OT: Thank God for Kevin Ollie

[sportsart]

I don't think I could stomach the demise of UConn BB (some thought after player transfers, JC retiring and no tournaments to play for) to go along with the FB realignment crap.

Gutsy coach and a gutsy team.

Loved the quote by a player after tonight's game..."SU is going to the ACC with a bad taste of UConn in their mouth".

Gonna miss the SU and Pitt BB games.

 

[Adios]

Our athletic department is marketing itself extraordinarily well.

 

[Dann]

I don't think I could stomach the demise of UConn BB (some thought after player transfers, JC retiring and no tournaments to play for) to go along with the FB realignment crap.

Gutsy coach and a gutsy team.

Loved the quote by a player after tonight's game..."SU is going to the ACC with a bad taste of UConn in their mouth".

Gonna miss the SU and Pitt BB games.

-great boat quote
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.
-great win 2night, this is the fball board so i'll stop

Our athletic department is marketing itself extraordinarily well.

-i dont see any sarcasm but this post must be otherwise its like seeing the sun and claiming its green.

 

[sportsart]

I don't care what board it is but stop ruining every f@ing thread with your whining. I've been an HFD fan but I've had enough.

STFU

 

[Adios]

-i dont see any sarcasm but this post must be otherwise its like seeing the sun and claiming its green.

-Uh, have you noticed the athletes we've been getting despite no invite to the ACC so far?

 

[huskypantz]

-great boat quote
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.

Forte is that you? Ollie will be recruiting like a madman. The kids love him and UConn is a brand name. We'll be just fine.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Milling around downtown heading to City Steam. Reminded me of the good old days of the early 90's. Regrettably sans the fake ID. Good times tonight.

 

[B1GEast]

K.O. will take this team to a final 4 very soon.

 

[ZooCougar]

KO is awesome. He is UConn right now in my opinion.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I don't think I could stomach the demise of UConn BB (some thought after player transfers, JC retiring and no tournaments to play for) to go along with the FB realignment crap.

Gutsy coach and a gutsy team.

Loved the quote by a player after tonight's game..."SU is going to the ACC with a bad taste of UConn in their mouth".

Gonna miss the SU and Pitt BB games.

He had great comments about the school after the game. At a time when UConn desperately needed a good plug, KO delivered.

 

[Jimdish255]

KO is awesome. He is UConn right now in my opinion.

+1

 

[MidTown Husky]

-great boat quote
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.
-great win 2night, this is the fball board so i'll stop


-i dont see any sarcasm but this post must be otherwise its like seeing the sun and claiming its green.

So you "threw in the towel" but now your back after a big...well the weather outside is nice....

 

[LIUCHusky]

-great boat quote
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.
-great win 2night, this is the fball board so i'll stop

Please explain how Warde tried to ruin him.

 

[jbdphi]

Great game for UConn. So glad I was able to see it out here (via Slingbox). And a great job by KO both during the game and also afterwards plugging the university and the fans and the concept of team. I feel very optimistic about his ability to recruit and coach this team for the next 20+ years. I just couldn't see him wanting to go anywhere else as long as we do right by him.

 

[husky210]

I love when KO gets interviewed after a game surrounded by his team

 

[J187Money]

-great boat quote
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.
-great win 2night, this is the fball board so i'll stop


-i dont see any sarcasm but this post must be otherwise its like seeing the sun and claiming its green.

Who did we lose exactly?

How about be happy. These transitions rarely go smooth. Just enjoy this. It is so much better than it could have been.

 

[Excalibur]

The situation was handled about as well as it could be. It kept us in the news when we would have otherwise been ignored. It gave Ollie a chance to prove that he was capable of handling the role (which he did). We ended up paying little to no extra money (Ollie's salary is still a market to slightly below market contract for an elite program).

The idea that starting out with a longer term contract with a cheap transparent buyout would have influenced recruits is a fiction.

 

[sdhusky]

warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year.

Glad to see you aren't letting reality get in the way of your previous tantrums.

I think Ollie is doing OK. Well, better than OK.

Certainly not ruined.

 

[businesslawyer]

-
-ko is ko. warde tried to ruin him and gave him a huge disadvantage with his contract the 1st half of the year. still surprised so many here give warde a pass. we could have another recruit or 3 on board this year and be set but instead were in a hole.

