What's up with Omar?

[jleves]

A couple of what looked to be break out games and then back to obscurity. He only played 8 minutes today. Is it his defense? Is it a confidence thing?

It's just strange that he looked like he was back to better than frosh form then back to last years level.

Anyone have any real insight?

 

[Matrim55]

Anyone have any real insight?

He's a kid who's in a slump. He's also extremely limited - can't handle, defend or pass. So when his shot's not falling he's not going to get a lot of time, especially when the guys he's competing with are productive.

 

[champs99and04]

He's a kid who's in a slump. He's also extremely limited - can't handle, defend or pass. So when his shot's not falling he's not going to get a lot of time, especially when the guys he's competing with are productive.

Took the words out of my mouth...when your role on the team is to make shots and you're not making shots, you might see PT reduced.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I mentioned this after last game. When your job is to shoot, you better have your feet set to shoot.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I've never seen a so called shooter have such bad looking misses.

 

[scotty0330]

We have a surplus guys who have trouble dribbling and shooting. Problem is his defense flat out sucks. He comes in and shoots a god forsaken air ball on an open shot. What exactly would you want him out on the floor when Samuel and purvis were more aggressive

 

[Milo65]

Tulane played a 3-2 zone. This limited our outside shots and forced us to attack the hoop. Attacking the hoop isn't Omar's game.

 

[EricLA]

His father must be annoyed. Omar Sr "pulled" his daughter out of Duke and is well known for being way overly involved. I wonder if he is on the phone with Ollie daily.

I feel badly for Omar Jr. But as others said, if he's not producing, he won't play.

 

[3rdbass]

He needs to use the pump fake and take it to the basket. But of course with his shot so off nobody will fall for this. LOL!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

His father must be annoyed. Omar Sr "pulled" his daughter out of Duke and is well known for being way overly involved. I wonder if he is on the phone with Ollie daily.

I feel badly for Omar Jr. But as others said, if he's not producing, he won't play.

Omar's father had nothing to do with his sister's decision to leave Duke. The program has issues that have been bubbling for a while now. And in any event, the kid was playing 30 minutes a game. Let's not create a story where there isn't one.

 

[EricLA]

Omar's father had nothing to do with his sister's decision to leave Duke. The program has issues that have been bubbling for a while now. And in any event, the kid was playing 30 minutes a game. Let's not create a story where there isn't one.

Yeah, um perhaps you don't know what you are taking about. I have direct knowledge. So yeah, there is a story there. And she was interested in coming to UCONN but Geno said no, in part because of the drama that came with it.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Yeah, um perhaps you don't know what you are taking about. I have direct knowledge. So yeah, there is a story there. And she was interested in coming to UCONN but Geno said no, in part because of the drama that came with it.

That's interesting because one of the few Dukies I know who isn't a raging is plugged into the athletic department and lays the blame for the transfer solely at the feet of someone whose name is not Omar Calhoun, Sr. I would imagine that if you took a poll of the parents of the players on that team they'd come up with a name that is also not Omar Calhoun, Sr.

 

[tcf15]

Yeah, um perhaps you don't know what you are taking about. I have direct knowledge. So yeah, there is a story there. And she was interested in coming to UCONN but Geno said no, in part because of the drama that came with it.

Regardless, it's kind of strange you decided to bring Omar Sr. up when he doesn't really have anything to do with what the OP originally asked.

Also, here are some quotes from his dad after Omar's sophomore season:

"My confidence in Coach Ollie never wavered," Omar, Sr., said on Thursday. "I believe me and Coach Ollie have the same love and passion for the game. I truly believe in the stuff he teaches to his kids.

"He wants you playing to your potential on the floor. He’s got a lot of Coach Calhoun in him, too, and a lot of the great coaches he’s been around, too. He wants you playing to your potential. That’s how he wants you on the floor. Omar understands that, he’s gonna work extremely hard, and he’s healthy now. I think he’s heading back in the right direction. That’s the beautiful thing about basketball, it increases your value and your character if you grow as a human being and a basketball player. Obviously, at times, he wanted to see more minutes, like at the Garden. But I totally understand what Coach Ollie was doing, the situation he was in."​

Appears that Omar Sr. seems to be okay with the way KO runs his team.

 

[pnow15]

He no longer gets the wide open looks. He has to rush and he misses. First few games he was under the radar. No longer.
If you were an opposing coach, would you rather Omar shooting open threes from the corner, or Facey, Nolan or Brimah attempting
contested layups. So, keep attached to Omar and make other guys hit a shot.

 

[mauconnfan]

As a shooter you would think he'd be a zone breaker but he doesn't get the shot off fast enough so the 3-2 got to him too fast. And when he needs to attack he's just not as good. I thought he was best when he was using the ball fake and making the 12-15 footers. They sure could use him to make some shots again but not at the luxury of having less defense and ball handling/passing on the floor.

 

[Kitaman]

Weird calling him a shooter which I guess he is. I just don't see him being the Rashad Anderson type.

 

[mauconnfan]

Weird calling him a shooter which I guess he is. I just don't see him being the Rashad Anderson type.

Funny you say that I had a tough time finding the right call on that one - scorer? eh, shooter, well yeah he does like to shoot

 

[UconnDon]

As a shooter you would think he'd be a zone breaker but he doesn't get the shot off fast enough so the 3-2 got to him too fast. And when he needs to attack he's just not as good. I thought he was best when he was using the ball fake and making the 12-15 footers. They sure could use him to make some shots again but not at the luxury of having less defense and ball handling/passing on the floor.

When Calhoun was originally recruited (from Christ the King H.S.), despite the fact he was Mr. NY Basketball, he was reputed to have a faulty shooting form which would not hold up in D1 ball w/o correction and work. That forecast was pretty accurate.
With his less than stellar defensive techniques and shaky handle, I guess the key is to spot him for those quick points when he is in midst of a hot shooting spell. I suspect Omar's appearances may be reduced in time as the season goes on.

 

[Danzz]

A couple of what looked to be break out games and then back to obscurity. He only played 8 minutes today. Is it his defense? Is it a confidence thing?

It's just strange that he looked like he was back to better than frosh form then back to last years level.

Anyone have any real insight?

Omar is a streaky shooter, when he is hot he is hot when he is not he is not.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I think it may be more on the defensive side than the offensive side

 

[8893]

I have a theory. I'll let you know if I'm right in about ten days.

 

[Palatine]

His defense hasn't been very good. He is not a terrible defender but he seems to be having lapses in judgement and losing his man. To be fair, DHam and TSam have the same lapses. But if Omar isn't scoring there is nothing to balance his game right now.

 

[jleves]

I have a theory. I'll let you know if I'm right in about ten days.

I bet less than 10 people got that. For the record, I had the same thought back then.

 

[8893]

I bet less than 10 people got that. For the record, I had the same thought back then.

So did I. After I read that post.

 

[gtcam]

He may be a shooter but he sure isn't Rashad Anderson
I keep thinking back to that 2002-2003 team and wish this UConn team had some of those role players - Tony Robertson, Denham Brown, Mike Hayes and one of my favorites that year (2nd half at least), Marcus White - that dude knew how to rebound.