Our Fanbase Is Still Conflicted

[John]

Have you seen the crowds over the past 2 seasons? Do you tune in to watch on TV like you used to? I know me and my buddies dont.

SouthBay is right, and it's happening now. He has already done $10m worth of damage to the brand.

I'm IN those crowds, and you're high if you think we've lost 10M worth of value.

 

[John]

You see the attendance this year? There's a bigger finical reality if UConn keeps him.

They'll be renting out sections at XL games to local high schools for archery practice next year if Ollie is still the coach.

that decrease was happening before Ollie.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm still on the Ollie train. Sorry. And I'm on the train because of the same reason that I was on it last year. Last night, there was exactly 1 UConn-trained upperclassman (Adams), and it showed. I'm not going to include Anderson and Onuorah in that list, because they are stop-gap players to fill a void.

Yes, we can go on and on about how the void is Ollie's fault. But the void is the void. Whaley is playing much better now. Carlton is playing much better now. Vital as a sophomore has sporadic games where he can rattle off 20 points. But we have no UConn-trained seniors and only 2 UConn-trained juniors, one of whom couldn't play last night. And again, it showed. And my opinion is that it would be difficult to squeeze out a lot more from this group as constructed with any other coach.

So I hope to see continued growth and hopefully things come together for post-season play. And next year, if Jalen stays especially, we will have a much different looking team than the one we have today...

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I'm still on the Ollie train. Sorry. And I'm on the train because of the same reason that I was on it last year. Last night, there was exactly 1 UConn-trained upperclassman (Adams), and it showed. I'm not going to include Anderson and Onuorah in that list, because they are stop-gap players to fill a void.

Yes, we can go on and on about how the void is Ollie's fault. But the void is the void. Whaley is playing much better now. Carlton is playing much better now. Vital as a sophomore has sporadic games where he can rattle off 20 points. But we have no UConn-trained seniors and only 2 UConn-trained juniors, one of whom couldn't play last night. And again, it showed. And my opinion is that it would be difficult to squeeze out a lot more from this group as constructed with any other coach.

So I hope to see continued growth and hopefully things come together for post-season play. And next year, if Jalen stays especially, we will have a much different looking team than the one we have today...

Anyone on this team is “Uconn trained”

 

[nms233]

"And my opinion is that it would be difficult to squeeze out a lot more from this group as constructed with any other coach."

100% Agree.

 

[UConnDan97]

Anyone on this team is “Uconn trained”

Meaning they've been in the system longer than 3 months. I'm sure you understood that, but whatever...

 

[RJScootin]

that decrease was happening before Ollie.

Agreed, but that has been accelerated with losing and having as painful an offense as there is to watch. Bringing Ollie back is throwing more cold water on the program. Isn't showing your fans you're committed to winning worth $10M?

 

[UConnStats]

It was reported that the big boosters are still in Ollie corner. So I don't think AD David Benedict is going to alienate them to satisfy those who don't donate want Ollie gone. Not to mention the financial situation of the state

Tough to take media reporting on that subject at face value. Ollie is losing more and more support by the day, that much is clear.

This isn’t too pretty either:

 

[Stainmaster]

Tough to take media reporting on that subject at face value. Ollie is losing more and more support by the day, that much is clear.

This isn’t too pretty either:

Well our boosters are kind of nuts (Melio), so I don’t see too much of a conflict there.

 

[John]

Agreed, but that has been accelerated with losing and having as painful an offense as there is to watch. Bringing Ollie back is throwing more cold water on the program. Isn't showing your fans you're committed to winning worth $10M?

where's that money coming from?

 

[Tex-Lager93]

It’s easy to be conflicted. He’s one of us - likely cares even more about the program than any fan or alum. I want to see him succeed. I also see good things on the horizon. I can’t imagine what adding Wilson and Akinjo and Matthews and Kisanus to an already young group would mean to the program. On the other hand, I feel like this every year...like we should be better with this current roster. And then we consistently underachieve...and play down to some of the worst teams in the land. And we run the same stale high pick and roll without having a big man to pass to...or an outside threat to kick it to for three...putting us next to last in assists per game (#350). I’m scared to blow this up because there is potential. But, I’m also frightened to continue down this same path which is ruining our basketball equity. It’s tough.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

Is it possible for AD to demote Ollie to Assistant Coach without generating the buyout? We could hire someone new and keep Ollie to just focus on recruiting?

 

[tentoes4rings]

Is it possible for AD to demote Ollie to Assistant Coach without generating the buyout? We could hire someone new and keep Ollie to just focus on recruiting?

