This has become just plain sad

[Waquoit]

I think you are correct. Kevin Ollie was able to win a National Championship with a good roster and able to out-coach teams with better players (Florida, Kentucky, Michigan State).

The fact is he didn't outcoach squat. We had the player of the year playing like the player of the year. He lifted all the other players. If Ollie's coaching was a factor, we would have seen at least some evidence of such coaching over the last 3.5 seasons.

 

[Hankster]

This season has been very frustrating, but somewhat expected. We lost 4 top 100 recruits late in the season and replaced them with grad transfers and jucos. The transfers and jucos were brought in to fill out the roster, not because they were top basketball players. We have 2 players that played together coming into this season and it was for one season. And, our point guard is injured.

In my opinion, the poor play has more to do with the players on the roster, not the coaching. If you want to blame Ollie for anything, I would blame him for the roster blowing up at the end of the season. If no players had transferred or didn't back out of their commitment, we would have had 7 top 100 players on the roster. Instead, with Gilbert out, we have 2.

End of the day, we need to see if Ollie can coach this roster up to be respectable by mid season. Anyone who was expecting an NCAA berth with this roster and with Gilbert injured was delusional.

"In my opinion, the poor play has more to do with the players on the roster, not the coaching.

You hit the nail on the head blindfolded. I posted something similar. The bonehead turnovers I am sure the coach isn't teaching that. In a couple of games Adams looked like he doesn't even want to be there. Adams and Larrier are leading the team in scoring. Who else is going to do it. These players have years of experience behind them. Some of those turnovers can be seen in 5th grade league. CYO. Boys Club,etc. The players of the last three teams we played are all skilled. We were a team years ago who ran like Greyhounds. Our fast breaks were lightning fast. Even Purvis had some jaw dropping dunks. I think we have two, maybe three alley oops this year. I forget who posted the statistic of how many times we turned the ball over on first possession. Those stats were correct. I believe we turned the ball over not only the start of the game, but doing the same to open the half against Arkansas. Okay I said enough. Merry Xmas to those who celebrate it. Happy Holidays to those that do not.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Those who stay will be champions.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The fact is he didn't outcoach squat. We had the player of the year playing like the player of the year. He lifted all the other players. If Ollie's coaching was a factor, we would have seen at least some evidence of such coaching over the last 3.5 seasons.

KO's coaching was certainly a factor, but only because he had a team of JC-tough recruits who were primed to buy in (plus Bazz hero ball).

KO has shown zero ability to identify recruits and get his own guys to buy in. That's the problem. Plus his in-game coaching is horrible ("simplest scout in the country").

 

[Hi-Low]

When I saw the promo on the Patriots game for next Saturdays triple-header on CBS featuring UConn vs WSU I actually thought NO GOD PLEASE NO.....not another beat-down on national TV! What have things come to when I want our games on at midnight on espn the ocho.

 

[PAHusky]

Those who stay will be champions.

Why, what are they all winning after they graduate?

 

[zls44]

Why, what are they all winning after they graduate?

Champions of life.

 

[uconNYC]

I've lost so much interest in the program I can't even be bothered to change my profile pic.

Edit - I just did. Used to be a photo of KO.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The hardest thing here is that Ollie is family, we all root hard for his success, he's a lifetime Husky. For that reason alone i'd give him the rest of this season. If things don;t change drastically we use the off season to make some changes. I'm not a coach but I honestly struggle to see any strategy/game plan "plays" or even a clear understanding of what our players can do athletically. If our players are not smart enough/talented enough etc.. to run the current offense/defense then as a Coach you MUST adapt. Simplify, find out what they CAN do and do it well. Show us something. I feel like he is simply throwing things against the wall and hoping something sticks. As a former NBA player coming off a NC with tons of national Credibility i really didn't think we needed to bring in a Chillious type assistant. What he really needed imo was to bring in another Blaney type with 40 years of coaching/talent evaluation etc..

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

The hardest thing here is that Ollie is family, we all root hard for his success, he's a lifetime Husky. For that reason alone i'd give him the rest of this season. If things don;t change drastically we use the off season to make some changes. I'm not a coach but I honestly struggle to see any strategy/game plan "plays" or even a clear understanding of what our players can do athletically. If our players are not smart enough/talented enough etc.. to run the current offense/defense then as a Coach you MUST adapt. Simplify, find out what they CAN do and do it well. Show us something. I feel like he is simply throwing things against the wall and hoping something sticks. As a former NBA player coming off a NC with tons of national Credibility i really didn't think we needed to bring in a Chillious type assistant. What he really needed imo was to bring in another Blaney type with 40 years of coaching/talent evaluation etc..

