Seth Davis (ahem) link ..... about UConn's future

[HuskyV]

As long as we do not hire Craig Eshrick or Brian Mahoney we will do OK.

Go with the most qualified person, rather than a strict loyalty play of automatically giving the job to the guy in the 2nd chair.

That said, I would be glad to see someone on the current bench get the job.

 

[willie99]

Seth Davis, the only man less accurate with his predictions would be Doug Gottnothing

hence, this is great news

seriously

 

[EROCK CONN]

ahhh guys....hellllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo...................we're doomed.

 

[Henry]

Thinks UConn headed back to the wilderness .... after Calhoun is gone.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../Hoop.Thoughts.UConn/index.html?sct=cb_t11_a0

He's assuming no one worth anything would want to coach here. What nonsense! Connecticut has a long basketball traditon regardless of whether or not they had previously won championships. Support for the program has always been strong and will continue. Indiana has a better basketball tradition than we do? Who coached there before Bobby Knight? What about Duke after Coach K leaves? As long as the boosters support the program, UConn basketball will be fine.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Uconn is easily a top ten coaching gig. Brad Stevens and shaka types would jump at the chance. What jobs are "better"?

Unc, Kentucky, Indiana, duke, ucla (maybe), Kansas... That's about it... Only teams even in conversation after that are Arizona, Louisville, Ohio state, Syracuse (who wants to live there?), Michigan state, G town?

I mean... Uconn is a top ten hands down program, people will line up the door for calhoun's table scraps... But Calhoun needs to see the team through this apr period... Which, Hopefully will be resolved Friday (and if it isn't we will sue the sh't out of them)

 

[Excalibur]

Bottom line. All of this has me leaning toward paying a guy like Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart instead of hiring Ollie. I just can't go back to living in a world where UConn sucks, this season blows. Don't get me wrong, I would love for KO to get the job and succeed, but it sure would save me a lot of stress to just get a guy like Stevens instead.

I think that hiring Ollie would be a colossal mistake.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Also, back to the point of this thread. Seth Davis' article is hugely inappropriate for a guy of (supposedly) that level. Everyone is just taking pot shots at uconn right now because they're haters. Everyone in the media thinks we stole our championships from duke and has been hating ever since as they'd rather "clean coach k" has it all, nevermind Corey magette....... And then last year they were desperate to have the cinderella Hoosiers story and we effed that up too.

You would expect more from the heads of the business. What did they say when lute Olson left Arizona (which is a very comparable new-to-the-big-time program) ? They said they'll be fine no matter what cause they're a top ten program.

I'm going to wait until after Friday when, hopefully, the NCAA does the right thing and decides that it wouldn't overburden their outlook inboxes to use the most recent apr data. At that point we will hear from Bilas and we'll see if there is any integrity at all left in the NCAA basketball reporting profession. Though after having typed that I wonder why I expect integrity at all, they're just wanna be journalists that have no clue what's going on in Syria.

If the NCAA chooses otherwise we're going to sue their asses off and win. Retroactive law does not fly in the US of A

 

[Walker11]

Every sports analysts on the major networks is a former player or coach. Seth Davis is the only exception i think. Why is that?

The fact that his dad is a big shot political type helps I bet.

This guy actually speculates that AO will transfer for his senior year so that really tells you all you need to know about the stupidity of the article.

 

[freescooter]

The responses to this article are pretty funny when you compare them to what people write on other threads about possilbe Calhoun replacements. Jeez, this guy is saying almost exactly what 95% of the posters o the "its time thread" are...that UCONN is Jim Calhoun and we'll never survive his retirement. I don't believe it for a second. I think the University is in so much diferent a place from where it was in 1986, and the atletic department is among the major ones in the country now, with nationally compettitive programs in baseball, soccer, in additon to mens and womens basketball, an upward trending football program...get the right coach, and there will be very much interest, and we'll be fine. Back to the NCAA tournament. Might it take a year or two to re-adjust? Sure. But that is normal with any coaching change. But we're not going back tot he wildersness.

