We need a bigs coach and a mentor for Ollie

[QDOG5]

I just wrote this on another thread, we have no pick and roll easy baskets for our bigs.We have entry passes to them where they get the ball, think about things for 10 seconds while the defense sets itself, and then they toss something up. Just watched Creighton run an easy one for their big. He never dribbled, then layed it in. Our bigs have decent hands to do this, aslong as the guard can pass it to them.

Our screeners are consistently rolling to the hoop now. Our guards are consistently looking at them like they play for the opposing team now. What we need is a guard coach to teach them how to pass.

 

[mauconnfan]

This big man coach stuff is a joke. If you can coach basketball you can coach all the positions. Duke has two of the best big men in the nation and 4 former guards as coaches. Tell me who is Mo Bamba's big man coach at Texas? Who is Ayton's big man coach at Arizona? Heck what is the percentage of D1 head coaches under 6'6" vs over 6'6"? 90? Larry Brown, great coach, what is he 5' 11"?

QDog shhhhh please no one needs to know the truth here it will ruin the "we need a big mans coach" theme every few months. LOL

 

[mauconnfan]

Our screeners are consistently rolling to the hoop now. Our guards are consistently looking at them like they play for the opposing team now. What we need is a guard coach to teach them how to pass.

You know what Jalen had 9 assists against WSU and some were just made shots but there were some nice drop offs to bigs who finished. I think Jalens % of assists improves if there are Larrier and 2 of the bigs on the court than the 3 guard line up. He can go to the hole and find a pass or a bail out somewhere when he gets doubled if there are more bigs in, otherwise the other 2 are standing out on the perimeter.

 

[UConnDan97]

I've got no inside info. I don't know the feelings of the people involved. I can only say that Kevin Ollie's staff has changed from three former head coaches, to two former head coaches, to one former head coach (last year) to no former head coaches (this year). We know from JC that he doesn't want JC's advice.

3 former head coaches: 20-10 (10-8 in Big East) with a depleted roster
2 former head coaches: 32-8 (12-6) National Champions; 20-15 (10-8); 25-11 (11-7) NCAA invite, conf. champions
1 former head coach: 16-17 (9-9)
0 former head coaches: 8-7 (1-2) in progress

I am not sure what to conclude from his behavior other than that Kevin Ollie doesn't really want input from other experienced coaches, who might question his approach. The results speak for themselves.

Yup. The results speak for themselves. They say definitively that having 2 former head coaches is way better than having 3 former head coaches.

Or, it could be that the results were due more to who was on the court than who was off of it. Or, it could be a third reason or a combination of reasons. Your last two sentences are not really supported by your data...

 

[QDOG5]

You know what Jalen had 9 assists against WSU and some were just made shots but there were some nice drop offs to bigs who finished. I think Jalens % of assists improves if there are Larrier and 2 of the bigs on the court than the 3 guard line up. He can go to the hole and find a pass or a bail out somewhere when he gets doubled if there are more bigs in, otherwise the other 2 are standing out on the perimeter.

Agreed, Mau. KO is so enamored of the three guard lineup that I don't see him making changes. I don't have a philosophical dislike of three guard lineups necessarily but this one is too short. Also, AA won't shoot anymore because he can't find the ocean lately so he is no longer factor from three. Plus, it would put the ball in JA's hands more often and he is by far our best player.

 

[UConnDan97]

Agreed, Mau. KO is so enamored of the three guard lineup that I don't see him making changes. I don't have a philosophical dislike of three guard lineups necessarily but this one is too short. Also, AA won't shoot anymore because he can't find the ocean lately so he is no longer factor from three. Plus, it would put the ball in JA's hands more often and he is by far our best player.

While I'd prefer not to go with the 3 guard lineup, it has to be said that we don't have anyone outside of three people who can score more than 10 points a game. That puts a tremendous amount of stress on the team, and it forces Ollie in some ways to try to turn the game into a track meet, albeit a ridiculously sloppy track meet.

This team begs for two things; a point guard who can run an offense, and a big who's capable of scoring enough inside to shrink a defense. Currently, we have neither. So we have to win games in the ugliest of fashions...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yup. The results speak for themselves. They say definitively that having 2 former head coaches is way better than having 3 former head coaches.

Or, it could be that the results were due more to who was on the court than who was off of it. Or, it could be a third reason or a combination of reasons. Your last two sentences are not really supported by your data...

