Ten toes in. Take the stairs. Escalators are for cowards.
Those phrases, along with new gems delivered every press
conference, explain why UConn
fans fell in love with Kevin Ollie. But love doesn’t win basketball games.
The greatness of Kevin Ollie was exemplified by one play
Sunday against Michigan State. Following a dead ball timeout, UConn took the
ball out of bounds under its hoop up 18-16. Michigan State had climbed back
from an early 12-2 deficit and was threatening to take the lead.
Instead, a perfectly executed pick play left Shabazz Napier
wide open in front of the Michigan State bench for a three-pointer he nailed.
It was UConn’s last points on the first half. It led to a 16-2 Michigan State
run that nearly ended the game for UConn. But it was important.
Shabazz Napier never got that open again. Michigan State’s
desire to keep Napier from scoring – ultimately, Napier ended up with 25 –
opened up room for Ryan Boatwright, DeAndre Daniels and Niles Giffey. No, the
shots didn’t fall for UConn like they had against Iowa State. They still won.
Tactically, Kevin Ollie is an
NBA coach. I am not exactly breaking news here that every NBA team with an
opening will probably make a phone call to the Ollie household this summer. And
for every summer thereafter, which hopefully is met with summer after summer of,
“Thanks, but no thanks” responses.
You cannot overstate what Ollie’s passion and mentality
brings to a team, especially one like this, that had been through so much
hardship. But like love, passion doesn’t win basketball games.
The beauty of Ollie’s coaching is how you see what he’s
taken from other coaches, what he’s learned from the NBA and what’s he has
discovered from being a reserve over 13 years of NBA action. As Bill Raftery so
astutely pointed out Sunday, Kevin Ollie has watched a lot of basketball in his
life – he’s seen it all.
So while others can recount the heroics
of Shabazz and Boatright and Daniels, let’s examine why Kevin Ollie’s
performance in the 2014 NCAA
Tournament has been one for the ages.
Perfect Substitution
Patterns
In four games, a grand total of zero UConn players have fouled out. In three of those games, that wasn’t an issue. Against St. Joseph’s, this was a gigantic, potentially season-ending issue.
In four games, a grand total of zero UConn players have fouled out. In three of those games, that wasn’t an issue. Against St. Joseph’s, this was a gigantic, potentially season-ending issue.
For those that weren’t watching, St. Joe’s played an A+++
game in the first half against UConn. They didn’t miss. They abused UConn in
the paint. They were the far superior team. UConn had righted the ship by halfway
through the second half. In doing so, three of their big men – Philip Nolan,
Niles Giffey and Amida Brimah all had four
fouls with 6:45 left in the game.
Somehow, Ollie juggled the lineup on a thin front line to
keep them all in the game through regulation and the five-minute overtime. It
was only fitting that Brimah, a freshman, tied the game at 70 with an old-fashioned
three-point play on an offensive rebound.
The Jim Calhoun
2-Foul Rule
This was a Calhoun staple – if you get two fouls in the first half, you sit until halftime. The most famous application came in the 2004 Final Four against Duke, when Emeka Okafor sat for about 17 minutes as UConn held on for dear life. At the end of a terribly officiated game, Duke players fouled out while Okafor led the improbable late UConn comeback.
This was a Calhoun staple – if you get two fouls in the first half, you sit until halftime. The most famous application came in the 2004 Final Four against Duke, when Emeka Okafor sat for about 17 minutes as UConn held on for dear life. At the end of a terribly officiated game, Duke players fouled out while Okafor led the improbable late UConn comeback.
Everyone has focused on Shabazz Napier sitting against Villanova
as the defining 2-Foul Rule application of the tournament. UConn has other
high-quality guards – depth there is not an issue. No, the best application of
this happened almost unnoticed on Sunday.
Amida Brimah picked up two fouls by the 12-minute mark in
the first half. He sat for the rest of the half. Unwilling to stretch Philip
Nolan – who was playing great, but clearly getting fatigued – he put in rarely
used Tyler Olander to kill three minutes. Olander contributed to two turnovers
on the offensive end, but he did his job and UConn was only down 4 at the
break.