I know many people here like to joke about the level of incompetence on this board as it relates to basketball acumen. As a matter of fact just read the like/post ratio of posters here and you will find a who's/who of designated message board Hall of Famers.

The idea of taking this group (maybe 5 to 7) of elite posters and fitting each one of them with one of Rashan Michels finest suits hot off the rack... could easily bear the fruit so many of us crave. We just take 3.3 million and divide it by 7. Give us three years to win a title. I know Vinnie and a few of his boys so I act pro bono as a "facilitator" to our core group of MADE MEN.

We all meet with Benedict and Susan. I am confident we can at least make a Final4.

 

[Glastonhusky]

The hardest thing here is that Ollie is family, we all root hard for his success, he's a lifetime Husky. For that reason alone i'd give him the rest of this season. If things don;t change drastically we use the off season to make some changes. I'm not a coach but I honestly struggle to see any strategy/game plan "plays" or even a clear understanding of what our players can do athletically. If our players are not smart enough/talented enough etc.. to run the current offense/defense then as a Coach you MUST adapt. Simplify, find out what they CAN do and do it well. Show us something. I feel like he is simply throwing things against the wall and hoping something sticks. As a former NBA player coming off a NC with tons of national Credibility i really didn't think we needed to bring in a Chillious type assistant. What he really needed imo was to bring in another Blaney type with 40 years of coaching/talent evaluation etc..

I also root for KO to succeed, and i'm not sure this is all on him. The problem is when you lose most of a recruiting class like we did last off-season, it hurts you for 2 - 3 years down the road. It's killing us this year and next season could be worse if Adams and/or Larrier leave. We could argue all day if the defections were KO's fault or not, but we may never know the truth. What we need are 2 or 3 consecutive solid recruiting classes like we have coming in for next season, then we will start to turn the corner. Can it be done? sure. Will the fans have the patience? Not sure.

 

[Paesano]

Those who stay will be champions.

Are you on drugs?

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

At least during JC's first couple and worst few years, there was optimism for improvement. But now, harkening back to Dom Perno's worst years ...

 

[selles]

I also root for KO to succeed, and i'm not sure this is all on him. The problem is when you lose most of a recruiting class like we did last off-season, it hurts you for 2 - 3 years down the road. It's killing us this year and next season could be worse if Adams and/or Larrier leave. We could argue all day if the defections were KO's fault or not, but we may never know the truth. What we need are 2 or 3 consecutive solid recruiting classes like we have coming in for next season, then we will start to turn the corner. Can it be done? sure. Will the fans have the patience? Not sure.

Nah, I'm tired of the players getting blamed. This is now 4 years of the same steadily worsening theme, and it can no longer be blamed on Hamilton, Purvis and Brimah since we have a completely different cast of players.

Slow starts as if we have no idea what the other team is going to do. Long scoring droughts. Big runs against us. Slow, deliberate, bad offense. Bad, bad, bad offense. Heck, at least Purvis would hit a ton of threes when we were down 20 to make the score respectable. What I wouldn't have given for that against Arkansas or Auburn.

Bad roster management. An abject refusal to play young bigs unless absolutely forced to. Durham could have been developed into a force last year but instead rode the pine. The same instinct is treating us to a steady diet of Big Dave and Anderson this year.

They say that everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face. Well, we're the exception to the rule. We don't have a plan.

The players aren't being given a chance to succeed. This is on the coach.

 

[HooperScooper]

Those who stay will be champions.

 

[Chief00]

This isn’t working. I haven’t been optimistic for a while, but I at least had a shred of hope that somehow, something would click. After today, nope. That’s gone. It’s not even Christmas and the NCAA tournament might as well be played on Mars for all of our chances of getting there.

Statistically, this program has become a horror.

We’re 274th in scoring offense, 321st in field goal percentage, 332nd in assists/turnover ratio, 291st in three-point field goal percentage and 349th in assists per game. 349th. There are only two teams worse than us.

We’re not in the top 130 in any offensive or defensive category, save free throw percentage where we rate 97th. Statistically, we’re not even remotely competitive with other American programs.

Subjectively, we might be worse than our numbers. We’re getting dragged by everyone with a halfway decent power 5 roster. We’ve played five games on national television and we’ve lost those games by over 100 points - there wasn’t a minute in any of those games where I thought we had a chance to win.

