Not sure where im going but theres a point somewhere in there

[yukonyc212]

This program was not in the position of strength when JC left, not sure where everyone is getting that. I mean I love JC to death and he did things beyond belief which don't even need to be replayed. But the APR, the kids leaving the program while he was still here and the fact we were leaving the BE soon thereafter, things were changing and not necessarily positive for the most part at that time. KO had to talk to Omar, Boat, Giffey, Bazz, Deandre and others to keep with the program. He then followed up with 2 really good years as HC with guys who only got better under his tutelage. Hey they even won a NC imagine that?

Now he sucks.

Amazing story huh?

Do you think you can have a conversation without name calling like a teenager??? At what point do you continue to reward awful results? I keep harping on this but it's true. Ollie is one of the highest paid coaches in the nation. When you are paid like that you better deliver applicable results. It's no different than being a high paid CEO of a fortune 500 company. If EXXON hires a new CEO and suddenly the company's earnings nosedive for 3-4 years straight... who do you think the board is going to look at first?? The buck stops with him. The higher up the chain you get compensation wise, the less margin of error is tolerated with results. Ollie creates the rosters... he developed the players... if they dont develop for whatever reason it's on him. He brought them here. No one else in the top 10 paid coaches list misses the tournament with regularity. If we have another terrible year next year at what point do we go in another direction? I want everyone that comes through the program, (player / coach) to do well, but I can certainly see things for what they are / aren't, and the past 3 years we have been irrelevant in the national landscape. Like Fishy said... if Jalen doesn't hit a 70 footer with 1 second left in the game, we are sitting on 3 straight missed NCAA tournaments. That is completely unacceptable for a coach making 3mm plus per year.

 

[ctchamps]

Funny you mention Geno in the conversation, because you are spot on. I watched a video a couple years ago, a panel of 6 or 7 college coaches, who were speaking about leadership to members working at the Pentagon. Geno's most memorable conversation piece (in my mind anyway) was how he commanded the team, yet let them make the decisions. To play without having to be directed what to do. Granted he always has great talented and smart players, but he even said he gives them the tools to succeed, and then tells them to go do something with it. One player would come to him and say, coach I can take my man. Geno told her, don't tell me about it, if you can do it, just go do it. KO was also on the panel...if you have time and are an avid student of leadership, YouTube "Pentagon Sports Leadership Forum" - hall of fame coaches talking leadership.

(PS sorry for involving the women's discussion on a men's board - but in all honesty, I believe it applies to our current discussion!)

The worst that can happen for posting a women's discussion is @Deepster will remember us in the future and consider us for a hanging.
Kidding aside, Geno is a master at motivation. Chris Daily and Shea Ralph are the micromanaging perfectionists on his staff. I swear, Chris could be collapsing and about to die and I doubt she would allow the fall to cause a crease in her dress. Geno's a master at directing them without making them think they are directed. I don't lurk on the women't board as much as I used to so I have no idea if this has been discussed, but Imo, Geno has decided recently to coach at games looking like a street person just as a dig to Chis's rigid perfectionism.

 

[Dogdeacon]

The worst that can happen for posting a women's discussion is @Deepster will remember us in the future and consider us for a hanging.
Kidding aside, Geno is a master at motivation. Chris Daily and Shea Ralph are the micromanaging perfectionists on his staff. I swear, Chris could be collapsing and about to die and I doubt she would allow the fall to cause a crease in her dress. Geno's a master at directing them without making them think they are directed. I don't lurk on the women't board as much as I used to so I have no idea if this has been discussed, but Imo, Geno has decided recently to coach at games looking like a street person just as a dig to Chis's rigid perfectionism.

Wow, a huge digression spun right back into a discussion about coaching attire. Bravo. So you are saying Ollie's so worried about his wardrobe that he's simultaneously not coaching well and not hiring well coiffed assistants that would pay similar attention to detail in their player management & recruiting!

 

[ctchamps]

Wow, a huge digression spun right back into a discussion about coaching attire. Bravo. So you are saying Ollie's so worried about his wardrobe that he's simultaneously not coaching well and not hiring well coiffed assistants that would pay similar attention to detail in their player management & recruiting!

