Real Problem and Real Cure

[huskymagic]

That loss last night really left a sour taste in our collective tastebuds. There is no upside or optimistic takeaway from these last 2 games least of all watching Jeff Goodman and Dickie V hammer us on Twitter. However, looking closely at these last 2 games as well as our personnel and coaching for the last 3 years, there are several things that stand out.

Problem: They players we have been getting have been overrated to say the least. The only players that were good pickups by Ollie have been Brimah, Hamilton, and this year's freshman class. In term's of recruiting, Ollie has been OK, but definitely not great looking at who we have brought in. Lubin, Nolan, Facey, Enoch, Polley, Carlton don't signify great recruiter as Rutgers can get those players as well as a 100 other schools.

Ollie's recruiting philosophy has been off. He is recruiting SOFT players who lack intangibles, basketball smarts, TOUGHNESS, and basketball IQ. Furthermore, he is getting the same interchangeable type of players with the same skillset(slashers) or project bigs with no skills. This has to change for UCONN to be great again. This year's (2016 class) has the potential to be a good class. Most urgent needs are high IQ shooters like Vance and one ready made big man.

--Ollie's personality(cheerleaders, preacher, inspirational motivator, best friend to players) is another thing that he needs to rectify ASAP. I have said this numerous times that players need to FEAR and RESPECT their coach to perform at the highest level. His crybaby face and holding his face does not instill respect or strike fear in players.

---Decision making--His obsession with constant lineup changes during the games and taking guys out at the worst times have been detrimental to team success. Vance Jackson who is showing to best one of our best players and definitely our most intelligent player on the court, was performing well in the first half, and inexplicably takes him out with like 10 minutes to go in favor of Rodney who did nothing, and sat on the bench until the 13 minute mark of the second half.
---After re-watching the game, he did the same thing with Brimah who was one of our most effective players and by far our best big man. With Brimah UCONN took a 3 point lead in the second half. He takes him out after a Brimah block, inserts Enoch in and we give up back to back threes to Northeastern to give them the lead for good after that. This type of philosophy is inexplicably and severely impacted the outcome of the game last night.

Alterique also needs to be reigned in when he is erratic. Christian Vital needs to get a lot more playing time. Ollie needs to shorten the bench. 8 Guys max should be the rotation with Vital first guy off the bench.

Lineup: Alterique, Jalen, Terry, Vance, Brimah
Bench: Christian Vital, Rodney, Facey

 

[Hoophound]

I think KO has an issue with hot hands. He seems to constantly watch the guy with the hot hand and sub him out while ignoring the disaster right in front him. He never seems to feel momentum shifts good or bad and react to them with a TO or a logical sub.

I wonder if he's thinking, "Rodney is better than Vance and Vance just scored a quick 6 points, I'll put Rodney in and we'll bury them".

Same with Brimah, he is blocking shots, active under the hoop and boom---sit him. "We got a 3 point lead with Brimah, I'll swap him out for Terry and go small, run, score we'll bury them".

It's as if he cant see the problems so he goes away from what IS working when he tries to change the game up and get the whole team going.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Hopefully Vital can get back soon, same with diarra, and we can figure this whole thing out

 

[Husky25]

They said Vital was hurt last night and retreated to the locker room before the game even started Probably Definitely could have used him.

 

[Husky25]

Hopefully Vital can get back soon, same with diarra, and we can figure this whole thing out

It's a good point. UConn is down 2 key contributors.

Still, unless my 10 month old wakes up earlier than normal (it's my night to tend to him), I'm going to need a compelling reason to stay up 'til midnight on Thursday.

 

[Huskybass]

It's a good point. UConn is down 2 key contributors.

Still, unless my 10 month old wakes up earlier than normal (it's my night to tend to him), I'm going to need a compelling reason to stay up 'til midnight on Thursday.

"Key contributors" may be stretching things a bit. While I have high hopes for both Vital and Diarra (in time), they have scored a total of five points between them thus far.

 

[Husky25]

"Key contributors" may be stretching things a bit. While I have high hopes for both Vital and Diarra (in time), they have scored a total of three points between them thus far.

5 points in 14 minutes with 3 DNPs between them. The point is the bench is artificially shrunk and Ollie (let alone fans) really has no clue what they can contribute or how they fit. It's not like Noyes and Foxon are taking their spot in the rotation.

 

[UConn76]

Couple of real issues..

* Teams will always throw a zone at us because a) our big men don't play like big men and how no post presence and b) a 2-3 zone takes away the wing shots that our players love to throw up.

* No penetration against the zones leads to constantly contested shots

* On side the defensive side, teams run the clock down with real ball movement against us with high picks that open up 3 pt shots and because we always play man-to-man, our bigs are out of position to be a positive force on the boards..

Poor shooting, no rebounding equals 0-2...and since our bigs can't change overnight, unfortunately, I think we continue to struggle. Diarra can't be the answer all by himself once he gets healthy..

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I know many of you think Ollie is soft on the players compared to Calhoun, but who are we to know what goes on behind closed doors? Ever wonder why Diarra and Vital are "injured"? Maybe KO's grueling practices have left these young men crippled?

 

[Tommyboy]

I think KO has an issue with hot hands. He seems to constantly watch the guy with the hot hand and sub him out while ignoring the disaster right in front him. He never seems to feel momentum shifts good or bad and react to them with a TO or a logical sub.

I wonder if he's thinking, "Rodney is better than Vance and Vance just scored a quick 6 points, I'll put Rodney in and we'll bury them".

Same with Brimah, he is blocking shots, active under the hoop and boom---sit him. "We got a 3 point lead with Brimah, I'll swap him out for Terry and go small, run, score we'll bury them".