Recruiting has been talked to death, so I’m not going to go into it, but obviously it’s played a huge role in getting where we are. The roster has startlingly large holes amd deficiencies and of the 4,500-plus Division I basketball players in this country, only two of them play more minutes per game than poor Jalen Adams.

Long story made short, this is sad. I don’t see the road out of this anymore. Not really interested in assigning blame, but if this looks as bad on the inside as it does on the outside, I hope the powers that be will do what they gotta.

I always like to look at assists to turnovers ratio - it tells you a lot. How we play together, how we prize the ball and shoot. I won’t call this group selfish players. I really don’t think they are - but perhaps because they know no other way to play - they don’t look for each other and don’t seek the joy of setting up a teammate with a perfect pass for an open shot - the end result is the result one would expect from very selfish players.

I also think not having any shooters makes the game painful.

The flip side (turnovers) is we don’t prize the ball. I haven’t seen this many careless turnovers since Jerome Dyson played in a noon game.

Negative recruiting has unfortunately become a factor.

Of course, the coach has to own all of this.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I always like to look at assists to turnovers ratio - it tells you a lot. How we play together, how we prize the ball and shoot. I won’t call this group selfish players. I really don’t think they are - but perhaps because they know no other way to play - they don’t look for each other and don’t seek the joy of setting up a teammate with a perfect pass for an open shot - the end result is the result one would expect from very selfish players.

I also think not having any shooters makes the game painful.

The flip side (turnovers) is we don’t prize the ball. I haven’t seen this many careless turnovers since Jerome Dyson played in a noon game.

Negative recruiting has unfortunately become a factor.

Of course, the coach has to own all of this.

We need this guy. One of my all time favorites.

 

[wheelerdog]

Like everyone else on this board, UConn basketball is in my blood. I am from the "just avoid the 8/9 game generation". I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see a UConn team lift the biggest trophy you can lift, and they've done it four times. I've been fortunate enough to be there to see it more than once. I am grateful beyond words.

I really respect Kevin Ollie. He stepped into an impossible situation in 2012. 18 months later he did the impossible.

Then Yale at Gample happened. And all of the issues with slow starts, lousy offense, no player development, etc. And the slide continued. 2016 saw a good team go out early because they failed to dominate a subpar league. And after last year, three guys with nothing but playing time in front of them walked. I don't care why. It should not have happened.

And now this. I have to force myself to watch games. I have no interest in getting off my couch and going to Hartford or Storrs. The passion has been sucked out me.

Something has to change.......

 

[RayRay34]

LOL I always tell them I am a Huskies MENS fan when they see me to be sure, but also let them know I do root for the women. That may change...oh please don't start anything. Actually I do have tons of other schools NCAA apparel so I may just don more Ducks colors or Wash ST Cougar, or the west coast Huskies or....well you get it.

Please continue to wear UCONN blue, always.

 

[RayRay34]

I'll keep watching. I must be a masochist. Growing up a UConn, Patriots and Red Sox fan has gotten me used to a lot of suffering (70s, 80s, 90s). I well remember those days. I kept watching then, I'll keep watching now. The announcers were not wrong to mention 4 championships in 20 years over and over again. It was breathtaking. And when Ollie goes, I will never think it was a mistake to have hired him. 2014 can't be a mistake. Hell, Syracuse has one and it's illegitimate.

Would I have done it all over again? Of course. But when changes are made, I'll still go on being a fan and watching even if they are mediocre.

Perfectly stated

 

[Chief00]

Didn’t those guys bring in the string 2016 class that fell apart? They got Adams, Gilbert. MAL. What have the new guys done?

I have a tin foil hat theory. Those guys brought in guys who frankly were not comfortable in the new KO environment. So he got guys who would bring in different kinds of players who would put up with his crap.

Chill was hired in March 2017. Jim Calhoun attended most practices and games the first two years. After the 2014 Championship, KO believed he did not need his pain in the neck help anymore.

 

[jayfromfla]

My cheering for Uconn basketball goes back to the 60's with Toby and Wes. In the 70s myself and 3 others bought season tix. We skipped the game when the roof caved in and we followed Uconn to the NH coliseum. I gave the tix up then for a couple of years. In 1982 I started getting season tix again and kept them till I moved to Fl in1999. Even in the dark days on Perno I have never seen the team play so bad. Lack of teamwork by the players and poor game coaching by the head coach. Perno was a much better game coach than Ollie he just couldn't recruit the talent needed for the BE. In Calhoun's first season we still drew close to 6000 people to the civic center. At the last home game and a 9-19 season Calhoun got on the Mic after the game, thanked the fans for support and promised we would never have another season like that again. Now I see the team slipping back to the Perno days. The shame is we get the talent but the coaching is asleep.

