Who made the dumb decision ?

[Towney007]

I've been in the 'fire Ollie' camp for a while now.

When they signed his extension, not only was I supportive, I was both enthusiastic AND relieved. I don't know of anyone who was like 'gee guys, I don't know....' He was coming off a tournament run where he looked like he took four of the best college basketball coaches in the United States and turned them into his own personal sock puppets. The NBA was ALL over him. Even *at the time* I remember thinking 'how on earth does a school like UConn not only luck their way into Calhoun BUT A GUY WHO MIGHT BE BETTER'

I was just really, really wrong, that's all.

 

[4UConn]

What system was that and tell me about all these Calhoun Players
What the heck does winning with someone else players really mean .
Is there a rational human being that says UConn won their first NIT in 1987 ,but did it with Perno’s players. If Ollie is fired and in three years the new coach mange’s to keep
The incoming recruits Gilbert Whaley ,Carlton ,Polley together and somehow get to a ZfF will you say “ ya but he did it with Ollie’s players “
You can hate Ollie but try to be honest. Rational is a stretch.
Saying he won with Calhoun players is exactly what the UConn haters have been saying for years. The reason they say that is the use it to hurt our recruiting . UConn fans who repeat that stupid mantra give aid and comfort to the enemy.
Or as Uncle Joe Stalin use to call you “useful idiots”
Let’s examine this team of superstars.
He had two good undersized guards neither considered an NBA player. and he was the guard coach. Bazz was two emotional and confrontational to ever be a successful leader.
DD was a KO recruit and in his one year under JC his numbers were non existent.
The Great Giffey average 2 points a game his two full seasons under JC and was so deep in coaches doghouse a coaching change gave him a new lease on life.
What he accomplished with this misfit cast plus the addition of Brimah ,Kromah ,TSam
Not a blueblood in the lot . Was one if not the best coaching jobs in UConn history and I go back to Hugh Greer.
First just keeping that core together under suspension, relagation to the AAC ,and awful press was an accomplishment .
Fan desertion , and a short term contract that killed an entire recruiting season didn’t help.
2014 when the emotion of the Ollie hatred subsides and is reviewed by rational people could be one of the alltime great NCAA basketball stories. The story is that good It’s a modern day Hoosiers story . (2011 the team had an NBA all-star PG and a young but Uber talented bunch.)
To take one once of credit from that job the coach did that year is criminal.
Especially if you insist your a UConn fan. Trolls just keep trolling.

Just amazing how you and your ilk can promote mediocrity at best, failure at worst. Ummm, have you seen the empty seats at UConn's home games lately? In 2018, we can hardly compete in a conference we all thought we're too good for. 2014 was JC's team and our performance and record since that time has been just awful. And you want to perpetuate this shoddy performance which is dooming UConn basketball ...and athletics, possibly for decades to come? Ollie did do a great job with JC's team in 2014, no question, but it's been a nightmare since, without no hope it's going to get better. And BTW, when JC took over for the hapless Dom Perno, everything changed quickly and for the better. Ollie is the exact reverse. So if you think Dom Perno was good for UConn basketball, just stay on the Ollie ship. You won't have many passengers.

 

[whaler11]

What system was that and tell me about all these Calhoun Players
What the heck does winning with someone else players really mean .
Is there a rational human being that says UConn won their first NIT in 1987 ,but did it with Perno’s players. If Ollie is fired and in three years the new coach mange’s to keep
The incoming recruits Gilbert Whaley ,Carlton ,Polley together and somehow get to a ZfF will you say “ ya but he did it with Ollie’s players “
You can hate Ollie but try to be honest. Rational is a stretch.
Saying he won with Calhoun players is exactly what the UConn haters have been saying for years. The reason they say that is the use it to hurt our recruiting . UConn fans who repeat that stupid mantra give aid and comfort to the enemy.
Or as Uncle Joe Stalin use to call you “useful idiots”
Let’s examine this team of superstars.
He had two good undersized guards neither considered an NBA player. and he was the guard coach. Bazz was two emotional and confrontational to ever be a successful leader.
DD was a KO recruit and in his one year under JC his numbers were non existent.
The Great Giffey average 2 points a game his two full seasons under JC and was so deep in coaches doghouse a coaching change gave him a new lease on life.
What he accomplished with this misfit cast plus the addition of Brimah ,Kromah ,TSam
Not a blueblood in the lot . Was one if not the best coaching jobs in UConn history and I go back to Hugh Greer.
First just keeping that core together under suspension, relagation to the AAC ,and awful press was an accomplishment .
Fan desertion , and a short term contract that killed an entire recruiting season didn’t help.
2014 when the emotion of the Ollie hatred subsides and is reviewed by rational people could be one of the alltime great NCAA basketball stories. The story is that good It’s a modern day Hoosiers story . (2011 the team had an NBA all-star PG and a young but Uber talented bunch.)
To take one once of credit from that job the coach did that year is criminal.
Especially if you insist your a UConn fan. Trolls just keep trolling.

