When will we hold Kevin Ollie responsible

[Burnsbros23]

our offense sucked when Kemba and Bazz were here too. its not a great system but we have won with it.

 

[temery]

But we're also the Huskies that under Jim Calhoun, were constantly nationally ranked and did not lose home openers to Wagner.

I could be wrong, but I think Calhoun averaged 10 to 12 losses a year in his last five or six years. Ollie did not take over a perennial powerhouse.

 

[boog204]

Went to final fours in 2004 2006 and 2009 with top 10 teams. Thats called building a withstanding dynasty. Now we are ECSTATIC if we get a 5 seed

Holy revisionist history! That year was so painful that now we've beaten George Mason! I'm down.

 

[boog204]

I could be wrong, but I think Calhoun averaged 10 to 12 losses a year in his last five or six years. Ollie did not take over a perennial powerhouse.

2006–07 Connecticut 17–14 6–10 8th
2007–08 Connecticut 24–9 13–5 3rd NCAA First Round
2008–09 Connecticut 31–5 15–3 2nd NCAA Final Four
2009–10 Connecticut 18–16 7–11 T–11th NIT Second Round
2010–11 Connecticut 32–9 9–9 9th NCAA Champions
2011–12 Connecticut 18–13 (20–14)[21] 6–9 (8–10)[21] 9th NCAA First Round

146-66 over his last 10 seasons; but you are right- about 10 losses a year. The biggest issue(s) I have with KO is the halfcourt offense, the lack of player development, the lack of in-game adjustment (until halftime, usually), and the a lack of fire.

The halfcourt offense is putrid. If you have players who can make plays, then the pro style sets and improvisation will work. But it is not efficient and it lends itself to lots of hero ball. You cannot rely on that. If you watch our sets it's far too much isolation and two men games. These are college kids, not pros.

Omar and Phil were KOs first 4 year players and both regressed. Injuries were certainly a factor, but it's tough to say that any of KOs guys have gotten much better. Amida, maybe. But sophomore Amida and senior Amida- skill wise, are virtually identical.

It seems that we always come out slow and tend to only make adjustments in the 2nd half. If people in the chatroom are noticing that the defense is hard-hedging our screenroll game or are overplaying, why can't KO and the staff? It's one thing to have a gameplan, it's another to live and die with it.

Lastly, KO is a vastly different coach post 2014. Maybe it's the divorce, maybe it's the fact that he won a title so quickly, maybe it's confusion about going to the pros.... Whatever it is, he is different as seen by the fanbase. That fire that he had made it up for coaching weakness. He seemed to give the players the will to win. Or, maybe that was just JC carry over.

I know many are saying "it's only 1 game" but this same post was made the last two years.

 

[Chief00]

Yeah, we had the best basketball coach of all time then. Tonight is obviously not acceptable, but I don't get why anyone thought it'd be so easy to find another Calhoun.

LOL you coming around on Coach Calhoun?

 

[temery]

A bunch of new kids, first game of the season, this would have been challenging for Calhoun. Give KO time. He'll get there.

I get the frustration, but some people's memories are a bit off. Calhoun and Ollie's records are nearly identical.

 

[willie99]

We lost a game, we've done that before. Even JC lost games we never expected to lose. I'm not going to push the panic button (yet), I'm going to blame it on a young team needing to jell.

The kids didn't play very good yesterday, we didn't make shots and we let them have a few too many wide open three's. That's my sense from Section 114

 

[mpxc55]

Identical records in the OBE and AAC are not even close to equal

 

[TitleTown]

The only thing I complain about ollie tonight is we didn't see enough steve enoch.

I hope this is a joke.

 

[Sky ball]

I walked into the coaches locker room after the game by mistake and i thought I was in a spy movie. Ollie was at the sink peeling off his face and low and behold it Bob Diaco.

 

[temery]

Identical records in the OBE and AAC are not even close to equal

True, but apples to apples (Ollie first few years vs Calhoun's), their records are very similar. Calhoun didn't start in the big east.

 

[CTBasketball]

You kind of knew this was going to happen right?

Right?

Ollie doesn't prepare his teams. We come out, get sucker punched in the teeth, then we spend 30 minutes scrambling to find a way. By crunch time, it's often too late.

We'll see more of this. It's our bread and butter now.

