The Fork In The Road

[PradaMane]

Alright Boneyarders, Its been a very frustrating and disappointing season for the team and fans. But I have a question for you guys just to see what would be a favorable way to play out the rest of the season.

Option 1: Develop for 2015-16

This option would be Ollie not putting such a emphasis on winning but playing the right way, Mass subbing and many teaching moments. Guys would be sat for mistakes in order to discipline them for their role they would play next year. Some may call this tanking, Not for a lottery pick obviously but for developing players and the team to play the right way. Our team is very young and could learn a lot from this style of play. This will come with more losses, but probably a stronger team next year.

Option 2: Squeeze out wins at all cost and try for the tournament

This option would be Ollie still coaching as if we would win a championship. Meaning win at all cost no matter ugly or pretty. Boat is one of my all time favorite huskies and this will be favorable to him, going out fighting. This will make the year look better and would probably end in more wins.

Id like to hear your opinions and why... No wrong answer here.

 

[James]

Alright Boneyarders, Its been a very frustrating and disappointing season for the team and fans. But I have a question for you guys just to see what would be a favorable way to play out the rest of the season.

Option 1: Develop for 2015-16

This option would be Ollie not putting such a emphasis on winning but playing the right way, Mass subbing and many teaching moments. Guys would be sat for mistakes in order to discipline them for their role they would play next year. Some may call this tanking, Not for a lottery pick obviously but for developing players and the team to play the right way. Our team is very young and could learn a lot from this style of play. This will come with more losses, but probably a stronger team next year.

Option 2: Squeeze out wins at all cost and try for the tournament

This option would be Ollie still coaching as if we would win a championship. Meaning win at all cost no matter ugly or pretty. Boat is one of my all time favorite huskies and this will be favorable to him, going out fighting. This will make the year look better and would probably end in more wins.

Id like to hear your opinions and why... No wrong answer here.

I didn't want to start a new thread on this, but according to a few sources i have close to the team Ollie is really zeroing in on development. not really 'ncaa tanking' but to quote "games will no longer be won at the expense of bad basketball". also has said things to the team like, "I'm not gonna yell anymore". Wont get too deep into it, but notice his sub patterns and yanking of brimah. He yanks him after 1 foul, everybody has a short leash. (except boat). and he's also giving tsam a lot more responsibility on the floor to iron out kinks. KO has had enough basically

 

[PradaMane]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this, but according to a few sources i have close to the team Ollie is really zeroing in on development. not really 'ncaa tanking' but to quote "games will no longer be won at the expense of bad basketball". Wont get too deep into it, but notice his sub patterns and yanking of brimah. He yanks him after 1 foul, everybody has a short leash. (except boat). and he's also giving tsam a lot more responsibility on the floor to iron out kinks. KO has had enough

Wow, I have taken note to this subbing and frequent changing of lineups. I love this style of thinking. Ollie is a great coach

 

[James]

Wow, I have taken note to this subbing and frequent changing of lineups. I love this style of thinking. Ollie is a great coach

I'm definitely a fan of it, players have responded fine. Its known in the locker room the team isn't where it needs to be, and it isn't a quickfix problem.

 

[johnhuskies95]

With Boatright the only senior I think both options are kind of one in the same.

 

[PradaMane]

With Boatright the only senior I think both options are kind of one in the same.

I dont agree,

The two options would differ in records. Option 2 with more teaching would mean more guys would be pulled for lessons to be taught which would sacrifice wins.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I hope Ollie isn't already thinking towards next season. I know it hasnt been our year so far but that would kind of be disrespectful to Boatright and all he's done for the program as a player and all around person, him being our only senior and leader.

 

[James]

I hope Ollie isn't already thinking towards next season. I know it hasnt been our year so far but that would kind of be disrespectful to Boatright and all he's done for the program as a player and all around person, him being our only senior and leader.

KO is the coach of the basketball team, Boatright is well aware of the state of the team. He has withstood a near .500 season with this team... theres not magic switch to increase cohesion and overall level of team competetiveness/readiness. Boat will play his heart out and do what he does. KO has tightened the leash on everybody else and is done with letting bs find its way onto the court. period. those are facts from the horses mouth

 

[buddy]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this, but according to a few sources i have close to the team Ollie is really zeroing in on development. not really 'ncaa tanking' but to quote "games will no longer be won at the expense of bad basketball". also has said things to the team like, "I'm not gonna yell anymore". Wont get too deep into it, but notice his sub patterns and yanking of brimah. He yanks him after 1 foul, everybody has a short leash. (except boat). and he's also giving tsam a lot more responsibility on the floor to iron out kinks. KO has had enough basically

College basketball is a business. People are paying good money to see a team play to win. We've seen what happens with this strategy with the football team. It may take years for the program to recover in attendance and season ticket sales. The above quote in bold type is absolutely ridiculous. Games are not won at the expense of bad basketball. Games are lost because of bad basketball. We have seen bad basketball many times this season. He should have been able to see what needed fixing before February, that's for sure. If what you say is true, then everyone might as well stay home and watch the games on TV. Also, I did notice a lot of empty seats at Gampel for ECU last night.

 

[David 76]

Not sure you learn how to win from losing.
I think that all players not named Boatright will have a shorter leash, line-ups will be switched more often, both, as they should. But I think this will help us to be more likely to win, not lose.
It's not like we risk tanking a game by sitting Purvis, Calhoun, Cassel or Facey more.

