When will we hold Kevin Ollie responsible

[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.

 

[pnow15]

Gee, usually this moronic conversation doesn't take place until mid-season.
First of all: Wagner is an NCAA team returning about 6 veterans from a 23 win season and we are a team where are best players are playing there first college game.
Second of all: Purvis, Facey, Brimah and to a lesser extant Enoch didn't have either heart transplants or brain transplants over the summer. Ollie has to find out where these guys are this season. Facey never seems to develop, Purvis stinks one game and is great the next. Brimah is the same player he was as a freshman. and Enoch, well I've said this before: he may be the wrong guy.
The good news. Ollie has replaced DHam with Larrier, a better player.
The two young points can really play.
He has the tall kid from Tampa to develop.
He needs just one of his bigs to step up or get off the injury list.
These guys will blowout some teams. Nothing to worry about.
Wagner was good.

 

[joober jones]

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.

Do you play for Coach Reeves?

 

[joober jones]

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.

That was 2010 I think.

 

[Chief00]

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.

Quite frankly, Calhoun worked to peak in Late February/March too - that's what most successful coaches do. Of course, you play to win early but you start shortening the rotation as you get more of a sample how guys perform.

 

[James]

Quite frankly, Calhoun worked to peak in Late February/March too - that's what most successful coaches do. Of course, you play to win early but you start shortening the rotation as you get more of a sample how guys perform.

peaking later in the year is a natural process, you don't plan on that. calhoun coaching was a different scenario, he had plenty of opportunities to gain ground later in year. for uconn and kevin ollie in 2016, winning in november and december IS CRUCIAL, its pretty much march madness. its what makes losing to wagner at home all that more daunting, you only have 30-35 games or so.

 

[7774]

Losing to Wagner should never be acceptable, not for UConn, regardless of how many newcomers we have. Or atleast that's the way it use to be... I guess I refused to admit that things have changed, but I'm starting to see the light now

What period of time is "the way it used to be"? I guess it must end before that year we got our asses kicked by St. Bonaventure.

And lol @ "no player has shown growth" under Ollie. I know you're pissed, but try to be a little rational.

 

[60'sfan]

Gee, usually this moronic conversation doesn't take place until mid-season.
First of all: Wagner is an NCAA team returning about 6 veterans from a 23 win season and we are a team where are best players are playing there first college game.
Second of all: Purvis, Facey, Brimah and to a lesser extant Enoch didn't have either heart transplants or brain transplants over the summer. Ollie has to find out where these guys are this season. Facey never seems to develop, Purvis stinks one game and is great the next. Brimah is the same player he was as a freshman. and Enoch, well I've said this before: he may be the wrong guy.
The good news. Ollie has replaced DHam with Larrier, a better player.
The two young points can really play.
He has the tall kid from Tampa to develop.
He needs just one of his bigs to step up or get off the injury list.
These guys will blowout some teams. Nothing to worry about.
Wagner was good.

I agree with you. This was our first game. It is not mid-March. Wagner is a pretty good team. If you want to blame someone, blame whoever scheduled them.
I can remember a couple years ago all the comments were about our inability to rebound. Many on this board were saying that we would never be a good rebounding team as long as Ollie was the coach. From that point on, we out-rebounded virtually every opponent on our schedule.
This is a pretty talented team and we have a great coach in Kevin Ollie. We will get better, the team will be successful and each morning the sun will rise.

 

[Jaker]

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

Agreed and he doing very well recruiting, if he leaves we will be pretty screwed recruiting wise.

 

[freescooter]

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

LOL you're kidding, right? Ollie is a mediocre college coach who got lucky when Shabazz decided to stick around. He would be a terrific assistant working with the back court. He might even be a decent NBA coach where mediocrity is the name of the game. Guys have 20 year careers by getting teams to the second round of the playoffs. But he doesn't have fire nor the teaching/demandig skills that top college coaches have.

 

[Stainmaster]

LOL you're kidding, right? Ollie is a mediocre college coach who got lucky when Shabazz decided to stick around. He would be a terrific assistant working with the back court. He might even be a decent NBA coach where mediocrity is the name of the game. Guys have 20 year careers by getting teams to the second round of the playoffs. But he doesn't have fire nor the teaching/demandig skills that top college coaches have.

That has nothing to do with the post you quoted - what makes you think an upgrade is willing to come here?

 

[pnow15]

That has nothing to do with the post you quoted - what makes you think an upgrade is willing to come here?

And who are these upgrades?

 

[freescooter]

Gee, usually this moronic conversation doesn't take place until mid-season.
First of all: Wagner is an NCAA team returning about 6 veterans from a 23 win season and we are a team where are best players are playing there first college game.
Second of all: Purvis, Facey, Brimah and to a lesser extant Enoch didn't have either heart transplants or brain transplants over the summer. Ollie has to find out where these guys are this season. Facey never seems to develop, Purvis stinks one game and is great the next. Brimah is the same player he was as a freshman. and Enoch, well I've said this before: he may be the wrong guy.
The good news. Ollie has replaced DHam with Larrier, a better player.
The two young points can really play.
He has the tall kid from Tampa to develop.
He needs just one of his bigs to step up or get off the injury list.
These guys will blowout some teams. Nothing to worry about.
Wagner was good.

Oh man now I be heard it all.. Wagner won the regular season of the weakest conference in all college basketball. In no universe other than the lower reaches of NCAA basketball are they considered "good." And they are an NIT team. Some of you guys would make excuses for the unabomber. this was like losing to the tick tack toe chicken. He plays all the time but at the end of the day there is no excuse for not outhinking a chicken.

 

[freescooter]

That has nothing to do with the post you quoted - what makes you think an upgrade is willing to come here?

The point is he won't be that hard to replace with a comparable guy and you can find someone better. Another Calhoun? Not likely unless we are remarkably lucky. A better coach than Ollie? It's doable.

 

[Marty Jackson]

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.

Long season for ya' buddy? Game 1 and it's fire Ollie?

 

[jibsey]

We're not getting a better coach and recruiter than KO, we have to get real.