Out Coached.......AGAIN

[Matrim55]

If Ollie is fired I'd be so mad. There is no way firing Ollie would do this program good. They'd probably lose Akinjo. Not to mention guys who would transfer. You think the roster is bad now? If Ollie is fired itd be a dumpster fire.

No one on the team can shoot. All the big men are raw and undersized. Gilbert is out. I agree the offense isn't good but they're playing 3 on 5. Anderson is useless. No big man is any good.

So your take is: "All these players are trash but we can't fire KO because then we'd lose them."

Okey doke.

The conference is hurting recruiting. I'm willing to give Ollie a few more yrs to right the ship.

We had a top 10 recruiting class literally last year. The year before that we had a top-30 recruit, a top 80 recruit and two of the top 3 postgrad transfers available.

And for some reason none of them improve, and the team just keeps getting worse.

I wonder what the common denominator is.

 

[Matrim55]

I can’t see how this game is anything more than what was predicted before the season started.

I appreciate your posts by the way.

The result is what was predicted. The way it played out – with our guys going iso to jack up contested 17-footers, and with our defense unable to guard the 3, and with nobody hitting the defensive boards – is like groundhog day, and that's where the concern is. There's no indication, anywhere, that KO has addressed the long-standing problems with regard to running an offense and protecting the 3-point line. If anything, those issues are getting (much) worse, which means there's little hope that they're going to get better after another offseason overhaul.

Appreciate the kind words btw.

 

[UCweCONN]

If Ollie is fired I'd be so mad. There is no way firing Ollie would do this program good
The conference is hurting recruiting. I'm willing to give Ollie a few more yrs to right the ship.

A few more years??! So the conference is the reason we suck? Why don't Cinci, SMU and now Wichita suck? Better coaching and better recruiting (not having all of their players transfer out after year one). The conference hasn't hurt them. We'll still be in the AAC in three years and KO hasn't shown he's a capable coach in this or any other conference. I hate to break it to you but if things go like this, there won't be anything left to turn around. As we learned from world history, "The most dangerous thing is hope."

 

[Bagel&Cheese]

WSU is better. Period.

That pretty much sums it up.

 

[Athlete94]

WRONG!!!!

WRONG!!!!

Well said...

 

[KembaStepback]

So your take is: "All these players are trash but we can't fire KO because then we'd lose them."

Okey doke.


We had a top 10 recruiting class literally last year. The year before that we had a top-30 recruit, a top 80 recruit and two of the top 3 postgrad transfers available.

And for some reason none of them improve, and the team just keeps getting worse.

I wonder what the common denominator is.

That's not what I said. The current guys are either raw or one dimensional. Not trash.
Wsu just joined the conference.
The guys uconn has gotten in recruiting...gilbert, the star, has played what 5 games? Vance was an attitude problem. Durham has no knees. Polley and carlton will be fine and we haven't seen Sid play. Give it a chance.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Man, do you hear yourself?! Everything you said is on the coach.. anyone who ever coached or played knows that.. stop. The excuses! He recruited them, those are his kids, therefore it’s his problem.. move on

He recruited JA ,Larrier,Vital, Gilbert, Diarra, Wilson, maybe Polley and Whaley
Scratch Sscratch Gilbert &Wilson
Larrier is coming off a torn ACL and the rest of the team we’re desperation
I’m sure KO vision
for this year
JA
Larrier
Gilbert
Jackson
Enoch
With a bench that included
Vital
MAL
Wilson
Polley
Whaley
Diarra

Sometimes you don’t get what you wish for

 

[zls44]

Sometimes you don’t get what you wish for

Yeah, man, its really unfair to judge him on the fact that 25% of the guys you listed wanted to get as far away from him as possible. One went to New Mexico, one went to a program that's going to be nuked by the NCAA and still stayed there, another went to rural Indiana and another actually thinks Ed Cooley is going to better prepare him for the next level.

I honestly can't decided which is the biggest indictment out of the four of them.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Yes, it’s everyone else’s fault except for the players. Maybe if they weren’t so soft and a bunch of kittens they might actually win a few games. You know you have good players when the coach has to coach effort and b-ball IQ. It’s up to the player to work on his skills, not the coach. The team can’t shoot. Maybe they should get to the gym and work on their shooting. Maybe Larrier should work on his ball handeling and get in the weight room and put some weight on. Again, all things the players should do on their own!!!!!!