 

[James]

College basketball is a business. People are paying good money to see a team play to win. We've seen what happens with this strategy with the football team. It may take years for the program to recover in attendance and season ticket sales. The above quote in bold type is absolutely ridiculous. Games are not won at the expense of bad basketball. Games are lost because of bad basketball. We have seen bad basketball many times this season. He should have been able to see what needed fixing before February, that's for sure. If what you say is true, then everyone might as well stay home and watch the games on TV. Also, I did notice a lot of empty seats at Gampel for ECU last night.

we have won plenty of games this year we shouldn't have, playing legit terrible basketball.

see your looking at this a completely wrong angle. he is trying to build a contender and win chips. his team isnt good enough, so now he has a tighter leash and has centered focus on development, which affects next season. he isn't out there trying to tank games, but there will be more experimentation with rotations ( as there should be, have you seen our egregious offense?). Its completely reasonable he has centered his focus on player skill development. and please with the football team comparisons, they must stop

 

[James]

Not sure you learn how to win from losing.
I think that all players not named Boatright will have a shorter leash, line-ups will be switched more often, both, as they should. But I think this will help us to be more likely to win, not lose.
It's not like we risk tanking a game by sitting Purvis, Calhoun, Cassel or Facey more.

we do however risk losing games if we sit brimah for extended periods when he should be on the floor. this ish is coming from the horses mouth so i'm not arguing 'my point' further. it is what it is and yall will notice it as the season progresses.

 

[David 76]

we do however risk losing games if we sit brimah for extended periods when he should be on the floor. this ish is coming from the horses mouth so i'm not arguing 'my point' further. it is what it is and yall will notice it as the season progresses.

I was responding to the OP. He wanted people to discuss tnk that is hijacking?
In regard to your post, if AB & DH spend a lot of time on the bench, you will be right. Frankly, I think AB & DH are the 2 main guys to develop, so I don't guess they will be sitting a lot to develop Phil Nolan or Omar Calhoun who are older and less talented. But I don't have inside information.

 

[CTBasketball]

Winning is teaching, losing is learning.

 

[Jerry1714]

I want banner 5. Whatever options get us there by April I do not care.

 

[James]

I want banner 5. Whatever options get us there by April I do not care.

april 2016? then yeah. we have no banner on the horizon until 2016, which will be a year we can. i would be surprised if we arent a final four team next season.
.

 

[Rocktheworld]

i would be surprised if we arent a final four team next season.
.

Who is going to be next year's team's leader? Do you think Brimah is going to get to that level in 8 months?

 

[James]

Who is going to be next year's team's leader? Do you think Brimah is going to get to that level in 8 months?

brimah is currently one our leaders in multiple invaluable statistically categories . no doubt he can anchor, he is already a captain. leadership should be something grown in this developmental year, guys like purvis calhoun and samuel. our overall development from purv ham and calhoun is something to keep an eye on. the physical talent is there; hence our near elite defense.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Well I hope he can stay on the floor longer than 26 mpg next year

 

[Husky Dad]

I have inside information that Ollie is trying to throw as many games as possible this season. He has successfully confused these guys into starting to get focused later in games and focued hard on poor offensive execution.

 

[champs99and04]

@James what I would ask in response to your statements, which I have no reason not to believe, is how long has this been going on? Because at halftime last night I remember thinking something was up, and there has been some buzz on the board for a while now that Ollie isn't necessarily pushing all the chips to the center of the table this year. I've been miffed all year at why Hamilton sees little to no time at the four, and the only logical answer to that question is that he is looking towards next year where Facey and Brimah will log a lot of minutes together.

 

[The Funster]

Calhoun did it all the time. You screwed up he yanked you.

 

[mauconnfan]

College basketball is a business. People are paying good money to see a team play to win. We've seen what happens with this strategy with the football team. It may take years for the program to recover in attendance and season ticket sales. The above quote in bold type is absolutely ridiculous. Games are not won at the expense of bad basketball. Games are lost because of bad basketball. We have seen bad basketball many times this season. He should have been able to see what needed fixing before February, that's for sure. If what you say is true, then everyone might as well stay home and watch the games on TV. Also, I did notice a lot of empty seats at Gampel for ECU last night.

Of course there were empty seats, we have too many spoiled fans who don't deserve those seats. Maybe one of them was you, not sure.

It's been bad basketball in so many ways. KO has to be frustrated much more than we can imagine. The whole staff has to be as they have people that make the same mistakes game to game, without showing much ability to adjust. It's scary with a couple of players in particular because they may have hit their ceiling right before our eyes because they will never get it. Doesn't mean he stopped coaching and it certainly doesn't mean the people who weren't in their seats get a pass for being frontrunners, they're pitiful!

 

[mauconnfan]

I dont agree,

The two options would differ in records. Option 2 with more teaching would mean more guys would be pulled for lessons to be taught which would sacrifice wins.

I guess my question is do you actually believe they don't have "teaching lessons" during practice, after practice, watching films of what they should have done and shouldn't have done? It's never ending, if you don't get better at adjusting you may never, it really is that simple. They have all played enough basketball, the only one with any signs of improvement as far as an impact is Daniel Hamilton. He has cut down on his TO's and is now our most effective rebounder. Others have taken a step or 2 back which is scary. We need better, smarter players to put pressure not these guys to learn more and feel the need to get better. Some are playing 18-25 minutes and don't deserve that kind of time with their play but the choices are slim for the staff.

So it's on the staff to get players who want to be at UConn and want to get better and can be taught. Not saying these guys don't want to be at UConn but there are expectations from a program with 4 NC's in 15 years. Not sure all of them get that!

 

[David 76]

Mau, I agree. But I think it is not that they don't get it, but that they don't have it. I've said it before, but I hope there is a recruiting lesson learned here.
Kind of ironic but KO hasn't brought on a player like KO.