It won't be long now

[Calhoun_for_President]

Facts about Kevin Ollie's UCONN Head coaching career:

- Unable to string together consecutive NCAA appearances
- Unable to finish higher than 5th in regular season conference play, most of that in the pathetic AAC
- Yet to have a recruited player that was a 1st Round NBA Draft Pick
- Has seen a steady decrease in home attendance. This year's average attendance is trending on being less than 70% of capacity
- Is unable to adapt into modern basketball

The last item is the most distressing
KO continues to implement the slowdown, archaic, halfcourt offense that most top teams have moved away from. Almost every big team I've watched this year is running the ball up, spacing the floor, shooting a large volume of three's........UCONN does none of this.
KO is either ignoring the analytics which point towards this being a more successful style today, or he is inept at evaluating talent that can play this style.

Winning 57-52 is acceptable only when it works.
Losing constantly in the 50's and 60's (aka BORING basketball) leads to a trickle down of everything else described above......Poor attendance, lack of interest, inability to bring in talent, etc

KO is LIVING on 2 short unlikely winning streaks
a 6 gamer in 2014
a 4 gamer in 2016

Outside of that he has managed to turn a top tier basketball factory of a program into a mediocre one garnering zero national interest.

Remember when KO was thought of as a viable NBA coaching candidate?
The thought of that now is laughable

The window is closing, the coaching search should already begin.....................................
This is unacceptable for UCONN, period

 

[TRUCONN76]

Please go away

 

[andersonfro]

Moron

 

[andersonfro]

Seriously though, he's growing as a coach. My biggest problem with him was that he was so stubborn with the pick and roll. This season he's broken from that and gone heavily to a wheel offense where they get a lot of open looks.

It seems to me they don't start games with any cohesive offense though...not sure what's up with that, how do they flow offensively after the first 5 minutes of the games but not before?

I'm also somewhat down on the lack of inbounds plays but I suppose they've got more important things to work on, I'm hoping these things will be added once this offense is consistent and free flowing.

With the way they've fought & grown this year given the hex upon them I'm very interested in seeing what they can do with a healthy (and deep) squad.

Tough to see Facey have to suffer this season after he had to endure all those douchbags questioning his skill set & development. With a healthy team he would have some #s.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It's certainly not fair to evaluate KO based on the team he has been left with, down 4 scholarship guys and nobody who can play point guard at the moment. It's hard to win against any decent team with no point guards and only two guard bodies.

 

[12rtackerman12]

Do you guys think Tony Bennett would leave Virginia for UCONN?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Seriously though, he's growing as a coach. My biggest problem with him was that he was so stubborn with the pick and roll. This season he's broken from that and gone heavily to a wheel offense where they get a lot of open looks.

UConn has missed many open shots this season. It is puzzling as to why they have shot so poorly especially Rodney at 29% or worse. This is the reason why the offense is so bad- outside shots have not been made. The coach cannot take and make outside shots. It is up to the players to do that. Even when they were effective against a zone defense, it was due to hurting the zone inside not from the outside. Now without Adams there is no offense inside or outside. What I am seeing is bad outside shooting and the rest of the offense has been poisoned by that flaw.

 

[UConnFamily]

Do you guys think Tony Bennett would leave Virginia for UCONN?

Never. Bennett isn't going anywhere. UVA is a low stress job in the best conference with fertile recruiting grounds nearby.

He will retire at UVA

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Tony Bennett is a very good coach. He has done wonders at every school he is coached at with not the greatest talent. His father was also a great coach who did not have the same opportunities the younger Tony has.

 

[CaNOLEE]

Personally, I think he's a good mentor and is one of our own that turned the program from a door mat, into an elite one.

But at this point, he is what he is, a middle of the pac American conference coach. I honestly think his skill set as a coach would be better served in the NBA.

 

[Ozzie3178]

LMAO Calhoun fail.... did you feel this way about grandpa in his many "down" years with a healthy squad????? Not to mention NCAA issues

Also the 14 YEAR head coaching head start at another D1 program.....

 

[Dominicfrank]

I have lost a lot of my faith in KO as well. He has been down right awful and I have enough of the pout faces, sitting and shaking his head.

 

[Dominicfrank]

Oh and give me a break on how many players he is down......we lost to nobodies before anyone was hurt.

 

[TRUCONN76]

Ozzie, outside of you and a couple of others I am afraid this board is left with nothing but a bunch of whiners who don't understand player development.

