We need a new coach

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Had tickets for tonight's game and decided not to go. Looking back I did the right thing and I feel bad for those fans who showed up tonight. I haven't felt bad about UConn since BD last game as a coach.

I am an Ollie fan, but he needs to go at season's end.

Very touching post. Beneath much of the anger we read here, there is a substantial reservoir of sadness.

 

[August_West]

Serious question: how'd you feel/what did you think of the first half?

That we shouldve had a bigger lead, but with this team was overall happy considering.
Anderson Prayers going in isnt sustainable. And was fools gold.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

We'll, at least the top button isn't buttoned.

 

[Excalibur]

Serious question: how'd you feel/what did you think of the first half?

The entire first half was due to a lack of defensive intensity on Tulsa's part. Their coach fixed the problem . . .

 

[superjohn]

Serious question: how'd you feel/what did you think of the first half?

Smoke and mirrors, we had a lead because we were making three pointers. We are a horrible shooting team so you had to expect that would regress to the mean. We are a horribly coached team so no adjustments would be made. The other team is not well coached but obviously better coached than us, they would make adjustments while we just hope poor shots from our guards and small forwards would continue to go in.

 

[8893]

Smoke and mirrors, we had a lead because we were making three pointers. We are a horrible shooting team so you had to expect that would regress to the mean. We are a horribly coached team so no adjustments would be made. The other team is not well coached but obviously better coached than us, they would make adjustments while we just hope poor shots from our guards and small forwards would continue to go in.

Spot on.

You should talk about the actual game more often.

 

[superjohn]

Mark Jackson's younger brother, he died a while back.

 

[Fishy]

Serious question: how'd you feel/what did you think of the first half?

The first half was UConn hitting shots UConn usually doesn’t hit - 40 points in a half is something of an outlier for us in conference play.

We were 8-19 on threes in the first half with Polley going three for three.

You knew that would not continue and it didn’t - UConn shot 3-12 in the second half.

Plus Tulsa did what teams have done against us this year - they just strafed us in the second half.

You just will not win very often allowing 70% shooting in the second half.

 

[whaler11]

That's a lot of coaches who have never recruited New England/the Northeast.

Aside from that...obviously, Ollie has to go, but to think that at least someone out there would want Ron Hunter coaching UConn or would entertain poaching Utah Valley/Northern Kentucky/Montana's coach...I have no more words.

I love Ron Hunter as long as he is coaching someone else.

 

[UConniki]

Except "MAYBE" off court avoidance of NCAA. What, when and who remains to be seen. I will reserve judgement. IF(and this is speculation)the administration created this situation to avoid a buyout, that would be the tipping point for me as a fan.
The other issues you have raised all have merit.
Having said that, I would give him one more year.

To do what? Set the all time record for fewest wins in a season.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I think what happened to Ollie is he has shown a tendency to rely primarily on one player throughout his career. Most recently Bazz and now JA. But JA is no Bazz. Just a thought.

 

[Banta55]

There already is no question, he was done before tonight.

I don't understand how some people think their is still a chance of him coming back

 

[Madmannsucks]

To do what? Set the all time record for fewest wins in a season.

I am sure you have more "w"'s and NC rings than Ollie.

 

[Fishy]

I think what happened to Ollie is he has shown a tendency to rely primarily on one player throughout his career. Most recently Bazz and now JA. But JA is no Bazz. Just a thought.

I don’t think there’s much to back that up other than Napier and Adams both played for Ollie.

 

[8893]

I don't understand how some people think their is still a chance of him coming back

Because of size of the nut and the state’s financial crisis, there is a chance.

 

[Hamms30]

I am sure you have more "w"'s and NC rings than Ollie.

That's the problem though. You're focused one what we've got and should be focused on where we're going. The real question is am I and KO going to win the same amount of rings going forward, not do I have as many as him right now? If the answer is yes, then you need to take that into consideration. If it is no, you need to take that into consideration. Coaches peak just like players do. Just because it's not as physical as playing doesn't mean there is no timeline on performance.

 

[nadav]

Isn’t the buyout still 9mil after the season?

Other than Goodman and his sources (Miller and Vance Sr) claiming Ollie would possibly workout something with the school, why would he accept less than that?

He should go, but can we afford that?

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Not one attempt to correct the occurrences or discipline the player(s) who were doing their own thing.

[Sarcasm] That's not true. I saw Kevin furrow his brow at Vital after he hoisted one of his trademark contested 3's only seconds into the shot clock [/Sarcasm]

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

That's even better than his version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

 

[RJScootin]

Its not really worth transferring out with the year he would have to sit out and hes not good enough to go pro (for the NBA at least.) His best option is to stay at UConn, unless we get a new coach then, if he really wanted to, he could go to a different school that he knew he would be in the tourney with.

Not sure what his degree is in but he should start applying for jobs in that field next year.

 

[Kemba429]

Another Danny Hurley fan
Lets see what he does in the dance and his OOC success is not all that good
I am far from sold on him- he may be a good choice but he hasn't played with the big boys yet but he might be the biggest name to even look at the position

Bad nonconf or not you cant deny that hes brought up struggling/small schools to a very good record.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

@Hans Sprungfeld

In the blowouts, for sure. Against Tulsa & Haith, twice, these were faux nailbiters, plausibly 8-10 point wins that evaporated before our eyes and revealed the truest picture of the team & its coach this season.

 

[whaler11]

Because of size of the nut and the state’s financial crisis, there is a chance.

Timing of the potential sanctions.

Who climbs onboard without knowing what those might be.

April: Welcome aboard!

June: You have 9 scholarships for 2020-2022!

 

[superjohn]

In the blowouts, for sure. Against Tulsa & Haith, twice, these were faux nailbiters, plausibly 8-10 point wins that evaporated before our eyes and revealed the truest picture of the team

You asked who still supports Ollie being our coach in the future. Gtcam, javjudah, topdog, cap'n, Pudge, and Jerry just off the top of my head but there are still a bunch.

 

[Kitaman]

[Sarcasm] That's not true. I saw Kevin furrow his brow at Vital after he hoisted one of his trademark contested 3's only seconds into the shot clock [/Sarcasm]

I actually saw that too during the timeout. Ollie choose to use his ineffective fiery eyes. Ollie obviously is a Coach with job security. If his job was in jeopardy he would have lit a torch on Vital face (not his arse), because Vital's antics and other players could cost him millions of dollars. They can make all the errors they want because Ollie is protected (even if fired).

I say this because teenagers on all D1 teams, aggravate a coach to no-end especially when they fail to execute a Coaches instructions (i.e. listen). The Coach will not allow a teenager to take food off of his family's table, unless of course his food source is guaranteed for a couple of years.

The remarkable HOF coaches even with job security won't tolerate such play. I don't have to name names because its obvious who's a great coach vs who is just a coach (or simply just a good coach) by demanding and accepting nothing less than following their directions. However in defense of our players, we do appear directionless.

We were spoiled at UConn.