We are now 4 seasons in,
having rotated a multitude of varied “players” rookies and veterans, including top recurits (Facey, Brimah, Purvis, Hamilton, Jalen, Vance Jackson, Sterling Gibbs, Larrier, Durham, Enoch, Gilbert, Vital, etc..), and best we have to show in our now 4th season is 1 NCAA tournament appearance. Sorry, the player excuse has got to end. The Problem is the Head Coach.

 

[ZenConn]

It’s up to the player to work on his skills, not the coach. The team can’t shoot. Maybe they should get to the gym and work on their shooting.

^^^^ This. Coaches can spend 20 hrs max a week running supervised practices. The rest of the work needs to be put in by the players.

Chief had said in another thread and it's clearly evident from the product on the floor.

"Quite frankly, over the years, some teams have the atmosphere where guys push each other to put in extra work. I have not seen that in the recent 2-3 years. I just go by what I see. Gilbert and perhaps Vitale are exceptions to this observation"

I am not saying the coaches aren't at fault here. They definitely have to get better as well.

 

[willie99]

WSU is better. Period.

and experienced and have played together for a while

not enough people seemingly appreciate this

 

[JMick]

If Ollie is fired I'd be so mad. There is no way firing Ollie would do this program good. They'd probably lose Akinjo. Not to mention guys who would transfer. You think the roster is bad now? If Ollie is fired itd be a dumpster fire.

No one on the team can shoot. All the big men are raw and undersized. Gilbert is out. I agree the offense isn't good but they're playing 3 on 5. Anderson is useless. No big man is any good.

The conference is hurting recruiting. I'm willing to give Ollie a few more yrs to right the ship.

You can't be serious? Ollie makes the team. He recruits the players. If the players suck it's on him. How do some people still not understand that?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Some have compared Ollie's Ollieisms and rah rah attitude to Bob Diaco's insanity. I think Ollie is more like Pasqualoni.

PP has shown since he left UConn he can still coach. He did well returning to NFL and has done very good at BCU.

PP's biggest weakness was he needed higher level talent that was already plug and play ready. PP had a craptastic weight and conditioning program and try to run zone reads for the Oline that depends upon all five linemen making correct reads. It's an NFL or high level D1 talent type of offense. It's not something kids coming out of HS can execute. Ollie's offense is predicated on shooters, isolation pick and rolls and bigs who catch and shoot near the rim. Neither Pasqualoni or Ollie were good at "coaching up" or developing talent that is raw. PP recruited multiple players who struggled to reach their talent at UConn but have made it in the pros. I suspect the same with Ollie. I don't think he is developing players to their potential.

 

[BlueandOG]

If Ollie is fired I'd be so mad. There is no way firing Ollie would do this program good. They'd probably lose Akinjo. Not to mention guys who would transfer. You think the roster is bad now? If Ollie is fired itd be a dumpster fire.

No one on the team can shoot. All the big men are raw and undersized. Gilbert is out. I agree the offense isn't good but they're playing 3 on 5. Anderson is useless. No big man is any good.

The conference is hurting recruiting. I'm willing to give Ollie a few more yrs to right the ship.

Ollie is a great guy and a national championship coach; however, he is failing. UCONN needs to weather this season and get a new coach, more of an X and O person, at the helm. We have the talent, but they are missing the leadership to win.

 

[mauconnfan]

If Ollie is fired I'd be so mad. There is no way firing Ollie would do this program good. They'd probably lose Akinjo. Not to mention guys who would transfer. You think the roster is bad now? If Ollie is fired itd be a dumpster fire.

No one on the team can shoot. All the big men are raw and undersized. Gilbert is out. I agree the offense isn't good but they're playing 3 on 5. Anderson is useless. No big man is any good.

The conference is hurting recruiting. I'm willing to give Ollie a few more yrs to right the ship.

I agree and also have to think some are right about KO needing to go. They will lose at least Akinjo probably and I am sure a mass exodus will also occur.

The funny thing would be watching these people when the first 2 years are total rebuild and see how they act after 11-20 and 15-16 for 2 more years. Problem is how can you think KO will suddenly get it? I mean we're in a tough, sad situation as fans right now.

 

[Saab04]

Ollie is a great guy and a national championship coach; however, he is failing. UCONN needs to weather this season and get a new coach, more of an X and O person, at the helm. We have the talent, but they are missing the leadership to win.

A national championship coach, but I give credit too Shabazz, Boatright, and Jim Calhoun for that championship. Obviously since then he’s done nothing. We’ve been simply regressing.

 

[mauconnfan]

A national championship coach, but I give credit too Shabazz, Boatright, and Jim Calhoun for that championship. Obviously since then he’s done nothing. We’ve been simply regressing.