 

[Shaggydog84]

It's so easy to jump on the negative bandwagon when things are going south. How did you feel about him when they won the NC? I don't want to hear about the players being Calhoun's. Nobody in their right mind gave them any chance in hell of winning it all. And who coached that team? It's almost amusing when i hear that he's a terrible coach in here while he gets nothing but respect and praise from his peers...who i'm sure no less than the rivals naysayers. Are there bumps in the road with a 5th year HC, yep. Is there still alot to be learned? of course. Do i get pissed sometimes at things i see? you know it. But think about it. We get pissed cuz he does or doesn't do something that we would do the opposite. Does that make him wrong? Does he really know less than us? He makes no excuses. That's what i want from a HC. In the long run i have full faith that HCKO is the right man for the job. Let's also be honest with ourselves. He does not have the big east to pitch. He does not have a p5 league to pitch. Let's be realistic here. It's a completely different scenario for UConn. I wonder how the fans who wanted to hang Coach Dean Smith at UNC early in his career? Have patience. Unless someone in here has a better idea for an experienced HC that is willing to move to Storrs, CT in a Next 5 conference. Ollie bleeds blue & he certainly could have left to make more quan already. Give the guy some room & let him grow as a coach. I'm telling you, there is not a better fit at UC than KO. But, for some, the grass is always gonna be greener...

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

He has been thrust into a bad situation due to the injuries and illnesses that have hit the team which is unprecedented since i have been watching the team. It's true the team did not get off to a great start but that is a big so what, BTW Michigan State also lost at home to Northeastern by more than UConn did, and Tom Izzo of MSU is a HOF coach. UConn's main problem was that in their first few games the defensive rotations on 3 point shooters were nonexistent, they then fixed that, and then got crushed with injuries. It would be insane not to give Coach a pass on this whole season which could still be salvaged if Diallo commits........

 

[the Blades]

 

[Dominicfrank]

This isnt a new thing for me.......Ive been on Ollie Watch for 2 seasons now. PLAYER DEVELOPMENT? Which player should we look to for his talent in this area since he has been HC ?

I cant think of one kid who has progressed under him or his staff. Brimah? Facey ? Purvis?

The guy is not proving he can develop anything really.........

Could be one case of an NBA coach that has no clue about kids.

 

[andersonfro]

Yes they have all developed, in particularly enjoying Jalen & Facey right now though not quite as much as Bazz and his crew.

Unreal this bs

 

[Shaggydog84]

Dom, u know I love ya man
I guess we're spoiled here in Huskyland.
Here's my take...Facey is developing, not as quickly as we'd like but it's coming out...not positive but didn't he come in really young?

Purvis, i mentioned this 2 seasons ago, NC St was thrilled to get rid of him...addition by subtraction was the saying behind closed doors. KO just overhyped...like the days of Aju Aju.

Brimah, not rated coming in, guessing partly cuz he didn't have much on tape. But trust me there's not many coaches who would get much more outta him...I remember thinking here we go when I saw some footage of this skinny twig...another D way ahead of O big.

I'm just trying to respectfully point out that u can't pinned all that on KO. Look, he KO needs to develop, we need to recruit & win. But we also need to get the flock outta the ACK.

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

Glad to see there are some UCONN fans that have an interest in maintaining greatness.

Most of the pro Ollie responses are childish
I did see one response blaming it on the players
They can't shoot, play defense, etc etc

So here's how it works in college
The coach is the coach and GM, he picks the players.
So whether it is the players or the scheme stinks (which it does on offense), it falls on KO

The transfers haven't worked, the scheme is terrible, in game decisions are terrible, the talent evaluation is questionable at best.
Playing Gibbs at PG, purvis is a Ferrari I can't drive, Vance Jackson is the best pure shooter coming out of HS.........I mean cmon


Consider this:
Had it not been for a miraculous full court shot, this would be the 3rd straight year of no NCAA tourney. That is COMPLETELY unacceptable at UCONN, especially playing in this garbage conference we should be dominating like Gonzaga.

All I want in '17 is a new coach
The KO K.O. Movement has BEGUN!!!!!!

 

[TRUCONN76]

ollie, without question should have coached Vital not to throw the ball away. He also should have told Purvis and Adams to not miss those shots at the end..

Any of the posters giving this guy any credence should be ashamed of themselves. Do not let his name fool you. I remember him with similar crap in 2011 going after Calhoun when things were tough.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The team was tired at the end. Jalen played 45 minutes. Vital played a lot of minutes. UConn lost this game in very similar fashion to how they lost at Ohio State. They should not have lost either of those games or to Auburn. All 3 of those losses were primarily due to being shorthanded and thin especially at guard.