It was an NBA-level move. It is far more important to have
Brimah available and out of foul trouble in the second half than risk your big
man getting a third foul. It may have cost UConn two or four points, but the
tradeoff in a game of that magnitude and intensity is well worth it.
The Junk Defense
When Napier went out with the two fouls against Villanova, UConn switched to a three-quarter court zone/press that absolutely flummoxed Villanova. It changed the game. Once out of their early rhythm, the Wildcats could never get back into it and they were reduced to taking long three’s – some they made, some they didn’t – for the rest of the game.
When Napier went out with the two fouls against Villanova, UConn switched to a three-quarter court zone/press that absolutely flummoxed Villanova. It changed the game. Once out of their early rhythm, the Wildcats could never get back into it and they were reduced to taking long three’s – some they made, some they didn’t – for the rest of the game.
Against Michigan State, they similar trotted out occasional
pressure – sometimes in a zone, sometimes in aggressive half-court man-to-man –
that confused the Spartans and led
directly to two or three bad turnovers, which Tom Izzo lamented in the
postgame.
UConn plays regular man-to-man 99 percent of the time. It’s
that 1 percent, and when it happens, that creates problems for the opponents.
The Out of Bounds
Plays
The Friday night game between Iowa State and UConn featured two NBA-ready coaches who are probably the two best I’ve seen in drawing up out-of-bounds plays, which separates good NBA coaches from great NBA coaches.
The Friday night game between Iowa State and UConn featured two NBA-ready coaches who are probably the two best I’ve seen in drawing up out-of-bounds plays, which separates good NBA coaches from great NBA coaches.
All year, UConn has benefitted from this. Iowa State,
likewise, did so in its second round – ugh, third round – game against UNC, in
which Fred Hoiberg coached circles around Roy Williams to win despite playing
without their best player.
As a counter, what did Arizona do down 1 with the ball in
overtime and a chance to win? They simply passed to their point guard, who
dribbled too much and missed a shot after
the buzzer. Sean Miller is not a potential NBA coach. Kevin Ollie is.
Right Timeout at the
Right Time
Down 32-23 against Michigan State, Kevin Ollie called timeout. As a UConn fan, I thought the game was about to be over. Instead, Napier hit a three-pointer and UConn would start its own run.
Down 32-23 against Michigan State, Kevin Ollie called timeout. As a UConn fan, I thought the game was about to be over. Instead, Napier hit a three-pointer and UConn would start its own run.
Throughout the year, Ollie has shown an incredible knack for
calling the timeout just before things get out of hand. Too many college
coaches wait a possession or two too long and they give up preventable extra
points during a run.
Again, this speaks to the amount of basketball Ollie has
watched in his life. Sometimes, like the regular season finale against
Louisville, there are not
enough timeouts to stem the tide. Sometimes it is the difference between a
win and a loss.
Against Villanova, Ollie burned timeouts in the first half
when Villanova couldn’t miss from the three to prevent their lead from getting
too big. Against Iowa State, he did so in the second half to slow down a
furious Iowa State comeback. In fact, the timeout up 67-63 versus Iowa State
may have been the best and, exceling again in X’s and O’s, he set up a Niles
Giffey three from the corner that made it 70-63 to end the game.
The Quick Hook, and
the Not-So-Quick Hook
Another Jim Calhoun staple was the quick hook. You made one bad play, especially after halftime, and you got an express ticket to the bench. Ollie has continued this tradition, which is most noticeable after a big man doesn’t box out correctly on the first missed shot of the second half.
Another Jim Calhoun staple was the quick hook. You made one bad play, especially after halftime, and you got an express ticket to the bench. Ollie has continued this tradition, which is most noticeable after a big man doesn’t box out correctly on the first missed shot of the second half.
However, the hook is not always so quick. Against Villanova
as the Wildcats were hitting threes, UConn was playing too fast. In particular,
Niles Giffey was out of control. The TBS cameras showed Ollie screaming at
Giffey to get his attention – it felt like the quick hook was coming.
Instead, Ollie gestured to the floor with both hands and said,
“Calm down!” Giffey did calm down, and so did the rest of the team.