This is so unbelievably wrong. It was far, far more important that Manual make sure he had the right man for the job than it was to have one recruiting season not at full strength. The wrong man for the job would have cost us multiple recruiting seasons, and given the conference uncertainty quite possibly everything we've built over Calhoun's career. Just because you were 100% sure Ollie was the man for the job doesn't mean that Manual was sure.

Given that Manual was not ready to give KO the keys on day one -- which was a perfectly reasonable position -- you should be commending him for making the commitment so damn quickly.

 

[Excalibur]

Given that Manual was not ready to give KO the keys on day one -- which was a perfectly reasonable position -- you should be commending him for making the commitment so damn quickly.

But that wouldn't fit the narrative . . .

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think Manuel handled the transition from Calhoun retiring to signing Ollie to a temporary contract, and then restructuring to a longer deal as well as could be hoped. KO, sure held up his end,to make it easier for Manuel.

Calhoun did exactly what he always wanted and said he would do, in following Dean Smith's example into retirement. Manuel was left to manage it all, quite literally only a few weeks onto the new job.

Ollie's greatest challenges are most definitely coming up in front of him, as UCONN's men's basketball head coach. Not this season, in coming seasons, when the "us against the world" motivational tool won't be as easy to manipulate. I think he's going to do well though, very well.

The guy is all heart, and you need your team to play that way, all heart, to win championships - in any sport.

I love the guy. FIrst off, he's proven himself to be a winner with this year's team, and he's proven himself to be a coach that can learn and adapt quickly. I was scared tless last night, when after the half - (btw - that asian dish juggler on the unicycle was incredible), but just like the Louisville game, where a much older, and experienced coach with a physically superior team came out and destroyed us after the half.......another much older, and experienced coach with a physically superior team came out and started to roll on us after the half and the team looked completely ragged.

KO called the time out, and found a way, possession by possession, to get control of teh game back, and make sure his team didn't fold this time.

You add the fact that the guy is 100% all UCONN, and it's even nicer to watch. There's no questioning, ever, the level of passion that this guy is out there bringing - and it's all for the name and symbol on the front of the shirt.

Fun, fun to watch. One of the most rewarding things you can see as a coach, is your team bonding together, and playing their hearts out for each other, and for the good of the name on the front of the shirts. I'm sure KO slept well last night.

 

[Carl Spackler]

and a note from KO himself:

Fans, I want to thank you for being at the Syracuse game last night. Thank you for buying your tickets…thank you for using your tickets. Thank you for standing, yelling, cheering, and letting everyone know whose house they were in! This was a huge game for us! When we needed a push you gave it to us. You didn’t give up on us, and we didn’t give up on each other. It was an unbelievable night. Again I say thank you.

Some people said to me that last night was like the “old days” at the Civic Center. It was! It was because YOU were there. We’re in our tournament play right now. Four big games to go. I ask you to not miss one of those games. If you can’t come, give your ticket to someone who will. We need you in the house at Saturday’s Nova game, and Thursday's Cincinnati game…then our last two in Storrs.

I and others have said that because we have no postseason, we’re playing for each other and that makes a difference. That’s right. But the bigger part is we’re playing for you. We’re playing for the love of UConn. We’re playing for next year too. We’re ten toes in now to the finish line. I hope you’re there with us at XL Center Saturday.

Coach Ollie

 

[sportsart]

and a note from KO himself:

Fans, I want to thank you for being at the Syracuse game last night. Thank you for buying your tickets…thank you for using your tickets. Thank you for standing, yelling, cheering, and letting everyone know whose house they were in! This was a huge game for us! When we needed a push you gave it to us. You didn’t give up on us, and we didn’t give up on each other. It was an unbelievable night. Again I say thank you.

Some people said to me that last night was like the “old days” at the Civic Center. It was! It was because YOU were there. We’re in our tournament play right now. Four big games to go. I ask you to not miss one of those games. If you can’t come, give your ticket to someone who will. We need you in the house at Saturday’s Nova game, and Thursday's Cincinnati game…then our last two in Storrs.

I and others have said that because we have no postseason, we’re playing for each other and that makes a difference. That’s right. But the bigger part is we’re playing for you. We’re playing for the love of UConn. We’re playing for next year too. We’re ten toes in now to the finish line. I hope you’re there with us at XL Center Saturday.