 

[Dominicfrank]

Let me say this.......I BLEED this school. That being said I also am not blind to facts. Spoiled.........10000% BUT Ollie is failing as a HC right now but I dont want him replaced at all. I want him to get better as well. JC is his mentor then I hope they are talking a lot but lets be honest JC blamed his players a lot so maybe that isnt what we need.

Think Duke, UK, UNC etc......would EVER accept this and let the coach stay put ?

Ollie is on my posts for a reason, I loved the hire because I knew the guy. Since the hire he is not longer a married family guy which was big for me......but those close to him will tell you that marriage was not doing well for a few years. Hey, it happens but I'm human I thought the family first NBA grinder was a GOD. Like all of us he isnt so I looked past that then went to recruiting.....he wasn't succeeding there but has gotten better. Now I have to look at whats out on the court.......the whole staff sucks right now so lets hope they get better.

THIS ISNT UCONN BASKETBALL and I wont sit back and just keep throwing seasons away.

 

[the Blades]

Personally, I think he's a good mentor and is one of our own that turned the program from a door mat, into an elite one. But at this point, he is what he is, a middle of the pac American conference coach. I honestly think his skill set as a coach would be better served in the NBA.

Canolee your being kind about middle of the pack right now. I was way ahead with my Ollie support and this current love affair (with mediocrity) before he was ever our head coach. You can read this board B4 JC left when KO was still an assistant. I called all the reasons why we needed one of our own to carry on the JC's linkage, his NBA PHD on the sidelines as a hanger on'er with a limited skill set, because he played the game right and did the right things. I saw when JC was clearing a path for KO when Lafluer went packing to PC because he knew he was being bypassed and how JC brought in two of his former CBB HC's ( Hobbs & Miller ) who understood the rules, ins and outs of the NCAA game, so they could serve as KO's mentors. KO looked the part and has always said the right things for years, but when I mentioned all this stuff I got alot of blow back from about 75% of the posters who wanted Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens.... my point was they or none of the other candidates would bleed blue... plus we'd be lucky if they didn't take a new job in 3 years.

Which leaves us at a crossroads right now. My big concern with KO back then and even more so now was game day. But also now especially is can KO coach BB IQ and toughness into the players he has ? I'm not talking everyone having to pass and be a playmaker like Marcus Williams, board it like Meka or shoot it like Rashad aka FishFry.... I'm talking about players playing to their strengths and away from their weaknesses..not dribbling right to a guy your gonna pass it to and throw a bullet from 5 ft away.....
man the f*ck up and fight for the ball before your running with it or let it slip away...just the basics of winning sometimes that Geno always has his girls understand....
There's alot of levels of truth and good counter points in everything written in this thread by all the posters, but something's gotta change....

Our elite BB program just lost to a school who brought in 11 new players this year. ( a bunch of unranked and 3 stars- https://tulsa.rivals.com/commitments/basketball/2016 ) Sure they played with only 8 players but so what, ( who recruited and developes these guys ?) that's a normal rotation in most years and KO is using 3 seniors, 2 sophs who've been in his system (overall two 5 star, four 4 star and a couple of 3's ). But Jalen (Top 25 player, great skill set and IQ coming in) is the only one playing close to what he looked like before he got here in HS at Brewster. No one's got smarter or tougher along the way. JA was gassed vs. Tulsa at the end but this wasn't lost at the end. 17 TO's with the same soft guys making the same soft mistakes over and over to constantly give up leads or fall way behind ? What does it take for a coaching staff to either develop these 4-5 star guys or instill winning hoops into their game ? This team beats theirselves over and over. This is coaching.

KO has a 6 man staff to handle 11 scholly players ...he's getting paid $3.1 mil a year at a HOF level ( Thank you Warde Manuel again...Salaries | USA TODAY,
way more than JC ever did ) and he's not worth it. We have a head FB coach who's been at it 17 years who's making $1 mil to handle 85 guys (105 w/ walk-on's) with a 10 man staff....So no coach and his staff deserves a hand picked $3 mil job for life...Husky or no Husky unless they're getting the job done. As Goodman from ESPN said above the injuries will be an excuse and it should be. But don't forget plenty of dumb and uninspired play vs. Wagner and NE before the injuries....

