When will we hold Kevin Ollie responsible

[sammydabiz]

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.

 

[JMick]

We'll probably never have another Calhoun but with the caliber of players we have here now we should be expecting more than what we've seen the last few years.

 

[Kitaman]

Too early, these are 'all' his players. Wait until March.

 

[johnhuskies95]

He's a good defensive coach, but a mediocre offensive coach at best. And no, I don't care that he runs a cool hammer play 3 or 4 times a season.

 

[Stainmaster]

Regardless of what the final decision is, he is not going to be "held culpable" in any material way while the season is still going on.

 

[sammydabiz]

Too early, these are 'all' his players. Wait until March.

I may be overreacting, but I had such high hopes coming into this season, but thru one game it's already looking alot like "more of the same"

Maybe Ollie should implement that quick Calhoun hook from the game, and sit their butt down, we finally got depth to do so

 

[HuskyFich]

KO has gone from a firey coach who's playing D on the sideline, to one who can't get his ass off the bench. Nothing's been the same since 2014.

Remember from 2002-2009 when we were a top ten team all season every season? Yeah....me neither

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I may be overreacting, but I had such high hopes coming into this season, but thru one game it's already looking alot like "more of the same"

Maybe Ollie should implement that quick Calhoun hook from the game, and sit their butt down, we finally got depth to do so

D'Oh? A team with 4 or 5 newcomers not being able to gel together the first regular game of the season?

 

[Stainmaster]

Remember from 2002-2009 when we were a top ten team all season every season? Yeah....me neither

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.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

KO has gone from a firey coach who's playing D on the sideline, to one who can't get his ass off the bench. Nothing's been the same since 2014.

Remember from 2002-2009 when we were a top ten team all season every season? Yeah....me neither

do u forget the seasons like 07 that were awful? We had plenty of times during 02 and 09 where our offense couldnt do anything under Calhoun where guys would just stand around and no one would move

 

[UC990411]

Regardless of what the final decision is, he is not going to be "held culpable" in any material way while the season is still going on.

Why not?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Yeah it's pretty amazing seeing us playing so bad but KO just making a crying face on the bench. Love the guy, just wish he was his fiery self like back in '14. That's what a young team needs, a strong leading coach, he's gotta show some emotion.

 

[HuskyFich]

do u forget the seasons like 07 that were awful? We had plenty of times during 02 and 09 where our offense couldnt do anything under Calhoun where guys would just stand around and no one would move

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

 

[sammydabiz]

D'Oh? A team with 4 or 5 newcomers not being able to gel together the first regular game of the season?

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

 

[Doctor Hoop]

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.

 

[Stainmaster]

Why not?

Oh, you want a firing now, huh? You have faith that whoever is picked as an interim will be able to do a better job at developing players and strategizing in game? You want to give other coaches an extra 5 months to get in MAL's ear? You want recruiting to completely stagnate for that time period and have us left to pick up scraps in May? You want us to be the only Division I program in history to fire their coach one game into the season and make us even more of a laughingstock than our play on the court ever would? You'll start the exact same whiny baby threads when the interim coach loses games calling for him to be replaced, then when the replacement gets hired you'll keep doing the same thing, and it'll be an endless cycle.

Getting rid of a coach in November means that UConn basketball is finished. Why do you want that to happen? What caused you to hate UConn basketball so much? Whose team are you really a fan of? A guy who only comes here after losses to stir the pot and doesn't spend time discussing players, recruiting, strategy or lineups has to be a troll from another fanbase. BC? Cuse?

 

[HuskyFich]

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.

Maybe because JC groomed him and hand pick him for the job. KO learned the JC way with 13 years of NBA experience and won a NC his first eligible year. KO deserves high expectations and we should be hard on him, after 2 years of sub par performances

 

[Stainmaster]

Maybe because JC groomed him and hand pick him for the job. KO learned the JC way with 13 years of NBA experience and won a NC his first eligible year. KO deserves high expectations and we should be hard on him, after 2 years of sub par performances

No matter how much grooming or mentorship you have, it doesn't give you "it". People were deluded into thinking that we found another Calhoun-level coach, that just doesn't happen. Name me one program besides UNC that was able to maintain their former level after replacing a GOAT status coach.

 

[HuskyFich]

No matter how much grooming or mentorship you have, it doesn't give you "it". People were deluded into thinking that we found another Calhoun-level coach, that just doesn't happen. Name me one program besides UNC that was able to maintain their former level after replacing a GOAT status coach.

We've been bitching about the same stuff with the same players for 3 years now. Rebounding in particular. What elite college program can't improve rebounding over a 4 year span?

