The Season is Not Over

[UConnDan97]

Let me ask you this question: does UConn make the NCAA tournament? Yes or no.

If your answer is no, then say no more. If it is yes, please help me understand how you think that is possible.

Thank your for time.

My answer has been YES since last year on this very board, and it continues to be YES. And although I'm happy to share my time with fellow Boneyarders, I'm not going to spend the time arguing my case as to why I think we have enough tools on the squad to make the tourney. Mostly because I've already hashed out my thoughts on those tools in dozens of other threads ad naseam.

Suffice it to say, neither one of us has the "reality" of the situation until it actually comes to pass...

 

[JMick]

That's the part I don't understand. The part where a UConn fan is rushing to bet against another UConn fan that UConn won't do well. I'll never understand it, so don't bother trying to explain it to me.

As for the drinking....yeah, I do more of it after games like last night too...

It's the self-righteousness that elicits these responses

 

[Candyman]

More like the BU game. Offense turned a corner last night. Defense is lagging.

UConn had 18 Turnovers, shot 42 percent and got manhandled on the glass and scored only 63 points and you feel the offense turned the corner? Yes Jalen hit 3 threes but he also hit 6 in one game last year. He is not a reliable shooter.

I am for being optimistic but lets not kid ourselves the offense played better in spurts but this should have been a 20 point loss.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's the self-righteousness that illicits these responses

Who is being self-righteous?

self-right·eous
ˌself ˈrīCHəs/
adjective

1. having or characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct

Is the self-righteous person the one offering up a point of view that the season could still bear fruit?

Or is the self-righteous person the one that immediately shoots him down because it's not "reality"?

 

[kansashusky]

My answer has been YES since last year on this very board, and it continues to be YES. And although I'm happy to share my time with fellow Boneyarders, I'm not going to spend the time arguing my case as to why I think we have enough tools on the squad to make the tourney. Mostly because I've already hashed out my thoughts on those tools in dozens of other threads ad naseam.

Suffice it to say, neither one of us has the "reality" of the situation until it actually comes to pass...

Well you must know something no other basketball analyst knows because I have not even seen UConn mentioned in ANY bracketology, and that is the point of the whole season.

Yes, we could theoretically win the AAC tournament, but outside of that, I am struggling to see how this team manages 20 wins.

 

[Hi-Low]

That's fair enough. But you need to find an alternative if Ollie is gone. And a way to pay him.

The point of the post, even if you want Ollie gone if we miss the tournament, is that the season is not close to over. This team can certainly make the tournament, or miss it. We need to pull for them to make it. No rooting against them. Look for the positive signs. I saw several.

To make the Tourney you need Quality Wins....right now we have 1 (borderline) depending on Oregon does.....otherwise who is this team beating that matters? Of course not rooting against them, if we start the AAC beating WSU at home then maybe we can get on a roll but we need to beat teams that matter.

As far as KO, does he strike you as power team program runner? Maybe, but the clock is ticking. If the Administration feels it's worth trying to get UConn Men back to relevance (if this season turns out similar to the last) then they will find the $ for the right guy.

 

[UConnDan97]

Well you must know something no other basketball analyst knows because I have not even seen UConn mentioned in ANY bracketology, and that is the point of the whole season.

Yes, we could theoretically win the AAC tournament, but outside of that, I am struggling to see how this team manages 20 wins.

I'm sorry to hear that...

 

[JMick]

Who is being self-righteous?

self-right·eous
ˌself ˈrīCHəs/
adjective

1. having or characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct

Is the self-righteous person the one offering up a point of view that the season could still bear fruit?

Or is the self-righteous person the one that immediately shoots him down because it's not "reality"?

It's the veiled comments that the people who are fed up are somehow lesser fans who are negative for negativities sake

 

[Paesano]

This board has become insanely depressing after a loss. It was always bad, but this is ridiculous.

Did all the people who are seemingly moving on to next year even watch the game? Did you see:
1. Vital and Adams making outside shots.
2. Cobb utterly transforming the offense with his passing, especially outlet passing. Some nice post moves too.
3. Much better ball movement than at any game so far this season, even if we didn't always convert.
4. Guys actually cutting to the hoop? The feed from Cobb to Jalen for a dunk. Have we seen anything like that this year?