Diaco was told to do it but he wouldn't so he's gone........KO's got clean the fat from his staff and get some damn teachers of the game. If it's not on him then he's got to
get rid of these guys and their clip boards taking up space..............With all his cliches and excuses KO is sounding more and more like Diaco every day, but with the 4-5 star players Diaco couldn't get.....The AAC is about economic survival of the AD as much as winning, which goes hand in hand....lets' hope things get better but we have a 4-8 team right now...(Chaminade doesn't count)......Calhoun (link- record at bottom) has never been close to being this bad in 26 years in the toughest BB conference in the country.......... like I said Canolee your being kind....

Team........Conf W-L..Tot W-L... RPI Rank
Houston...... 2-0............12-3........ 77
SMU........... 2-0............ 12-3......... 36
UCF............. 2-0............11-3.......... 80
Cincinnati.... 1-0............11-2......... 34
Tulsa.......... 1-0.............. 7-6......... 182
E. Carolina..1-1............. 9-6......... 211
Memphis..... 0-1............ 10-4....... 150
Tulane......... 0-1........... 3-10....... 340
Temple........ 0-2............ 9-6.......... 29
So. Florida.... 0-2.......... 6-7......... 271
UConn.......... 0-2.......... 5-8......... 167

With the highest ranked win over a team at #202, Uconn has become one of the bottom feeders some of us were bitching about playing in the AAC, except with the 4-5 star recruits: ... Connecticut Huskies RPI Breakdown - NCAA Basketball
This is all going in the wrong direction, excuses or not. My only hope is make Uconn great again and as the saying goes wait till next year..Happy New Year !!!..Go Huskies !!

 

[andersonfro]

please...climb down off your horse pal, we all know the numbers and none of us are thrilled by them and we all expect better.

The difference is that we're looking at the last two seasons with a dose of reality. Last year we had zero point guards in an offense designed for two point guards. It was a team KO was forced to cobble together because Saint Calhoun decimated the program on his way out the door leaving KO to clean up his trash.

This is literally the first year KO has had outside of being hamstrung by his predecessor, who apparently shits gold for you, so yeah he's getting a pass for injuries especially considering he won a national title when he wasn't supposed to. You guys are seriously delusional if you think KO wasn't left with a rebuild project on his hands.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

UConn would be at least 8-5 now without the injuries.......which still would not be great, but the veterans are not great players and the young players are not ready, and the team does not have any good 3 point shooters. UConn would be able to play a lot differently with a full roster but instead has been forced to play a lot of zone, and has worn down late in these games. KO has to get a pass this year, but next year if all players return that should return and are healthy, I would expect a lot better than what we have seen.

 

[the Blades]

Anderson, or the new "miss Ollie", whatever your name is....... try the ignore feature, if you don't like my posts... Like I said b4 I'm done with you and the delusional apologist crap......I was responding to Canolee since you can't read.

 

[andersonfro]

Anderson, or the new "miss Ollie", whatever your name is....... try the ignore feature, if you don't like my posts... Like I said b4 I'm done with you and the delusional apologist crap......I was responding to Canolee since you can't read.

So use it

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

If Andersonfro is Coach's girlfriend she is still entitled to her opinion although I am aware that the WAG posts of some of the NBA players like Stephen Curry's wife can be a little whacky- but not seeing that here so far.

I would agree that regardless of the bad luck/injuries things are going in the wrong direction right now and UConn has not found ways to win winnable games. They should not have lost vs. OSU, Auburn or Tulsa, and now have to go to Memphis which is 10-4 so far and looking decent under Tubby Smith who is a very good coach. The AAC does have some very good coaches, Haith is one of them, Kelvin Sampson at Houston, Tubby at Memphis, all these guys are proven winners.......so the league may not have great talent but coaching can raise it up a little.

 

[the Blades]

.......so the league may not have great talent but coaching can raise it up a little.

True KSTW.... and that works both ways.

 

[andersonfro]

I don't understand what makes you say they should have won those games. I understand "could have won" but why should they have won? Down 2 starters, a pg playing 40 minutes along with 3 freshman who aren't ready for this level. The fact they were in a position to win those games is more than expected.

 

[andersonfro]

True KSTW.... and that works both ways.

Says the guy who claims Facey hasn't developed since he arrived in Storrs.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I don't understand what makes you say they should have won those games. I understand "could have won" but why should they have won? Down 2 starters, a pg playing 40 minutes along with 3 freshman who aren't ready for this level. The fact they were in a position to win those games is more than expected.