 

[Marty Jackson]

BE Basketball still has Villanova, Georgetown, Cincy, Memphis, Uconn, Marquette, ND, Houston, and UofL (for now)... That's still a strong nucleus. Not as east as it used to be but still a top BB league.

 

[fortebleedsblue]

Unfortunately I agree with Seth. Unless UConn is willing to dish out that $$$ and bring in a big name to keep the train rolling ... 'UConn' basketball will be a memory..

 

[freescooter]

Unfortunately I agree with Seth. Unless UConn is willing to dish out that $$$ and bring in a big name to keep the train rolling ... 'UConn' basketball will be a memory..

there is no reason to think either of those things won't happen. Though I would prefer an up and coming coach,I'd personally drive Shaka Smart from the airport, than an established name, unless it was Miller maybe. On the other hand, if they pick Ollie, you may be right...that would be the cheap route.

 

[junglehusky]

There are three kinds of reporting - one is fact based straight reporting of events, another is opinion-based arguments, and the third is stuff to fill in the 24 hour news cycle and generate ratings / page clicks. The first two can be done well, or done badly, and may be presented in a neutral fasionor with a bias/agenda. But even if you disagree with a columnists' opinion, sometimes they can be worth reading. The third is worth less than the paper / pixels they're printed on. More and more, that's the category seth davis falls into.

 

[rman726]

Unfortunately I agree with Seth. Unless UConn is willing to dish out that $$$ and bring in a big name to keep the train rolling ... 'UConn' basketball will be a memory..

I agree. For as much as I hate some of his columns, you would have to be a liar if you say that you haven't thought about this exact same scenario happening. I grew up in CT, so I obviously love UConn, but visiting Storrs leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, it's not a bad college town or anything, but its hard to not believe that the fact that Calhoun is there had a hell of a lot to do with our success in the past decade.

Whatever happens, we always have our 3 incredible championship seasons to look back on, but its hard to not be at least be a little concerned.

there is no reason to think either of those things won't happen. Though I would prefer an up and coming coach,I'd personally drive Shaka Smart from the airport, than an established name, unless it was Miller maybe. On the other hand, if they pick Ollie, you may be right...that would be the cheap route.

Maybe so, but Calhoun has done a hell of a job in finding the diamond in the roughs in terms of players. Maybe he knows what he is talking about when he highly recommends Ollie? How stupid would we look if we ignored Calhoun, and Ollie became "the next Brad Stevens"? I've had faith in Calhoun for the last two decades. If he tells the AD that Ollie is the right man for the job, then I have no problems with our AD trusting his judgement. If Ollie can't get it done, then we move on after 3 lackluster years. But I say give the man a chance.

 

[UConnfan8]

i agree with seth. seriously. as much as this will ruin my life if what he says actually happens..this is just what hes being paid to do...be a journalist and see the other side of things. a story book ending is the other side of things right now. maybe this is my minor in journalism talking right now, but please. everyone has thought about everything he's said recently. lets just hope and pray the uconn can survive whatever comes to them. davis is no doug gottlieb.

 

[EricLA]

i don't disagree the guy's an ass, but two examples - UCLA and Indiana. two storied programs that have been mired in mediocrity. then again, other programs have rebuilt with new coaches. it's totally possible, but the next guy is going to have his work cut out for him...

 

[NHUConnfan]

i don't disagree the guy's an ass, but two examples - UCLA and Indiana. two storied programs that have been mired in mediocrity. then again, other programs have rebuilt with new coaches. it's totally possible, but the next guy is going to have his work cut out for him...

I'm sorry, but WHAT?

It was just a couple of years ago when UCLA made 3 straight Final Fours...

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I grew up in CT, so I obviously love UConn, but visiting Storrs leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, it's not a bad college town or anything, but its hard to not believe that the fact that Calhoun is there had a hell of a lot to do with our success in the past decade.

This would be a valid argument if men's basketball was the only successful sports program at Uconn. As I said earlier in this thread, did the members of the baseball and soccer teams commit to Uconn because of Jim Calhoun?

 

[freescooter]

I'm sorry, but WHAT?

It was just a couple of years ago when UCLA made 3 straight Final Fours...