Google Larry Coker and Miami.

There now you know what winning with someone else’s players means.

 

[Sonova]

Yes, won with Calhoun's players and system. It's hard to be an apologist for Ollie, but I guess that's your best argument, weak as it is.

Ha! The last thing that I am is an Ollie apologist. I’m not sure you understand my sarcasm. You should just ask yourself how you felt about Jim Calhoun’s “problematic decision” on April 8, 2014. If YOU want to lay the hiring of Kevin Olllie at JC’s feet, be sure to acknowledge that that hiring yielded a 4th National Championship.

Jim Calhoun’s “career” at UConn ended with an exclamation point that night in Dallas.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yes, won with Calhoun's players and system. It's hard to be an apologist for Ollie, but I guess that's your best argument, weak as it is.

And yours the weakest typical " with Calhouns players". You mean besides Bazz who wasn't very good his soph Year, the players who were hardly an impact under Jim Calhoun? At least get that right.

Doesn't mean he's been good at all since then but people who don't give him credit because they were Jims players aren't being truthful.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

KO got the money & maybe he got comfortable, who knows..but it really hasn't worked at all the past 4 years & this team was / is going nowhere but down.

The program badly needs a re-set & I understand if KO is booted next year might be ugly with transfers & de-commits but if the right guy is brought in it can be a quick turnaround. Right now I have zero confidence in KO to run a program & if the right person is brought in quickly in April then maybe the current players will breathe a sigh of relief as well.

There is a lot of ignorance about why uconn basketball is in the spot it is in. There aren't too many coaches that could manage the transition down in conference affiliation.

 

[Sonova]

There is a lot of ignorance about why uconn basketball is in the spot it is in. There aren't too many coaches that could manage the transition down in conference affiliation.

You must think the world of Mick Cronin.

 

[Sonova]

There is a lot of ignorance about why uconn basketball is in the spot it is in. There aren't too many coaches that could manage the transition down in conference affiliation.

That’s just plain ignorant. Most examples of a change in conference are in the other direction - moving up. THAT can be quite difficult , particularly if the school moving up doesn’t have the resources or brand recognition to compete with the new members.

If anything, the competition in our world got waaaaay easier. It’s why Cincy is able to be at the top. Did Mick Cronin suddenly become a great coach? It’s also why Villanova was able to become a more national player - they didn’t have to compete with UConn, Syracuse, Louisville, etc. And while the AAC certainly doesn’t have the appeal of the old Big East or a Power 5 conference, there’s really no excuse for what we have today. None. We have, still, the resources, tradition and name recognition to be killing it - in the AAC and beyond. We just have a coach that’s killing the program.

 

[RJScootin]

I've been in the 'fire Ollie' camp for a while now.

When they signed his extension, not only was I supportive, I was both enthusiastic AND relieved. I don't know of anyone who was like 'gee guys, I don't know....' He was coming off a tournament run where he looked like he took four of the best college basketball coaches in the United States and turned them into his own personal sock puppets. The NBA was ALL over him. Even *at the time* I remember thinking 'how on earth does a school like UConn not only luck their way into Calhoun BUT A GUY WHO MIGHT BE BETTER'

I was just really, really wrong, that's all.

I don’t believe anyone has argued the new contract after the national championship. Which would have ran out after next season. It’s the extension in 2016 that I believe this thread refers to. At that time none of the things you mentioned were still occurring.

 

[noeynox]

By “problematic” you mean that annoying 2014 National Championship?

Agreed. But somewhere along the line something changed. You sign the 7th ranked recruiting class in the country and you chase them off, in part because you showed no vision in how you planned on developing them? Id love for him to earn one more year down the stretch. Let these transfers move on, bring in some young talent and stop trying to patch holes in the roster with grad transfers from 2 levels down every year.

 

[8893]

I don’t believe anyone has argued the new contract after the national championship. Which would have ran out after next season. It’s the extension in 2016 that I believe this thread refers to. At that time none of the things you mentioned were still occurring.

