I lose track sometimes and forgot about him because he left after Uconn's championship. It's been lean ever since. It still remains, that the point has been much leaner since the championship year.

(12-24-2017 10:39 AM)sfink16 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 09:51 AM)C0|db|00ded Wrote:  To win a national championship (even with someone else's players), it's going to require coaching against some of the best coaches in the country. It goes without saying that there will be hundreds if not thousands of in-game decision made in order to steady the ship and allow the players to execute at the necessary level to bring about the desired results. I also think it's fair to say that UConn's 2013 team wasn't Kentucky'esque.

After looking at Ollie's career, it appears he coached the team a year before the national championship. I was thinking had he won the first year he took the team over, he could have just copied everything Calhoun had been doing running straight off a "recipe for success" if you will. But in the second year, his fingerprints would start showing up in different places. I also just noticed that he was the conference tournament champion in 2015-16 which gives him a little more credit still.

There is no question that he'd be lucky if he was 3/4 the coach of a Calhoun, but there's a chance he is better than advertised. Calhoun would certainly not be looking to tank the program after his departure and could have hand picked any available coach in the nation upon retirement. He chose Ollie. There's got to be a reason. Calhoun has made enumerable wise decisions during his tenure at UConn. Yes, Ollie could be a monumental mistake, but the probabilities are low that he was the wrong man for the job at the time Calhoun gave his blessing.

I think I'm ready to offer my diagnosis. *drum roll*

I believe that after UConn separated from the old Big East, Ollie was faced with a more limited pool of high caliber recruits. He still got some 4 star players but they weren't the kind of 4 star players he was used to getting. In other words, he got the 4 star athlete with work ethic or attitude issues that every other major program passed on. These are the players that fill the rosters of the bottom dwellers in every major conference like K-State, Auburn, Northwestern, Rutgers, etc. They still look legit on the outside, but the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor. I can assure you that every year there are many 2-3 star recruits that end up way more helpful to a team's overall success than many 4 stars. In fact, there are some highly rated recruits that would actually be cancerous to a team. Chemistry is everything you know.

So instead of reacting to the change in the recruiting landscape, Ollie tried to maintain the appearance of a certain pedigree of athlete; and while the average team rating didn't drop much, the important intangible rating (the one that Marshall is a master at deciphering) plummeted. Now Ollie finds himself with a team of physically talented, incohesive players that exhibit low BBIQ on a nightly basis and completely fold under pressure. This causes Ollie to run up and down the sidelines screaming all night (which further exacerbates the problem).

How did I do?


T


...

You did fine but we are all speculating in any case. I too forgot that it was Ollie's second year at the helm of the team. I think that they were on probation the first year.

So, I'll add that the school has not fully recovered from probation and the lost reputation that came with it.

Also, they have not come close to matching the mental and physical toughness of Kemba Walker at the point. He had the will to do whatever was needed to carry the team over the top. The point is such an important position, the leader/QB if you will, on teams in college (and pro) basketball these days. You can get by with weaknesses at other positions possibly, but not at the point for playing against top level D1 talent.

ollie didn't coach kemba, he was the man on calhoun's last title team (2011). ollie had shabazz napier (2014).

So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

(12-24-2017 11:05 AM)Meatwad Wrote:  ollie didn't coach kemba, he was the man on calhoun's last title team (2011). ollie had shabazz napier (2014).

I fixed that in my last reply. Point is that they have had a top point guard since 2014. It's too important a position to not have elite talent and mental ability.

(12-24-2017 11:14 AM)PonyHoopsFan85 Wrote:  So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

I think Tubby is a good fit for UConn.....:stirthepot:

(12-24-2017 11:20 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:14 AM)PonyHoopsFan85 Wrote:  So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

I think Tubby is a good fit for UConn.....

Tubby-Lebo combo

(12-24-2017 11:20 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:14 AM)PonyHoopsFan85 Wrote:  So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

I think Tubby is a good fit for UConn.....

I'd make that trade.

It's a combination of things. The change in conference definitely was/is a challenge in terms of getting the same kind of talent in, but as others have touched on UConn's been at the top of the AAC recruiting rankings pretty consistently, so they should be at least performing well in-conference. Unfortunately sub-par regular seasons have become something of a running theme under Ollie (although to their credit they've typically turned it on come tournament time and done better - they've played in 3 of 4 conference championship games, winning it once, and obviously the title). Things are trending down though, and I'm not sure there's a good way out - they've got a decent recruiting class coming in, and making a coaching change probably blows that up, but Ollie doesn't seem to be able to utilize the guys he's brought in.

(12-24-2017 11:22 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:20 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:14 AM)PonyHoopsFan85 Wrote:  So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

I think Tubby is a good fit for UConn.....

I'd make that trade.

In the Christmas spirit, consider it a gift.

(12-24-2017 02:04 PM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:22 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:20 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 11:14 AM)PonyHoopsFan85 Wrote:  So realistically when do UConn fans think Ollie will be fired? Next season? I would think he gets an extra year after this year since he has a pretty good recruiting class, unless he finishes like 6-12 in the AAC.

I think Tubby is a good fit for UConn.....

I'd make that trade.

In the Christmas spirit, consider it a gift.

Alright but we also have to trade football coaches


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Why didn't the ACC want UCONN? Why Louisville and Pitt over UCONN?

(12-24-2017 03:43 PM)pvtlamb Wrote:  Why didn't the ACC want UCONN? Why Louisville and Pitt over UCONN?

football moves the needle

and the acc did want uconn they just wanted pitt and louisville more...mcmurphy already confirmed during the big 10 raids (before the ACC GoR was signed). that if the acc lost 1 more, that uconn was next in line

(12-24-2017 04:02 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 03:43 PM)pvtlamb Wrote:  Why didn't the ACC want UCONN? Why Louisville and Pitt over UCONN?

football moves the needle

and the acc did want uconn they just wanted pitt and louisville more...mcmurphy already confirmed during the big 10 raids (before the ACC GoR was signed). that if the acc lost 1 more, that uconn was next in line

But what doesn't make sense is our football program was even that bad when all these realignments started happening


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(12-24-2017 03:43 PM)pvtlamb Wrote:  Why didn't the ACC want UCONN? Why Louisville and Pitt over UCONN?

UConn was the early consensus candidate for the last spot in the ACC, but the conference didn't have a grant of rights in place at the time and FSU/Clemson wanted a football school to improve the perception of ACC football. They made arrangements to leave the conference as a pair and made it clear they were gone if they didn't get Louisville. It is what it is, they used the leverage they had to force the school of their choice on the conference (and I'm sure BC didn't want the competition in New England either).