I was thinking the same thing! Maybe when you win 11 titles in titles in 13 years, UCLA s experience seems poor, but sheesh, after Wooden retired in 1975 they went to the final 4 in 76 and 80, won it all in 1995, and went to 3 straight final fours from 2006-2008. To give some perspective, UCLA has missed the NCAA tournement 7 times since Wooden retired. UCONN has missed it 3 times since 1999. And for the first 10 of those years, the Tourney field was between 32 and 48. UCLA during that period also won the NIT and went to the NIT finals when the NIT was still a meaningful event.

 

[Inyatkin]

It's not like this is totally off-base. Maybe UConn will turn into Rutgers once Calhoun is gone. No one knows. The problem is when people like Davis and Forde seem to be openly rooting for that to happen, as if we have it coming because Calhoun was mean to them or something.

 

[EricLA]

I'm sorry, but WHAT?

It was just a couple of years ago when UCLA made 3 straight Final Fours...

my point was after Wooden UCLA fell off the map. there were years where they weren't a factor nationally. not even ranked in the top 25. UNC was out of the top 25 during the Dougherty era. there are lots of teams out there that had great runs with certain coaches who, after those coaches left, weren't able to remain in the top. that was the only point i was trying to make.

maybe UCLA wasn't the best example. but do you really think no matter who the next UCONN coach is, we'll achieve the same success as with Calhoun? i know that's not what you are saying, but i'm just trying to point out that the next guy after JC is going to have a rough go of it. maybe we'll be great, maybe we'll never make another final 4...

 

[Yonick]

Other than the states of KY, NC, & IN, I doubt there is another state with as rabid a fan base as here in CT. This means after JC UConn will remain strong.
As a very long time supporter of UConn (I go back to the Hugh Greer days) I was surprised it took so long (50's to late 80's) for UConn's admins to catch up to it's fandom's desires. Now that we've been there for nearly 30 years we ain't going backwards. Much to the chagrin of PC or UMass fans.

 

[Gurleyman]

The best case scenario is that we rejuvenate under a new coach. The worst case scenario is probably Arkansas. Their window of success was much smaller than ours (they had a Final Four in 1990 before they were champs in 1994, and runners-up in 1995), but they did fall off the face of the earth when the Nolan Richardson magic died and he was forced out, and they haven't filled the void yet.

 

[djct1999]

With the right coach, Uconn can absolutely maintain their high level of success. In this era of AAU connections and "one and dones", the right coach can build on the foundation Calhoun has built and run away with it. Calhoun has established the program as "elite" status. The right coach can come in and immediately succeed.

 

[freescooter]

eric,

Sure you can be down if you hire the wrong coach, or if you end up in the NCAA doghouse. But UCLA has been pretty solid since Wooden left. As I said, they missed 7 NCAA tournaments in 35 years. They have been to a final Four at least once in each decade. Won it all in 1995. Indiana was a mess after Kelvin Sampson, for sure, with all the penalties, but don't forget that Mike Davis brought them to the title game in his second year. Crean looks to have righted the ship (aren't they ranked 17-18 ish right now?) UNC under Gutheridge was awful...only 2 final fours in 3 seasons. Dougherty was a disaster, but an example of what can happen when you hire a guy based on his playing career...he had 1 modestly successful season at Notre Dame but was in no way prepared for the rigors of running a program like UNC. Obvioulsy ol' Roy has done ok...Basically they had 2 years under Dougherty when they were down (they went to the 2nd round of the tournament his 1st season). At that point, UNC said "Enough. Here's your hat, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out" and went out and got Roy. I would hope that if Ollie gets the job, UCONN shows a similar level of patience...we go 8-20, 17-15 in his first two seasons and its out the door. 2years with no NCAA bid and he gets his ticket out of town...As long as we don't mess around and say, well, he's a UCONN guy we need to give him every benefit of the doubt, I guess I would be ok with it. But Dougherty is exactly an example of what I'm worried about, a former star with limited experiece as a head coach who is simply over his head with a power program. And his 1 year at Notre Dame, where basketball is not nearly what it is at UNC or UCONN, is far more than Ollie has.