Since some want to chalk it all up to recruiting

[3rdbass]

I think Carlton was a diamond in the rough, but his potential will be coupled will Ollie’s ability to coach bigs.

Whaley and Carlton aren’t bad, so you gotta give credit where it’s due. As much as I want him fired, gotta look at both sides. These two are nice pieces that can contribute.

Yes, but they should be backups and not starting for UCONN. That is the issue.

 

[nomar]

I loved Enoch down low, but he’s moved on and so should we. He’ll be a baller at UL.

Enoch sucked for us, truly. Shot 41% as a sophomore. 2.3 RPG in 12.1 MPG.

As a freshman, Carlton's shooting 52% and grabbing 3.6 RPG in 13.3 MPG. Also has a higher block rate.

 

[selles]

Yes, but they should be backups and not starting for UCONN. That is the issue.

That's not the issue. We've had plenty of young bigs play lots of minutes when they weren't quite ready (Knight, Voskuhl, Thabeet, Brimah). It happens. The issue is whether they ever get significantly better than they are right now. That's what's been the problem.

 

[nomar]

Rick Pitino saw enough in Enoch to offer him a scholarship. Pitino knows talent when he sees it.

Or he just didn't have money left after paying Bowen's dad.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

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.

 

[BlueDogs]

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.

True, but he fails that test too.

 

[BlueDogs]

Who knows how long KO will last, but there is at least one big in the current group who doesn’t seem
like a bad recruit. Carlton, if coached well and progresses has a lot of potential. Needs some added muscle, but has an idea how to play the post.

He has the instincts and innate feel to be very good. Needs muscle and needs more offensive work. Can KO develop him? Don't have much faith.

 

[Austin316]

1. You need to shoot
2. You need to rebound
3. You need to play Defense
4. You need to Transition

Perfect the freakin basics and we win.

I have no clue what KOs acronyms are and idk if his players know either

 

[upstater]

Rick Pitino saw enough in Enoch to offer him a scholarship. Pitino knows talent when he sees it.

Back when Pitino was still at Louisville, and back before the craziness of his colossal flameout, you could read Louisville fans bemoaning Pitino's inability to develop bigs.

Go look at their roster the last few years. Do you see any bigs of note? Any big doing anything? When the fans watched tcf's Enoch 2016-17 video, they all said: perfect, he'll fit right in!

 

[SubbaBub]

I've started to wonder if that's true. Much like the Kemba NC, we were lead by a player that had tremendous will and ice in his veins. Not sure the offensive scheme was any better in 2014, we just had a better player with the ball in his hands as the clock wound down and a better supporting cast. I could be way off on this as the memory slips with age.

The NC was about getting the guys to play together, to get Boat comfortable with his role as sidekick and defensive stopper. Getting Giffey to take up the rebounding and post defensive slack from Daniels. Using transfer Kromah correctly (Doesn't have that option this year). Not deferring to Olander because he was a senior and having everyone buy into all of it.

I still contend that neither JC or anyone else wins that NC. KO was just as important as Bazz and Boat. The list of coaches he beat on tactics is ridiculous. Wright, Martelli, Hoiberg, Izzo, Donovan, and Calipari. Find a better NCAA vanquished list of coaches than that. Bazz didn't beat those guys alone.

It makes the locker room dysfunction the last 3 years all the more puzzling.

 

[Waquoit]

I still contend that neither JC or anyone else wins that NC. KO was just as important as Bazz and Boat. The list of coaches he beat on tactics is ridiculous. Wright, Martelli, Hoiberg, Izzo, Donovan, and Calipari. Find a better NCAA vanquished list of coaches than that. Bazz didn't beat those guys alone.

It makes the locker room dysfunction the last 3 years all the more puzzling.

Of course it's puzzling if you examine the situation from the POV that Ollie was the only coach that wins in 2014. If you look at it from the point of view that Ollie was lucky to have an all-time great keeping the team's eyes on the prize while he just didn't mess it up too bad, it's less puzzling.

 

[UConnNick]

Rick Pitino saw enough in Enoch to offer him a scholarship. Pitino knows talent when he sees it.

Especially in any number of gentlemen's clubs nationwide!

 

[DMIL]

Of course it's puzzling if you examine the situation from the POV that Ollie was the only coach that wins in 2014. If you look at it from the point of view that Ollie was lucky to have an all-time great keeping the team's eyes on the prize while he just didn't mess it up too bad, it's less puzzling.

You’re not getting lucky against those coaches and teams I.e. P5 conference champions 6 games in a row.