- Joined
- Dec 31, 2016
- Messages
- 110
- Reaction Score
- 214
I have watched the mixed feelings in these forums over the last several months. I am a former Uconn All---Conference athlete. I was fortunate enough to go on to a professional career in the States and abroad. We are all Uconn-junkies, or at least I will speak on my own behalf...I am a Uconn Hoops junkie. before anyone takes a swat at what I am about to write, just know it is my personal observations. You may agree or disagree, certainly that is everyone's choice.
I've watched kids from the state, that seldom got away under Calhoun, slip through without much notice. Dunn to Providence, Heron to Auburn (leading scorer as a freshman), Diallo to KY, etal. This simply didn't happen under Calhoun, or at least as frequently. He shut the door on the Pressley's, the Pinnone's, the Jenson's as Rollie used to camp out in CT, he slammed that door shut.
I have no angst against Kevin Ollie, but some is starting to build. I have been in the sports world my whole life, and the business world for a good chunk of it as well. There is an old adage, "When a fish stinks, it stinks from the head." What exactly does that mean? It means the AD, and Kevin Ollie regarding Uconn basketball. Trouble is watching players get thrown out of the huddle, watching players fight (with words), on the court, more times than I cared to watch, watching JA get scolded by KO, and JA erupts back in KO's face. I guarantee you, if that was Jim Calhoun, Adams would of been in the locker room, done for the night.
I have issues with the entire coaching staff being all former guards. Does it matter? I believe it matters in 2 ways. recruiting against Uconn is going to point this out for any big man. Yes, a coach knows what to tell a big, and can coach him, but he never lived it, and that is tough.
Recruiting is getting harder and harder. WHY? The AAC is just not where it is at. case in point, just 3 players in the top 100 signed with AAC schools this year, and 2 of those were in the 90s. Why does this matter? It ultimately is going to weaken the conference, and as it is, SMU 30-4, is a #6 seed. Cincinnati, 29-5 is a #6 seed. They both got bounced early. The optics of that are not good. We have seen AAC teams with 23,24 wins the last few years left out of the Big Dance. WHY? Because the opportunity for quality wins is very limited. You have to win 25 games in this conference to be a sure thing, 23/24 maybe 50-50. Uconn can no longer schedule 4-5 big out-of-conference games, they have to be like Geno, and schedule almost every game vs a top 25 team. If not, accept the fact that 23 wins, 24 wins may not be enough.
What has happened the last week or so, is not the problem, it is a symptom of a much bigger problem. I don't know KO, all I have heard and seen is he is a great guy, and I assume that is correct. You are what your record says you are, but the winning team he had was with a bunch of Calhoun's kids. he made the tournament one time with his own kids, on an answered 70 ft. prayer heave by Adams. What's next?
First off, Ollie is going nowhere, as Benedict locked him up for 5 years, and his stock once extremely high, has taken a big hit. he is a competitor supreme, his resume in the NBA is proof of that. He will take this personally, and what that means is he will rise above it all, and succeed, or fall flat on his face, in over his head. That script has yet to be written.
Larrier and Gilbert only played 3 games, and while they looked promising, that script is not written either. Theyfaced Wagner, northeastern, and Loyola,Marymount, 3 cupcakes, and did a respectable job. It would be easy to pencil them in for great careers, but we don't have that answer yet. Larrier is now 2 full years away from competition, Gilbert 1. It may matter, it may not.
If Ollie wins 23+ games with this team, as presently constituted next year, he did a fantastic job. If he makes the NCAA Tournament, he did an incredible job. If he doesn't, it will make his job unreasonably difficult going forward, as the perception of the public, the recruits, the coaches recruiting against them, will be Uconn is no longer Uconn, it would be 4 of 6 years out of the Dance, Calhoun missed it 4 times in his final 22 years, and if Ollie reaches 4 whiffs in 6 years, it will spell huge problems.
This brings me to the point of all this. Next season is as critical of a season for Uconn, perhaps in their history. Regardless of your feelings right now, and they are probably concerned, wounded, or carry on, don't under-estimate the need for every body in the stands, every cheer and reassurance one can give, because this is the biggest moment for Uconn basketball in our lifetimes, it is the biggest oment for everyone associated with Uconn basketball.
let's take what we have been gifted to, and not expect it, but put all your will into making it continue, and hopefully that trickles down to coaches and players. GO UCONN!
