4th Straight Year

[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.