 

[mauconnfan]

True, but apples to apples (Ollie first few years vs Calhoun's), their records are very similar. Calhoun didn't start in the big east.

Yeah but JC started with baseball players, soccer players (Economou and Hall) filling holes not decent recruits. And he lost his 2 best players (Cliffy and Phil) one year too for academics. KO should be getting more out of these guys or at least start identifying more skilled bigs for the roster.

 

[Mr. French]

There's a reason why college teams run set offenses against zone and man. If you try to freelance it requires too much understanding from everyone on the floor, and often the ball winds up in the wrong hands at the wrong time in the wrong spot.

Ollie doesn't seem to do this. He runs NBA sets, but doesn't have NBA players, either in skill or in game smarts. Makes it tough.

If he's not going to run offensive sets then he damn well better teach the open offense better. Even with that the bigs would need to knock down 12-15 footers.

Spot on. Some realize the nuances of the issues, some just see a serious stagnation, but I have tried to articulate this before as well...the simple answer is as you say, he seems to leave it open to his guards, specifically PGs, and since Bazz's senior year, no one has been able to run it efficiently.

He's either gotta see that and adjust when the situation arises, or drop that.

 

[CL82]

You kind of knew this was going to happen right?

Right?

Ollie doesn't prepare his teams. We come out, get sucker punched in the teeth, then we spend 30 minutes scrambling to find a way. By crunch time, it's often too late.

We'll see more of this. It's our bread and butter now.

Until the next natty then half the negative nancies will talk about how brilliant KO is and the other half will go ghost.

 

[Mr. French]

I'm headed to my HS practice now, and i can assure you, if our best floor leader and scorer, a soph PG, isn't understanding how to get our O going, then we'll be throwing sets at him.

 

[CL82]

Spot on. Some realize the nuances of the issues, some just see a serious stagnation, but I have tried to articulate this before as well...the simple answer is as you say, he seems to leave it open to his guards, specifically PGs, and since Bazz's senior year, no one has been able to run it efficiently.

He's either gotta see that and adjust when the situation arises, or drop that.

Yeah but he hasn't had the tools. Adams/Gilbert are perfect for KO's system. Larrier is a stud. It will all come together. There will be ups and downs. I intend to enjoy the ride.

 

[temery]

Yeah but JC started with baseball players, soccer players (Economou and Hall) filling holes not decent recruits. And he lost his 2 best players (Cliffy and Phil) one year too for academics. KO should be getting more out of these guys or at least start identifying more skilled bigs for the roster.

True, but Ollie had to start his career with a post season ban. That had to hurt recruiting.

Ollie isn't Calhoun, but the cries here to replace him are absurd, and make the fan base look silly.

 

[mauconnfan]

True, but Ollie had to start his career with an post season ban. That had to hurt recruiting.

Ollie isn't Calhoun, but the cries here to replace him are absurd, and make the fan base look silly.

Agree, they are crazy love the man and whether people can believe it or not he's still learning his craft. But if they ask to have him replaced I'd love to hear with who?

 

[temery]

Until the next natty then half the negative nancies will talk about how brilliant KO is and the other half will go ghost.

I've been working on a script mod that will sort out users by posting habits. There's a good number of people who only show up after a loss.

 

[B1GEast]

For the first time ever, I'm not worried if an NBA team comes calling.

 

[RoderickSpode]

I could be wrong, but I think Calhoun averaged 10 to 12 losses a year in his last five or six years. Ollie did not take over a perennial powerhouse.

Yup -- with NIT appearances in '07 and '10, and first round exits in '08 and '12. I'm as frustrated as anybody, but let's ease off the revisionism.

** Actually, didn't we not even make the NIT in '07? I may have blocked that out.

 

[temery]

I'm as frustrated as anybody, but let's ease off the revisionism.

What?

 

[RoderickSpode]

What?

I was agreeing with you, too many folks are suggesting JC was winning 30 games a year his last 5 years.

 

[temery]

I was agreeing with you, too many folks are suggesting JC was winning 30 games a year his last 5 years.

Ah. Thanks, and yep.

 

[James]

You kind of knew this was going to happen right?

Right?

Ollie doesn't prepare his teams. We come out, get sucker punched in the teeth, then we spend 30 minutes scrambling to find a way. By crunch time, it's often too late.

