Seth Davis: How will we know if Ollie deserves the UConn job?

[HooperScooper]

2. How will we know if Kevin Ollie deserves the UConn job?

In many respects, Ollie, who signed a one-year contract after Jim Calhoun retired, is in an impossible position. All he has to do is take a team that lost three starters from a squad that bowed out in the second round of the NCAA tournament, take it through the rugged Big East with no postseason to play for, and make waves on the recruiting trail during a time of year where there is precious little happening on that front. And all with just two years of coaching experience, and none as a head coach. Easy, right?

So where should we -- or more specifically, UConn athletic director Warde Manuel -- set the bar? Should it be a certain number of wins? Or number of road wins? Should Ollie have to lock up a key commitment from a player who will bolt if Ollie doesn't get the job? Ollie's X's and O's acumen will be closely scrutinzed, but to me, that is the least important part of coaching. It would be more instructive to see whether his players get better as the season goes on, because that will be a reflection of how well he teaches.

In the end, the answer boils town to something simple: Let's see if Ollie's kids play hard for him. I mean really hard. Since UConn cannot compete in the postseason, including the Big East tournament, the only thing these kids will have to play for is 1) their own pride, and 2) their desire to see Ollie get the permanent job. If we get to the end of February and the Huskies are still diving on the floor, cheering for each other and playing their hearts out on defense, then Ollie will have earned his shot. If Ollie's players quit on him, it will make it easier for Manuel to do the same.

10 burning questions as the clock ticks down to Midnight Madness
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That's a fair assessment. Tough to judge him on only wins and losses on this season.

 

[EricLA]

Seems totally fair to me. I know JC really wants KO to succeed. I'm sure he will do whatever he can behind the scenes to help Ollie. KO's been instrumental in getting some good kids to come to UCONN (while under JC). It seems he has a great style and develops terrific relationships with recruits. While it appears he's struck out on XRM and Parker, he can still put together a solid class. Bottom line it seems he should be judged by how hard his kids play for him in addition to his reputation on the recruiting trail and how he develops the kids he has this year.

 

[rbny1]

IMO, we know that Ollie has many good qualities, including hard work, honesty and knowledge of the game, and that recruits are impressed by him. I would like to see whether he can run the overall program effectively as its CEO and do a good job managing the game.

I think the presumption should be that he will get an extension unless he does something awful or turns out to be incompetent. Because he is a novice head coach, I think he needs at least two or three years to show an ability to constantly improve his coaching skills and return UConn basketball to a high level. I am optimistic he will do so.

 

[nomar]

I really do think that if Ollie is judged by how hard his players play, he'll get extended sooner rather than later.

We got rid of some bad apples (well, one, mainly, but with AO you also got his father and the ghost of Jamal Coombs-McDaniel; also it's clear that Roscoe didn't want to be here, so I'll wish him luck and leave it at that). You can tell from reading the quotes of the returnees that they feel like it's a new beginning. That has to do with the new roster, a new attitude on the part of Shabazz, and of course, Kevin Ollie. Anyone who watched Ollie's press conference can only imagine what he's like in practice, the locker room, or a huddle. No question in my mind they will play their butts off.

 

[freescooter]

I'd say that's fair but...if UConn loses too many games, certainly 20 or more, and loses to some weak teams, I don't care how hard they play, Ollie will be a footnote in history. While it will be partly about how they play, no Athletic Director will completely disregard results.

 

[Scot-e]

Is he a good game day coach? That is the question- he has all the other tools he needs to be one of the best.

 

[8893]

I'm just glad to see that no one is writing about the contract situation, just as Husky Hawk stated.

 

[Pudge]

Stages

We will know a lot in the first 10 weeks. If they are playing well ... and IF it is the mid-90s intensity as KO stated ... I think he will have earned his way with this Team to take down a bunch in the BE. If he wins his share, then he'll be in a good position for a solid Spring recruiting harvest. I don't think there is a win total. I do agree that the CEO aspect of a Program is an unknown for him. We'll see a lot early.

 

[upstater]

And why will the players be incentivized to save Ollie's job exactly?

 

[caw]

And why will the players be incentivized to save Ollie's job exactly?

“There’s a lot of motivation for us,” Napier said. “We want the coach to stay in the family. We all love coach Ollie, and we all were a little upset that he was given only seven months.”

