4th Straight Year

[jdb50]

Carlton missing the layup from the left side in the first half says all you need to know about this 0-2 start. We have players that can not do the simple things in a game that totaled together would win a game. We want to think that progress is being made (I have) but these last two games show that team wide it is not enough to do what good teams do. Win on the road. Carlton's inability to make shots and not be a turnover machine is upending the offense. Gilbert is too small. Period. I never want to see a point for us under 6'1". Akok is a bright light but we fail to use him in the offense consistently. We have no leader or go to guy. There is no lead dog. Our 2 point shooting is horrendous. Plenty of players have been given a chance to succeed but they are spitting the bit except for Akok.

 

[Get a Job]

I just count up how many they "realistically" could lose and assume they will lose that many. They will win some of them, but they will lose a few that they have no business losing as well. That thought process yields 13 or 14 losses, because I have no idea if Indiana is supposed to be any good.

Prediction: 17-14

Who would have thought my prediction (which was one of, if not the, most pessimistic in the original thread) might turn out to be overly optimistic? This team has no chance of winning 8 more games.

 

[navery12]

About 3 days ago judging by the 600 threads of the same conversation over and over again

 

[Hi-Low]

Guy is getting paid three million a year to win. He is failing. Miserably.

Can't blame Hurley for the prior 3 years but what happens this year is on him. He had last year to evaluate what he was left for him, brought in some new blood (not enough) this year and he needs to figure out how to win games with what he has. Are we a tourney team? No, but getting blow away by bad teams is not acceptable.

If we end up with a worse record this year than last doesn't say great things about Hurley. I ultimately believe in the next 2 years we'll realize he's the right guy and we'll have success but time will tell.

 

[Shine33]

That!!! I looked through the players on Rivals. They were all heavily recruited...even the Ollie players. They are not getting better. Either they are not putting in the work(if so why are they playing)or the coaches are not developing them.

They were recruited by other programs to be back ups. And there is a reason Ollie landed these guys often in the late recruiting period

 

[Shine33]

2 years in and dude gets a pass to not even be competitive vs near .500 teams because some players played a year under KO. When he beats Florida/Miami Hurley is the reincarnation of Wooden, but when they get their wigs pushed back against the St Joes, Cincy's and S. Floridas of the world its not his fault, wait until he gets all of his players. A good deal of y'all looking real funny in the light.

We will wait and we will see who is right. I’ll be the first to own up if I’m wrong about this not being on Hurley yet.

 

[AdamaNation]

If your paying real close attention, the players that are inept have been the holdovers. The newbies are making freshmen mistakes which we can live with. I don’t love Hurley’s coaching, but he has only been here a year. Definitely deserves more time. If we aren’t in the tourney year 4, we have a problem.

Would year 4 for Hurley be year 7 or 8 for UCONN?

 

[Chief00]

This double team that creates mismatches or open shooters is the definition of insanity. For now, the go to should be to play guys straight up. If you can’t win at least make guys accountable and built toughness.

 

[Chief00]

They were recruited by other programs to be back ups. And there is a reason Ollie landed these guys often in the late recruiting period

Yeah, some had injuries including Durham (knee), AG (shoulder) and Diarra (knee). Others were overrated.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Guys, let's give Hurley a workable timeline. Nothing bothers me more than impatience when it comes to something that must occur organically. Winning and greatness cannot just be willed - it is a process (as much as I hate that word now...thanks Philly!). Let's stop being result-oriented for a minute, let Hurley focus on implementing his program, and we can reap the rewards when the success sprouts. Many here are acting like flowers should grow overnight or that the stock you just bought should have tripled in a week.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, some had injuries including Durham (knee), AG (shoulder) and Diarra (knee). Others were overrated.

Others never suited up and start(ed) for very good grograms. Matthews at WVU and Akinjo at GTown. They were not acceptable to the new staff. I don’t blame the new staff but maybe KO had a decent eye there too.

 

[mrl2016]

The two best players on the team are freshman Hurley recruited. Of course he gets a pass until his guys are all on the court.

 

[yungdowork]

It's a massive mistake he didn't tell guys what's up the past two years and find them places to move on to. He's gotta bring in guys who fit what he wants to do right now or we're gonna get killed in the Big East next season. What we have coming in so far isn't enough and you don't have unlimited job security when you keep losing badly.

Sorry if I’m misunderstanding, but hasn’t the issue been that he hasn’t been able to bring in enough talent? It’s not like a lack of scholarships got us to where we’re at talent wise. Danny was nicer than he had to be to some of the remaining guys but it’s not like he had 10 premier talents waiting to replace them. Recruiting to a school that has an investigation looming and hasn’t made the tournament in a couple years isn’t easy.

