So who still thinks Shaka Smart is not a good coach?

[gtcam]

Clearly your bball IQ is very very low.

why- because i fail to label someone who has been to one final four as great?
if you do then you consider every coach that has been to a final four is "great", every manager who has been to a league championship series in MLB is great, every coach who got a team to a league championship in the NBA is great?
Do not question my bball IQ unless you know me
I am questioning the usage of superlatives not someones IQ
Don't be small

 

[Jerry1714]

why- because i fail to label someone who has been to one final four as great?
if you do then you consider every coach that has been to a final four is "great", every manager who has been to a league championship series in MLB is great, every coach who got a team to a league championship in the NBA is great?
Do not question my bball IQ unless you know me
I am questioning the usage of superlatives not someones IQ
Don't be small

The fact he went to a final four is not the reason he is a great coach, just the result of it. He is a great coach because of his ability to maximize talent, his X and Os and his game management. Good luck finding any other coach, whose opinions I trust the most when it comes to evaluating other coaches, who does not think he is a great coach and a future star in the business.

Simply looking at his one final four to say he is great or that he is not is silly.

 

[whaler11]

Part of what makes Jim Calhoun great is what he did at a school like Connecticut.... Same thing with Smith: he has VCU running with the big dogs. It's why Roy Williams looks a bit pathetic at Carolina. Context matters.

 

[gtcam]

The fact he went to a final four is not the reason he is a great coach, just the result of it. He is a great coach because of his ability to maximize talent, his X and Os and his game management. Good luck finding any other coach, whose opinions I trust the most when it comes to evaluating other coaches, who does not think he is a great coach and a future star in the business.

Simply looking at his one final four to say he is great or that he is not is silly.

Future star YES great no
an individuals record and results are the biggest indicators of average, good, great, phenom
Less than 5 years track history does not allow someone, in my estimation, to be determined as great
Can he become great-sure

 

[Huskies4ever]

Future star YES great no
an individuals record and results are the biggest indicators of average, good, great, phenom
Less than 5 years track history does not allow someone, in my estimation, to be determined as great
Can he become great-sure

Totally understand your point, and Jerry's. Has he been phenomenal? So far, yes, absolutely. Is he a coaching phenom? So far, yes, absolutely. Will he maintain his early level of greatness? Only time will tell. Who knows? It could go either way going forward.

Still would rather have KO.

 

[Huskies4ever]

brad stevens > shaka smart

Disagree.

 

[Scoe]

So because we support Ollie and like him as our coach is that supposed to mean we think Shaka Smart is a bad coach

 

[Huskies4ever]

I wanted KO as JC's replacement from the time he became an assistant. I sensed (imagined, my be more accurate) that JC wanted him for the job, and after 25 years of accepting his judgment on all things basketball, I wasn't ready to shift gears. So as attractive as the idea of SS as coach seemed, I never really gave it any serious consideration. Now we've got our man, and to be honest, he's more than we could have hoped for. He can obviously coach the game, he can obviously motivate his players, and he commands a level of respect from the casual observer and rabid fan than few are able to duplicate. I look forward to rooting for KO's teams for the rest of my sentient days.

Excellent post. And it encapsulates everything I have felt since KO became an assistant as well.

But we weren't out on a limb. Too many head NBA coaches wanted KO because of his inspired leadership. His work ethic was never in question. He related to people older than him to people his own age, and kids younger than him. The only unknown was the x's and o's. In this I trusted JC who had first hand interaction with KO. The rest of us were pulling things out of our *ss about that issue.

The debate about whether JC should be involved in the decision making had merit. I personally dismissed it because everything that JC did was about creating UConn into one of the all time great bb programs. JC could have bolted for the money after the first NCAA. He refused. That statement said all I need to know that he wanted UConn to be in the fore front of bb. He wasn't going to drop that ball when it came to his departure.