 

[upstater]

“There’s a lot of motivation for us,” Napier said. “We want the coach to stay in the family. We all love coach Ollie, and we all were a little upset that he was given only seven months.”

It's that kind of thing that's concerning. I compare it to the whole testing phenomenon for teachers' assessment. What's in it for my kids?

I disagree with Davis on this. It should come down to whether Ollie can handle Xs and Os, team preparation. That's what Manuel should be looking at. The team last year didn't exactly improve much over the year.

 

[8893]

And why will the players be incentivized to save Ollie's job exactly?

“There’s a lot of motivation for us,” Napier said. “We want the coach to stay in the family. We all love coach Ollie, and we all were a little upset that he was given only seven months.”

Pretty sure Tyler made similar comments on the day JC retired.

 

[aceboon]

Pretty sure Tyler made similar comments on the day JC retired.

Neils also, he said we play for that man's job. The guys want to play for Coach Ollie and see him remain as head coach, that's plenty of incentive to play hard for him.

 

[caw]

It's that kind of thing that's concerning. I compare it to the whole testing phenomenon for teachers' assessment. What's in it for my kids?

I disagree with Davis on this. It should come down to whether Ollie can handle Xs and Os, team preparation. That's what Manuel should be looking at. The team last year didn't exactly improve much over the year.

Honestly, I'm not sure what Manuel will assess Ollie on during this season. It's just such a flawed year to be assessing someone. I mean aside from extreme win or loss cases how do you back up your assessment?

Manuel should have just given him a two year contract, it really made so much more sense for assessment.

 

[arnie3]

This is not a very deep team that is sorely hurting up front. They're going to be bullied in the rugged BE. I don't know how Ollie can keep them motivated when they have just pride to play for. That said, I still think that Ollie and his staff are up to the task. If this team can play well in Germany and the pre-season tournament, win 12-14 games, I believe that this should be enough to land Ollie another contract. The bar can't be set higher, when you look at what we will have on the floor this year.

 

[freescooter]

Stages

We will know a lot in the first 10 weeks. If they are playing well ... and IF it is the mid-90s intensity as KO stated ... I think he will have earned his way with this Team to take down a bunch in the BE. If he wins his share, then he'll be in a good position for a solid Spring recruiting harvest. I don't think there is a win total. I do agree that the CEO aspect of a Program is an unknown for him. We'll see a lot early.

I pretty much agree that there isn't a win total in the sense that you must win 18 games. On the other hand, I do think that wins and losses have to come into play to some degree. Or maybe it is that there is a loss total rather than a win total. You can't lose 18-20 games in my mind. You can't lose to Vermont, New Hampshire, Stony Brook, teams like that, and with a relatively forgiving Big East Schedule, playing DePaul, Providence and South Florida as your home-home games, you can't be a 2 or 3 win conference team. If I counted correctly, I think have 30 games. he can't go 10-20 (2-16). And I don't think he can lose to every team that people have heard of either. He needs at least a couple of decent wins to hang his hat on. And I think timing will be important. I don't completely agree that the first 10 will tell you a lot. I don't think you can go 5-5, or 6-6 in the non-conference schedule, because that would mean you lost to at least a couple of weak teams, but if they were to struggle early and go for 5-6 over the last 11 with an upset of say, Syracuse, that would say something. If I were to guess, I'd say he does need to win 14-15 games and at least 5-6 Big East games. But Who and When will be more important than How many overall. A solid finish can offset a weak start, and conversely a weak finish will over shadow a strong start.

 

[Kitaman]

I'd say that's fair but...if UConn loses too many games, certainly 20 or more, and loses to some weak teams, I don't care how hard they play, Ollie will be a footnote in history. While it will be partly about how they play, no Athletic Director will completely disregard results.

I disagree. The logic is that even Calhoun would have a tough task in getting a lot of wins out of this squad. Its not the best situation for any coach, even if Smart (or similar) came in. Replacing a HOF coach in itself is impossible. I thinks wins will not be the criteria, even if to lesser teams. IMO Kevin's future will be based on potential shown and like the author said gaining the buy in from players and staff.

In other words, 'Is he establishing a solid foundation worth investing multiple years?' Play hard, don't quit, get everyone on the same page, and show the league you belong (i.e. be competitive)! Do that and he's our coach for a long time. To me its that basic.

