What do you think about the one year audition for KO?

[nelsonmuntz]

This is about the stupidest way it could be handled. I think Warde Manuel is an ego maniac and is more interested in winning a pissing match with Calhoun than he is in doing what is best for UConn.

Give Ollie a 3 year deal. Ollie will be cheap, so if Manuel wants to can him after a year or 2, it won't be that hard. But at least give Ollie the chance to be successful, particularly with recruiting.

 

[huskymedic]

This is about the stupidest way it could be handled. I think Warde Manuel is an ego maniac and is more interested in winning a pissing match with Calhoun than he is in doing what is best for UConn.

With all due respect and while you are clearly entitled to your opinion about Warde Manuel after just 7 months on the job - I ask that you consider this: If Warde is an egomaniac as you aledge, when he looks into the mirror in the morning he sees Jim Calhoun staring back at him. Herbst could have stepped if Manuel was being a(n) ________(fill in the blank).

It's done... Can't change it and all the back and forth just turns into more reading material for our haters and recruits/recruits families.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If Calhoun retired in June and they conducted a search then with Ollie as a candidate, then Shaka Smart does not throw his hat in the ring.

Ridiculous speculation at best. I think lots of people throw their hat in against a guy who has never coached for one of the bigger name jobs in the country.

This is all pointless. It is done. I am a Kevin Ollie fan. I hope he earns an extension. I hope JC is right.

 

[junglehusky]

1) I stopped clicking through this page about page 7. Am I missing anything good in pages 8-18?

2) somebody asked why Warde is a "Football guy". This description probably comes from his background at Michigan where he played football under Bo Schembechler. (Sorry if this was answered on page 12).

 

[huskymedic]

1) I stopped clicking through this page about page 7. Am I missing anything good in pages 8-18?

2) somebody asked why Warde is a "Football guy". This description probably comes from his background at Michigan where he played football under Bo Schembechler. (Sorry if this was answered on page 12).

Yup - I asked Mets 3 something why Warde keeps getting negatively labeled a "football guy"... When he was Asst AD @ Michigan his responsibilities were oversight of the football AND basketball programs.

 

[uconnfan68]

This is about the stupidest way it could be handled. I think Warde Manuel is an ego maniac and is more interested in winning a pissing match with Calhoun than he is in doing what is best for UConn.

Give Ollie a 3 year deal. Ollie will be cheap, so if Manuel wants to can him after a year or 2, it won't be that hard. But at least give Ollie the chance to be successful, particularly with recruiting.

Can we agree to disagree? Even KO admits it's about UConn.

 

[selles]

1) I stopped clicking through this page about page 7. Am I missing anything good in pages 8-18?

Nope. After the high of Thursday's press conference, this thread does its best to kill your soul.

JC pulled an egomaniacal ploy to exert his dominance over the program! No wait, it's Warde Manuel who pulled the egomaniacal ploy so that he can kick KO out after a year and hand the reins to Pol Pot! No wait, it's all Susan Herbst's fault! What the heck has she ever done anyway? JC's going to be hanging around like the father in law who knows everything and won't shut up! Any recruit worth a darn is going to reject us after his lawyer reviews the terms of KO's contract! Hey guys, KO says y'all too much!

Good lord.

Why does there have to be a villain here? JC, who views the UConn program as a family, ensured that a hand-picked member of the family would be his immediate successor. Entirely rational. Warde Manuel, who is responsible for ensuring that the continued success of the program, took note of the fact that the successor has no head coaching experience and hedged his bets by giving only a 1 year contract. Again, entirely rational. No one acted wrongly or unreasonably here.

Most distressing is the almost complete neglect of the tour de force from KO himself on Thursday, which was the absolute antithesis of this thread. He is about relentless positivity and effort. He's not afraid of the 1 year deal, so why should we be? It's just one step on the staircase. And you've got to be kidding me with the recruiting concerns, this guy could sell ice to eskimos, except he's too honest and genuine for that...which only helps his appeal.

This thread is seriously begging for MakersMuppet to come in and blast it to smithereens.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I would have liked to see Ollie given a longer contract once the decision was made to hire him as the head coach and not the "interim head coach," but I also think that it is likely that Warde Manual has a legitimate perspective and felt obligation to do what he believes to be right for UConn...a due diligence sort of thing. Maybe it does not have to be the white hats versus the black hats. If KO did turn out to suck (which I don't expect), many on The Boneyard would want his head in no time. Maybe there is no perfect, painless way for this to play out, so let's cross our fingers and hope XRM and some others take a chance on Kevin Ollie.

 

[mauconnfan]

Agree with DB2u..............end it. KO is good with fighting for his rightful spot in UConn coaching histroy then we should be too.......he's going to win and earn it and because of who he is people shouldn't have any doubt about that.......and I'm hoping recruits won't either.......

