OT: Your hot takes from the past

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Random post from August 2012 when we were thinking about JC's successor and it was rumored KO would take over at some point:

"If this is really where we're leaning, it's time to can Blaney, promote Ollie to associate head coach, and hire a new assistant who Ollie will want to work with. Give Ollie 2 years in an elevated coaching capacity to learn the ropes, and hand him the reins after JC retires when his contract expires in 2014."

I didn't buy KO as ready to take over right away. Maybe there was something to that.

He was ready right away but not 5 years later.

 

[Husky25]

In terms of missed hot takes, my biggest one was no school who does not also sponsor a Div. 1A football team will ever again win the NCAA basketball Tournament. Thanks 'Nova. Thanks a heap.

 

[amory]

Here's another pretty good one I had

 

[UConnStats]

Works every time!
gotcha

Wow, I’m pissed at myself.

 

[Chuck]

I try not to make my takes too hot. Not because I'm afraid to put my opinion out there, but I don't think it's helpful for our program to be too negative. My worst hot takes on this board are when I would go in a chat room during games. I tend to give up quickly and declare the team to be trash. It's even worse in my house. My family tends to prefer that I watch alone.

My worst Boneyard hot take was following the UConn women's opening game loss in overtime at Stanford a few years back. I thought they looked pretty pedestrian and said that the team would lose a number of games. Pretty sure they went on to win 111 in a row after that. I couldn't post the quote here because I couldn't find it in a search. Maybe it's old enough that it's gone, in which case I'm making this up and would NEVER doubt Geno! Prove me wrong!

My "best" hot take, I guess, would be after the 2016 / 2017 basketball season where I said: "Perception is reality with basketball recruits. You don't typically come back from where KO is right now. Maybe PJ Carlissimo at Seton Hall? I have to assume we'll be looking at a new staff after this season. It could change, but I think the train is heading into the station." Not a Nostradamus moment, but I felt there was no way Ollie could come back from the position he and/or the transfers put him in.

 

[Rico444]

Add me to the list of people who thought TSam was going to be a great player for us.

 

[Tenspro2002]

He was ready right away but not 5 years later.

That's the irony.

Is my initial skepticism of KO a good take or a bad take? It looked silly in April 2014, but bang-on in 2015-2018. Here's another take of mine from September 2012:

"What narrative seems more likely 5 years from now?

1) Calhoun shoehorns his hand-picked, inexperienced choice into the job; nepotism backfires

2) Ollie is a coaching prodigy and despite minimal experience, excels at the job

It seems like there are a lot more ways for #1 to turn out to be correct."

 

[Dogdeacon]

Wow, I’m pissed at myself.

In your defense, I was purposely precise in wording ‘history buffs’ to set the trap and coming up on 40 years since the movie.

 

[intlzncster]

Random post from August 2012 when we were thinking about JC's successor and it was rumored KO would take over at some point:

"If this is really where we're leaning, it's time to can Blaney, promote Ollie to associate head coach, and hire a new assistant who Ollie will want to work with. Give Ollie 2 years in an elevated coaching capacity to learn the ropes, and hand him the reins after JC retires when his contract expires in 2014."

I didn't buy KO as ready to take over right away. Maybe there was something to that.

Can't believe you wanted to can Blaney though. That guy was an underrated piece of our last however many years. Great coach.

And as a special add on, he's one of the guys that really drove home the UCONN opportunity to Dan Hurley.

 

[intlzncster]

In your defense, I was purposely precise in wording ‘history buffs’ to set the trap and coming up on 40 years since the movie.

There's no defense. @UConnStats smh. Be better.

 

[Guapo]

Add me to the list of people who thought TSam was going to be a great player for us.

I distinctly remember a friend I talking about how, in 2015, we'd have a Porsche and Ferrari in the back court.

 

[champs99and04]

I hated the KG/Pierce trade for the Celtics...just couldn't understand why they would trade two all-NBA caliber players without in the very least getting one real young player in return. I also thought Stevens was better suited for the college game and wouldn't have any success in Boston. It's one of those times where I'm really thankful there aren't people on twitter who care about my opinion.

I'm stubborn enough to still think I'm right on a lot of the UConn/Ollie takes, even the ones that look bad now. Perhaps I overstated his heroism during the first two years, but the things he accomplished were very real and I don't see how you can separate his downfall from the divorce. It actually seems really obvious.

 

[mauconnfan]

Where to begin?

 

[mauconnfan]

Random post from August 2012 when we were thinking about JC's successor and it was rumored KO would take over at some point:

"If this is really where we're leaning, it's time to can Blaney, promote Ollie to associate head coach, and hire a new assistant who Ollie will want to work with. Give Ollie 2 years in an elevated coaching capacity to learn the ropes, and hand him the reins after JC retires when his contract expires in 2014."

I didn't buy KO as ready to take over right away. Maybe there was something to that.

There wasn't anything to it for 2 years that's for sure.

 

[rip7774]

Worst Take: It's ok we lost X recruit, I completely trust KO.

Blast from the Past: Tony Robertson is gonna be an all-time great for us! That one went up in smoke, you could say!

 

[intlzncster]

Worst Take: It's ok we lost X recruit, I completely trust KO.

Blast from the Past: Tony Robertson is gonna be an all-time great for us! That one went up in smoke, you could say!

I do think TRob was underrated in general though. Great all around player.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Can't believe you wanted to can Blaney though. That guy was an underrated piece of our last however many years. Great coach.

And as a special add on, he's one of the guys that really drove home the UCONN opportunity to Dan Hurley.

That wasn't because of anything against Blaney.

My thought at the time was that if KO was going to be the successor at some point, he should be promoted to Associate HC/Coach-in-Waiting so that he could take on more responsibility and get familiar with the HC role for a few years before being thrust into it. I figured Blaney would more likely retire than accept a demotion.