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Message: [QUOTE="Towney007, post: 2457697, member: 5832"] I mean from what i've read - and what I agree with - is that it's the same thing over an over again - the same problems over and over again. And the clock's just kinda ticking. I don't think KO is a bad dude. I've heard some hearsay stuff behind the scenes - don't know what truth there is to it; but my issue at the end of the day is on the court, and what's been on the court has been the same kinds of players doing the same things wrong repeatedly. For multiple seasons. And I also think it's just unfair to look at the situation in a total vacuum. Because you have this weird perfect storm where the program is in this rut, but also stuck in the conference realignment cement mixer and you have a team not playing well and stuck against opponents that aren't really BAD per se - but clearly not up to the level of competition we saw in the Big East - but more importantly just not teams we have any real rivalries or history with outside of say... maybe Cincinnati. So it's really just a lot of things coming together at the same time where you have declining revenues that are exacerbated by all of the above that have to put anyone with a pulse on edge a bit. And truth be told, while I don't want to BE in the American Conference, I'm not bummed that we're IN it right now. I think people are way over the top in criticizing the programs in it. It's been pretty good and teams are absolutely improving. Houston is getting better. SMU got better quickly and seems to be maintaining. Wichita State is a great add for hoops and Cincinnati has been strong. Memphis has been a little all over the place and Tulsa and Temple - while not setting the world on fire, have maintained their status as more or less steady eddies. UCF, USF and Tulane are clearly making the effort even though no one's really had the progress they've wanted them to have on the hoops front at least... on the football front - where the dough is - it's impossible to call UCF and USF bad partners in that regard... and to boot - we haven't carried our weight. So it's hard for me to sit back and take this kind of elitist attitude that we're too good for the conference and that the conference is ruining US. It's not helping, but everyone in it is doing their best and doing what they need to. We're not. That's on us. When looking at Ollie - what concerns me is that he has clearly demonstrated an ability to get top talent recruitment wise, but he hasn't been able to keep it, develop it and find the KIND of talent that can succeed in his system. That's really what it comes down to at the end of the day. I don't see a willingness to coach a team where it's at or to what it actually is. He keeps trying to make circles squares. That lack of adaptability scares me. But it also exacerbates some of the 'attitude' issues people constantly complain about. Truth be told - it's hard to keep a positive attitude and max effort when the situation you're in clearly isn't helpful to you. It's hard for me to fault the kids for that. What I also don't like about the system so to speak - is that it's kind of faulty and exclusionary to a point. If you're an elite big - why come to UConn? If everything is going to be based off of guard creativity and penetration and swing-ish 2/3/4's that can dribble and create - where do you really fall in that equation? People complain about our ability to develop bigs, but they're not a part of the sauce in this system so to speak - so the type of talent we're going to attract in that regard is going to be what it is. And what the kicker is for me - and I really DO believe this with every fiber of my being - is that I feel like Ollie's one of those guys who is that anomaly that could be a sage in an NBA setting - and just never get one foot in front of the other as a college coach. Get some self motivated, uniquely talented types like you find in the NBA - and you'll have a lot of succes. Sometimes its the coaches that kind of get out of the way and let players create are the best in the modern pro game. Not sure it's a fit for college as the kids just aren't developed enough or have IQ's on the court that can play to that as it's so antithetical to what we see in AAU, etc. And one behind the scenes knock I hear a lot about Kevin is that he's more interested in being 'one of the boys' so to speak rather than a coach - and while that's not necessarily a fault - it's that you can't really do that at the college level. One guy I talked to explained it to me that Kevin was more like a grizzled NBA vet taking young players under his wing as opposed to being Dad, basically. And I could see that being something. Again - I'm not sure he's a bad coach, he just might be a really bad fit for this level, that's all. I'm all for giving him the season. He earned that right winning a national title, he's been the tournament twice, probably would have been three times had we not been banned. He's been good enough to warrant the season to me. But if this season turns into anything like last year - it's probably time to make a change. That's where i'm at. I'm in the 'he's out as of now, but let's see what he can do with the season and I can totally reconsider that position.'... [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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