 

[HuskyFich]

All I'm saying here is we are UConn, and we shouldn't be settling for mediocracy. UConn basketball should not be losing on opening night at Gampel due to a lack of mental toughness

 

[Stainmaster]

No spitting match here Stair but to reply to your question...I think many feel / felt because Jim hand picked his predecessor and forced him down Warde's throat they were getting the next JC...

So people drank the Kool-Aid. Bully for them.

 

[Paesano]

Here's the thing, Ollie needs to be held accountable. Not now, but, if things don't change, I think he has to be put on the hot seat at the end of the year. Family or not, another season like the last two has to put you on the hot seat.

The problem is that Herbst sucks and I'm not convinced she and her hand picked AD would hire a decent coach in, say, the summer of 2018. Hell, it could get worse!!! Maybe Duke planted her at UConn to kill us!!!

 

[gampelcrazies]

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

 

[UConnfan8]

Oh, you want a firing now, huh? You have faith that whoever is picked as an interim will be able to do a better job at developing players and strategizing in game? You want to give other coaches an extra 5 months to get in MAL's ear? You want recruiting to completely stagnate for that time period and have us left to pick up scraps in May? You want us to be the only Division I program in history to fire their coach one game into the season and make us even more of a laughingstock than our play on the court ever would? You'll start the exact same whiny baby threads when the interim coach loses games calling for him to be replaced, then when the replacement gets hired you'll keep doing the same thing, and it'll be an endless cycle.

Getting rid of a coach in November means that UConn basketball is finished. Why do you want that to happen? What caused you to hate UConn basketball so much? Whose team are you really a fan of? A guy who only comes here after losses to stir the pot and doesn't spend time discussing players, recruiting, strategy or lineups has to be a troll from another fanbase. BC? Cuse?

Not sure he was trying to say "fire Ollie". But the guy needs to be held accountable at some point. It's been the same pro style offense since he's been here and it isn't working. We don't have the players for that. There is no Napier here that will knock down any shot when the moment calls for it, or bails us out somehow. We just haven't had that. Something needs to change, and if he can't change it, that's his problem and he needs to be held accountable. Either guys really don't improve throughout their years here anymore (Brimsh, Purvis.) or Ollie doesn't do a great job at giving them an opportunity to improve.

KO is going nowhere, he should be on no hot seat. But this thread is about holding KO accountable for not improving any offense since he's been here. Or rebounding for that matter. That much is true. Something needs to change this season. Or it's going to be the same old song and dance year after year.

 

[Stainmaster]

Not sure he was trying to say "fire Ollie".

Uh, he was. Check the "Fire Everyone" thread.

 

[Dove]

Just saw a news clip. You know its bad when Ollie goes to full-blown stinky cheese face against...Wagner f@%#@g College.

 

[CL82]

For all you guys throw throwing around that "we're the Huskies" stuff, you are right. We are the Huskies. We built on rep on what we do in March, not in November. Maybe we just want to give him a little time to work the new guys in.

 

[UConnfan8]

For all you guys throw throwing around that "we're the Huskies" stuff, you are right. We are the Huskies. We built on rep on what we do in March, not in November. Maybe we just want to give him a little time to work the new guys in.

But we're also the Huskies that under Jim Calhoun, were constantly nationally ranked and did not lose home openers to Wagner. Calhoun was known for developing guards into pros and turned bigs from boys to men. Kids improved yearly. We were ranked throughout the year. Yeah, we won in March, but we sustained the brand and became nationally recognized for winning the regular season as well. Top 5, 10, 15 was expected. Not the weekly "when will we be ranked again" question. He better work them in quick, because our conference isn't helping us, but we are losing who we are, our identity and our brand quickly...

 

[CL82]

But we're also the Huskies that under Jim Calhoun, were constantly nationally ranked and did not lose home openers to Wagner. Calhoun was known for developing guards into pros and turned bigs from boys to men. Kids improved yearly. We were ranked throughout the year. Yeah, we won in March, but we sustained the brand and became nationally recognized for winning the regular season as well. Top 5, 10, 15 was expected. Not the weekly "when will we be ranked again" question. He better work them in quick, because our conference isn't helping us, but we are losing who we are, our identity and our brand quickly...

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

 

[Towney007]

We built on rep on what we do in March, not in November.

Haven't been playing all that much in March though, so...

Look I *like* Kevin Ollie. I think our teams are outstanding defensively, but offensively they're a train wreck. It's been th.... ok more like five years of this. The '14 team went on a run, it was great, thank god it happened because it bought more time and might have even saved the program in the long run.

But this team is a disorganized, completely easy team to guard offensively. It just is. We lost to Wagner. We've lost to Yale. We lose to Houston.

This happens in 2004-2009 it costs you seasons' tickets.

Now it's 'oh well, we're young guys, we're talented guys, we'll turn the corner guys.' Living near UMass for years, the narrative is super familiar.