To all those predicting our demise.

[August_West]

Let me translate -- nothing has changed since the first season he didn't win a National Championship. Seems sillier that way, doesn't it?

We won a tourney game and aac title in 16 too

 

[PAHusky]

It’s over the top knee jerk reactionism which at minimum should be reserved for end of this season.

It would be cool if you didn't try to tell people what they should and shouldn't be talking about on a random message board, and when and when not they should be talking about it. The reactionary sensationalism after losses is annoying, but it's just as annoying when one, for instance, one article comes out with Bazz talking about how much he learned under KO and his supporters are battering his detractors with that for days.

I don't think I've seen any KO detractors say they're going to stop going to every game. If a recruit is reading this board and is dissuaded from attending UConn because of a couple of lunatics posting anti-KO things, I'm not sure if that says more about the BY or the recruit. If you're really bothered by the same posters posting negative things over and over, put them on ignore or just laugh it off. Would be more productive than whatever it is this initial post hoped to accomplish.

 

[JMick]

I don't know. I do know it's supposed to last long enough that saying he hasn't fixed anything since the first season he didn't win a championship is pretty silly.

I don't see how that's silly. Plot a graph of W/L and get back to me.

 

[Huskyforlife]

You wanna know why people are complaining about Ollie? Because Syracuse is going to turn us inside out tomorrow. When you go to overtime against mid majors at home twice in a row, it tends to say a lot about where the team is.

 

[traitor71]

How long is that and that alone supposed to keep someone employed? Its not like he climbed a hill to get there - he started at the top and then fell right off

It certainly shouldn't buy an indefinite amount of time. Right now, and for a few seasons now, this team looks pretty unskilled and clearly lacks talent. We will see what happens when conference play starts, but it is hard to be optimistic with what we are seeing right now. My only desire at this point is for him to be engaged in things and for the team to play hard. If that doesn't happen, then you know a change has to happen. If it does, then they may grind out enough wins to get things in the right direction.

 

[businesslawyer]

We won a tourney game and acc title in 16 too

So this is KO's record:

1. Comes in to take over a short handed team with no expectations at the last minute, facing a post-season ban, and keeps them in the last Big East title race all year long somehow.

2. Wins national championship. While folks are complaining about regular season losses.

3. Has letdown/rebuilding year after national championship. Like we had even under the great one in years like '10 and '12. Terrible year but hardly shocking or problematic.

4. Has perfectly acceptable year, with conference tournament championship and getting to round of 32 in Tourney.

5. Has terrible year where we lose 3 players -- potentially 2 of our best 3 players -- for basically entire season, and have to fight through other injuries and illnesses with a roster of 7 and a half players, 3.5 of whom could only handle the ball in the paint. Yes, we got off to an unprecedently bad start before the injuries hit -- blame KO for a bad November.

6. Are 6-2, which is where we expected to be before knowing the injuries we'd be fighting through.

If you lay that out as a record, and looked at someone elses's coach doing that, you would think people calling for his head are just dumb. So why would that not be the analysis here?

 

[businesslawyer]

You wanna know why people are complaining about Ollie? Because Syracuse is going to turn us inside out tomorrow. When you go to overtime against mid majors at home twice in a row, it tends to say a lot about where the team is.

You complain about things before they happen? Your life partner is going to love that.

I'll be at the game. I'll get home around 3:00 in the morning. If they don't make it worth my time, I'll be pissed. But I won't be pissed before it happens.

 

[upstater]

It would be cool if you didn't try to tell people what they should and shouldn't be talking about on a random message board, and when and when not they should be talking about it. The reactionary sensationalism after losses is annoying, but it's just as annoying when one, for instance, one article comes out with Bazz talking about how much he learned under KO and his supporters are battering his detractors with that for days.

I don't think I've seen any KO detractors say they're going to stop going to every game. If a recruit is reading this board and is dissuaded from attending UConn because of a couple of lunatics posting anti-KO things, I'm not sure if that says more about the BY or the recruit. If you're really bothered by the same posters posting negative things over and over, put them on ignore or just laugh it off. Would be more productive than whatever it is this initial post hoped to accomplish.

If I were a recruit, and the fans were clamoring for another coach, I'd ask myself what happens to my career when the coach leaves and this AAC school hires the equivalent of Jim Christian?

These are serious questions for any young recruit looking at UConn, and if kids understand that the fanbase wants the coach gone, then of course it is going to have an impact. It would certainly have an impact on me.

In fact, this is the #1 reason for canning Ollie, moreso than his coaching. If the recruiting pipeline dries up, then you are DONE. It happened to Thad Matta at Ohio State and to creepy guy at Indiana.

 

[upstater]

You complain about things before they happen? Your life partner is going to love that.

I'll be at the game. I'll get home around 3:00 in the morning. If they don't make it worth my time, I'll be pissed. But I won't be pissed before it happens.

Absolutely right. The same thing was said last year--and though I am not saying they are going to win, I will say, "The same thing was said last year."

