Saturday night saw Kevin Ollie's coaching brilliance in full display as UCONN overcame an early 16-4 deficit to roll past the Florida Gators 63-53 in the first national semifinal in North Texas. The insertion of Terrence Samuel, a freshman from Brooklyn, into UCONN's lineup, consisting of 3 ball-handling guards, along with Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier, caught the Gators off guard and single-handedly turned the tide in last night's widely perceived upset.
The only ones believing in UCONN prior to tip was UCONN themselves. Confidence has seeped into each and every one of the Huskies beings by the second year head coach. Ollie is one win away from a National Championship in just his second season as head man in Storrs. Hand picked by Jim Calhoun, by now everyone knows the story; eleven NBA teams throughout his 13 year career, mentoring LeBron James and Kevin Durant and returning to UCONN, taking his players under his wings and leading them to live life the right way; not only on the basketball court, but in every aspect of their lives.
So when Phil Mushnick of the New York Post makes a comment so disturbing as the one he made in last night's 'column' about Ollie's so-called 'grammar,' it calls into question his motives, his character and whether the man should still be writing for a newspaper that reaches so many.
"To that endless end, it seems to bother a lot of emailing folks — especially Connecticut taxpayers — that UConn’s second-season, UConn-educated and graduated basketball coach, Kevin Ollie, as a representative of the State’s namesake university and a school that in 2012 was sanctioned for gross academic negligence, is so painfully deficient in fundamental, spoken grammar. They wonder if Ollie, who played for UConn, and, with a new deal that will pay him roughly $1.3 million per plus perks, is the third-highest paid state employee (behind UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma and UConn football coach Bob Diaco), he might consider, if only for the future sake of his recruits, to work on that."
Let's dissect and thoroughly rip apart this statement line by line, shall we?
Mr. Mushnick states 'a lot of emailing folks, especially CT taxpayers' are upset about the way Ollie pronounces words and handles himself during interviews and press conferences. To anyone with a pulse, the only thing Ollie exhibits during these moments is everything you want in a person, a leader and a coach. Supports his players? Check. Treats each one with the utmost respect? Check. Acts like each of them are his own sons and pushes them to succeed in the classroom, just as much as on the court? Check. So Phil, how many emails have you received from Connecticut residents complaining about how KO communicates? One, maybe two? An actual number would go a long way in supporting what you say.
Next up, Phil takes a shot at UCONN as a whole when he mentions that Ollie is a 'UConn-educated and graduated basketball coach.' After a quick look-up to see just how valuable a UCONN education is, according to the latest 2014 rankings put together by US News and World Report, the University of Connecticut is rated the 19th best public school in the nation, ahead of the reputable University of Maryland and Purdue University, just to name two.
Not surprisingly, Mushnick hops on board the 'academic sanctions' bandwagon when he states 'a school that in 2012 was sanctioned for gross academic negligence.' Just because a class of basketball players did not graduate and received poor grades, does not mean the entire school committed gross academic negligence. If this is the case, the University of North Carolina should all but disband after admitting to creating fake classes.
Finally, Mushnik calls Ollie 'painfully deficient in fundamental, spoken grammar' and 'he might consider working on that for the future sake of his recruits.' First off, Kevin Ollie's post-game, on-court interview contains absolutely no egregious grammatical errors. Secondly, Coach Ollie is everything a prospective student athletes' parents would want in a man that will oversee the growth of their child over the next four or so years of their lives. A coach needs to be trustworthy, someone that will do what is in the best interest of his players, will always lead the right way no matter the circumstances and be a great human being.
Following this week in Dallas at the Final Four, Kevin Ollie has been described as the following by some of Mushnik's fellow reporters.
From last week's Wall Street Journal:
Reggie Miller of Turner Sports: "There's a reason every GM brought him in. I don't think anyone would have a bad word about him. If you find that one person, I guarantee he got paid off."
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti on why he brought in Kevin Ollie: "We wanted to continue to surround our younger players with examples of professionalism, work ethic and humility."
This is not the first time that the New York Post columnist has attacked African Americans in his articles, Steven A. Smith and Jay-Z are just two of many examples. You can call it freedom of speech, voicing your opinion or doing his job, but in reality what this article and this 'man' who hides behind a keyboard is made up of is flat out rude, arrogant, ignorant and for lack of a better word, incompetent.
For those that agree with what Mushnick says, that is your personal right, but I'm sure the columnist would have a different opinion of KO had he ever met the man that he is trying to destroy. So here's some advice from a former journalist to a current one, if you lack integrity and common sense on a topic, it would be best to just keep your mouth shut.
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