You, like many others, are forgetting this point:

Everyone seems to have forgotten the clause in KO's 2014 contract which eliminated the buyout he would owe the school (for leaving while under contract) is the AD left. Once Warde left we needed to quickly and decisively make a determination on KO'S contract. At the time the new contract did not appear to be an unreasonable move on our part.

Here is Ollie's 2014 contract, which was in effect when he signed the extension. Look at the last paragraph on page 2 (@whaler11 , as I remembered, Herbst was also in the clause; I agree that it is strange that his bosses, who were negotiating the contract with him on behalf of the University, allowed a clause that benefited only them and Ollie).

 

[RJScootin]

You, like many others, are forgetting this point:



Here is Ollie's 2014 contract, which was in effect when he signed the extension. Look at the last paragraph on page 2 (@whaler11 , as I remembered, Herbst was also in the clause; I agree that it is strange that his bosses, who were negotiating the contract with him on behalf of the University, allowed a clause that benefited only them and Ollie).

Reasonable based on what? I’m asking, I don’t know. Did he have other teams willing to pay him over $3mm a year to coach their team?

 

[8893]

Reasonable based on what? I’m asking, I don’t know. Did he have other teams willing to pay him over $3mm a year to coach their team?

No idea. Media reports suggested he was under consideration for NBA jobs and I'm sure his agent played that up in the negotiations.

I don't fault Benedict for the extension. I do fault him for allowing the exact same clause in the extension, although it won't come into play now.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

and this is me putting my you know what in my you know what lol. thanks for clarifying.

Richard in a box?

 

[AdamaNation]

Yes, won with Calhoun's players and system. It's hard to be an apologist for Ollie, but I guess that's your best argument, weak as it is.

Would calipari or booger nose, or smart(remember him?), or the leprechaun, or self have won with that group against that Run of opponents?

 

[4UConn]

Would calipari or booger nose, or smart(remember him?), or the leprechaun, or self have won with that group against that Run of opponents?

IDK, maybe the better question is whether George Blaney or Tom Moore would have had the same result in 2014. Moot point IMO. Nothing close to 2014 has been replicated by Ollie. We are headed downhill, the trend is down, and not only for basketball. I was one of the few that attended the 8-9 games in MSG in the 1980s. I just don't want to go back there...

 

[Stainmaster]

I just don't want to go back there...

Tough cookies.

 

[8893]

I was one of the few that attended the 8-9 games in MSG in the 1980s. I just don't want to go back there...

Why, you didn't like getting hammered on a Wednesday?

 

[Pudge]

2014–15 Connecticut 20–15 10–8 T–5th NIT First Round
2015–16 Connecticut 25–11 11–7 6th NCAA Second Round

Based off these two seasons I'm not seeing where he deserved an extension. Still had three more years on current contract. What was the rush? What has he done with these big recruits?

He got paid off NC, that's fair. The next extension should based of what he did after that.

No

You're not being fair nor real world. A National Championship. He got what ANY other school would have offered in similar circumstances. We can all micromanage his actions since with the Program; and much of it is sub-optimal performance. (except the academic results) He has to get better and will. Our Fanbase is just too fickle and expectations are sky high always. I hope the University and Kevin come to a resolution. My personal opinion is he needs to regenerate his Love for the Game ... in the NBA as a top assistant somewhere. He needs to get far better game education. And, it might just be that he fails to reach this age of athlete.

 

[4UConn]

Why, you didn't like getting hammered on a Wednesday?

LOL, you could have pretty much any seat you wanted in MSG.

 

[fatlucy]

No

You're not being fair nor real world. A National Championship. He got what ANY other school would have offered in similar circumstances. We can all micromanage his actions since with the Program; and much of it is sub-optimal performance. (except the academic results) He has to get better and will. Our Fanbase is just too fickle and expectations are sky high always. I hope the University and Kevin come to a resolution. My personal opinion is he needs to regenerate his Love for the Game ... in the NBA as a top assistant somewhere. He needs to get far better game education. And, it might just be that he fails to reach this age of athlete.

He got a fair contract for what he did at the time but he hasn't delivered a reasonable product since. We hired him to be the head coach of a top national basketball program for top program pay. He's not living up to his contract or our expectations. $3 Million is a LOT of money. 3 MILLION A YEAR - to be great, to be top tier, not to SUCK.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Ollie is absolutely not worth $3 million a year. There is no coach we will bring in that will be worth that much, so we don't need to worry about that number.

