UConnDan97
predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
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Meaning they've been in the system longer than 3 months. I'm sure you understood that, but whatever...
Our Fanbase Is Still Conflicted
- Thread starter jibsey
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Meaning they've been in the system longer than 3 months. I'm sure you understood that, but whatever...
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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?
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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
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Well our boosters are kind of nuts (Melio), so I don’t see too much of a conflict there.
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where's that money coming from?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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Whaaat? You seem skeptical.
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Another member of the Ollie inner circle comes here to defend him....
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KembaStepback
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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?
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?
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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?
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.
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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.
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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
predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
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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...
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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
predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
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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...
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Where ever it needs to come from. I cant imagine they'll give up what JC built at UConn for $10M. The money is somewhere, they'll find it.
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I'm convinced we are becoming irrelevant, and somewhat forgotten with each loss, especially the bad ones. None of our players are nationally known or recognized. When televised announcers continue to refer to our past and seem to struggle with good/new things to say about us. I seem to hear a lot of pity these days. Nearing February we are now usually listed as a bubble team in best case scenario. Like others said our road game arenas are less than half filled. We have no real exciting players or plays, sans Jalen (who balances highlights with miscues). We have no highlight dunkers, shot blockers or ball handlers. We seem to have a boring, undisciplined, unexciting product. Our starting lineups change so frequently, that sportscasters have to study 9 players so they can keep up. We have only one player that may sneeze at an AA list, but not this year. I don't expect to see any of our game replays, highlights (player or team) or special news on the major network sports news. We don't pass well, shoot well or play as a team well, so we look amateurish to the unfamiliar. All my family and friend (non UConn) who once were closet/remote UConn fans have moved on, not even asking how we are doing.
I watch games now multitasking, not making much noise, willing to miss a play or two to grab something, even answering the phone (I still don't make calls), and worse my family doesn't even know I'm watching the game upstairs/downstairs. Hell even after victories I don't even check the highlights or boxscore, just a writeup or two. I've become a casual, quiet and unemotional fanatic.
I could continue but the more I type the more depressed I get, and the more of an oblivion feeling sinks in.
Anyway I'm not conflicted, I'm just feeling hopeless about our immediate future. We need some exciting players again, because David O, Andserson, Vital, Larrier and others aren't enough to even get me clapping and stomping like days of old. Love me some Jalen but like the announcer said last night 'Jalen Island' ain't enough. Our Coach also seems resigned to accepting losing with standard/pat unemotional responses. At this point I don't even know what he wants to do or get out of this group of players, allowing them to shoot at will, make unforced turnovers, and make poor defensive decisions without any concern of repercussion or coaching penalty.
Where I once was a UConn basketball addict, I'm in involuntary recovery now. I'm so 'cured' that now if I miss a game (seen them all so far) I may no longer will feel sad or dejected, like I used to.
Losing Sucks (and we have a winning record)!
I watch games now multitasking, not making much noise, willing to miss a play or two to grab something, even answering the phone (I still don't make calls), and worse my family doesn't even know I'm watching the game upstairs/downstairs. Hell even after victories I don't even check the highlights or boxscore, just a writeup or two. I've become a casual, quiet and unemotional fanatic.
I could continue but the more I type the more depressed I get, and the more of an oblivion feeling sinks in.
Anyway I'm not conflicted, I'm just feeling hopeless about our immediate future. We need some exciting players again, because David O, Andserson, Vital, Larrier and others aren't enough to even get me clapping and stomping like days of old. Love me some Jalen but like the announcer said last night 'Jalen Island' ain't enough. Our Coach also seems resigned to accepting losing with standard/pat unemotional responses. At this point I don't even know what he wants to do or get out of this group of players, allowing them to shoot at will, make unforced turnovers, and make poor defensive decisions without any concern of repercussion or coaching penalty.
Where I once was a UConn basketball addict, I'm in involuntary recovery now. I'm so 'cured' that now if I miss a game (seen them all so far) I may no longer will feel sad or dejected, like I used to.
Losing Sucks (and we have a winning record)!
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Yea, so I don't post much. I generally just enjoy reading posts on recruiting threads and getting "inside" color on various aspects of the program. I felt compelled to post today because I'm just as frustrated as you are. I'm also as big a fan as you pr0bably are even though I don't have ~1,500 posts to pat myself on the back with. I'm defending Ollie not because I think he's the greatest coach alive, but because I don't want to make a change just to say we made a change. I am not convinced another coach does better with our current roster. That's about it.
temery
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Keep posting.
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maybe a bake sale or car wash.
cohenzone
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The issue is complicated. But there is a potential bigger bath for keeping him if the rest of this year isn’t better and he’s kept for another year with no turn around.
I’m not a fan of Ollie, but the five games before Memphis: including losses, were better. Just how fragile the team and progress were was demonstrated by the loss of Larrier. The likelihood of winning without him is small, but the style and organization you would hope wouldn’t be so glaring. And I get that not having Gilbert hurts a team so thin in difference makers and experience. Some of that: of course, is the result of departures, and how much of that is connected to how he relates to players or just plain ego on their part I certainly don’t know. The Memphis game was a reversion to bad form, no real ball movement leading to bad shots and bad shot selection. D wasn’t much better.
First off, not sure where you're headed with the "you're not a serious person" comment, but thanks.
If you think the sole reason we lost last night was our relative youth I don't know what to tell you. The worst player on our team was a 5th year transfer. The best player in the country right now is a freshman. The roster construction, just to hammer this point home again, is completely up to KO. We would have a solid sophomore class if half of them didn't decide to transfer this past offseason.
I would say that we lost last night because we were without one of our best players, our offense was predictable and awful, and we got sloppy on D. Does youth have something to do with that? Of course. But to keep blaming the team's youth without realizing why the team is young or that there are several other glaring issues as well is ridiculous.
Just one not-so-serious person's opinion.
UConnDan97
predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
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Again, you're not being serious. Because if you were being serious, you would be able to recognize the fact that even those 5th year players that we have on our squad have only been on Ollie's team for 4 months. And even after having said that, we do rely on Anderson to play a lot of minutes. But besides Anderson and Jalen (and DO), there wasn't a single upperclassmen on the floor in a UConn jersey. Furthermore, 5 of the 9 basketball players for UConn last night have only been playing college basketball for 4 months. I'm including Diarra in that calculation because he didn't play last year.
So yeah, that is what it is. The flip side to that is the fact that I believe that Carlton, Whaley, Williams, Polley, and Vital will be MUCH better next year than they are this year. You can see most of those players getting better already. And that's what the sign of a good coach is. Whaley and Carlton look like different level players from the first games that they played...
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UConn today makes me think of Pitt a while back. There was a significant portion of the fan base calling for Jamie Dixon to move on. Who do you get instead? Oh, well we'll bring in Sean Miller. Or Archie. Or Enfeld. Maybe a Hurley. Cronin or Willard?
Pitt's in the ACC. They'll land a top coach. All of those suggestions said no, and they hire Stallings.
Larry Brown?
Why not bring JC back?
Maybe pay KO and give him a chance to turn it around. You just extended his contract. You are going to pay him anyway. I don't think there is much of a choice to do anything else for a few years.
Stainmaster
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Keep wishing and hoping...shockingly, if they can come up with the cash, you and I both want the same thing to happen. But the stuff doesn't grow on trees.
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