So then you’d have a head coach making less than a very disgruntled and humiliated assistant coach. Ollie was and would be a perfect assistant but it will never happen.

 

[Storrs South]

Is it possible for AD to demote Ollie to Assistant Coach without generating the buyout? We could hire someone new and keep Ollie to just focus on recruiting?

Ah yes, Ollie will just hand over the captain's chair without a fight and someone will want to come in and steer a ship with the former captain sitting shotgun. Yup totally reasonable /s

 

[nomar]

Honestly, fire him, don't fire him, I don't care, as long as I never have to hear Pete Gillen speak ever again.

 

[80shusky]

Ah yes, Ollie will just hand over the captain's chair without a fight and someone will want to come in and steer a ship with the former captain sitting shotgun. Yup totally reasonable /s

Whaaat? You seem skeptical.

 

[Paesano]

I don't think another coach makes Antoine Anderson a better ball-handler or shooter. We have no one other than Adams that can handle the ball but he's also expected to score all our points and make his teammates better. I don't think another coach solves our spacing issues from last night given the personnel we have. Gilbert, Larrier, and Sid Wilson are on the bench. They have talent but they aren't playing. If they were playing, Vital doesn't get as many minutes and comes off the bench for 10-15 minutes like he should be doing.

Another member of the Ollie inner circle comes here to defend him....

 

[KembaStepback]

People on this board are so impatient. My god its mind boggling. We've had some really bad luck.

Losing Gilbert is SUCH a big blow. People downplay it and blame Ollie for even recruiting him but I find that to be so ridiculous. Everyone was PUMPED when he committed to UConn. Now because his shoulder has had issues it's Ollie's fault? Literally every broadcaster or coached asked about it has made a comment about how hard it is to lose a player like that. Not to mention that AA would be FINE as a 4th or 5th guard but now has to be the 3rd guard.
Some of it is on Ollie, some of it is not. From what I've seen so far this yr, the notion he cant get big men to develop is an absolute CROCK. I've seen Carlton and Whaley develop before my eyes. Did anyone ever consider that maybe Brimah and Enoch just didn't get it? Enoch never seemed like the sharpest tool in the shed. Facey improved under Ollie quite a bit. I find it ridiculous people want to condemn his coaching because 2 guys happened to not improve much even though Brimah was more than adequate.

If people really want to blame Ollie for getting blown out against a solid upper-class Memphis team without Larrier, they're fools. When at full strength UConn is easy to guard because they lack offensive weapons outside of Adams and Larrier (and sometimes Vital). Remove Larrier and it's really easy. Why don't people get that?

 

[Paesano]

I'm still on the Ollie train. Sorry. And I'm on the train because of the same reason that I was on it last year. Last night, there was exactly 1 UConn-trained upperclassman (Adams), and it showed. I'm not going to include Anderson and Onuorah in that list, because they are stop-gap players to fill a void.

Yes, we can go on and on about how the void is Ollie's fault. But the void is the void. Whaley is playing much better now. Carlton is playing much better now. Vital as a sophomore has sporadic games where he can rattle off 20 points. But we have no UConn-trained seniors and only 2 UConn-trained juniors, one of whom couldn't play last night. And again, it showed. And my opinion is that it would be difficult to squeeze out a lot more from this group as constructed with any other coach.

So I hope to see continued growth and hopefully things come together for post-season play. And next year, if Jalen stays especially, we will have a much different looking team than the one we have today...

You can speculate all you want that Ollie would do great with better players that have been around longer but that is all it is...speculation...and hope. You may be right. You are probably right if one assumes that those players were picked and developed by a better overall coach. But here is the catch, he doesn't have better or older players because those kids RAN OUT ON HIM!!! So long as kids keep leaving the program and Gilbert and Larrier keep getting injured, Ollie can coach forever with the same excuses. The problem with that scenario is that we will never be great again because he will never be able to keep enough kids to have a great team. Also, EVEN WITH THE INJURIES LAST YEAR, we had a team with plenty of talent and experience. That team was a disaster. So why assume, A. Players won't keep bailing on him and B. He will be able to win with better or older players because he certainly didn't last year?

 

[nms233]

Another member of the Ollie inner circle comes here to defend him....

Ollie inner circle?? Not so much. I get that fans are frustrated. I'm extremely frustrated. Making a change just to make a change isn't necessarily the right move though. It'll feel good for about 10 days until reality sets in again.

 

[champs99and04]

Tough to take media reporting on that subject at face value. Ollie is losing more and more support by the day, that much is clear.

This isn’t too pretty either:

Yikes. I think you can defend the mediocre product, you can defend some of the misses in recruiting, but when it comes to the brutal reality that your players don't want to be a part of the program, there isn't much you can do to dress it up.