Herb Sendek? Tom Crean? Steve Lavin? Who do you guys want? Who is NC State's assistant HC? Maybe he could come here.

 

[RJScootin]

No

You're not being fair nor real world. A National Championship. He got what ANY other school would have offered in similar circumstances. We can all micromanage his actions since with the Program; and much of it is sub-optimal performance. (except the academic results) He has to get better and will. Our Fanbase is just too fickle and expectations are sky high always. I hope the University and Kevin come to a resolution. My personal opinion is he needs to regenerate his Love for the Game ... in the NBA as a top assistant somewhere. He needs to get far better game education. And, it might just be that he fails to reach this age of athlete.

So expections of being a top 3 team in AAC is sky high. The contract he signed set expectations he couldn’t live up to.

What has the fan base been fickle about? Wanting a compentent coach that puts a competive team on the court?

 

[RJScootin]

No

You're not being fair nor real world. A National Championship. He got what ANY other school would have offered in similar circumstances. We can all micromanage his actions since with the Program; and much of it is sub-optimal performance. (except the academic results) He has to get better and will. Our Fanbase is just too fickle and expectations are sky high always. I hope the University and Kevin come to a resolution. My personal opinion is he needs to regenerate his Love for the Game ... in the NBA as a top assistant somewhere. He needs to get far better game education. And, it might just be that he fails to reach this age of athlete.

You’re calling the fans fickle but saying we have a coach who needs to find love for the game again. Wow!

 

[UConnNick]

except supposedly NBA footsy was being played during the time of the KO extension and there was an imminent threat of him leaving, so the school couldn't wait.

This situation is known as getting snookered by a slickster sports agent.

 

[intlzncster]

Herb Sendek? Tom Crean? Steve Lavin? Who do you guys want? Who is NC State's assistant HC? Maybe he could come here.

There is zero point looking at retreads. Need up and comers.

 

[Towney007]

Here's the list of college basketball coaches making north of $3 million/year:

Coach K
Callipari
Self
Pitino
Izzo
Huggins
Beilein
Marshall


So I mean - UConn is pretty appealing. Even if they're at $2 million-$2.5 million a year - they're going to get a really good coach.

 

[80shusky]

Why, you didn't like getting hammered on a Wednesday?

yea, that was awesome.

 

[80shusky]

Ollie is absolutely not worth $3 million a year. There is no coach we will bring in that will be worth that much, so we don't need to worry about that number.

Herb Sendek? Tom Crean? Steve Lavin? Who do you guys want? Who is NC State's assistant HC? Maybe he could come here.

No college basketball coach is worth 3m/year. I've never understood why anyone would ever pay that much.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Google Larry Coker and Miami.

There now you know what winning with someone else’s players means.

Larry Coker is an interesting story
The truth is a somewhat different than you insist .
First he was a middle aged man with 20 years as an effective offensive coordinator He once had Thurman (Thomas and Barry Sanders playing the same position )who never actually applied for the job,
The old coach bales on the team News YearscDay for the worst job in the NFL There has to be a backstory in that move.
The first two or three choices turned down the job. It took lobbying by his friends and a player revolt for Miami To offer him the job.
If you know anything about sports than you are aware that a head football coach manages a large staff and the skill sets required for this are far different than the supervisory role of a coordinator. Even by comparison a B.B. head coach has much less requirement
Coker won a NC in his first year and was most likely jobbed of a repeat his second . His motivational skill was extraordinary and the players love for him are unquestionably.
Those years were Miami last in the Big East , They then they moved to the ACC . As someone as smart a you should know Southern Fla is ironical a Nothern area.
That move also doomed BC , and eventual VT.
Coker after such an astounding debut 22-0 , followed up those teams
With a few 9-3 teams and was fired when the team went 7-6
His lifetime record is astounding 55-15 with four Bowl wins in 6 tries .
Coker’s problem wasn’t coaching The NC and the heart break loss are dubious without the players love for him.
He obviously couldn’t manage people who pretty much took advantage of his easy going nature. He also allowed Undue outside influence that he ignored which almost lead to the death penalty for the school. In someways the next guy faced a more similar task than Ollie
He was changed with getting tarnished academics up which he did but couldn’t win so he was fired
Since Coker left Miami their record is something like 65-55. For those who think things can’t get worse their life skills are pretty non existant
So Coker was a great motivator and a lousy mgr. Hardly a poster child for a stupid cliche .
These Cliches are propagated by sports talking heads with IQ’s of 100
No one with an has over a 110 IQ should mindless repeat the mantra.