I've watched kids from the state, that seldom got away under Calhoun, slip through without much notice. Dunn to Providence, Heron to Auburn (leading scorer as a freshman), Diallo to KY, etal. This simply didn't happen under Calhoun, or at least as frequently. He shut the door on the Pressley's, the Pinnone's, the Jenson's as Rollie used to camp out in CT, he slammed that door shut.
I have no angst against Kevin Ollie, but some is starting to build. I have been in the sports world my whole life, and the business world for a good chunk of it as well. There is an old adage, "When a fish stinks, it stinks from the head." What exactly does that mean? It means the AD, and Kevin Ollie regarding Uconn basketball. Trouble is watching players get thrown out of the huddle, watching players fight (with words), on the court, more times than I cared to watch, watching JA get scolded by KO, and JA erupts back in KO's face. I guarantee you, if that was Jim Calhoun, Adams would of been in the locker room, done for the night.
I have issues with the entire coaching staff being all former guards. Does it matter? I believe it matters in 2 ways. recruiting against Uconn is going to point this out for any big man. Yes, a coach knows what to tell a big, and can coach him, but he never lived it, and that is tough.
Recruiting is getting harder and harder. WHY? The AAC is just not where it is at. case in point, just 3 players in the top 100 signed with AAC schools this year, and 2 of those were in the 90s. Why does this matter? It ultimately is going to weaken the conference, and as it is, SMU 30-4, is a #6 seed. Cincinnati, 29-5 is a #6 seed. They both got bounced early. The optics of that are not good. We have seen AAC teams with 23,24 wins the last few years left out of the Big Dance. WHY? Because the opportunity for quality wins is very limited. You have to win 25 games in this conference to be a sure thing, 23/24 maybe 50-50. Uconn can no longer schedule 4-5 big out-of-conference games, they have to be like Geno, and schedule almost every game vs a top 25 team. If not, accept the fact that 23 wins, 24 wins may not be enough.
What has happened the last week or so, is not the problem, it is a symptom of a much bigger problem. I don't know KO, all I have heard and seen is he is a great guy, and I assume that is correct. You are what your record says you are, but the winning team he had was with a bunch of Calhoun's kids. he made the tournament one time with his own kids, on an answered 70 ft. prayer heave by Adams. What's next?
First off, Ollie is going nowhere, as Benedict locked him up for 5 years, and his stock once extremely high, has taken a big hit. he is a competitor supreme, his resume in the NBA is proof of that. He will take this personally, and what that means is he will rise above it all, and succeed, or fall flat on his face, in over his head. That script has yet to be written.
Larrier and Gilbert only played 3 games, and while they looked promising, that script is not written either. Theyfaced Wagner, northeastern, and Loyola,Marymount, 3 cupcakes, and did a respectable job. It would be easy to pencil them in for great careers, but we don't have that answer yet. Larrier is now 2 full years away from competition, Gilbert 1. It may matter, it may not.
If Ollie wins 23+ games with this team, as presently constituted next year, he did a fantastic job. If he makes the NCAA Tournament, he did an incredible job. If he doesn't, it will make his job unreasonably difficult going forward, as the perception of the public, the recruits, the coaches recruiting against them, will be Uconn is no longer Uconn, it would be 4 of 6 years out of the Dance, Calhoun missed it 4 times in his final 22 years, and if Ollie reaches 4 whiffs in 6 years, it will spell huge problems.
This brings me to the point of all this. Next season is as critical of a season for Uconn, perhaps in their history. Regardless of your feelings right now, and they are probably concerned, wounded, or carry on, don't under-estimate the need for every body in the stands, every cheer and reassurance one can give, because this is the biggest moment for Uconn basketball in our lifetimes, it is the biggest oment for everyone associated with Uconn basketball.
let's take what we have been gifted to, and not expect it, but put all your will into making it continue, and hopefully that trickles down to coaches and players. GO UCONN!