 

[upstater]

Ridiculous speculation at best. I think lots of people throw their hat in against a guy who has never coached for one of the bigger name jobs in the country.

This is all pointless. It is done. I am a Kevin Ollie fan. I hope he earns an extension. I hope JC is right.

Of course it's speculation. It's a hypothetical. Wow.

The point is, Calhoun and the whole UConn bball family other than Manuel had an inside candidate. The prospect oflosing out to such a guy is not appealing for a higher profile coach. This is how it ALWAYS plays out with inside candidates. I see people with much better credentials than the insider always holding back in such situations for precisely the reasons i outlined.

 

[8893]

Why does there have to be a villain here?

You really haven't been paying attention the past 26 years, have you?

There is always a villain. Until there's another National Championship, when we get about a two-month reprieve.

 

[Waquoit]

FWIW, a "football guy" gets the credit for hiring Calhoun. Saying "football guy" as a term of derision is stupid. Manual is an athletic department guy. Don't understand these Manual bashers as JC walking all over the AD worked so well before.

 

[James]

People are gonna want Ollie's head after he struggles with our porous front court. And people saying you don't need big men to win anymore , F OUTA HERE. You need at least ONE.

 

[James]

If anything that's the center of my issue with the one year contract. he must be successful under these conditions? How?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Small potato differences.

I'm talking about background here. Both are assistants. I'll put Ollie 13 years in the NBA against Hopkins 13 years as an assistant. Ollie was a coach on the floor and a mentor teaching the game.

Except that one was actually a coaching job, and the other was a player at the end of the bench.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Except that one was actually a coaching job, and the other was a player at the end of the bench.

And George Blaney has 9,000 years of coaching experience. Still doesn't mean that anybody would choose him over Ollie, Hopkins, or anybody else.

Experience matters, of course. But not as much as the "it" factor - the ability to relate to players, impress recruits, and get guys to play hard and buy in. We'll find out for sure soon enough, but there aren't many people doubting Ollie on those fronts.

 

[upstater]

Except that one was actually a coaching job, and the other was a player at the end of the bench.

And you have the expertise to tell us the difference in terms of basketball knowledge and imparting that knowledge?

By all accounts, Ollie survived in the league precisely because he was great at bringing along younger players in terms of the game, preparation, etc. He survived because of his point guard knowledge, not because of flashy skills.

This doesn't mean he'll be a success, but if you want a blueprint for a coach that played more than he coached and ended up being a big success, look at Bill Donovan. He played pro for several years after college, became an assistant for 3 years, then took over Marshall for 2 years (pretty mediocre there) before landing Florida (largely due to his Pitino connection). In the pros, there are guys like Scott Skiles all over the place.

Compare this to young coaches like the Memphis guy or some others that are brought up quickly and no one seems to bat an eye.

I think being a point guard like Ollie for so long is worth a lot. More than assistant coaching? Less?

We shall see.

 

[DogMania]

People are gonna want Ollie's head after he struggles with our porous front court. And people saying you don't need big men to win anymore , F OUTA HERE. You need at least ONE.

If Herbst, Manuel and many fans don't take into account the personnel he has to play with, they're making a huge mistake in evaluating him. IMO, KO makes a strong case for himself if the team competes well, exceeds expecations and makes some noise in the BE this season. I would have added recruiting to the mix, but IMO, Manuel and Herbst set KO up for failure in that regard by not giving him a long term contract. Expecting recruits to commit to a program that doesn't have a HC under contract next fall is asking a lot. With that said hopefully the two that committed will sign their LOIs and KO finds a way to convince a few others to be part of something special even with that uncertainty.

Does anyone else think the above is enough for KO to make his case? I don't know if the bigs we have will be enough night-in, night-out, but as long as they play well enough for the team to stay close and win some unexpected games, I'm good with that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

And you have the expertise to tell us the difference in terms of basketball knowledge and imparting that knowledge?

By all accounts, Ollie survived in the league precisely because he was great at bringing along younger players in terms of the game, preparation, etc. He survived because of his point guard knowledge, not because of flashy skills.

This doesn't mean he'll be a success, but if you want a blueprint for a coach that played more than he coached and ended up being a big success, look at Bill Donovan. He played pro for several years after college, became an assistant for 3 years, then took over Marshall for 2 years (pretty mediocre there) before landing Florida (largely due to his Pitino connection). In the pros, there are guys like Scott Skiles all over the place.

Compare this to young coaches like the Memphis guy or some others that are brought up quickly and no one seems to bat an eye.

I think being a point guard like Ollie for so long is worth a lot. More than assistant coaching? Less?

We shall see.