People are acting like their dog just got run over this morning, when I actually had more positive takeaways from this game than any we've played. They still need to learn how to play defense, and the referees really did them no favors last night. But Syracuse is a very tough match-up for us, with a ton of length, good outside shooters and athleticism. We lost by 9 in a neutral court game to a 7-1 ACC team. Since when is that a catastrophe?

Get over yourselves. We will blow-out Coppin State (count on it) and head to Arizona. Not a game we are expected to win, but I bet you it is under 10. Then @ Auburn, where I think we can surprise them. Then home for WSU for another tough game. Then we have five straight that we should win before Nova.

You are awful chipper today!

I don't know. The picture is incredibly cloudy with this program. On one hand, we did get off to a slightly better start this year. On the other hand, we still lag behind where this team was, as a whole, last year. It does seem like Arkansas was a low point, and things have gotten a little better, but that was REALLY low. And playing even with Columbia wasn't much better. And last year we beat the cuse and the cuse was probably better. This year we lost. That's not good. As a result, our Sagarin ratings are falling, not rising. So, we don't look good and the trend is down. The only bright spot is that fact that we did start this season a little better. The rest is dark.

So where does that leave us? Arguing over excuses. Is it reasonable to still be bad? Lots of players left. The resulting team is young and thin on talent. But there is SOME talent and it is better than what Columbia has. And if you give KO another pass this year, due to blowing the team up, when do those passes run out? He got a pass due to injuries. If he gets a pass due to the re-start, what if he blows the team up again this off-season? Does he get another pass next year? What if Gilbert hurts his shoulder again next year? Does he get another pass for that? I mean, he could "start over" every year if it will just get him pass after pass. At some point the AD will have to say, "sorry man but I just can't. I understand you have had some bad luck but we need to move on."

Basically, people are frustrated and are probably more concerned that we will hear excuse after excuse while the program continues to die a slow death (or fast death, depending on one's perception). Some people just don't want to hear "one more year" because we are, maybe, a little better than last year's disaster and there are excuses for why it is only a little better. But I get that some other people want to give him more time. It is a tough call on both if and when to cut bait.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's the veiled comments that the people who are fed up are somehow lesser fans who are negative for negativities sake

Well, whomever that is directed at (I suspect it's directed at me), you can rest assured that not only have you beaten the spirit out of them but that their numbers are dwindling and yours are growing. There are many on this board who have literally made it impossible to post a positive view without being shot down within minutes. And I'm not using the word "literally" lightly. Our posts come with time stamps. An attempt to rally the troops on this board is futile...

 

[UConnDan97]

Because there is literally zero evidence to support a conclusion that this team will turn things around and have a good season. like zero. and this is based on the last few years as well as this year.

I have no problem with people making positive threads, but there is no substance to them other than blind faith,.

Thank you for your interest in my post...

 

[temery]

I have no problem with people making positive threads, but there is no substance to them other than blind faith,.

Yet you reply to every one of them with overwhelmingly negative comments.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Yet you reply to every one of them with overwhelmingly negative posts.

it sucks man. I wish there was something positive to talk about and I would.

go check out the game thread last night. i saw ollie into the game early on showing intensity and said that was good to see. cobb played well and i posted about it as well. the rest was garbage. And has been. thats the point of the post if there is actually something positive to talk about I will. not my fault there isnt.

edit: and for the record I have been dead on. you can complain about the negativity but I have been saying this stuff for years. At least I have integrity, unlike Stair who just flipped because everyone else is now on board saying this stuff. you never actually make any valid counterpoints to anything i say. just complain about what i am saying.

 

[HuskyHawk]

To make the Tourney you need Quality Wins....right now we have 1 (borderline) depending on Oregon does.....otherwise who is this team beating that matters? Of course not rooting against them, if we start the AAC beating WSU at home then maybe we can get on a roll but we need to beat teams that matter.

As far as KO, does he strike you as power team program runner? Maybe, but is sure seems unlikely at this point. If the Administration feels it's worth trying to get UConn Men back to relevance (if this season turns out similar to the last) then they will find the $ for the right guy.