 

[businesslawyer]

If I were a recruit, and the fans were clamoring for another coach, I'd ask myself what happens to my career when the coach leaves and this AAC school hires the equivalent of Jim Christian?

These are serious questions for any young recruit looking at UConn, and if kids understand that the fanbase wants the coach gone, then of course it is going to have an impact. It would certainly have an impact on me.

In fact, this is the #1 reason for canning Ollie, moreso than his coaching. If the recruiting pipeline dries up, then you are DONE. It happened to Thad Matta at Ohio State and to creepy guy at Indiana.

And that, along with the buyout, is the reason to be patient. This has not, primarily, been a recruiting issue. Our class that entered a year ago was great on paper. This falls class would have been fine if someone who committed to us early and took us out of the running for other candidates didn't bail at the last minute. We had a top 2 or 3 center recruit blow up his life after verballing to us, and a potential lottery pick tell us privately he'd come and then back out of Kentucky.

There is plenty to criticize KO for. Even if you weren't dealing the the impossibility of satisfying folks when you replace Jim Calhoun. But one should be more worried about whether he'll ever be a good x and o's guy than whether he can be a good recruiter.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

It’s over the top knee jerk reactionism which at minimum should be reserved for end of this season.

Maybe.

But that isn’t what you said. You said people doing that are rooting for us to lose. It’s quite literally the exact opposite.

Wouldn’t call it knee jerk or reactionary seeing as the awful performances have been going on for years now. Agree that it doesn’t need to happen after every game or during games that aren’t even over yet.

 

[John]

Let me tell you something about yourselves.



You aren't basketball geniuses. You are disingenuous hedgers. I see right through it.

You can look at a season start and find stuff wrong on a 6 and 2 young team. Sure. No problems there. The rest of us see it too. Let's discuss it.

But there are so many declarative "The seasons over, Fire Ollie posts" here. The way they are positioned makes the game here abundantly clear.

If we do in fact go in the toilet (and there is no way for anyone to know that now. Its a long season), you all can smugly sit here and say "Ollie needs to go Right now!" every time we lose a game. You feel good about a UConn loss, your position is made. (Even though its not ;you think it is).

But if they reel off some wins and actually get better as a team over the course of the season you will all be here reveling in the success of a young team getting better.

Its a win/win for you. You can feel like a genius in the teams misery (when applicable) to mitigate the hurt losing does to your oh so fragile psyches. And a win, hell ,is a win (because youre supposedly a UConn fan; there should be some semblance of satisfaction out of one of those still....I hope)

But its not a win/win for the program you profess to love. They need our support. The Players absolutely deserve our support. And Kevin Ollie who brought us a National title 3.5 years ago and is not going anywhere for any time soon (for a myriad of reasons)deserves our support.

You can take these fire Ollie petitions (Marc Diamonte and the 43 mouth breathers, Im looking at you) and shove them straight up your Scalitos. You can place them next to the Fire Ollie threads and the Dan Hurley threads and every other piece of premature misery that gets manufactured here.

Im no Sunshiner ,(thanks ECU for the phrase!) . But I find our fans performance more disappointing than the teams at this point in the season.

But I think all you whiners are good mojo. I will very much enjoy the victory against Syracuse tomorrow and then enjoy making sure every one of you so down on us doesnt extract any enjoyment out of it. You dont deserve it.
Save the funerals and wakes for the end of the season when talking about a coaching change has a slight bit more realism. Now is the time to get down to MSG and root your 6-2 Huskies to a victory over the super pathetic Syracuse Orange.
If you hate 6-2 Kevin Ollie more than Syracuse, I question if you were ever even a UConn fan.

GO TELL IT TO YOUR NEW PIRATE FRIENDS BENEDICT ARNOLD.

 

[whaler11]

GO TELL IT TO YOUR NEW PIRATE FRIENDS BENEDICT ARNOLD.

I had no idea until today that ECU and Campbell was such a big rivalry.

I’m looking forward to it.


Haters vs Sunshiners. Pick your side.

 

[UC313]

The cesspool has forever tainted some of you people. Holy cow.

 

[JMick]

The cesspool has forever tainted some of you people. Holy cow.

Wouldn't have it any other way

 

[MSGSeven]

We won a tourney game and aac title in 16 too

A lot of these whiners are younger fans and they're spoiled. They weren't around for the beginnings and ascension of the program only for the peak glory years. If no one responds to these clowns they'll eventually go away.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

So this is KO's record:

1. Comes in to take over a short handed team with no expectations at the last minute, facing a post-season ban, and keeps them in the last Big East title race all year long somehow.

2. Wins national championship. While folks are complaining about regular season losses.

3. Has letdown/rebuilding year after national championship. Like we had even under the great one in years like '10 and '12. Terrible year but hardly shocking or problematic.