I don't think the lack of coaching experience means that Ollie can't be a great coach. I think what it means is exactly what Warde Manuel says, we've never seen him coach a single game. Not even at High School. So is 13 years a pro worth something. Sure. Hell, does anyone doubt that he knows the game and can relate to young players? I don't think so. That's not the issue. The issue is that we've never observed him coaching a game. How does he handle subs? How does he get the team up after a loss and keep them focused after a big win? What kind of offensive and defensive systems will he run? Man, press, 2-3, trapping zone press. What about offense? Pro-style? Variation on the Princeton offense? Maybe the Phil Jackson style. In short, we have no idea what we're in for here, and whether what he tries to do will work. We can't set the bar too high with this group of players, but I think we'll find out what Mr. Ollie is all about by February. Honestly, if he's mimicking the offensive sets JC used the last several years, I'd look for somebody else.

 

[8893]

If Herbst, Manuel and many fans don't take into account the personnel he has to play with, they're making a huge mistake in evaluating him. IMO, KO makes a strong case for himself if the team competes well, exceeds expecations and makes some noise in the BE this season. I would have added recruiting to the mix, but IMO, Manuel and Herbst set KO up for failure in that regard by not giving him a long term contract. Expecting recruits to commit to a program that doesn't have a HC under contract next fall is asking a lot. With that said hopefully the two that committed will sign their LOIs and KO finds a way to convince a few others to be part of something special even with that uncertainty.

Does anyone else think the above is enough for KO to make his case? I don't know if the bigs we have will be enough night-in, night-out, but as long as they play well enough for the team to stay close and win some unexpected games, I'm good with that.

Do we know that Herbst had any role in the decision to offer Kevin a seven-month contract versus something longer? My sense was that, although she let it be known that she likes Kevin, she left the decision to Manuel. I'm guessing she wouldn't have had any problem with a two-year deal, but she's judging her AD by the quality of his decisions--just as he will be judging Kevin--and she is letting him make the final decisions on this.

Manuel was careful not to specify the exact criteria on which he intends to judge Kevin. I don't think he knows exactly what he's looking for himself yet. Barring an extreme disaster or a exceptionally strong record, he'll have enough of a basis to make any decision he wants to make and corral whatever factors he can to support that decision.

 

[upstater]

I don't think the lack of coaching experience means that Ollie can't be a great coach. I think what it means is exactly what Warde Manuel says, we've never seen him coach a single game. Not even at High School. So is 13 years a pro worth something. Sure. Hell, does anyone doubt that he knows the game and can relate to young players? I don't think so. That's not the issue. The issue is that we've never observed him coaching a game. How does he handle subs? How does he get the team up after a loss and keep them focused after a big win? What kind of offensive and defensive systems will he run? Man, press, 2-3, trapping zone press. What about offense? Pro-style? Variation on the Princeton offense? Maybe the Phil Jackson style. In short, we have no idea what we're in for here, and whether what he tries to do will work. We can't set the bar too high with this group of players, but I think we'll find out what Mr. Ollie is all about by February. Honestly, if he's mimicking the offensive sets JC used the last several years, I'd look for somebody else.

I was with you entirely until the last comment. JC didn't forget how to coach offense the last two years. He's been at it since forever. Clearly, here were other issues. Also, he coached offense well enough in 2011.

 

[Waquoit]

If Herbst, Manuel and many fans don't take into account the personnel he has to play with, they're making a huge mistake in evaluating him.

I'm pretty sure the evaluation is going to be less about the W's and L's and more about how KO does as the CEO of the basketball program.

 

[freescooter]

And George Blaney has 9,000 years of coaching experience. Still doesn't mean that anybody would choose him over Ollie, Hopkins, or anybody else.

Experience matters, of course. But not as much as the "it" factor - the ability to relate to players, impress recruits, and get guys to play hard and buy in. We'll find out for sure soon enough, but there aren't many people doubting Ollie on those fronts.

You are absolutely wrong. You need to know the game, have a sense of what you can do, how to adjust on the fly, how to get the most out of your team while limiting the ability of the other guy to get the most out of his...hint: it is way more than playing hard. If Calhoun doesn't figure out how to defend Duke's big man in 1999, no amount of "playing hard" matters.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I was with you entirely until the last comment. JC didn't forget how to coach offense the last two years. He's been at it since forever. Clearly, here were other issues. Also, he coached offense well enough in 2011.

His offense was terrible, even in 2011. Kemba and the awakening of Lamb provided enough because the team played stellar defense in the postseason. I want to see a different approach.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You are absolutely wrong. You need to know the game, have a sense of what you can do, how to adjust on the fly, how to get the most out of your team while limiting the ability of the other guy to get the most out of his...hint: it is way more than playing hard. If Calhoun doesn't figure out how to defend Duke's big man in 1999, no amount of "playing hard" matters.

His defense on Shaq was also memorable for me. It was brilliant really. Leave him alone and smother the other 4 guys so that they can't even get the ball to him.