 

[Huskybass]

The two best players on the team are freshman Hurley recruited. Of course he gets a pass until his guys are all on the court.

Simple, concise and 100% right. I do wish he would feature those two on offense a bit more though.

 

[mauconnfan]

The two best players on the team are freshman Hurley recruited. Of course he gets a pass until his guys are all on the court.

"His guys" are on the court, it's his team season 2. You're getting 3M plus to win games and it's your 2nd year in coaching most of the same players you had last year and now some freshman some of which you consider to be his best. It's ok maybe to go into Cincy and lose that game, maybe. Only if you find a way to coach them to play better basketball a few days later against a team who lost to BC by 14, IUPUI by 17, Mew Mexico St by 20 and SMU by 18 without their bast payer on the court. But that debacle which they followed up the Cincy game with is beyond embarrassing and unacceptable. It's certainly not all on the coaching and we need better players but the players we have are good enough to beat USF and certainly shouldn't be dominated by that team. Time will tell but I can't blame anyone wondering about things in general. A 4th horrible year will make it very difficult to recruit vs the teams in the BE because right now UConn would be the same as they were when they entered the Big East in the 80's, cellar!

 

[David 76]

Everything is binary. Sign of the times.
Either it's a failure and heads should role, or it is impudent to consider criticizing Hurley until the Juniors graduate.

I think you are crazy if you haven't even begun to doubt Hurley. Particularly in offense
I think you're just as crazy to throw in the towel on Hurley. He deserves criticism. He also deserves at least another year before any final judgement.

 

[Huskybass]

"His guys" are on the court, it's his team season 2. You're getting 3M plus to win games and it's your 2nd year in coaching most of the same players you had last year and now some freshman some of which you consider to be his best. It's ok maybe to go into Cincy and lose that game, maybe. Only if you find a way to coach them to play better basketball a few days later against a team who lost to BC by 14, IUPUI by 17, Mew Mexico St by 20 and SMU by 18 without their bast payer on the court. But that debacle which they followed up the Cincy game with is beyond embarrassing and unacceptable. It's certainly not all on the coaching and we need better players but the players we have are good enough to beat USF and certainly shouldn't be dominated by that team. Time will tell but I can't blame anyone wondering about things in general. A 4th horrible year will make it very difficult to recruit vs the teams in the BE because right now UConn would be the same as they were when they entered the Big East in the 80's, cellar!

I would love to argue with you, but I can't. You are right. We don't need excellence, yet. But we should be trending in the right direction. That is certainly not too much to ask.

 

[Woodson]

I never want to see a point for us under 6'1".

You serious? Kemba Walker. 6 foot. Shabazz Napier. 6 foot. Come on now.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't doubt that Hurley will eventually get this program going. The question is whether the payoff will be worth the wait.

The task confronting Hurley now is distinctly different than the one he's faced at his prior two stops. The further you climb the ladder, the more player retention becomes an issue. We don't know how long Akok and Bouknight are going to be in school. We also don't know how well Hurley can anticipate their departures and groom their replacements. It goes without saying that he will be facing a tougher schedule than he ever has before.

One of the challenges that I think people have underestimated when it comes to Hurley is his age. He's 47. That's the same age as his predecessor, and although he has a lot more coaching experience than KO did when he took the job, none of it has been at this level. Coaching UConn is an entirely different beast than Wagner or Rhode Island, and lifting a program to respectability is completely different than elevating it from good to great. I'm not saying he won't have success here. I'm saying you might have to take your small victories where you can get them early in his tenure.

 

[Ts5034]

I don't doubt that Hurley will eventually get this program going. The question is whether the payoff will be worth the wait.

The task confronting Hurley now is distinctly different than the one he's faced at his prior two stops. The further you climb the ladder, the more player retention becomes an issue. We don't know how long Akok and Bouknight are going to be in school. We also don't know how well Hurley can anticipate their departures and groom their replacements. It goes without saying that he will be facing a tougher schedule than he ever has before.

One of the challenges that I think people have underestimated when it comes to Hurley is his age. He's 47. That's the same age as his predecessor, and although he has a lot more coaching experience than KO did when he took the job, none of it has been at this level. Coaching UConn is an entirely different beast than Wagner or Rhode Island, and lifting a program to respectability is completely different than elevating it from good to great. I'm not saying he won't have success here. I'm saying you might have to take your small victories where you can get them early in his tenure.

I see what you’re saying, but building Wagner and URI from essentially nothing, while turning URI into a tournament team back to back years is not easy by any means either. It proves he does have what It takes to build a program. It shows he can recruit, and it shows that he can win when he has more talented players. Keep in mind, URI was under .500 his first two years there. I know Its a lot harder to do all of those things at UConn, but so far he has proved that he can recruit, and quite honestly, thats step 1 and the base of any college program.