Or you could say that since Hobbs left he's .500 overall and under .500 in conference. That's true isn't it? These players could easily win 20 games with proper coaching.

 

[UConnDan97]

Or you could say that since Hobbs left he's .500 overall and under .500 in conference. That's true isn't it? These players could easily win 20 games with proper coaching.

Or you could say he's .500 without Brimah.

See how silly your data analysis is???

 

[HuskyHawk]

You know what Jalen had 9 assists against WSU and some were just made shots but there were some nice drop offs to bigs who finished. I think Jalens % of assists improves if there are Larrier and 2 of the bigs on the court than the 3 guard line up. He can go to the hole and find a pass or a bail out somewhere when he gets doubled if there are more bigs in, otherwise the other 2 are standing out on the perimeter.

This is what happened last year as well. Jalen prepared to be a SG. We lost Gilbert....Jalen slowly transitioned to become an effective point guard as the season went on. I thought he had turned the corner based on the WSU and Tulsa games, and then he played like Jerry Garcia against ECU. He really is much better when he is playing as a PG than as a SG, the whole team is.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Or you could say he's .500 without Brimah.

See how silly your data analysis is???

He didn't have Brimah last year when he was under .500? I'm pretty sure I saw a tall guy with bad hands.

 

[UConnDan97]

He didn't have Brimah last year when he was under .500? I'm pretty sure I saw a tall guy with bad hands.

Why are you pulling out 1 year from Brimah? Did you pull out Hobbs' worst year too?

We've also won a national championship with Brimah, so it's clear by your analysis that the lack of Brimah is why we are now .500...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Why are you pulling out 1 year from Brimah? Did you pull out Hobbs' worst year too?

We've also won a national championship with Brimah, so it's clear by your analysis that the lack of Brimah is why we are now .500...

That is some flawed logic. Ollie was the HC in Hobbs' worst season as an assistant. Ollie was the HC in Brima's worst season...and it was the one without Hobbs. Moreover, the style of play and general level of preparedness and competence shown by the team has declined dramatically since Hobbs left. Ollie is in over his head. He has been since day one. He used to have competent help. Now he doesn't.

 

[UConnDan97]

That is some flawed logic. Ollie was the HC in Hobbs' worst season as an assistant. Ollie was the HC in Brima's worst season...and it was the one without Hobbs. Moreover, the style of play and general level of preparedness and competence shown by the team has declined dramatically since Hobbs left. Ollie is in over his head. He has been since day one. He used to have competent help. Now he doesn't.

Don't worry. I figured out the error we both had in your data analysis.

It's Pat Lenehan. We're .500 without Pat Lenehan. We've gotta get Pat Lenehan back as soon as possible...

 

[Spokesbender]

If Coach Calhoun felt disrespected, we'd have heard from him by now.

 

[Spokesbender]

I’m guessing if Ollies’s ego and sense of reality are that out of whack, he will resign and look to go elsewhere rather than accept forced changes to his staff and overall sense of control.

Doubtful, based on how much he takes from the officials without reaction

 

[Chief00]

In 6 months he's a new guy?

Here are his stats for the Austin Spurs vs UConn senior year:

Points/Game: 6.0 vs 7.6
PF/Game: 3.0 vs 3.2
TOs/Game: 1.4 vs 1.5
Assists/Game: 0.8 vs 0.2
Rebounds/Game: 6.7 vs 6.1
FT%: 61.0% vs 62.3%
FG%: 54.3% vs 57.3%
Blocks/Game: 2.6 vs 2.6

His stats in the G-League and at UConn are almost identical. Plus, he has the lowest +/- on the team.

As for size, he is listed at 6'10", 230 lbs. now. As a recruit, he was listed at 6'10", 220 lbs. As a freshman, he was listed at 7'0", 217lbs and as a senior he was listed at 7'0", 230 lbs. Does he have more muscle? Probably, but he has not made over his body.

The pros and cons of Brimah have been debated extensively on The Boneyard, but he is not a new and improved Brimah at this point.

I noticed you did not include minutes played, which these statistics would need to be weighted. Besides it’s against much better competition.

 

[huskyrob1]

I want Ollie gone too, but the idea that he ran Blaney out or dissed Calhoun is dumb

It's also dumb to stick your head in the sand.