It's as if he cant see the problems so he goes away from what IS working when he tries to change the game up and get the whole team going.

I notice this all the time. I have mentioned it a couple times during the chat. It is just odd. Someone is playing well or that unit is playing well, and then he changes it up. Its not for rest or anything as I have seen it multiple times after a short run. I just dont get it.

 

[dogpause]

Maybe it's time to fire a warning shot across the bows of Purvis, Facey and Brimah. I can't see investing much more playing time in players who simply have not progressed much after 3 years. Enoch makes mistakes, but he's barely had any playing time. Perhaps we need to start investing in the younger guys.

 

[Dove]

Life sucks when that rancid taste of Wagner in our mouths is taken away by horrid Northeastern mouthwash.

Just sucks.

 

[huskymagic]

I think KO has an issue with hot hands. He seems to constantly watch the guy with the hot hand and sub him out while ignoring the disaster right in front him. He never seems to feel momentum shifts good or bad and react to them with a TO or a logical sub.

I wonder if he's thinking, "Rodney is better than Vance and Vance just scored a quick 6 points, I'll put Rodney in and we'll bury them".

Same with Brimah, he is blocking shots, active under the hoop and boom---sit him. "We got a 3 point lead with Brimah, I'll swap him out for Terry and go small, run, score we'll bury them".

It's as if he cant see the problems so he goes away from what IS working when he tries to change the game up and get the whole team going.

This is why you have a long-time assistant in the program like Glen Miller for no? Being Ollie's right hand man, he should be giving him some advice like "Coach maybe we should stick with Vance when he's got the hot hand, or coach Amida is playing solid let's not ruin it by bringing Enoch from the bench at this moment." It really is inexplicable that when a guy is hot on the floor Ollie thinks by subbing him out somehow the team will go on a run with your hot hand on the bench as if we have Jeremy Lamb and Josh Boone coming off the bench.

 

[Kenny11]

Vance should play 30 minutes a game, especially if a team goes in a zone. He is a real shooter that actually draws attention from defenses (an actual threat!). Defenses are hoping for Purvis to shoot a long 3 when he gets the ball. Defenses are trying to make sure Vance doesn't catch the ball in shooting range. This makes a big difference in spacing. Plus, the kid is big and seems to be able to finish through contact. He doesn't have the quickest feet, but his defense has actually been better than some of our more athletic players.

Rodney needs to play a lot less. He isn't a smart player and he doesn't make any of his teammates better. Maybe it isn't fair to blame him for this, but it seems like some of the guys are following his lead with the whole put your head down and pray that you get fouled or make a crazy layup thing. He should be a good defensive player, but he isn't showing it.

Adams doesn't look comfortable on the wing with Gilbert at the point, but I think it is worth sticking with this. He should be able to adjust. Despite the horrible start, the starting line-up last night is something that should be considered again.

Brimah looks like he really cares. He will always frustrate me, but he appears to be the guy at the 5.

Does everyone on this team have bad hands? So many times they are stripped going to the basket, get rebounds stolen from them when they are in grasp, etc.

Choose Facey or Enoch or Durham and let one of them get minutes. All 3 do not need to play. Anyone who has played basketball before knows that 10 man rotations just suck for chemistry. I understand that Ollie is trying to find something that works, but it may be better to just decide before the game, what the big man rotation is going to be.

 

[Caronimo]

That loss last night really left a sour taste in our collective tastebuds. There is no upside or optimistic takeaway from these last 2 games least of all watching Jeff Goodman and Dickie V hammer us on Twitter. However, looking closely at these last 2 games as well as our personnel and coaching for the last 3 years, there are several things that stand out.

Problem: They players we have been getting have been overrated to say the least. The only players that were good pickups by Ollie have been Brimah, Hamilton, and this year's freshman class. In term's of recruiting, Ollie has been OK, but definitely not great looking at who we have brought in. Lubin, Nolan, Facey, Enoch, Polley, Carlton don't signify great recruiter as Rutgers can get those players as well as a 100 other schools.

Ollie's recruiting philosophy has been off. He is recruiting SOFT players who lack intangibles, basketball smarts, TOUGHNESS, and basketball IQ. Furthermore, he is getting the same interchangeable type of players with the same skillset(slashers) or project bigs with no skills. This has to change for UCONN to be great again. This year's (2016 class) has the potential to be a good class. Most urgent needs are high IQ shooters like Vance and one ready made big man.

--Ollie's personality(cheerleaders, preacher, inspirational motivator, best friend to players) is another thing that he needs to rectify ASAP. I have said this numerous times that players need to FEAR and RESPECT their coach to perform at the highest level. His crybaby face and holding his face does not instill respect or strike fear in players.

---Decision making--His obsession with constant lineup changes during the games and taking guys out at the worst times have been detrimental to team success. Vance Jackson who is showing to best one of our best players and definitely our most intelligent player on the court, was performing well in the first half, and inexplicably takes him out with like 10 minutes to go in favor of Rodney who did nothing, and sat on the bench until the 13 minute mark of the second half.
---After re-watching the game, he did the same thing with Brimah who was one of our most effective players and by far our best big man. With Brimah UCONN took a 3 point lead in the second half. He takes him out after a Brimah block, inserts Enoch in and we give up back to back threes to Northeastern to give them the lead for good after that. This type of philosophy is inexplicably and severely impacted the outcome of the game last night.

Alterique also needs to be reigned in when he is erratic. Christian Vital needs to get a lot more playing time. Ollie needs to shorten the bench. 8 Guys max should be the rotation with Vital first guy off the bench.

Lineup: Alterique, Jalen, Terry, Vance, Brimah
Bench: Christian Vital, Rodney, Facey

What's wrong with Rock Lubin? lol