We need a new coach

[QDOG5]

Anyone know the odds Fred Hoiberg is fired from the Bulls? If he were to be, he'd have to be the best option available, right?[/QUOTE
Next to zero. The Bulls are rebuilding and Fred gets next year at a bear minimum.

 

[superjohn]

Anyone know the odds Fred Hoiberg is fired from the Bulls? If he were to be, he'd have to be the best option available, right?

No chance, the Bulls like Hoiberg and they look to finally have a really good young core.

 

[Kathy]

FWIW, there are posts on the L'ville board expecting Pitino to come here. I think not, the guy is toxic.

I'd rather have 10 more losing seasons then to have that scumbag on the sidelines

 

[Horatio]

Wouldn't surprise me honestly. He's a great head coach, and I doubt he'll be caught dead cheating again. It wouldn't be hard for DB to say he believes Pitino about not knowing anything about the strippers.

That being said, I think Calhoun might hunt down and off RP if he were to try taking over his program.

Connecticut has a drastic drop off in stripper quality compared to southern states. It'll never work.

 

[QDOG5]

Not a Chicago Bear minimum but a regular bare minimum

 

[Madmannsucks]

Not a Chicago Bear minimum but a regular bare minimum

I was wondering who was going to catch that. I bearly noticed myself.

 

[Matrim55]

Anyone know the odds Fred Hoiberg is fired from the Bulls? If he were to be, he'd have to be the best option available, right?

Hoiberg hates recruiting – by the end of his Iowa State run he outright refused to do it. Those teams were made up almost exclusively of JuCos and transfers.

I don't think he'll ever coach in college again.

 

[TRest]

I'd rather have 10 more losing seasons then to have that scumbag on the sidelines

Good news!

 

[Ewekon]

As usual the Yard doesn’t disappoint with bad takes about how recruiting is the sole issue not the coaching. But you have juniors that don’t know how to stay in front of their man, or switch properly. That isn’t a recruiting problem that’s a coaching problem

If the athletes aren't good enough they can't defend. Why do you keep piling on with this?

This team is not talented. "Coach them up" and we get an 11 seed and lose. But nope. Adams...I love.... He is a G leaguer

 

[gtcam]

You are talking about recruiting though. If you defend his lack of defensive coachingby saying the players aren’t equipped to handle the competition, well then that falls on KO for bringing in guys who can’t play. How is this not understood?

Recruiting and coaching are two separate issues in the discussion
You have to be able to separate to understand the argument
I understand those of you who dislike the guy so much and want him gone asap can only see things through that vision - that's fine

If you defend his lack of defensive coaching

I never defended his lack of defensive coaching because you nor I know absolutely zilch about his coaching - we aren't there to witness it. He has had guys who could play D so you can't say he doesn't coach it. You can coach all you want but if you have guys who don't get it or you have kids going up against men it just doesn't work.
Is that a recruitment issue? - for sure. He has proven to be a less than adequate recruiter and bringing in Chills shows that someone recognized this fact
Chills is a proven recruiter but definitely not a proven X and Os guy or game coach. I'm not sure about his basketball IQ

In the end, I don't care if KO stays or KO leaves.
I feel strongly that the guy knows basketball, has worked for and with the brightest, most experienced minds in basketball history so he has soaked in a lot of tactics and techniques
The best will tell you that if you can't put on the floor guys who can match up physically with the opponent, you are at an extreme disadvantage.
UConn has been at a physical disadvantage for the past 3 or 4 years and that is on KO and he may pay for it at the end of this season

 

[polycom]

If the athletes aren't good enough they can't defend. Why do you keep piling on with this?

This team is not talented. "Coach them up" and we get an 11 seed and lose. But nope. Adams...I love.... He is a G leaguer

With a better coach, this team would be better. Fact. The players are bad but not nearly as bad as they are playing. To not see that is silly. The team is more than athletic enough to not let a player have a career night every night regardless of the team. You realize we aren't losing to the Duke's of the world we are losing to teams with players that are going to play overseas or not play basketball again after college. There is no way we have less talent than that. Think about what you are trying to argue then look at the teams we've had close games with. You are trying to say that we are a low d-1 team talent wise, which is absurd.

 

[polycom]

Recruiting and coaching are two separate issues in the discussion
You have to be able to separate to understand the argument
I understand those of you who dislike the guy so much and want him gone asap can only see things through that vision - that's fine

If you defend his lack of defensive coaching

I never defended his lack of defensive coaching because you nor I know absolutely zilch about his coaching - we aren't there to witness it. He has had guys who could play D so you can't say he doesn't coach it. You can coach all you want but if you have guys who don't get it or you have kids going up against men it just doesn't work.
Is that a recruitment issue? - for sure. He has proven to be a less than adequate recruiter and bringing in Chills shows that someone recognized this fact
Chills is a proven recruiter but definitely not a proven X and Os guy or game coach. I'm not sure about his basketball IQ

In the end, I don't care if KO stays or KO leaves.
I feel strongly that the guy knows basketball, has worked for and with the brightest, most experienced minds in basketball history so he has soaked in a lot of tactics and techniques
The best will tell you that if you can't put on the floor guys who can match up physically with the opponent, you are at an extreme disadvantage.
UConn has been at a physical disadvantage for the past 3 or 4 years and that is on KO and he may pay for it at the end of this season

Clearly, this isn't true.