We'll see more of this. It's our bread and butter now.

i sent a text to my buddy before the game, "dont surprised if we come out looking like ass, this wagner team is also pretty good". Whats alarming to me is some of the quotes from KO in the offseason, " we aren't trying to be the best team in november or december, we want to peak in march and april" that quote from him makes me want to jump off a cliff. Our offense stinks, he can't coach offense, instead he brings in a recruiter in killings and not a x&os guys. my mantra for uconn hoops is "what the hell is going on in a kevin ollie practice?" these guys look like they are playing pick up for the first time together with the lack of cohesion, 3 years in a row now.

 

[JellyBean]

in all seriousness

What has KO done, when he hasn't had the benefit of a Calhoun coached up player?

Since the our NC run, we have been straight trash by UConn standards. I've seen no player growth from year to year, an offense that usually looks lost for 20+ seconds with a last second heave. Teams that are generally soft, constantly losing rebound margins, with a offensive bball iq that has annually been questionable at best.

Instead of consistently battling to be the premier program in the nation year in, year out.... we've unfortunately regressed to being nothing more than a program who's usually on the bubble. While our contemporaries have passed us up by leaps and bounds.

We can blame our players, realignment, aac, etc.... But Kevin Ollie must hold himself accountable. For the past 3 years our fellas have been ill prepared.

Good points. But I am sure that coach Ollie holds himself accountable. He knows that this is a "What Have You Done For Me Lately" business. There are moments when some teams want it more than others. In this game, Wagner was just one of those teams that wanted it more. They had nothing to lose if they got blew out and tons to gain because they won.

With being a premier program, we are still ranked, (was ranked in the top 20) among the best in the nation. We are still a legit program. Coach will be cool and the team will be okay. Let's not over react to every loss like we never over react to wins, especially when we are blowing out the cupcakes.

 

[Waquoit]

We will never get another coach as good as Ollie again. No torches and pitchforks for me.

 

[Stainmaster]

LOL you coming around on Coach Calhoun?

I have never wavered in believing that JC was the best college coach of all time. The difference between you and me is, I am able to understand that he is retired and will not be on the sidelines ever again.

 

[Mr. French]

2006–07 Connecticut 17–14 6–10 8th
2007–08 Connecticut 24–9 13–5 3rd NCAA First Round
2008–09 Connecticut 31–5 15–3 2nd NCAA Final Four
2009–10 Connecticut 18–16 7–11 T–11th NIT Second Round
2010–11 Connecticut 32–9 9–9 9th NCAA Champions
2011–12 Connecticut 18–13 (20–14)[21] 6–9 (8–10)[21] 9th NCAA First Round

146-66 over his last 10 seasons; but you are right- about 10 losses a year. The biggest issue(s) I have with KO is the halfcourt offense, the lack of player development, the lack of in-game adjustment (until halftime, usually), and the a lack of fire.

The halfcourt offense is putrid. If you have players who can make plays, then the pro style sets and improvisation will work. But it is not efficient and it lends itself to lots of hero ball. You cannot rely on that. If you watch our sets it's far too much isolation and two men games. These are college kids, not pros.

Omar and Phil were KOs first 4 year players and both regressed. Injuries were certainly a factor, but it's tough to say that any of KOs guys have gotten much better. Amida, maybe. But sophomore Amida and senior Amida- skill wise, are virtually identical.

It seems that we always come out slow and tend to only make adjustments in the 2nd half. If people in the chatroom are noticing that the defense is hard-hedging our screenroll game or are overplaying, why can't KO and the staff? It's one thing to have a gameplan, it's another to live and die with it.

Lastly, KO is a vastly different coach post 2014. Maybe it's the divorce, maybe it's the fact that he won a title so quickly, maybe it's confusion about going to the pros.... Whatever it is, he is different as seen by the fanbase. That fire that he had made it up for coaching weakness. He seemed to give the players the will to win. Or, maybe that was just JC carry over.

I know many are saying "it's only 1 game" but this same post was made the last two years.

I agree with almost every point.

The two biggest factors are (1) general offensive stagnation, and (2) whatever you describe it as, fire, passion, pride, will to win...not much is there. Everyone, players and coaches, are unwilling to take over and say "enough is enough."

I guess only certain guys have done that in our program's past, but when they do it they drag everyone with them, so it appears that entire rosters were like that...maybe that's the issue. But either way, this team constantly is flat, lifeless, just plain blah.