Please stop the nonsense. Sure you need to give Shabazz credit he was amazing(so was Kemba so we take that away from JC?) but he had an awful soph year especially mentally and KO got him back. Also the guys you want to give JC credit for like Giffey and Deandre were no part of JC's plan nor were the very good until KO took them over. Boat was twice the defensive player as he was prior, he turned into a stopper. You can hammer KO all you want for the last 3 years it's awful but this BS of giving anyone else credit for the NC needs to stop.

 

[mauconnfan]

and experienced and have played together for a while

not enough people seemingly appreciate this

4 seniors with key minutes means a lot and they acted the part down the stretch as well as seeing they re well coached.

 

[UCweCONN]

I agree and also have to think some are right about KO needing to go. They will lose at least Akinjo probably and I am sure a mass exodus will also occur.

The funny thing would be watching these people when the first 2 years are total rebuild and see how they act after 11-20 and 15-16 for 2 more years. Problem is how can you think KO will suddenly get it? I mean we're in a tough, sad situation as fans right now.

It hurts when you rip off a bandaid. Maybe waiting as long as possible to fire KO will make it harder for recruits to find other landing places? Most schools will be done for 2018 and the pickings for our level of players won't be great. I'm not concerned with losing current players. If they're ok with the current losing culture, why wouldn't they welcome a new coach, especially a highly regarded one like Hurley? The new coach might also bring along some of his current recruits which could be a step up from our 300 range recruits.

 

[mauconnfan]

It hurts when you rip off a bandaid. Maybe waiting as long as possible to fire KO will make it harder for recruits to find other landing places? Most schools will be done for 2018 and the pickings for our level of players won't be great. I'm not concerned with losing current players. If they're ok with the current losing culture, why wouldn't they welcome a new coach, especially a highly regarded one like Hurley? The new coach might also bring along some of his current recruits which could be a step up from our 300 range recruits.

"Highly regarded" Hurely? 134-100 you think Akinjo or Matthews know of him? They need to do better if there's a change not settle.

 

[Saab04]

Please stop the nonsense. Sure you need to give Shabazz credit he was amazing(so was Kemba so we take that away from JC?) but he had an awful soph year especially mentally and KO got him back. Also the guys you want to give JC credit for like Giffey and Deandre were no part of JC's plan nor were the very good until KO took them over. Boat was twice the defensive player as he was prior, he turned into a stopper. You can hammer KO all you want for the last 3 years it's awful but this BS of giving anyone else credit for the NC needs to stop.

How would that take away from Calhoun? When Calhoun coached Shabazz, Boat, Giffey, and DeAndre lol Ollie didn’t coach Shabazz into a star, Calhoun did. Calhoun coached Kemba into a star, and many others. Calhoun imprinted his coaching into that 2014 National Championship team. What has Ollie done since then? All I’ve seen is his team going down hill since the championship. Of course, because it’s Kevin Ollie’s teams.

 

[UCweCONN]

"Highly regarded" Hurely? 134-100 you think Akinjo or Matthews know of him? They need to do better if there's a change not settle.

Ok, I'll play along. Like who? Coach K.....?

 

[mauconnfan]

How would that take away from Calhoun? When Calhoun coached Shabazz, Boat, Giffey, and DeAndre lol Ollie didn’t coach Shabazz into a star, Calhoun did. Calhoun coached Kemba into a star, and many others. Calhoun imprinted his coaching into that 2014 National Championship team. What has Ollie done since then? All I’ve seen is his team going down hill since the championship. Of course, because it’s Kevin Ollie’s teams.

Really you don't get what I said? Don't change the subject to what has he done since, I think I talked about that so read it again. Shabazz was not a superstar going into his junior year. He was a real nice "other guard" with a superstar next to him for his first NC then while trying to lead he had a rough time, had some lapses in judgement and he couldn't guide that team though turmoil, certainly not all on him but he did become quite a player under KO. Junior year he was a leader senior year he was tremendous. Sure JC had a piece but it's not right to take it away from KO because you don't like what he's doing since. And this wasn't all about Shabazz by the way, talk of the rest of the improving players especially what he did with Giffey and Deandre. Add in how he used a Kromah and you can't deny what he did, nor can I deny what he's done the last 2 years plus.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ok, I'll play along. Like who? Coach K.....?

You know I'm not sure but look at his body of work and tell me he's the guy to bring us back to championship caliber. What I see in him is improvement to make a few people smile, basically Randy Edsall. Will do a nice job but when everyone wants to make noise in the NCAA tourney or even get there all the time is this the guy?

