We Will Learn A Lot Tonight

[EBonz30]

We will continue to lose these games against power 5 schools that we used to destroy with Ollie as our head coach. The guy is just not a teacher. Recruiter? Sure. Mentor? Absolutely. But he is simply NOT a good coach. It was a leap of faith that Calhoun took, giving his job to him, but the leap has turned into a free fall down a ****g mountain.

How many times in the past 3 years have you heard "and UConn cuts it to 10." We just aren't the same team that we were. We aren't the same program that we were. And the sad part is...we're getting BETTER recruits that we did when Calhounwas here. UConn was the PLACE to go if you wanted to be coached and developed to perfection. But not any longer. This staff simply doesn't have it.

Bilas said it at some point in the 2nd half. "You used to associate UConn with toughness." That's all that needs to be said. We are a non power 5 school, who is a power 5 basketball program, who has a coach that just will not lead the program to getting better. And because we are in the AAC, it becomes that much more important to improve year after year. And it doesn't look like that is coming to fruition. We will lose recruits due to conference and because of finishing 6th or worse year after year in the regular season, and needing to win the tournament to make the dance.

As I write this, I say to myself, you don't lose games where you shoot 70% in a half. But with Ollie it's possible. Remember Gonzaga last season? How we came back, and Maryland? Our kids have fight, but the coaching to lead a team to go down 20 in a half is just mind blowing.

I will get murdered for this post, but for the people that continue to say "next year", when will these "down years" turn into maybe a slight realization that it's actually the program slowly fading into irrelevance?

Wake up buddy, we were never gonna be as good as we were when Calhoun left no matter who the coach was, are you on Mars?

Ollie is a very sweet coach and you should be thankful, is he Calhoun? No, but who is?

Wake up dude.

Be grateful.

I love Ollie.

 

[Jay-Bone]

We learned how to fight, scratch and claw. Just too deep a hole. Hopefully that's not symbolic of the season.

 

[UConnfan8]

Wake up buddy, we were never gonna be as good as we were when Calhoun left no matter who the coach was, are you on Mars?

Ollie is a very sweet coach and you should be thankful, is he Calhoun? No, but who is?

Wake up dude.

Be grateful.

I love Ollie.

We would have lost this game by 20 had it not been for Jalen showing us all something we didn't think he had in him. Enjoy next year. And the next. And the next. Until you don't have much to enjoy anymore because we have zero top 100 recruits who don't want to come to a school that plays zero top 25 teams from January- March. And still finishes 8th in the conference, with Houston ahead of us.

 

[Stainmaster]

Until you don't have much to enjoy anymore because we have zero top 100 recruits who don't want to come to a school that plays zero top 25 teams from January- March. And still finishes 8th in the conference, with Houston ahead of us.

Not close.

 

[UConnDan97]

We gave up 57 points in the 2nd half

We scored 64. 64 points in one half, against a likely top 25 team. Without 2 of our best players. On a team that up until this point was offensively inept.

Again, if we play the rest of the season the way we played the second half, we'll be fine...

 

[superjohn]

We would have lost this game by 20 had it not been for Jalen showing us all something we didn't think he had in him. Enjoy next year. And the next. And the next. Until you don't have much to enjoy anymore because we have zero top 100 recruits who don't want to come to a school that plays zero top 25 teams from January- March. And still finishes 8th in the conference, with Houston ahead of us.

Bad post my friend.

 

[djct1999]

Bad post my friend.

And yet a lot of people are probably thinking the same thing.

 

[djct1999]

Maybe it's the curse of the mumu. Truth is, we haven't had a big who could play solid basketball since Oriakhi. UConn used to intimidate teams with its front court. Now, we throw out guys like Brimah and Enoch. And to these posters who are already saying wait until next year.....from what I see, our front court may actually even be worse!

 

[80shusky]

The guys played with a lot of heart and determination last night. They hung in there undermanned and were gutsy and didn't hang their head. That said, who do they have left who can play? No Larrier most likely. Alterique may come back but how long until he dislocates it again. Diarra looks like he may redshirt. Durham appears limited.
May want to just play the healthy guys they have left, redshirt the injured guys and get them surgery now rather than wait so they are ready for next fall. Get Vital, Jackson, Jalen and Enoch as many minutes as they can.
Also, maybe we should actually press and run like we did in the second half. Adams and Purvis both seem to operate better in that environment. It looks like a long year ahead but it could still be fun.

 

[KembaStepback]

We will continue to lose these games against power 5 schools that we used to destroy with Ollie as our head coach. The guy is just not a teacher. Recruiter? Sure. Mentor? Absolutely. But he is simply NOT a good coach. It was a leap of faith that Calhoun took, giving his job to him, but the leap has turned into a free fall down a ****g mountain.

How many times in the past 3 years have you heard "and UConn cuts it to 10." We just aren't the same team that we were. We aren't the same program that we were. And the sad part is...we're getting BETTER recruits that we did when Calhounwas here. UConn was the PLACE to go if you wanted to be coached and developed to perfection. But not any longer. This staff simply doesn't have it.