Coach Ollie

KO would make a great AD. But I hope he never is one.

 

[Dann]

This is so unbelievably wrong. It was far, far more important that Manual make sure he had the right man for the job than it was to have one recruiting season not at full strength. The wrong man for the job would have cost us multiple recruiting seasons, and given the conference uncertainty quite possibly everything we've built over Calhoun's career. Just because you were 100% sure Ollie was the man for the job doesn't mean that Manual was sure.

Given that Manual was not ready to give KO the keys on day one -- which was a perfectly reasonable position -- you should be commending him for making the commitment so damn quickly.

ko up into this year was 99% responsible for the 2 recruit classes before he was named HC. JC took him out to places to form relationships with coaches and handlers. ko and kh did all the work on the trail. we already new(well some of us screaming about it here..)they could recruit. what warde did was turn off all the momentum he had on the trail for a bit with non locals who knew what was up. see as soon as warde gave the 7 moths bs no matter how much u want to evaluate him, it screms of something and w/e that is other coaches and influencers are screaming the excuses on the trail. mix that with our fall lockdown on admissions that i have yet to understand why it happened and warde set us back on the trail.

anyone who got a glimspe of ko/kh or anyone who had faith in every dam frucking thing JC built here knew we were in good hands. cept for 1 jacass, his name is warde. we could have had a 4 man class or samuel, facey, bell and xrm all signed early. warde destroyed that. instead this staff spent a good amount of there time as result having to search high and low on the trail looking for a servicable big. eventually they found it. but were having trouble finding a 4th player(guard). we have mostly moved on to 2014 class stuff. now with bazz and wolf, we need to regear to 2013 stuff and go on a huge search again. see, we could have had 4 studs locked up early and now be looking for just 1 player and its not a big deal with 2 play asap bigs in the class and a top notch guard who is play asap in xrm. but we dont. we have 1 big who will play and a thabet project. now were going to kill a lot of extra time that could be used on our team on the trail becuase of warde. 2014 recruits are getting visited as much as we were able to before. see kids like it when u go to there games and practices a lot. thats why the big boys lock up recruit classes early and get to the next years class. being a year ahead helps a huge amount. once u lock up a class u move to the next and get that class locked up. when your a year ahead, u get kids to bite early becuase your able to pay more attention than others. but warde has no clue about that kind of stuff becuase he came from a school that i dont even know if they play bball.

warde was willing to hold up our bball progam to his standards, w/e they are he wanted to see ko himself. i dont agree with it but many do here it still seems. u will all be the same jerks next year who complain about olander and so on when we have a 6 man rotation and no depth. i have to ask, how can so many ppl here be ok with warde handling ko, but then give him another pass with not doing anything with p or gdl????? dont tell me he made gdl switch positions. if u honestly think that has happened, then your out of your mind. how many times to u have to read the syracuse saga with these 2 to realize its happening again and the guy who gets paid 400k to run your favorite sports team just fell for it. its like in todays age if a 30 year old well off guy who makes a good living with a college degree opens up a email from the price of some african country and decides its a good idea to invest in the gold rich land the email shows pictures of. give me a break.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Can anyone else imagine what it would be like to work in a business with Dan in charge? I just had a vision. Holy sh8t. It would be complete chaos. Somehow, I have no doubt, that things would be successful, based on the fact that the product or service, would be valueable enough to sustain itself regardless of how it's managed. It would be crazy, and I mean, "but it's the truth , even if it didn't happen" one flew over the cuckoo's nest crazy. And FWIW - I applaud the ability to make people that crazy. That's impressive. it's talent. People would be going nuts, just trying to figure out thecontent of interoffice memo's.....never mind greater things - like actually getting something productive done.

If it ever happens, that you're in charge of a lot of people, on a daily basis - Dan - I want to know where, because I'm going to put two package stores, each one in a location about a 5 minute drive with easy in and out parking in either direction from the exit of the employee's parking lot. Then I'm going to retire on a boat in the Caribbean on the liquor sales profits.

The old saying is "choose your battles wisely".

There is a much greater, and more important battle out there, regarding Warde Manuel, and it's the complete lack of a marketable football schedule beyond 2013. There's nothing to market, because there is nothing there to see.