Warde Manuel

[freescooter]

I will attack you freescooter. You are in need of some humility. Kevin Ollie, universally, is being praised ... as a COACH. His offense, frankly, is more interesting than Calhoun's half court offense. His kids are playing hard. And, we are developing the kids that need developing. I think I know what I am talking about ... and my Dad was a college coach. I get your position; just go sit in the corner for awhile. It's obvious where this is going. You'll get to make another comment about Ollie in about 15 months.

yeah, except they aren't playing hard, except against "big time" competition. If they were, Quinnipiac doesn't take them to multiple overtimes. They don't struggle against Stony Brook and UNH. They won those games because they had better talent. No other reason. My dad was a doctor. gotta go perform some surgery now...

 

[upstater]

What has Ollie shown me? His teams have played good defense every night - our game plan defensively has usually been pretty solid. Last night, the worst defensive possession we had was with a minute to go, when Giffey was a step late with the help after the dump-down pass and it became an and one. Even that one showed our guys knew what to do - we just didn't do it quickly enough.

When we've had a challenge and time to prepare (Mich St, NC St, Wake), we've looked ready to play - no qualms with any of those games. When we started to feel the game slip against NM or NC State, we kept battling. We could have let Michigan State get away, but we battled there too.

Last night, we got pretty good looks all night offensively - made them early to build a lead, but missed a ton of makeable shots. NC State with better athletes made the shots five feet and in that we didn't. We needed someone from the Omar/DD/Giffey group to make some shots to support our two guards, but Omar/DD were turnover machines (other than those two, we took care of the ball very well), and Giffey was invisible. Evans tried to do it, but just doesn't have the skillset. That's more a lack of personnel than a coaching issue.

Another example - at one point early in the second half, Howell beat TO for a couple layups on offense (he hooked on one, but got away with it), but TO was able to respond by leaking out and getting behind him in transition. Napier found him with a hit-ahead and TO caught the ball in great position, but said "nah" and pulled it back out. It wasn't necessarily a bad decision - Howell was going to be able to contest it. But every other big man we've had would have gone for the transition dunk there. You can coach them how to run a good fast break, but you need the guys who can finish it.

Now, the cupcake games haven't been a thing of beauty, yes, and if the team plays up to the level of the good teams and down to the level of bad teams, then KO can certainly improve in motivational techniques for the less-interesting games. No crime in that - he's not alone. Even veteran coaches sometimes struggle with those things (Jay Wright losing by 17 to Columbia springs to mind). I'd be more concerned if we got our doors blown off by good teams and blew out the cupcakes - that would indicate to me that he couldn't hack it when the challenges came. And even the cupcakes know we have weaknesses to exploit - attack the glass, force OC and DD to put the ball on the floor, and can have the personnel to do it. Quinny probably has a better frontcourt than we do - that's just the hand he's been dealt.

I expected KO to have some ups and downs - especially with the personnel he has. I think he's entitled to that. And a win over Tom Izzo trumps not beating cupcakes by enough.

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Some great points here about making shots. When you combine the second chance bunnies that NC State made due to interior advantage with those crazy bank shots that Brown was making all night, and then compare them to missed bunnies from Boatright and Evans and lack of 2nd chance points, THAT was the difference in the game. The degree of difficulty for Boatright is much higher because of his height. Brown has much more size. Then again, I've not been very impressed by Gottfried's teams EVER.

 

[upstater]

upstater,
basically you have no answer. if Jim Calhoun wanted seat #103 in sec 313 to be the next head coach, you'd be for that too. the only thing better in your view would be if Calhoun had picked a guy from Penn State!

This is a flaccid post.

 

[upstater]

Again, don't put words into my mouth. It isn't MY logic. I am just telling you what might be the logic of the university and board of directors and why it is possible. If it were up to me, I would never have hired PP in the first place. Hathaway was an idiot, no doubt. And if it were up to me, I would fire him as soon as it looks like we have a replacement lined up.

Fair enough. I will try not to let my frustration get the better of me. But, seriously, it is tiring and frustrating to see the continuous attacks on a guy we don't even know if we should be attacking.