Now I love the women's team and feel that Geno would not be nearly as successful without Chris Daly. They are perfect complements to one another and each bring strengths to coaching the other lacks. But if Chris was an assistant on the men's team, Jalen would only enter the game in a mummy suit.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Atta boy. Either have fun with the people you don't agree with or stay away from things. Why let anyone or anything get to you that you have control over. Illness, death, global events are things we can't control. Opinions, which have little or no consequence in the scheme of life, are not worth working ourselves up over.

I come here for several reasons the most important of course is to be with people who are passionate about the team I most support. But an additional reason is to develop my game. This game is a challenge I put on myself to see how far I can let myself go in engaging people who normally would irritate the heck out me without being irritated. It's like karate but instead of toughening up the hands I'm toughening up my negative emotions....

I tell my kids that there are two things in life that you shouldn't get angry or frustrated over. The first are the things you can control. The second are the things you can't control.

 

[ctchamps]

I tell my kids that there are two things in life that you shouldn't get angry or frustrated over. The first are the things you can control. The second are the things you can't control.

As I said before I love your avatar. Matt Smith playing Dr. Who holding a sonic screwdriver. You a fan or just enjoyed the play on words?

 

[Dogdeacon]

I tell my kids that there are two things in life that you shouldn't get angry or frustrated over. The first are the things you can control. The second are the things you can't control.

You are Mickey Rivers?

 

[TheChamps990411]

Ok...no talent on the roster... who's fault is that?

Whos fault? How about playing in a conference,less national exposure and the apr nonsense that set the program back a couple years. We won a national title and everyone was thinking the apr nonsense didnt effect us but it has and that has contributed to where we are today.

 

[shizzle787]

Ollie should be given a mulligan for this season. However, the previous two teams both vastly underperformed their talent levels and expectations. The 2015/16 team should have been a Sweet 16 team and instead got bounced by Arizona St. in the NIT. Last year's team had one of the best starting five's in America and should have been a Final Four team. They both underperformed bigly. Next year's team should be at minimum a Sweet 16 team. If not, serious questions should be asked.

 

[boog204]

KO had one very good coaching year under difficult circumstances.
One decent coaching year followed by an outstanding coaching month.
One pretty bad year across the board.
Another year where we underachieved, but put together a nice 4-game run to salvage at least some relevance and respectability.
A year where the team wasn't ready to play in November and then had a mulligan for the rest.

That's an acceptable coaching record for maybe half of his tenure? Is that good enough for us now?

Winning a title, especially in the manner we did and against the teams we did buys KO extra time and leeway. But, you are pretty accurate in your assessment and it's a little disheartening to see it laid out this way. Throughout KOs tenure we have been consistently inconsistent. Great streaks and awful ones.

This year injuries have obviously decimated us but that does not excuse what we were when we were healthy. And we were absolutely awful. I know, it is difficult to mesh new players to old players/new roles, etc. It is difficult. But we are UConn and these are high major D1 players. You do it. There is no acceptable excuse for us looking as completely unprepared as we were to start this season. The precedent was set from the start and that is as much as the coach as it is on injuries.

 

[gtcam]

These things changed. I swear the kid was 2 stars on a couple of sites
Amida Brimah, Archbishop Carroll HS C - Scout

You are correct - he was rated 2 star in quite a few
He leaves as no higher

 

[gtcam]

Ollie should be given a mulligan for this season. However, the previous two teams both vastly underperformed their talent levels and expectations. The 2015/16 team should have been a Sweet 16 team and instead got bounced by Arizona St. in the NIT. Last year's team had one of the best starting five's in America and should have been a Final Four team. They both underperformed bigly. Next year's team should be at minimum a Sweet 16 team. If not, serious questions should be asked.