They can beat anybody left on the schedule except Villanova. Not that they should or will, but can. Winning at Arizona or WSU or Cinci is very unlikely. Aside from that, they have a shot in the other games and will be clearly favored in several of them. It's a blank canvas until they play the games. The season isn't static, nor is the team. It changes day to day and game to game. If your sole snapshot of this team was the first half of the MSU game, what do you think that team could achieve? Well, that's this team at its best. Arkansas at its worst.

As for KO, I didn't want us to hire the guy. Most people here were thrilled, but I wanted an experienced guy not tied to Calhoun. Too much baggage to carry. I saw it as an obvious mistake, but JC pretty much forced it. KO exceeded expectations in 2012-14. If he was still the guy he was then, I'd say yeah, he looks like the coach of a power program. He's not. The question is, is it more likely that Kevin can rediscover himself, and become the guy we need him to be or that we can pluck from obscurity, some coach who happens to be the power program HC we need? I'll suggest to you that the odds are very high that whoever replaces Ollie is a downgrade from Ollie. People have to be prepared for that. The odds of landing some 45 year old Tom Izzo or Jim Calhoun is one in a thousand. Competent, you could get competent. Somebody who can win 18-22 games a year. So I root for Ollie to become the Kevin Ollie of four years ago, and to be the man we need.

 

[temery]

not my fault there isnt

That’s because you posts volumes after a loss, crickets after a win.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

That’s because you posts volumes after a loss, crickets after a win.

oh those incredible 2 pt ot wins vs Columbia? GREAT SHOWING BOYS. TOURNAMENT HERE WE COME

 

[HuskyHawk]

You are awful chipper today!

I don't know. The picture is incredibly cloudy with this program. On one hand, we did get off to a slightly better start this year. On the other hand, we still lag behind where this team was, as a whole, last year. It does seem like Arkansas was a low point, and things have gotten a little better, but that was REALLY low. And playing even with Columbia wasn't much better. And last year we beat the cuse and the cuse was probably better. This year we lost. That's not good. As a result, our Sagarin ratings are falling, not rising. So, we don't look good and the trend is down. The only bright spot is that fact that we did start this season a little better. The rest is dark.

So where does that leave us? Arguing over excuses. Is it reasonable to still be bad? Lots of players left. The resulting team is young and thin on talent. But there is SOME talent and it is better than what Columbia has. And if you give KO another pass this year, due to blowing the team up, when do those passes run out? He got a pass due to injuries. If he gets a pass due to the re-start, what if he blows the team up again this off-season? Does he get another pass next year? What if Gilbert hurts his shoulder again next year? Does he get another pass for that? I mean, he could "start over" every year if it will just get him pass after pass. At some point the AD will have to say, "sorry man but I just can't. I understand you have had some bad luck but we need to move on."

Basically, people are frustrated and are probably more concerned that we will hear excuse after excuse while the program continues to die a slow death (or fast death, depending on one's perception). Some people just don't want to hear "one more year" because we are, maybe, a little better than last year's disaster and there are excuses for why it is only a little better. But I get that some other people want to give him more time. It is a tough call on both if and when to cut bait.

I'm as frustrated as anybody. You know who I am, I was a fan in the Perno era, when we packed that Field House. I saw the early horrible late Perno early Jim Calhoun teams up close. I was behind the basket for the game that opened Gampel. I didn't want them to hire Ollie, said so here over and over. He surprised me, and then he changed, and that surprised me too. He may yet surprise me again.

So taking stock of things, I simply decided, in all phases of my life, to follow the advice of Gentleman Johnny Mercer, and Accentuate the Positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative. Life is too short to be angry and hostile. When I did that, instead of seeing our defense get posterized, I saw Cobb, out the last few games, making outlet passes that nobody in this program has thrown since Emeka. Guys didn't always convert, but they will get better when they learn to expect it. Underhand scoop to Jalen who actually cut to the rim for a dunk. Imagine that, a UConn guy in 2017, off the ball cut to the rim expecting a pass. First time I've seen it all year. Then I saw it a few more times. And it put a damned smile on my face. Larrier even had a dunk. So the defense was bad, and we pressed, and damned if it didn't start working a little. Got some turnovers and missed shots. And I felt like, if there was another 10 minutes, we'd win. I felt like the UConn team that ended that game, if that team started the game, they'd win it. They had 10 more free throws than we did. We shot 7-19 from 3. They out rebounded us by 11. But we had 11 assists to to their 9. Yes we had 17 turnovers...yet they had 15. There were good things to see in that game, and bad. But I'm tired of people only talking about the bad.

