got to persevere.

Exactly, i'm worried that some of these young guys are losing confidence here. We should stop worrying about Diallo for a while and realize that players transfer from programs for less than this.

 

[AdamaNation]

Or we could recruit a big who can actually play basketball...

Crystal ball says we lead on diamond stone

 

[superjohn]

I think its too early to critique Killings. And KO still has a good track record in development. The only non-big who hasn't developed is RP and I think that is more on Rodney and his lack of hoops IQ. The issue is clearly our offensive scheme and the fact that KO doesn't tailor it to the players on the roster. And maybe KO's motivational skills. I don't know what he is like in practice but I can't imagine players being inspired by KO's sad game face.

Our bigs look to have regressed and I was certainly hoping Jalen would look better and more like a leader against two mid-majors.

 

[gtcam]

I hear ya, let me add tonight showed that coaching is everything. Right now we have a clown for a football coach, we have a mens basketball coach who is giving it everything but is coming up short in some aspects. We also have the greatest coach in the history of the women's game, and some might lump him with the greatest coaches in any sport. Not sure if anyone caught the women's game tonight, but after losing those great seniors from last year's team, many expected them to lose on the road tonight, but they pulled out a very close win with the bench going crazy. They pulled out a win with mostly non starters from last year playing smart, playing confident, and playing their hearts out.

And those non starters were all ranked in the top 50
C'mon that's not even a comparative

 

[Walker11]

Our bigs look to have regressed and I was certainly hoping Jalen would look better and more like a leader against two mid-majors.

I'd be extremely surprised if Jalen does not have a very good season. And I gave up hope on the senior bigs improving a while ago.

 

[huskyrob1]

Our bigs look to have regressed and I was certainly hoping Jalen would look better and more like a leader against two mid-majors.

I thought he looked scared and not confident. That being said, the season is young and maybe KO and his players can get the train moving.

 

[uconnever]

I actually think things will be better once the seniors are gone. I've been around a while and I remember how depressing the season was with Rip and Freeman as freshmen. The young guys need room to grow. They are better than the seniors and the seniors I think are just getting in the way. The freshmen are gonna get pissed and realize that they need to drive this ship if they have any chance this year. I think Gilbert, Larrier and Adams are already starting to figure it out. Next game I think we will see that. The only problem is......who's gonna go down low? The defense and our offense I think will improve from our guards and wings but we just don't have the right bigs. I like this team, we just don't have any bigs or experience playing together which is gonna come with time.

 

[huskyrob1]

And those non starters were all ranked in the top 50
C'mon that's not even a comparative

Excuse me, yes it is. They were playing on the road against FSU which is ranked 12 and is loaded with highly recruited players and have two potential AA's. UConn easily could have lost this game if the players had quit, but they didn't.

 

[UConnfan8]

I'm willing to wait and see for a couple more seasons. He's got his players now so you can start the clock.

Too early though to ring the bell.

In a couple more years, when the same offense is being put into place, UConn will have zero top 25 teams being scheduled in or out of conference, XL center will bring in about 9,000 people a game, and ESPN will be on there way to making a 30 for 30 on how a basketball program that took control of the world for 25 years, melted away into irrelevance.

 

[Burnsbros23]

My biggest issue is the lack of development in our bigs. Under Calhoun Bigs would come back looking like different players for the better. I remember having such high hopes as Amida he's the same player he was as a freshman. Enoch can't stay on the court. Facey is the same as he was when he came as well. Facey and Enoch were both top 75 kids coming out. Facey is a senior four star recruit and he can't do anything. Even after the national championship i didn't think Ollie was a great X and O coach and that appears to be true. Need to put more of an emphasis on skill and IQ in receuiting.

 

[intlzncster]

Excuse me, yes it is. They were playing on the road against FSU which is ranked 12 and is loaded with highly recruited players and have two potential AA's. UConn easily could have lost this game if the players had quit, but they didn't.

The last thing we need right now is a comparison to the Women's team. Baby steps.

 

[intlzncster]

My biggest issue is the lack of development in our bigs. Under Calhoun Bigs would come back looking like different players for the better. I remember having such high hopes as Amida he's the same player he was as a freshman. Enoch can't stay on the court. Facey is the same as he was when he came as well. Facey and Enoch were both top 75 kids coming out. Facey is a senior four star recruit and he can't do anything. Even after the national championship i didn't think Ollie was a great X and O coach and that appears to be true. Need to put more of an emphasis on skill and IQ in receuiting.

Not all of them though. Guys like Olander and Okwandu come to mind. Sometimes it is raw materials. Phil (last year) and Amida just don't seem to have it.

I really thought Facey was going to be a lot better though. Enoch, I never knew what to think.

 

[auror]

Not sure which thread to put this but I'll be damned if I'm starting a new one.

"He is setting a bar at 18 fastbreak points per game, for instance. His frequent preseason promises to run, run, run could come to full fruition this time."

UConn is currently 331st/351 in adjusted tempo.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

I wish Ollie would reach out to Calhoun for a little bit of guidance. Obviously there are issues that Ollie and others on staff seem incapable of resolving, and a shortage of talented players is not one of them. Dropping your season opener and your second game hasn't happened since the 1960s, well before Connecticut was on the map as a powerhouse. I really hope Ollie's pride doesn't get in the way of seeking out some honest criticism and guidance before it's too late.