You overestimate by a wide margin
2015-2016 was one of the best starting 5? Who was the established PG? Who was the dominate 5?
BTW - 2014/15 was beaten in NIT and no way a sweet 16 team - go revisit that roster and then readdress that statement
Don't understand where you are getting your "gut feelings" from

 

[shizzle787]

You overestimate by a wide margin
2015-2016 was one of the best starting 5? Who was the established PG? Who was the dominate 5?
BTW - 2014/15 was beaten in NIT and no way a sweet 16 team - go revisit that roster and then readdress that statement
Don't understand where you are getting your "gut feelings" from

Sterling Gibbs was the 5th year senior and a very solid transfer from Seton Hall. Shown Miller was one of the best power forwards in the country, though a bit undersized. Daniel Hamilton was the small forward. Brimah was excellent defensively though he struggled on offense. Purvis was the reverse. Omar Calhoun had a renaissance as a senior as well and Adams also came off the bench.

The 2014/15 was preseason top 20. They had Hamilton, Purvis, Boatright, Nolan (who wasn't great but reliable), and Terrance Samuel who was huge off the bench the year before in the title run.

 

[Chief00]

I keep reading posts calling for KO to be fired because hes "not a very good" coach who has not developed players over the last 4 years. I personally disagree completely with this as i believe in KO as much as i did the first day he was announced and when you know, WON A NATIONAL TITLE. Of course the naysayers will cry "he won with Calhouns guys". This sentiment is supposed to be some knock and proof of KOs lack of ability when in fact it proves the point that im going to make. My point is this, TALENT! Or the lack there of on this roster.

Now dont get me wrong we`ve got some good players and even a couple with some first round NBA potential but thats about it. People talk about guys like AB,Purv and Facey failing to develop but i ask, if these guys were under Calhoun would they be much better? Of course your first instict is to say yes but need i bring up the names of talented guys under JC who also failed to develop? The reason it never became an issue was because we were stacked with enough talent that if someone wasnt cutting it another guy stepped in and we`d be off and running. Remember the days when we had so much talent that we often wondered how some really talented guys could get enough minutes? Now we wonder if we have enough bodies to get through a game without resorting to walk ons.

At the start of the season the starting 5 were Larrier,Facey,Brimah,Purv and Adams. Let me ask would any of those guys start on any of our 4 national title teams? How about any of our powerhouse 90`s teams? Of those JA at best is likely a 6th man. I know Olander started in `11 so ill give you AB over him but thats about it. The point im making is that people are underestimating KO and over estimating the talent level thats here especially in regards to cohesiveness. Until we start getting 4 and 5 star guys up and down the roster these are the seasons we`re going to be dealing with. I know the counter argument will be "other coaches are doing more with less". But my counter is this sure we may have more physical talent than a lot of schools and we`re all wowed by it but many of our players skill level are average at best and the overall basketball iq on this team isnt very good.

Until we start getting physically talented,high skill,high iq players here like we became accustomed to having we are going to go through seasons like this. The good news is that it appears this is starting to happen although a bit slow especially when it comes to bigs but it does appear to be happening. This nightmare season will end soon and i fully believe that someday this program will get back to its spot among the elite of college basketball and the nightmare that has been these last two seasons will be a distant memory that will give us an appreciation for how special the good times are when they happen again.

Are you Dogmania2

 

[huskymagic]

It's pretty clear that next year is judgement day for Ollie and the direction we are headed in. With the talent on the team if we are flubbing around next year there is ZERO excuses to justify it. Ollie's problem is instead of berating and tearing his players down before he builds them up, he builds them up before they ever do anything giving them a false sense of confidence that gets shattered when they lose to teams like Wagner. The talent level we had under Calhoun was definitely better overall that part is true, but we have more than enough talent to not lose to Wagner, Northeastern, ECU, and Tulsa.

PS: Amida was a 3 star recruit, but if re-ranked after his freshman year would have been in the top 100 in most services. Amida had a high upside as has been pretty evident throughout his tenure here. A guy that was ranked around Brimah's rank out of high school was John Collins from Wake Forest who will be a guaranteed first round pick as a big man this upcoming draft.

 

[Horatio]

You are correct - he was rated 2 star in quite a few
He leaves as no higher

Horatio 1/2 liked your post in the thread not sure where im going but theres a point somewhere in here