I accept what you're saying about the administration, BUT the kind of criticism Manuel is receiving is part of his job description. All I know about Herbst in this matter is that she told Facey that Ollie will be the next head coach. Unless Facey is a liar. About Manuel, however, he constantly brings up his own "show me" criteria when it comes to Ollie. If it's the administration that's the problem, I don't expect him to point fingers. But I do expect him then not to openly question the caliber of his basketball coach.

For me, this is unforgivable. Not matter what, you do not question the caliber of your coaches unless you allow that you are considering a change.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

yeah, except they aren't playing hard, except against "big time" competition. If they were, Quinnipiac doesn't take them to multiple overtimes. They don't struggle against Stony Brook and UNH. They won those games because they had better talent. No other reason. My dad was a doctor. gotta go perform some surgery now...

If talent was the only thing that impacted the outcome of games, NC State beats us by 30 last night. How far back do you have to go in Uconn history to find a team with less talent than this year's version. Quinnipiac's big men dominated ours. I'm sure you would argue that this was Kevin Ollie's fault, and maybe to some extent it was. But watching that game, all I kept thinking was that Quinnipiac's power forward would be our best post player. The different in talent between those two teams is a lot less than you think.

 

[freescooter]

If talent was the only thing that impacted the outcome of games, NC State beats us by 30 last night. How far back do you have to go in Uconn history to find a team with less talent than this year's version. Quinnipiac's big men dominated ours. I'm sure you would argue that this was Kevin Ollie's fault, and maybe to some extent it was. But watching that game, all I kept thinking was that Quinnipiac's power forward would be our best post player. The different in talent between those two teams is a lot less than you think.

Oh just stop. Quinipiac is projected to be a mid-level team in one of the lowest rated leagues in the country. They are 2-4 against a schedule that includes such powers as Iona, American, Lehigh and Hartford. And you're actually going to make an argument that we have equal talent? Seriously? We may be down this year, but come on...nobody believes that.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Oh just stop. Quinipiac is projected to be a mid-level team in one of the lowest rated leagues in the country. They are 2-4 against a schedule that includes such powers as Iona, American, Lehigh and Hartford. And you're actually going to make an argument that we have equal talent? Seriously? We may be down this year, but come on...nobody believes that.

I did not say that we had equal talent, I said the gap is not as wide as you believe it is. I'm wondering if you actually watched the Quinnipiac game and, if you did, if you actually believe that Ike Azotam is not better than every post player on our roster.

 

[Huskymaniac]

I accept what you're saying about the administration, BUT the kind of criticism Manuel is receiving is part of his job description. All I know about Herbst in this matter is that she told Facey that Ollie will be the next head coach. Unless Facey is a liar. About Manuel, however, he constantly brings up his own "show me" criteria when it comes to Ollie. If it's the administration that's the problem, I don't expect him to point fingers. But I do expect him then not to openly question the caliber of his basketball coach.

For me, this is unforgivable. Not matter what, you do not question the caliber of your coaches unless you allow that you are considering a change.

I think you are extrapolating his words and/or actions way too much. He has said from the start that he needs to see him in action as a head coach. Obviously that implies that he is "looking for something" to prove that, yes, he is head coach material. But that doesn't mean he lacks confidence in Ollie or is questioning his ability. To say he doesn't know is not the same as he thinks he isn't good enough. We all have to show that we deserve our paychecks. I don't take my annual review as an insult or lack of confidence just as I don't take interviews as some sort of statment about what people think of my abilities. We all deal with "show me" requirements in life and especially if we have never done the job before.

Manuel has reponsibilities. Obviously we don't all agree but I happen to think it was a responsible thing to not turn the program over to an unproven head coach and give him a long term contract. He was the best choice given the circumstances and we all (except maybe freescooter) hope he has what it takes to be a great head coach. Once he shows it, then Manuel can give him a long term contract without worrying that it is irresponsible to do so. Remember, it costs money to buy out a coach when you fire him. To set up a university with limited and shrinking funding to have to do so by hiring an unproven coach and giving him a long term contract is seen by many as irresponsible. Once Ollie has had enough time to prove himself, it will could no longer be viewed as irresponsible to extend him.