I'll worry about what we do in the offseason at the end of the season. There's no point in dwelling on it now. Let's play these games, look for the good things and enjoy being UConn Husky fans again. I know it's strange, but I feel like the single thing the team and fans are most missing, is hope. So I'm going to serve it up.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Let me ask you this question: does UConn make the NCAA tournament? Yes or no.

If your answer is no, then say no more. If it is yes, please help me understand how you think that is possible.

Thank you for your time.

How about this: if the team makes the NCAAs, then we have a hanging. If the team does not make the tournament, then everybody gets in a circle for a firing squad?

 

[mdkhusky]

This season is certainly over I've had blue glasses on for years and I'm finally beginning to see reality. It sucks but it's true

 

[Tenspro2002]

We will blow-out Coppin State (count on it) and head to Arizona. Not a game we are expected to win, but I bet you it is under 10.

Staying within 10 points of an unranked team is a point of pride? KO should resign immediately.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm as frustrated as anybody. You know who I am, I was a fan in the Perno era, when we packed that Field House. I saw the early horrible late Perno early Jim Calhoun teams up close. I was behind the basket for the game that opened Gampel. I didn't want them to hire Ollie, said so here over and over. He surprised me, and then he changed, and that surprised me too. He may yet surprise me again.

So taking stock of things, I simply decided, in all phases of my life, to follow the advice of Gentleman Johnny Mercer, and Accentuate the Positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative. Life is too short to be angry and hostile. When I did that, instead of seeing our defense get posterized, I saw Cobb, out the last few games, making outlet passes that nobody in this program has thrown since Emeka. Guys didn't always convert, but they will get better when they learn to expect it. Underhand scoop to Jalen who actually cut to the rim for a dunk. Imagine that, a UConn guy in 2017, off the ball cut to the rim expecting a pass. First time I've seen it all year. Then I saw it a few more times. And it put a damned smile on my face. Larrier even had a dunk. So the defense was bad, and we pressed, and damned if it didn't start working a little. Got some turnovers and missed shots. And I felt like, if there was another 10 minutes, we'd win. I felt like the UConn team that ended that game, if that team started the game, they'd win it. They had 10 more free throws than we did. We shot 7-19 from 3. They out rebounded us by 11. But we had 11 assists to to their 9. Yes we had 17 turnovers...yet they had 15. There were good things to see in that game, and bad. But I'm tired of people only talking about the bad.

I'll worry about what we do in the offseason at the end of the season. There's no point in dwelling on it now. Let's play these games, look for the good things and enjoy being UConn Husky fans again. I know it's strange, but I feel like the single thing the team and fans are most missing, is hope. So I'm going to serve it up.

Good post. It didn't fall on deaf ears. Keep fighting the good fight...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Staying within 10 points of an unranked team is a point of pride? KO should resign immediately.

Yeah, the preseason #2 that happens to be unranked at the moment is just "an unranked team". Where did this "unranked team" crap come from? I see it all over this board. As if unranked Arkansas is just some garbage team because they aren't ranked. Half the teams that are now ranked, won't be at the end of the season. Arizona will be. Their losses were to NC State, SMU and ranked Purdue, and they just beat #7 Texas A&M. Unranked means nothing. The UConn NC team from 2013-14 was probably unranked at this point in the season.

 

[JMick]

Well, whomever that is directed at (I suspect it's directed at me), you can rest assured that not only have you beaten the spirit out of them but that their numbers are dwindling and yours are growing. There are many on this board who have literally made it impossible to post a positive view without being shot down within minutes. And I'm not using the word "literally" lightly. Our posts come with time stamps. An attempt to rally the troops on this board is futile...

It was not directed at you. You are reasonable.

 

[UConnDan97]

It was not directed at you. You are reasonable.

Of all the descriptions of me that I've heard over the years, "reasonable" was never included...

 

[scdono]

I'll be there for Coppin State and cheering the fellas on.

If the youngsters keep growing and if the elders start leading, there's no reason why this team can't make the tourney. So I'll keep believing and supporting...

UConnDan97 always optimistic which makes for a happy life. I’m with you bro. I think this team could do something this year.