Bilas said it at some point in the 2nd half. "You used to associate UConn with toughness." That's all that needs to be said. We are a non power 5 school, who is a power 5 basketball program, who has a coach that just will not lead the program to getting better. And because we are in the AAC, it becomes that much more important to improve year after year. And it doesn't look like that is coming to fruition. We will lose recruits due to conference and because of finishing 6th or worse year after year in the regular season, and needing to win the tournament to make the dance.

As I write this, I say to myself, you don't lose games where you shoot 70% in a half. But with Ollie it's possible. Remember Gonzaga last season? How we came back, and Maryland? Our kids have fight, but the coaching to lead a team to go down 20 in a half is just mind blowing.

I will get murdered for this post, but for the people that continue to say "next year", when will these "down years" turn into maybe a slight realization that it's actually the program slowly fading into irrelevance?

Here's my problem with this. Calhoun pretty much ALWAYS had a capable big man and a slew of shooters. Ollie is basically playing offense with 3/4 guys available on O. Enoch may develop, but he's a trainwreck right now. Brimah is good for catching lobs and not much else. Durham looks like he has promise, but obviously isn't all the way back yet. It's tough to run a guard/wing system when you have no inside presence. Esp when your team isn't known for shooting. If I were coaching against UConn...I'd play a zone and pack the lane. Dare UConn to shoot. Jackson needs to be the zone buster. Adams Larrier and Purvis can make 3s, but it's not their game. Last night Phil Forte hit some DEEP 3s like it was nothing.

I don't it has to do with coaching. Ollie is hamstrung without a big man. And also...Ollie has a NC. Did we beat p5 schools then?

 

[UConnfan8]

Here's my problem with this. Calhoun pretty much ALWAYS had a capable big man and a slew of shooters. Ollie is basically playing offense with 3/4 guys available on O. Enoch may develop, but he's a trainwreck right now. Brimah is good for catching lobs and not much else. Durham looks like he has promise, but obviously isn't all the way back yet. It's tough to run a guard/wing system when you have no inside presence. Esp when your team isn't known for shooting. If I were coaching against UConn...I'd play a zone and pack the lane. Dare UConn to shoot. Jackson needs to be the zone buster. Adams Larrier and Purvis can make 3s, but it's not their game. Last night Phil Forte hit some DEEP 3s like it was nothing.

I don't it has to do with coaching. Ollie is hamstrung without a big man. And also...Ollie has a NC. Did we beat p5 schools then?

Point being is that Calhoun DEVELOPED those big men...sure Emeka, Thabeet....not much work required there, but Gavin Edwards? Josh Boone? Hilton Armstrong? The improvement and leap those guys made from freshman- senior year was simply outstanding. All of them could retroactively say they were one of the best big men in the country at the end of their senior season.

Where is the development of Brimah with Ollie? Facey? These are 4 year guys that just haven't improved a LICK. Brimah has been grabbing boards lately, but he's done that since freshman year. Where is the offensive improvement? It's not there. Ollie lacks the ability to develop players. And if he can't do it then he needs to hire someone who can. Not Kevin Freeman or Ricky Moore and this "family" BS. Hire a guy that can develop freakin players, especially big men. And hire a guy who can run some GD plays on offense, whether we have a shooter or not.

 

[KembaStepback]

Point being is that Calhoun DEVELOPED those big men...sure Emeka, Thabeet....not much work required there, but Gavin Edwards? Josh Boone? Hilton Armstrong? The improvement and leap those guys made from freshman- senior year was simply outstanding. All of them could retroactively say they were one of the best big men in the country at the end of their senior season.

Where is the development of Brimah with Ollie? Facey? These are 4 year guys that just haven't improved a LICK. Brimah has been grabbing boards lately, but he's done that since freshman year. Where is the offensive improvement? It's not there. Ollie lacks the ability to develop players. And if he can't do it then he needs to hire someone who can. Not Kevin Freeman or Ricky Moore and this "family" BS. Hire a guy that can develop freakin players, especially big men. And hire a guy who can run some GD plays on offense, whether we have a shooter or not.

I'm not saying he doesn't need to do a better job with the big men, but Brimah missed some time with injury with stunted his development. It's not Ollie's fault brimah cant make a hook shot to save his life. They have run plays. And they work...it's not Ollie's fault these guys cant make a layup. How many easy shots were missed last night?

 

[Caronimo]

I was just thinking about Mumu earlier. We haven't had much of a post up player in a while. Miller was solid but I don't really count one year grad transfers.

 

[NickB]

I was just thinking about Mumu earlier. We haven't had much of a post up player in a while. Miller was solid but I don't really count one year grad transfers.

Post up player...hmmmm...off the top of my head going back...Okafor, Jeff Carr, Cal Chapman...yes, it's been awhile