Since some want to chalk it all up to recruiting

[superjohn]

We had the #8 recruiting class in the country last year and Ollie ran them out of town. That number #8 recruiting class was paired with a top 100 big, the number #5 point guard in the country, a McDonald's all-american shooting guard, and one of the top shot blockers in the country. The results were horrible.

Ollie claimed it was time for a reset and he needed players who were ten toes in. What are we left with? Jalen Adams being run into the ground because Ollie couldn't bring in another guard knowing full well he was hinging any hopes of having a decent season on a guy with a bum shoulder.

In college, a coach has all of the responsibilities. Since Ollie was given the keys to bring in his guys and to cultivate a winner he has massively failed in every respect.

 

[pj]

Yes, we know we had a disaster last May.

Yes, we know Ollie was responsible.

The question is whether he's learned from his mistakes, and whether winning a national championship and being an alum gives a guy a second chance to prove he's outgrown his mistakes. AD Dave Benedict has to make that decision. While we're waiting for it, it would be nice not to hear the same complaints about the same past mistakes over and over again.

 

[jorge34]

Yes, we know we had a disaster last May.

Yes, we know Ollie was responsible.

The question is whether he's learned from his mistakes, and whether winning a national championship and being an alum gives a guy a second chance to prove he's outgrown his mistakes. AD Dave Benedict has to make that decision. While we're waiting for it, it would be nice not to hear the same complaints about the same past mistakes over and over again.

This year was his second (or third) chance.

His teams are as unprepared and poorly coached as ever.

It's time.

 

[uconngb]

Yes, we know we had a disaster last May.

Yes, we know Ollie was responsible.

The question is whether he's learned from his mistakes, and whether winning a national championship and being an alum gives a guy a second chance to prove he's outgrown his mistakes. AD Dave Benedict has to make that decision. While we're waiting for it, it would be nice not to hear the same complaints about the same past mistakes over and over again.

What would rather have us do? Say golly gee whiz, nice try today? The complaints are the same because the infractions are the same. We all get we can't change the players on the team this year. But can our coaches come up with maybe SOME semblance of a game plan?? Or maybe instill some fire in their troops to inspire them?? We are going BACKWARDS.......that is on the coaches.

 

[pj]

What would rather have us do? Say golly gee whiz, nice try today? The complaints are the same because the infractions are the same. We all get we can't change the players on the team this year. But can our coaches come up with maybe SOME semblance of a game plan?? Or maybe instill some fire in their troops to inspire them?? We are going BACKWARDS..that is on the coaches.

I don't mind complaints about repeat infractions, but superjohn was complaining about Durham, Enoch, and Jackson leaving. ("We had the #8 recruiting class in the country last year and Ollie ran them out of town.") I don't want to hear more complaints over those players.

 

[polycom]

I don't mind complaints about repeat infractions, but superjohn was complaining about Durham, Enoch, and Jackson leaving. ("We had the #8 recruiting class in the country last year and Ollie ran them out of town.") I don't want to hear more complaints over those players.

People are talking about recruiting because people keep complaining about us having no talent. We had talent it got run out but people don’t want to blame Ollie for that, so superjohn makes threads like these. It’s a cycle, don’t get mad at sj get mad at the people who keep saying Ollie should get another year because he has no talent.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Yes, we know we had a disaster last May.

Yes, we know Ollie was responsible.

The question is whether he's learned from his mistakes, and whether winning a national championship and being an alum gives a guy a second chance to prove he's outgrown his mistakes. AD Dave Benedict has to make that decision. While we're waiting for it, it would be nice not to hear the same complaints about the same past mistakes over and over again.

winning a NC and being an alum gave Ollie some rope. the only thing he's done with it is wrap it around his neck.
the NC showed he can coach. it didn't show he can run a program. in the last 3 years, ollie has completely bankrupt anything that calhoun left behind.

 

[Marty Jackson]

People are talking about recruiting because people keep complaining about us having no talent. We had talent it got run out but people don’t want to blame Ollie for that, so superjohn makes threads like these. It’s a cycle, don’t get mad at sj get mad at the people who keep saying Ollie should get another year because he has no talent.

i get mad at people that think being in the Big East will make Ollie a great coach and bring back Uconn's greatness.

 

[HooperScooper]

Maybe Ollie just recruited the wrong guys.

 

[upstater]

When Vance Jackson, Enoch and Durham go on to become good players, then we can revisit. Until then. The problem is recruiting.

I wrote the problem was recruiting because the UConn team had 2 top 100s on the floor today, and a bunch of 2 and 3 stars. some of them are/will be good. Others? Not so much.

Villanova had 5 or 6 top players to UConn's 2. And a couple of those were ranked very high.

 

[Lefty2one]

Maybe Ollie just recruited the wrong guys.

Jackson was supposed to be a lights out shooter. Durham was supposed to be a stretch 4 with a good stroke. Gilbert has a nice jumper. I don't think Ollie has out-of-wack priorities; he can't recruit a decent big to save his life though.

 

[my2cents]

We need to recruit three things:
1) Shooters
2) More Shooters
3) The Most Shooters we can find

 

[Walker11]

When Vance Jackson, Enoch and Durham go on to become good players, then we can revisit. Until then. The problem is recruiting.