 

[nomar]

“There’s a lot of motivation for us,” Napier said. “We want the coach to stay in the family. We all love coach Ollie, and we all were a little upset that he was given only seven months.”

Upstater, you kinda just got served.

 

[jdb50]

With the NCAA punishing players who have done nothing wrong I don't think playing hard will be a problem. Who wouldn't be completely ticked off everytime they took the floor. Every game is a tournament game for our team this year. Rebounding will be the key. With a veteran guard dominated lineup and no true center at this time we may resemble the team in the early Calhoun years.

 

[upstater]

Upstater, you kinda just got served.

Oh, really? OK. Surely, though, you don't want me posting Napier quotes from last year.
I mean, I'm buckling down for a very tough season. A competitive BE team will be just gravy. But when the losses pile up, and these kids see their pro careers on the ropes from the extreme pressures (as we saw last year) and you couple that with no postseason, a tentative future for the program in terms of coaching and recruits, I will be extremely impressed if they can keep up the intensity. If that happens, it will be the second or third finest coaching job (after 1999 and 2011) in UConn history, and it will make Ollie a must hire.

I honestly don't expect this from the players. Saving a coach's job when there are so many bigger things at stake for them should be the least of their concerns.

Maybe I'm just reacting because I hate this trend in assessment where the non-paid people must be tested to save the job of someone, and to give the bean counters a reason for being.

 

[Dogdeacon]

You cannot separate it like that. It's a team effort because Ollie's job in simplest terms is to build a team. Playing hard is a pretty good intangible way to evaluate the builder of a team. Given the handicaps going in I think it's as good of an evaluation as I can think of and the one I had in mind before I read the article.

 

[joober jones]

2. How will we know if Kevin Ollie deserves the UConn job?

In many respects, Ollie, who signed a one-year contract after Jim Calhoun retired, is in an impossible position. All he has to do is take a team that lost three starters from a squad that bowed out in the second round of the NCAA tournament, take it through the rugged Big East with no postseason to play for, and make waves on the recruiting trail during a time of year where there is precious little happening on that front. And all with just two years of coaching experience, and none as a head coach. Easy, right?

So where should we -- or more specifically, UConn athletic director Warde Manuel -- set the bar? Should it be a certain number of wins? Or number of road wins? Should Ollie have to lock up a key commitment from a player who will bolt if Ollie doesn't get the job? Ollie's X's and O's acumen will be closely scrutinzed, but to me, that is the least important part of coaching. It would be more instructive to see whether his players get better as the season goes on, because that will be a reflection of how well he teaches.

In the end, the answer boils town to something simple: Let's see if Ollie's kids play hard for him. I mean really hard. Since UConn cannot compete in the postseason, including the Big East tournament, the only thing these kids will have to play for is 1) their own pride, and 2) their desire to see Ollie get the permanent job. If we get to the end of February and the Huskies are still diving on the floor, cheering for each other and playing their hearts out on defense, then Ollie will have earned his shot. If Ollie's players quit on him, it will make it easier for Manuel to do the same.

10 burning questions as the clock ticks down to Midnight Madness


That's a fair assessment. Tough to judge him on only wins and losses on this season.

We lost in the first round there Seth.

 

[joober jones]

Well unless you count the play-in games.

 

[uconnfan68]

Honestly, I'm not sure what Manuel will assess Ollie on during this season. It's just such a flawed year to be assessing someone. I mean aside from extreme win or loss cases how do you back up your assessment?

Manuel should have just given him a two year contract, it really made so much more sense for assessment.

Manuel already explained his criteria. He wants to see how KO reacts, and how the players react, to various situations on and off the court. He said it's not about wins and losses. If KO comes across as having the right stuff, and being a positive for the school, then he'll get a longer deal. If not, then they search.

 

[diggerfoot]

We know that talent alone is lacking this year; that needs to be supplemented by other things. Either the team plays beyond their talent level due to effort or great coaching to get better than expected results. I think it's easier to learn Xs and Os over time than to learn how to motivate players over time. In regards to the latter you either have it or you don't. I would rather see Ollie succeed at motivating his players from the start than be satisfied with his Xs and Os. If Ollie can both recruit well and get his players to play hard there should be a "long leash" in regards to game preparation and management until he can be considered an experienced head coach.