I'm thinking high end asst, Capel someone suggested and I like that. Not sure he'd come but he's been a head coach and went back to help K, guessing a very good recruiter who has recruited at a higher level than Hurley. I like Danny, like watching his URI teams and root for them just don't see the next step of championship programs. I could be wrong, just a hunch.

 

[Saab04]

Really you don't get what I said? Don't change the subject to what has he done since, I think I talked about that so read it again. Shabazz was not a superstar going into his junior year. He was a real nice "other guard" with a superstar next to him for his first NC then while trying to lead he had a rough time, had some lapses in judgement and he couldn't guide that team though turmoil, certainly not all on him but he did become quite a player under KO. Junior year he was a leader senior year he was tremendous. Sure JC had a piece but it's not right to take it away from KO because you don't like what he's doing since. And this wasn't all about Shabazz by the way, talk of the rest of the improving players especially what he did with Giffey and Deandre. Add in how he used a Kromah and you can't deny what he did, nor can I deny what he's done the last 2 years plus.

And ALL of those players you’ve just mentioned had been coached by Calhoun. Shabazz was going to be a super star his Jr and Sr year regardless, He was COACHED by Calhoun. Shabazz was learning from the great Jim Calhoun and Kemba his freshman and Sophomore year, so to say he wasn’t a super star his freshman sophomore year is a ridiculous thing to say. Shabazz was sitting behind a star player, who was coached by Calhoun, his time was coming regardless. From what I have seen the past few years, especially this year is that Ollie cannot coach for shut. The teams he’s put together after the National championship has been horrendous, I wonder why. Maybe cause they weren’t coached by Calhoun, they are coached by Ollie. So, you’re not changing my mind my friend.

 

[mauconnfan]

And ALL of those players you’ve just mentioned had been coached by Calhoun. Shabazz was going to be a super star his Jr and Sr year regardless, He was COACHED by Calhoun. Shabazz was learning from the great Jim Calhoun and Kemba his freshman and Sophomore year, so to say he wasn’t a super star his freshman sophomore year is a ridiculous thing to say. Shabazz was sitting behind a star player, who was coached by Calhoun, his time was coming regardless. From what I have seen the past few years, especially this year is that Ollie cannot coach for shut. The teams he’s put together after the National championship has been horrendous, I wonder why. Maybe cause they weren’t coached by Calhoun, they are coached by Ollie. So, you’re not changing my mind my friend.

They weren't any good under JC and never saw the court, did you even watch Deandre or Giffey under JC? Ok I quit!

 

[Saab04]

They weren't any good under JC and never saw the court, did you even watch Deandre or Giffey under JC? Ok I quit!

Shabazz was learning from Kemba and Calhoun his freshman and sophomore year, then became a super star his junior and senior year. That does not mean it was Ollie’s doing. What has Ollie done with HIS players, which leads you to believe he is capable of coaching up a super star? All of his players are soft, inconsistent, has no grit, etc...

That National Championship team was jelling once Shabazz became a star his junior and senior year. Calhoun, I’m sure new Daniels, Giffey, Boat, and the rest of that team would come together once Shabazz took over. He recruited them all. It was Calhoun’s team!

Sorry Mau I like you, but please just stop.

 

[UCweCONN]

Deandre was a top 10 recruit. How many of those we've had since? How about top 20? Top 30?....After winning the NT in 2014, you'd think we'd have gotten some.

 

[tzznandrew]

The guys coming next year apparently can stroke it, so there's that. But damn, I've never seen a tUCONN team shoot like this.

2006-2007 shot 32% from 3 as a team and 46% overall.
2009-2010 shot 31% from 3 as a team and 48% overall.
This year is 30% and 45%, respectively.

So, this is the lowest, but we've had other years nearly as bad. But, though those teams were really bad, at least they had young players full of promise...

 

[MuchoDogYears]

2006-2007 shot 32% from 3 as a team and 46% overall.
2009-2010 shot 31% from 3 as a team and 48% overall.
This year is 30% and 45%, respectively.

So, this is the lowest, but we've had other years nearly as bad. But, though those teams were really bad, at least they had young players full of promise...

Interesting facts.
I’m going to speculate that those teams played better D (opposing teams shooting percentages?) and likely rebounded better than this years Huskies.

What are the facets of the game that UConn can hang their hat on?

Shooting? No. Rebounding? No. D? No. Assists? No. Turnovers? No. Inside game? No. Outside game? No. ISO ability? Maybe Yes. Effort? Maybe Yes.
So ISO and effort capabilities are what we get to hang our hats on. Which is why we can beat the bad teams and not the good teams.