Also if you don't match up physically but execute better you will win games. Part of having practices is to improve players abilities no player should be the same as they were when they came in yet many of our frontcourt players were/are that way. We suck. Ollie is a bad coach and has proven that much.

 

[Madmannsucks]

So did he coach up Carlton and Polley or did they get better as the season went on by them selves?

 

[intlzncster]

So did he coach up Carlton and Polley or did they get better as the season went on by them selves?

Leaving coaching aside, you expect freshman who get minutes to improve over the year as they get used to the college game. I don't know how much better Polley's gotten; he's finally hit some shots and is no longer sh_tting his pants as a result.

 

[Huskyforlife]

So did he coach up Carlton and Polley or did they get better as the season went on by them selves?

Carlton hasn't played that well, somehow Polley was benched until these last couple games. Neither are strong arguments for Ollie.

 

[zls44]

Think about what you are trying to argue then look at the teams we've had close games with. You are trying to say that we are a low d-1 team talent wise, which is absurd.

USF.
East Carolina.

Yes, we are a low D-1 team talent wise. Yes, it is absurd.

Yes, it is a fact.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Carlton hasn't played that well, somehow Polley was benched until these last couple games. Neither are strong arguments for Ollie.

They are both much better than the start of the season.

 

[CL82]

Rumors??

Nope. Speculation.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I'd take Pitino.

I mean, hell, what Pitino did was pretty seedy, but seeing Louisville getting the hammer while State Penn, Michigan State, Baylor, etc. get off with barely anything? That's what's really effed up.

 

[UConnNick]

Wouldn't surprise me honestly. He's a great head coach, and I doubt he'll be caught dead cheating again. It wouldn't be hard for DB to say he believes Pitino about not knowing anything about the strippers.

That being said, I think Calhoun might hunt down and off RP if he were to try taking over his program.

This is LOL hysterical. Cheating is in Tricky Ricky's DNA...he lives to cheat. Another coach was quoted as saying that every coach in America knows exactly what's going on in their programs, down to the minutest details, and that anybody who thinks otherwise is nuts. The idea that Pitino had no idea what was going on is ludicrous. The FBI has wiretaps. He got caught red handed, fair and square.

The only thing he might lay off of in the future, assuming he ever coaches again, will be anything that might land him in an 8 x 12 jail cell in a federal minimum security prison.

 

[Chief00]

Williams had one a couple of games ago off a lob from Jalen.

And he was benched.

 

[polycom]

USF.
East Carolina.

Yes, we are a low D-1 team talent wise. Yes, it is absurd.

Yes, it is a fact.

We have way more talent than both of those teams we are poorly coached. But who cares cause let’s blame this mainly on talent since some how coaching is less important. People here would rather have coach Cal than J Wright.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I still can't understand how Ollie can "out-coach" Izzo, Wright and Donovan et. al. then lose to Frank Haith like that. The only answer I can come up with is that Ollie didn't out-coach crap. They won for other reasons and Ollie just didn't mess it up.

No, he did out co ach those guys. Somewhere between then and a couple years ago he lost it. He became a different levels and that has undermined his coaching.

There is nobody to blame here but Ollie (and shy of a major miracle, he won't be our coach a month from now). That doesn't mean he didn't really accomplish what he so obviously did in 2014.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Divorce

I’m blaming Stephanie. And the few that really know me on the BY won’t find this surprising. Kevin Ollie seems less confident and less able. His Mojo is all wrong.

Therefore, I think the argument that he deserves no credit for 2014 is silly. And while I understand economics, I’m hoping Kevin Ollie truly shows his love of our UConn; and provides a mutually respectful way to move on.

I don't know if the divorce led to the change in KO or the change in KO led to the divorce and in all candor I do not care which led to which.

That said, you are spot on with your post. I am stunned by the limited thought process that permeates this board. Ollie did a masterful job in 2014. His coaching has deteriorated immensely since then. We don't need to tar and feather him on his way out.

 

[boog204]

I don't necessarily think his coaching ability has diminished. It's his ability to make adjustments based on what he has and clearly his ability to connect with the players to buy-in to what he's selling. We were amazingly fortunate in 2014 to have not 1, 2, but 3 players who could mask our poor offensive system. Bazz, Boat, and DD could get shots any time they wanted and they had the ability to hit tough, tough shots. We were able to run very basic sets (as we do today) with both DD and Giff as pick and fade guys and that had to be honored as either Bazz or Boat (whoever had the ball) or the screener could kill you. We had a guy who could post up and hit fadeaways or maneuver without it looking robotic. We lost that ability years ago. However, we still run the same stuff b/c KO does not have anything else up his sleeve. So I give him credit for understanding his team in 2013 and 2014 and totally ridicule him for having such little knowledge of his teams since.

Even in 2016, a team that was flawed without a "true" point guard, but very, very talented, KO totally missed the mark on how to handle that team. With all that talent; legit outside shooters and one of our most effective post players ever (Miller), we relegated to DHam bouncing the ball for 20 seconds pump-faking and doing his spin move. We totally underachieved after looking like a final-four team the first few weeks of the season. Other teams adjusted and we NEVER did.