We could disagree on some of these points but to say that what Manuel has done is stupid or crazy is just not rational. Just because you think there might have been a better way to go about it doesn't make his decision crazy enough to warrant crucifying the guy daily.

 

[Gurleyman]

Oh just stop. Quinipiac is projected to be a mid-level team in one of the lowest rated leagues in the country. They are 2-4 against a schedule that includes such powers as Iona, American, Lehigh and Hartford. And you're actually going to make an argument that we have equal talent? Seriously? We may be down this year, but come on...nobody believes that.

In years with normal talent for us, if we hold Q to 26 points in first half and 61 for the game, we win by 20+. This year, we have less talent and struggle to score, so it was close. Our frontcourt (even with Daniels) combined for 14 points in a double-overtime game. Q's frontcourt had 34.

We also held Vermont to 49, Stony Brook to 62, UNH to 53. All right in line with what you'd hope to see against a cupcake. These games are close because we're not scoring enough points to get separation - and that's largely because of personnel. Our frontcourt is weak (no big man averaging more than Olander's 4.8, unless you count Daniels at 8.1), and that forces us to get a lot from our guards, and other teams - even cupcakes - can gameplan for that. We are at a disadvantage down low against pretty much everyone.

There's not much we can do to fix that problem - it's going to be there all year. We just have to get our guards get the best shots we can, and hope for an unusually strong night from someone (like Wolf last night). We also need Omar and DD get better as the year goes on to give us more options against good teams - they can't both be as bad as they were last night.

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[nomar]

I have to ask you to answer a question then. Theoretically, if Calhoun/Izzo/Boeheim/K/etc. were coaching this team, but only with a 7 month contract (with kids knowing they would retire at the end of the year, just to take recruiting out of the equation), what would you expect to be different right now?

Would you expect UConn to be better than 6-2? Would you expect better effort? Would you expect better defense? Would you expect better offense? Would you expect better substitutions? Would you expect better TO's? From your previous post, what exactly do you think a HOF coach could do to make this team's offense run better?

I'll await your response, and I am really curious what you come up with, because I'm not sure what Ollie could implement with the team he has.

 

[caw]

Fair enough. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him truly explain his position.

 

[nomar]

Fair enough. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him truly explain his position.

Good luck.

 

[freescooter]

oh come on, guys. We're talking about Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, New Hampshire...

 

[nomar]

Two facts:

1. This is the worst UConn team, talent-wise, in a quarter century
2. Our good teams struggled with bad teams too many times to count

I'm done with this discussion.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

oh come on, guys. We're talking about Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, New Hampshire...

So what you're saying is....you didn't actually watch the Quinnipiac game.

 

[Gurleyman]

oh come on, guys. We're talking about Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, New Hampshire...

And we're talking about Tyler Olander as a starting center with no size around him. He was meant to be a face-up four off the bench.

 

[huskymedic]

The media is making Manuel look incompetent. Katz, Vitale and just about every talking head is taking mild shots at Manuel and supporting Ollie along with the coaching community.He either has to get a contract worked out NOW with Ollie or hire somebody else but doing nothing is making him look stupid.

... and you don't think JC is behind this??? To cave now would make WM look weaker than most on this board already thinks he is. Just because the noise gets louder - it doesn't mean he has to jump up to turn the volume down. If he blows past February with action - have @ it.

 

[upstater]

I think you are extrapolating his words and/or actions way too much. He has said from the start that he needs to see him in action as a head coach. Obviously that implies that he is "looking for something" to prove that, yes, he is head coach material. But that doesn't mean he lacks confidence in Ollie or is questioning his ability. To say he doesn't know is not the same as he thinks he isn't good enough. We all have to show that we deserve our paychecks. I don't take my annual review as an insult or lack of confidence just as I don't take interviews as some sort of statment about what people think of my abilities. We all deal with "show me" requirements in life and especially if we have never done the job before.

Manuel has reponsibilities. Obviously we don't all agree but I happen to think it was a responsible thing to not turn the program over to an unproven head coach and give him a long term contract. He was the best choice given the circumstances and we all (except maybe freescooter) hope he has what it takes to be a great head coach. Once he shows it, then Manuel can give him a long term contract without worrying that it is irresponsible to do so. Remember, it costs money to buy out a coach when you fire him. To set up a university with limited and shrinking funding to have to do so by hiring an unproven coach and giving him a long term contract is seen by many as irresponsible. Once Ollie has had enough time to prove himself, it will could no longer be viewed as irresponsible to extend him.