I wrote the problem was recruiting because the UConn team had 2 top 100s on the floor today, and a bunch of 2 and 3 stars. some of them are/will be good. Others? Not so much.

Villanova had 5 or 6 top players to UConn's 2. And a couple of those were ranked very high.

This explains matchups like today, not Memphis. And doesn't explain the previous 3 years when we had the most talented roster in conference, by far. If you are going by recruiting rankings, which it seems you are, Nova does not have a top 10 team.

Player development, recruiting and coaching are all pieces of the pie. All need to improve but I think recruiting is the least worrisome.

 

[upstater]

This explains matchups like today, not Memphis. And doesn't explain the previous 3 years when we had the most talented roster in conference, by far. If you are going by recruiting rankings, which it seems you are, Nova does not have a top 10 team.

Player development, recruiting and coaching are all pieces of the pie. All need to improve but I think recruiting is the least worrisome.

Recruiting rankings are useless because they don't track who left. If I had the top ranked team the last 3 years, and all those recruits left, I've got nada. That's why I went over to verbal commits for that info. Villanova, on the other hand, keeps their recruits. Which is why they are doing so well.

Memphis was a debacle. But we had Jalen on the floor. That's not going to cut it.

 

[Walker11]

Recruiting rankings are useless because they don't track who left. If I had the top ranked team the last 3 years, and all those recruits left, I've got nada. That's why I went over to verbal commits for that info. Villanova, on the other hand, keeps their recruits. Which is why they are doing so well.

Memphis was a debacle. But we had Jalen on the floor. That's not going to cut it.

They keep their recruits, and develop them (more importantly). The job they have done with guys like Bridges, Booth, Divencenzo and Hart and Jenkins before is astounding. They are turning Kentan Facey level recruits into POY candidates.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Recruiting rankings also don’t factor in need or system fit. You could recruit five elite centers and have the best “class” in the country, but it wouldn’t make any sense as a recruiting strategy.

A player outside the top 100 who fits a system and fills a need can bring more success than a top 100 player who is redundant or leaves a need unfilled.

Kevin Ollie was proof positive of this as a UConn player. Not the most heralded recruit, but was unselfish, played hard, fit with what Calhoun wanted to do, and made the guys around him better.

Point is, there’s a difference between recruiting highly ranked players and building a team that functions as more than the sum of its parts.

 

[Glastonhusky]

Maybe Ollie just recruited the wrong guys.

Don't know if I agree with this. I would say that Nova plays position-less basketball and they're doing just fine.

 

[August_West]

Don't know if I agree with this. I would say that Nova plays position-less basketball and they're doing just fine.

Excellent point

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Don't know if I agree with this. I would say that Nova plays position-less basketball and they're doing just fine.

Nova has shooters and guys who can bang inside and grab rebounds

 

[August_West]

Nova has shooters and guys who can bang inside and grab rebounds

Yup they do. It is still a positionless basketball concept though

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It's undeniable our current roster is a far cry talent-wise from what it was just four years ago. We can get into the wheres and whyfores of that but I'm not interested in that debate overall. My opinion is some of it is Ollie's fault and some of it isn't. I'm not changing that opinion.

What I really want to talk about is player development. There's credence to the idea that Ollie has struggled mightily to develop the players he does recruit.

I was formerly of the opinion that Brimah and Purvis were simply limited players who were already near their respective ceilings and that's why they never improved.

My opinion on that has changed somewhat. The evidence is this season. I'm very disappointed in what Jalen Adams, Christian Vital, and to a lesser extent Mamadou Diarra, Terry Larrier, and Alterique Gilbert look like at their current stages. They should be better, injured offseason or not. I remember Travis Knight having a broken wrist the same offseason before becoming a real force in 1995. AJ Price had to sit most of the offseason before 2008 and was the best player on that team. There are other examples, but you get the point.

I'm struggling to think of a player who has made a big leap under Ollie since 2014. Anyone?

I think it's Ollie's most obvious shortcoming, even moreso than his lineups and lack of game management. Player development has just stagnated.

 

[Glastonhusky]

Nova has shooters and guys who can bang inside and grab rebounds

That's the key, we just need to find better position-less players.

 

[ARIDE]

This year was his second (or third) chance.

His teams are as unprepared and poorly coached as ever.

It's time.

Teams have been prepared. Yesterday especially , the start of the game you could see the plan. We could not put it in the basket! Period! Sooner or later Villanovas talent and experience just showed!

 

[Walker11]

Don't know if I agree with this. I would say that Nova plays position-less basketball and they're doing just fine.

Yea I don't know what Borges is talking about. The idea of position less basketball is having a bunch of guys who can shoot and handle the ball on offense and who can switch on defense. The idea of long athletic guys who have no skill is not a strategy that would work on any level.

 

[Waquoit]

When Vance Jackson, Enoch and Durham go on to become good players, then we can revisit. Until then. The problem is recruiting.

Nah, it's coaching. How can a guy with some talent like Larrier play like he did yesterday, making the same old mistakes again and again, compounding it with an overall lack of hustle. A good coach could have made something out of this guy.