 

[huskyrob1]

I don't like piling on, but... I am very concerned about the status of UConn athletics. The football program has been in the tank for 7 years, attendance is at an all-time low, and very few people care anymore (except for the tailgates!), the basketball program is following close behind; few fans in the seats and less caring about the team. It will be very interesting to see what the attendance is at games beyond Wichita State. And, although I haven't seen the TV ratings, I can't imagine that they aren't in the toilet.

This comes from a 50+ year fan who has had UConn basketball to help me get through CT winters for many years. But the combination of crappy conference opponents (who really cares about SMU, Houston, Tulsa, Tulane, ECU...?), lack of offense (no fun to watch with a shooting percentage in the mid-30's), no apparent pride or toughness, and the constant refrain of "we've got to come out stronger", make it increasingly difficult to care about games. I completely forgot yesterday's game was on until I got the halftime report on ESPN.

And once people stop caring, it's hard to get them back. Oh, and do you really think that the XL will still be open in a couple of years? Very low attendance at events and huge infrastructure needs in a state with no money to spend on it.

How depressing. Never mind; Merry Christmas to all on the Yard!

I'm much more worried about men's basketball than anything else, Ollie has to go, no ifs, ands or buts. I don't think things are as bleak as you say for the athletic department, which is actually doing ok running things in division one sports. The football team is on the mend with a coaching staff that knows how to fix things. HCRE in only one year has already signed some great recruits, a three star QB out of Georgia as well as a three star DT from our home state of Connecticut, and some think they are better than three stars, and that's just the beginning. Let's not forget that the women's basketball program continues to lead it's sport in recruiting, despite being in the worst conference for men's and women's basketball. Also remember to chalk up another NC in Volleyball, and support our excellent baseball and soccer programs. Right now our one big problem is men's basketball, we need a new coaching staff asap before anymore damage is done. We need coaches who can recruit the kinds of players we used to get. Our program has been devoid the last few years of players not highly recruited but who played hard and got better after every year here. Players like Jake, Josh, Hilton, Ricky, Travis, Microwave, Scott, Lyman, Murray, Doron, Rod, Nadav. Recruiting basketball players to play in the AAC will be harder than in the old Big East, but not impossible with the right coaching staff.

 

[Kitaman]

I’m in that camp too. Not sure about the people who ask him to be more engaged he is. His energy has been good on the sidelines but some do not react well, Jalen should have been yanked the other night vs Zona when he reacted to KO criticism with whining and hand motions like it wasn’t his fault. JC would have reached for his jersey then grabbed an assistant and said get his ass outta there. No control is all and between substitutions and I’m bounds plays, my God.

If I could ask Coach just one question it would be;

"what happens when you see one of your players during the game continually using the escalator?".

 

[huskyrob1]

My cheering for Uconn basketball goes back to the 60's with Toby and Wes. In the 70s myself and 3 others bought season tix. We skipped the game when the roof caved in and we followed Uconn to the NH coliseum. I gave the tix up then for a couple of years. In 1982 I started getting season tix again and kept them till I moved to Fl in1999. Even in the dark days on Perno I have never seen the team play so bad. Lack of teamwork by the players and poor game coaching by the head coach. Perno was a much better game coach than Ollie he just couldn't recruit the talent needed for the BE. In Calhoun's first season we still drew close to 6000 people to the civic center. At the last home game and a 9-19 season Calhoun got on the Mic after the game, thanked the fans for support and promised we would never have another season like that again. Now I see the team slipping back to the Perno days. The shame is we get the talent but the coaching is asleep.

Good post but disagree with your take on Perno as a recruiter. He was not a great recruiter but not a bad one either. He recruited some really top players during his tenure, kids like Corny Thompson, Mike McKay, Karl Hobbs, Bruce Kuzenski, Earl Kelly, Chuck Alexinas, Norman Bailey. IIRC he also began recruiting Phil Gamble and Cliff Robinson before getting canned. Not a top recruit, but Perno did recruit Glen Miller. You have to remember that towards the end of his tenure at Uconn Perno was fielding teams to go up against some of the greatest teams and HOF coaches in Big East history. If you look back from 1979 to 1984-85, yes he had a few blowouts at the hands of John Thompson and Georgetown and Carnasecca and ST John's, but they also lost scores of games in OT or by ten points or so.