We could disagree on some of these points but to say that what Manuel has done is stupid or crazy is just not rational. Just because you think there might have been a better way to go about it doesn't make his decision crazy enough to warrant crucifying the guy daily.

We'll never agree. I've said this countless times, it's pennywise and pound foolish to worry about a 3 year contract at the same rate.

In my estimation, Manuel is doing long-term damage to UConn basketball right now as we speak.

The streets are littered with Arkansases, Houstons, UNLVs, and such programs that were bball powerhouses in the last three decades. UConn has natural advantages over all three--but these schools haven't even been part of the conversation in recent years.

 

[upstater]

... and you don't think JC is behind this??? To cave now would make WM look weaker than most on this board already thinks he is. Just because the noise gets louder - it doesn't mean he has to jump up to turn the volume down. If he blows past February with action - have @ it.

I don't really care if Manuel looks like Charles Atlas at the beach when he was a kid. Makes no difference to me.

 

[caw]

I don't really care if Manuel looks like Charles Atlas at the beach when he was a kid. Makes no difference to me.

I agree, what matters more: A) being right or B) looking weak. I pick A over B all day long.

 

[freescooter]

We'll never agree. I've said this countless times, it's pennywise and pound foolish to worry about a 3 year contract at the same rate.

In my estimation, Manuel is doing long-term damage to UConn basketball right now as we speak.

The streets are littered with Arkansases, Houstons, UNLVs, and such programs that were bball powerhouses in the last three decades. UConn has natural advantages over all three--but these schools haven't even been part of the conversation in recent years.

We could well end up there but it has absolutely zero to do with Kevin Ollie's contract. It has to do with the fact that we're being left to fend for ourselves in the Big Mess. Look,Calhoun has to bear some responsibility for this too. I know you will deny it, and have some nonsense about APR and all the rest, but UConn is cleaning up the mess that was created on his watch. Probation. Loss of scholarships. Negative national perception. Kevin Ollie's one year deal. every single one of those things came about because of something Jim Calhoun did or didn't do. Every one. And our being left behind by the ACC, he contributed to that, too. In reality, if Calhoun had been almost any other coach, he'd have been fired back about 4 years ago for the things that happened on his watch. Even if he had survived the Nate Miles and other scandals, the APR thing would have finished him. Only at UConn does he go out a hero, then on top of that gets to name his replacement, then publicly undercuts him with bs about returning to coaching...Jim, you did grand things. now grab the clubs, drive down to Hilton head and send a postcard every now and then.

 

[baggerbob]

I normally don't agree with Dickie V on anything , but even Dick realizes Ollie needs to be given an extension now for the long term good of the program. If Susan doesn't step up, and behind closed doors suggest to manuel, he has 1 of 2 choices an extension for Ollie, or new employment.

 

[Waquoit]

If talent was the only thing that impacted the outcome of games, NC State beats us by 30 last night.

Yeah, right.

 

[upstater]

We could well end up there but it has absolutely zero to do with Kevin Ollie's contract. It has to do with the fact that we're being left to fend for ourselves in the Big Mess. Look,Calhoun has to bear some responsibility for this too. I know you will deny it, and have some nonsense about APR and all the rest, but UConn is cleaning up the mess that was created on his watch. Probation. Loss of scholarships. Negative national perception. Kevin Ollie's one year deal. every single one of those things came about because of something Jim Calhoun did or didn't do. Every one. And our being left behind by the ACC, he contributed to that, too. In reality, if Calhoun had been almost any other coach, he'd have been fired back about 4 years ago for the things that happened on his watch. Even if he had survived the Nate Miles and other scandals, the APR thing would have finished him. Only at UConn does he go out a hero, then on top of that gets to name his replacement, then publicly undercuts him with bs about returning to coaching...Jim, you did grand things. now grab the clubs, drive down to Hilton head and send a postcard every now and then.

Stop

 

[freescooter]

Bull****

Proves my point...