And this is why KO made it in the NBA, was so valued, not for his talent, but for his leadership, and intangibles. The guy was signed by the Cavs to mentor LBJ as a rook for christsakes. And obviously, JC knew all of this - knew KO very well. I had no question that Ko would be a very good choice.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Yea he's good. Did anyone not think he was good though?

yeah. iirc while there were many who did not want him as head coach i dont really remember anyone questioning his coaching ability. hes a very good coach but he has a long way to go before he is mentioned with the best in the game today. i think ko was the right man for the job and i felt that way from day 1. if i had a choice between shaka and ko i wouldve gone with ko because hes a uconn guy and we need loyalty. shaka is a terrific coach but id rather have someone whos part of the family take the reigns after the great jc retired.

 

[seanmc94]

Lets slow down on the PHENOM that is Shaka Smart. He has one FF with Anthiny Grants players. Does Mike Davis qualify as a phenom? How about Steve Fischer?

An announcer had a great point the other day. He questioned whether Smarts system would work at a top flight program because of top 50 players aversions to playing defense. Pretty interesting take.

Ollie can certainly coach, jury is out on recruiting.

 

[upstater]

Lets slow down on the PHENOM that is Shaka Smart. He has one FF with Anthiny Grants players. Does Mike Davis qualify as a phenom? How about Steve Fischer?

An announcer had a great point the other day. He questioned whether Smarts system would work at a top flight program because of top 50 players aversions to playing defense. Pretty interesting take.

Ollie can certainly coach, jury is out on recruiting.

Top 50 players don't play D? Hmmmmm
At UConn they certainly do. Roscoe, Kemba, Oriakhi... Lamb was just outside the top 50.

 

[willie99]

did anyone think he's not a good coach?

conversely, I can say quite of few people around here weren't sold on Ollie

 

[mauconnfan]

Shaka has proven to be a very good coach, can coach at a high level I'm sure if given the chance. The question is even if given the chance at a top flight program can he become "phenomenal" or Top 10?

No one knows as for now he's beating programs who never win NC's or play in the elite conferences. I say he'd do well but no one knows for sure until he gets his chance...............

 

[tzznandrew]

Lets slow down on the PHENOM that is Shaka Smart. He has one FF with Anthiny Grants players. Does Mike Davis qualify as a phenom? How about Steve Fischer?

An announcer had a great point the other day. He questioned whether Smarts system would work at a top flight program because of top 50 players aversions to playing defense. Pretty interesting take.

Ollie can certainly coach, jury is out on recruiting.

Smart is great. I'd take him if we didn't have Ollie. I think you can get players who want to run up and down, still.

But you're right. Sustaining the run he's had is important.

 

[Husky68]

I posted a while ago that Smart would be a good replacement for Calhoun. I got lots of pushback that he was unproven, he would struggle against better competition and other similar nonsense. So given that he finished the regular season 26-8, got to the A-10 finals in his first year in the league, finished ahead of Butler and has a 5 seed in the upcoming Tournament, anyone still think he isn't a terrific coach? Reminds me of a young Jim Calhoun. Of course we have Kevin Ollie who is probably going to be fine. Probably will win 20 games a year from now until he retires at UConn.

Rewriting history and then arguing it, you must be related to BL. Your argument was not centered on VCU or Butler coach being better, rather that Ollie wasn't good enough and by picking him Uconn was relegated to mid major status, just by that decision. VCU and Butler have both gotten into the tournament, both have some good wins but head scratching loses.
You hid from the board after your "It's on Ollie" posts after a loss when the team did not fold.
Making up an argument like this only confirms you are a tool. You made the point then and now hide from the fact that your argument centered on you portraying a 13 year NBA veteran with 2 years assistant coaching experience who was almost 40 as if he had NO background that would allow people close to him (Calhoun, Blaney) to "estimate" he was ready to be a top division 1 coach.

 

[freescooter]

Rewriting history and then arguing it, you must be related to BL. Your argument was not centered on VCU or Butler coach being better, rather that Ollie wasn't good enough and by picking him Uconn was relegated to mid major status, just by that decision. VCU and Butler have both gotten into the tournament, both have some good wins but head scratching loses.
You hid from the board after your "It's on Ollie" posts after a loss when the team did not fold.
Making up an argument like this only confirms you are a tool. You made the point then and now hide from the fact that your argument centered on you portraying a 13 year NBA veteran with 2 years assistant coaching experience who was almost 40 as if he had NO background that would allow people close to him (Calhoun, Blaney) to "estimate" he was ready to be a top division 1 coach.