As for the original topic, I don't think the board is actually that conflicted. There are a handful of people still squarely in Ollie's corner, but for the most part "waiting to see how things play out this season and hoping" has now become an optimistic take around here. The rest of it is going to boil down to variables that none of us can predict. We don't know what conference we're going to be in, we don't know whether the athletic department can withstand a buyout, and we don't know what kind of coach we can attract on the open market.

The read on the actual current coach is a lot closer to consensus than those things, IMO.

 

[Paesano]

Ollie inner circle?? Not so much. I get that fans are frustrated. I'm extremely frustrated. Making a change just to make a change isn't necessarily the right move though. It'll feel good for about 10 days until reality sets in again.

You are one of many brand new posters that seem to be defending KO. Well, maybe you aren't "brand new" but when I see a pro-Ollie post and it isn't August, Dan or Mau, it is usually someone with 5 posts.

 

[UConnDan97]

You can speculate all you want that Ollie would do great with better players that have been around longer but that is all it is...speculation...and hope. You may be right. You are probably right if one assumes that those players were picked and developed by a better overall coach. But here is the catch, he doesn't have better or older players because those kids RAN OUT ON HIM!!! So long as kids keep leaving the program and Gilbert and Larrier keep getting injured, Ollie can coach forever with the same excuses. The problem with that scenario is that we will never be great again because he will never be able to keep enough kids to have a great team. Also, EVEN WITH THE INJURIES LAST YEAR, we had a team with plenty of talent and experience. That team was a disaster. So why assume, A. Players won't keep bailing on him and B. He will be able to win with better or older players because he certainly didn't last year?

The kids that ran out on him would now be sophomores. You understand that, right? And it's not speculation to believe that teams perform better with players that are upperclassmen generally speaking. That's pretty much true of most basketball teams not named Kentucky (one-and-dones). So a player like Daniel Hamilton being a senior this year (or a junior last year) changes the complexion of the team. Hell, Larrier playing last night would have changed the complexion of the team.

Looking at this roster, it is easy for me to be excited for next year under at least one assumption; that we have at least one of AG, JA, or TL back. If we get two of the three back, that would be awesome. If we get none of them back, then we battle with a bunch of sophomores and hopefully Akinjo can run the point; the most important spot on a college team...

 

[PAHusky]

People on this board are so impatient. My god its mind boggling. We've had some really bad luck.

Losing Gilbert is SUCH a big blow. People downplay it and blame Ollie for even recruiting him but I find that to be so ridiculous. Everyone was PUMPED when he committed to UConn. Now because his shoulder has had issues it's Ollie's fault? Literally every broadcaster or coached asked about it has made a comment about how hard it is to lose a player like that. Not to mention that AA would be FINE as a 4th or 5th guard but now has to be the 3rd guard.
Some of it is on Ollie, some of it is not. From what I've seen so far this yr, the notion he cant get big men to develop is an absolute CROCK. I've seen Carlton and Whaley develop before my eyes. Did anyone ever consider that maybe Brimah and Enoch just didn't get it? Enoch never seemed like the sharpest tool in the shed. Facey improved under Ollie quite a bit. I find it ridiculous people want to condemn his coaching because 2 guys happened to not improve much even though Brimah was more than adequate.

If people really want to blame Ollie for getting blown out against a solid upper-class Memphis team without Larrier, they're fools. When at full strength UConn is easy to guard because they lack offensive weapons outside of Adams and Larrier (and sometimes Vital). Remove Larrier and it's really easy. Why don't people get that?

That "solid upper-class memphis team" replaced six players from last year and just waxed us. Losing Gilbert is a huge blow, no doubt, and last year that excuse held up especially well. This season? Gilbert came into the year having not played for a long time and off multiple surgeries. KO knew that. KO failed to land a kid (MAL) to replace him and filled the hole with Anderson instead, and we all know how that's turned out.

Saying "when at full strength uconn is easy to guard" is a huge indictment of how bad this team is constructed. When you ask "why don't people get that" the answer is - we do. A college coach is responsible for both a. constructing their team and b. coaching it, unlike in the NBA. KO has been pretty awful at constructing a balanced team the last few years, and the jury is out but likely coming back with the wrong verdict soon on his in game coaching.

If you think we're easy to guard this year, I've got some bad news for you about next season.....

 

[UConnDan97]

That "solid upper-class memphis team" replaced six players from last year and just waxed us.

Well then, you're not a serious person.

The top three scorers for Memphis last night were all Juniors. Four of their five starters are juniors. That's the difference, even if you choose not to believe it...