Exploiting Matchups
Iowa State couldn’t guard DeAndre Daniels. Daniels had heated up a bit in the first half and it was apparent Iowa State didn’t have a guy who could lock him down one-on-one. When the second half started, every possession went through Daniels and he had 13 points in 8 minutes.
Iowa State couldn’t guard DeAndre Daniels. Daniels had heated up a bit in the first half and it was apparent Iowa State didn’t have a guy who could lock him down one-on-one. When the second half started, every possession went through Daniels and he had 13 points in 8 minutes.
It was NBA Coaching 101 – exploit the best matchup you have
on the court until the other team adjusts. Iowa State, of course, was
understandably shorthanded. Maybe Hoiberg believed Daniels would cool off. By
the time Iowa State did adjust, they were down 14 and the game was just about
of hand.
It shouldn’t be that hard to ride the hot hand, but you’d be
amazed to realize how many coaches fail to realize this. I hate to pick on Sean
Miller again, but Wisconsin won because Bo
Ryan rode his hot hand and Sean Miller didn’t seem to figure out who his
hot hand was.
Frustrate Opponents
for 40 Minutes
After UConn’s victory Sunday, Bill Raftery interviewed Tom Izzo, who said that his team played poorly but to take nothing away from UConn. On the surface, it seemed like a backhanded compliment. It was not.
After UConn’s victory Sunday, Bill Raftery interviewed Tom Izzo, who said that his team played poorly but to take nothing away from UConn. On the surface, it seemed like a backhanded compliment. It was not.
“We sucked because they made us suck,” is what Izzo was
trying to say.
Michigan State scored 6 points in the paint – an absurdly
low number for them and the lowest in any NCAA Tournament game in three years.
What happened? UConn did everything in their power to prevent Adreian Payne
from getting established in the block – at times this meant a triple team.
So UConn gave Michigan State all the open three-pointers
they wanted. For a while, they fell and UConn looked to be in big trouble. But the game
is 40 minutes long, they stopped falling, Michigan State started to panic and
they were out of sorts. At one point, CBS sideline
announcer Allie LaForce even shared that the Spartans were “bickering” in
the huddle.
Have you ever heard of a Tom Izzo team suffering a breakdown
like that? Michigan State went away from their strength and got frustrated.
Villanova was frustrated too, but it was because they
stubbornly refused to take what UConn was giving them. While Michigan State
took the bait and shot three’s, Villanova did not take the bait and kept
shooting three’s. After a hot start, UConn essentially went to a “no threes”
defense – the kind you’d play up nine with two minutes to go.
What happened? Villanova put up a ton of contested and long
three’s. It contributed to Villanova’s 15 straight possessions without a field
goal and it left them flustered and frustrated when the shots wouldn’t fall.
Understanding What
Will Happen
The difference between a pro coach and a college coach is the understanding that things almost always even out. There’s a reason why “regression to the mean” is a thing. And when you’ve sat a bench watching basketball for 15 years, you’ve likely seen every possible scenario play out in a game.
The difference between a pro coach and a college coach is the understanding that things almost always even out. There’s a reason why “regression to the mean” is a thing. And when you’ve sat a bench watching basketball for 15 years, you’ve likely seen every possible scenario play out in a game.
It was note-worthy that Kevin Ollie predicted the second
half outcomes of every game in the tournament.
Against St. Joe’s, he was happy the team was only down a few
despite the A+++ performance of the opponent and implored his team to hang in
there.
Against Villanova, he said, “We’re
going to win.” They were a better team in the first half without their best
player – he knew they weren’t going to lose.
Against Iowa State, he was far from overconfident despite
the big lead. He said Iowa State was going to make a big run and UConn had to
be prepared. Iowa State did make a big run – and UConn was prepared.
Against Michigan State, he pointed out how Niles Giffey
missed three open looks and eventually the shots would fall. They continued to
get open looks. They eventually fell. UConn
is in the Final Four.
It’s remarkable to read in print – UConn is in the Final Four. The players have been tremendous. The coach has been even better.
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this is a perfect article. You capture Kevin and the team. All of this translated into each player having a belief in themselves and the team. 20 months ago when Kevin had a 6 month contact what other coach could have brought this team to this point? NONE. Go Huskies
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