A very raspy Kevin Ollie addressed the media Wednesday, his voice suggesting either illness or overuse. Or both.
UConn has run four “very long” practices, in the words of Ryan Boatright, and Ollie has been “yelling from the second he got in the gym.” Hence the sore throat.
“He’s got to get used to that,” Boatright said with a laugh.
It’s gotten so bad that Ollie has resorted to the whistle, a gadget he openly despises.
“I hate using the whistle,” Ollie said. “I hate it. I read this book by Coach K and he said he never used a whistle. This was about 10 years ago when I was in the NBA, so I had this whole thing that when I become a head coach, I wouldn’t use a whistle. And that thing is my best friend right now.”
Aside from Kevin Ollie’s voice (slow news day), some other UConn items:
*UConn pegged 9th in preseason rankings
*Boeheim fed up with Pitino’s comments
*Previous UConn preseason rankings
*Shabazz Napier (foot) said he’s about 85 percent. He was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice.
*Ollie on a small lineup: “Niels (Giffey) and DeAndre (Daniels) know they’ll have to slide over to the four and we’ll play a little four out, run a little bit more, get that ball moving and use our spacing, especially with Niels and DeAndre at the four because both of them can shoot and put it down. Then, it helps our fast break. It’s definitely going to be an option, but I really haven’t looked at it yet.”