4. Has perfectly acceptable year, with conference tournament championship and getting to round of 32 in Tourney.

5. Has terrible year where we lose 3 players -- potentially 2 of our best 3 players -- for basically entire season, and have to fight through other injuries and illnesses with a roster of 7 and a half players, 3.5 of whom could only handle the ball in the paint. Yes, we got off to an unprecedently bad start before the injuries hit -- blame KO for a bad November.

6. Are 6-2, which is where we expected to be before knowing the injuries we'd be fighting through.

If you lay that out as a record, and looked at someone elses's coach doing that, you would think people calling for his head are just dumb. So why would that not be the analysis here?

2016 is sort of a perfect reason for why ko should be Fired. It was a decent season (although i would argue we underachieved a bit).

But what used to be a down year for the program (rd 32 exit) is now something we would all consider a massive success. That kind of says all you need to know about where the program has gotten under ko.

 

[intlzncster]

A lot of these whiners are younger fans and they're spoiled. They weren't around for the beginnings and ascension of the program only for the peak glory years. If no one responds to these clowns they'll eventually go away.

Ooohhhhh my friend, you dearly, dearly, underestimate some of these posters. Think the lowly cockroach. I don't even have to mention names. They should roll of the tip of the tongue by now.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ooohhhhh my friend, you dearly, dearly, underestimate some of these posters. Think the lowly cockroach. I don't even have to mention names. They should roll of the tip of the tongue by now.

Leave me alone!

 

[MSGSeven]

2016 is sort of a perfect reason for why ko should be Fired. It was a decent season (although i would argue we underachieved a bit).

But what used to be a down year for the program (rd 32 exit) is now something we would all consider a massive success. That kind of says all you need to know about where the program has gotten under ko.

No nice try though. They were a new team with two transfers all thrown together. Brimah breaking his finger hurt them during regular season which coincided with Rodney's shooting slump. Gibbs was not a point guard he was a shooting guard playing point guard and his offensive game was very limited. My only knock on Ollie that season was he should've made Jalen point guard from Day 1. If he did Jalen might've developed quicker and maybe they win a few more ball games and get in better position for NCAAT. But all in all it was a successful basketball season.

 

[intlzncster]

But what used to be a down year for the program (rd 32 exit) is now something we would all consider a massive success. That kind of says all you need to know about where the program has gotten under ko.

I don't think anyone considers it a massive success--but it is a success (includes an AAC tournament title).

With no HOF coach--arguably in the conversation for GOAT-- and the change in conference, expectations have to be different. I'm not sure what they should be. Not where they are at of course.

I mean, the really down years under JC were where they went to the NIT. There were multiple 1st/2nd rd NCAA exits too--not great years, but not total failures either.

 

[Walker11]

KO has a done a fine job on the court on first glance. There are extenuating circumstances that explain basically everything negative that has happened on the court.

The real concern stems from the people alluding to the fact that the culture is a trainwreck behind the scenes and that some players have lost faith in KO. I have no knowledge or connection but good posters have mentioned this and this is what startles me.

If by chance the talk is all much ado about nothing, KO has shown that he can coach a great defense and recruit well and that is really all we should be asking for because that makes for an above average coach. He does admittedly run a garbage offense but he has also never had an effective offensive post player, which I expect us to see next year, and I am not sure if folks realize that most college teams run a garbage offense. I see people mentioning Cooley as a (pipe dream) replacement and it makes me wonder if they have ever seen the offensive sets the Friars display.

 

[Huskyforlife]

You complain about things before they happen? Your life partner is going to love that.

I'll be at the game. I'll get home around 3:00 in the morning. If they don't make it worth my time, I'll be pissed. But I won't be pissed before it happens.

I’m really complianing about the things that have already happened, and predicting what will happen next, based on those things. I’m actually not off the ollie train yet, believe it or not, I’ll be ecstatic if he finds a way to win this game, but I don’t expect we will.

 

[80shusky]

So this is KO's record:

1. Comes in to take over a short handed team with no expectations at the last minute, facing a post-season ban, and keeps them in the last Big East title race all year long somehow.

2. Wins national championship. While folks are complaining about regular season losses.

3. Has letdown/rebuilding year after national championship. Like we had even under the great one in years like '10 and '12. Terrible year but hardly shocking or problematic.

4. Has perfectly acceptable year, with conference tournament championship and getting to round of 32 in Tourney.

5. Has terrible year where we lose 3 players -- potentially 2 of our best 3 players -- for basically entire season, and have to fight through other injuries and illnesses with a roster of 7 and a half players, 3.5 of whom could only handle the ball in the paint. Yes, we got off to an unprecedently bad start before the injuries hit -- blame KO for a bad November.

6. Are 6-2, which is where we expected to be before knowing the injuries we'd be fighting through.

If you lay that out as a record, and looked at someone elses's coach doing that, you would think people calling for his head are just dumb. So why would that not be the analysis here?

Because..rational thought.

 

[shizzle787]

We won a tourney game and aac title in 16 too

Should have been a FF team that year. Way too talented of a team to be a 9 seed.