We'll see if he's ready to be a top D1 coach, though I note that the excuses are already being laid out there. He had a decent team with an all-conference level point guard and ended the season with a solid season. to me the most significant comment, and the most honest one, frankly, was the person who wrote that even if he knew Smart would be a better coach he'd take Ollie because he was a UConn guy. I think Ollie will be a perfectly fine coach for a program transitioning to a life as a high mid-major.

 

[Dogdeacon]

We'll see if he's ready to be a top D1 coach, though I note that the excuses are already being laid out there. He had a decent team with an all-conference level point guard and ended the season with a solid season. to me the most significant comment, and the most honest one, frankly, was the person who wrote that even if he knew Smart would be a better coach he'd take Ollie because he was a UConn guy. I think Ollie will be a perfectly fine coach for a program transitioning to a life as a high mid-major.

Translation: You are rooting for UConn and Ollie to fail (or more precisely to succeed only within a limited scope) because your choice for a new coach wasn't considered?

Is this because of a vendetta regarding Calhoun or some other gripe? Unless you consciously tried to become a part of the administration and were unjustly thwarted or have some other direct role in UConn's coaching decision you need to give up the schadenfreude. How can you possibly be a fan AND root for mediocrity?

Ironically in pro sports sometimes fans are criticized for drinking the team's kool aid. I.e. most Pats fans wanted the team to sign Wes Welker, but now MUST support the fact that the Patriots didn't sign him. But you just gotta accept these things and move on. For Pats fans to root for Welker to do great in Denver and Amendola to be a bust in NEngland would be counter-productive and not very fun. Hence my point.

 

[seanmc94]

The reality is, some people will view it as a failure if the current standard isn't continued. Ask yourself: if over the next 10 years, UCONN was in the mix ala Gonzaga, MSU, OSU(perennial top 8-15, a few sweet 16 and elite 8's mixed in) would you take that?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

The reality is, some people will view it as a failure if the current standard isn't continued. Ask yourself: if over the next 10 years, UCONN was in the mix ala Gonzaga, MSU, OSU(perennial top 8-15, a few sweet 16 and elite 8's mixed in) would you take that?

MSU and OSU have combined for 9 Final Fours in the last 14 years.

 

[stick]

We'll see if he's ready to be a top D1 coach, though I note that the excuses are already being laid out there. He had a decent team with an all-conference level point guard and ended the season with a solid season. to me the most significant comment, and the most honest one, frankly, was the person who wrote that even if he knew Smart would be a better coach he'd take Ollie because he was a UConn guy. I think Ollie will be a perfectly fine coach for a program transitioning to a life as a high mid-major.

Definition of a troll: One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

 

[mauconnfan]

The reality is, some people will view it as a failure if the current standard isn't continued. Ask yourself: if over the next 10 years, UCONN was in the mix ala Gonzaga, MSU, OSU(perennial top 8-15, a few sweet 16 and elite 8's mixed in) would you take that?

Yes..........MSU gets a shot at a FF every once in a while as do the others...........25 wins, entertainment all year long and into March/April? How spoiled do you think we are?

Question to you would you take it? Oh crap sorry what am I thinking sean, of course you would!!.....

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Top 50 players don't play D? Hmmmmm
At UConn they certainly do. Roscoe, Kemba, Oriakhi... Lamb was just outside the top 50.

Yikes. Not sure I'd pick Jeremy for that point.

 

[seanmc94]

Yes..........MSU gets a shot at a FF every once in a while as do the others...........25 wins, entertainment all year long and into March/April? How spoiled do you think we are?

Question to you would you take it? Oh crap sorry what am I thinking sean, of course you would!!.....

YOU get it. Others don't. Call it NE patriot syndrome. Bill and Brady are failures BC they haven't won a SB recently. Despite being one of the op teams year in and year out.