They were in control of the OSU game and wore down when OSU big men crashed the boards with UConn in foul trouble and stretched out in minutes. OSU was getting too many boards late in that game, UConn was flat tired.

Against Auburn in OT, Rodney Purvis was point guard and the only guard due to foul out of Vital and injury of Adams. That game would NOT have been lost if Jalen was not hurt, end of story. As it was with Purvis at PG (a joke I know) they had a 3 point lead with a freaking minute to go in OT! Which was amazing in itself, but that is not a game UConn would have lost if Jalen had been healthy.

Against Tulsa, UConn again was in control but down the stretch could not get stops and 17 TOs again because guys were fatigued. From what I saw that team wasn't as good as UConn but it sort of went like the OSU game. There were multiple opportunities to win the game down the stretch but Jalen played 45 minutes and tired looking shots also from Rodney at the end.

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

Predictable responses
Injuries waahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
we dont have enough players waahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Surely the Ollie apologists have perfectly good explanations for the home losses to 5-7 Wagner and 8-5 Northeastern. Then there was that scintillating 3 point gut check road win at 7-6 Loyola Marymount. This was when the roster was supposedly at "full strength"

These injuries are a rabbits foot for Kevin, biding him 1 more year with this easy excuse.
The real fans are not fooled. This is garbage basketball and has been garbage for 3 straight years.

I have nothing against KO. He bleeds UCONN, I bleed UCONN
We all want him to succeed. He has less than 12 months to show SIGNIFICANT improvement.

If not, Its time to KO K.O.

 

[andersonfro]

They were in control of the OSU game and wore down when OSU big men crashed the boards with UConn in foul trouble and stretched out in minutes. OSU was getting too many boards late in that game, UConn was flat tired.

Against Auburn in OT, Rodney Purvis was point guard and the only guard due to foul out of Vital and injury of Adams. That game would NOT have been lost if Jalen was not hurt, end of story. As it was with Purvis at PG (a joke I know) they had a 3 point lead with a freaking minute to go in OT! Which was amazing in itself, but that is not a game UConn would have lost if Jalen had been healthy.

Against Tulsa, UConn again was in control but down the stretch could not get stops and 17 TOs again because guys were fatigued. From what I saw that team wasn't as good as UConn but it sort of went like the OSU game. There were multiple opportunities to win the game down the stretch but Jalen played 45 minutes and tired looking shots also from Rodney at the end.

I misunderstood what you were trying to say, I agree these are games they win at full strength.

 

[CaNOLEE]

@Blades, just trying to be diplomatic,lol.

Facey has improved. A little late? Probably, but better late than never.

Purvis was a Ferrari the National Championship year in practice. Now he's a two tone Yugo with a flat tire a broken tape deck.

You generally take on the personality of the coach. The teams the last few years have been soft and lacked on court IQ. Troubling. Ollie is a great story, that he played in the NBA for so long, but if you are so bright and have unparalleled work ethic, why can't you turn yourself into an adequate shooter/starter? Jason Kidd did. Or a lower case Rondo type player? Kemba has willed himself into an elite player.

And even in the National Championship year, Giffey was shooting 60% from 3 and was our best defensive Wing and it took forever for him to get significant minutes. I was mad at Calhoun for not playing him more as well.

Speaking of Calhoun, it was time for him to go. His tantrums and abrasive style got stale. I'm not sure we win the last championship with him running the program, so Ollie gets a lot of credit for that. Calhoun gets an assist as the GM.

But this is Uconn and I'll never get used to missing the tournament and making a deep run almost every year, let alone 4-8.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

UConn is 5-8- the win over Chaminade counts although not for much.

 

[the Blades]

@Blades, just trying to be diplomatic,lol.

Facey has improved. A little late?
Speaking of Calhoun, it was time for him to go. His tantrums and abrasive style got stale.
But this is Uconn and I'll never get used to missing the tournament and making a deep run almost every year, let alone 4-8.

I hear ya...but
How could you get sick of a guy who nips out every little mistake as soon as they happen...I just heard Geno going ballistic on his little freshman
PG for walking the ball up the court with about 10 secs to go in a quarter because she was totally clueless about the game clock...some of these
kids have the attention span of a gerbil.....and whats abusive about this.... when a kid doesn't make the right play if his team mate is open coming off a screen...



MICRO MANAGING it's a HALL of Fame concept.......... LOL!

 

[the Blades]

UConn is 5-8- the win over Chaminade counts although not for much.

DII wins don't count on your NCAA resume...