A week off for this? SMU postgame

[BlueDogs]

My assessment is new coaches have a much shorter window than one realizes. If you can’t show real momentum and a new direction within preferably 2 years and no more than 3, the ability to recruit drops precipitously year over year. Winning breeds wining. The long you don’t the harder it gets to change course. Next year defines what direction UConn heads. Another .500 year and Hurley is in a big hole he’s gong to have dig out of. He squandered this year after a great start (lesser comp) and just couldn’t keep the team mentally committed to slogging out wins in conference. Losing to SMU was more disastrous than it appears from a program psychology perspective .

 

[superjohn]

If Polley did all of the above well, he would be an NBA draft pick. ....

Instead he does nothing well except 38% from three. He's literally the worst rebounder at his position in the entire country.

 

[DoakW]

I mean no shade or anything, I'm very curious what Uconn fans think of Hurley so far? I figured a year grace period is expected, but I definitely didn't expect his squad to look that unenthused to be somewhere. He seems to have a lot of fire that isn't translating to the team.

Is it the Memphis type of situation that's like "wait until he gets his own guys next year"? I just found it kind of odd, especially considering SMU is truly awful this year

 

[kansashusky]

I mean no shade or anything, I'm very curious what Uconn fans think of Hurley so far? I figured a year grace period is expected, but I definitely didn't expect his squad to look that unenthused to be somewhere. He seems to have a lot of fire that isn't translating to the team.

Is it the Memphis type of situation that's like "wait until he gets his own guys next year"? I just found it kind of odd, especially considering SMU is truly awful this year

I want to believe that, but he spent a lot of time before the season telling the media there is a lot of talent here, Jalen should be an NBA player, and his expectations were higher than any UConn fan. If he ends up with a worse record than Ollie, I will have some serious reservations, especially if we end up with a JUCO kid and Grad Transfer.

 

[JimHurley]

I hope you are right but that will only happen with an influx of 4* talent. The 3 we have coming in next year seem to be a good start but we need 1 or 2 more bigs for next year and then several more the following year. If that doesn't happen then this is the new normal for UConn Basketball.

In 2021-22, we’ll have 3 classes that Hurley will bring in. Our backcourt will be nasty with juniors Bouknight and Gaffney.

 

[gampelcrazies]

I mean no shade or anything, I'm very curious what Uconn fans think of Hurley so far? I figured a year grace period is expected, but I definitely didn't expect his squad to look that unenthused to be somewhere. He seems to have a lot of fire that isn't translating to the team.

Is it the Memphis type of situation that's like "wait until he gets his own guys next year"? I just found it kind of odd, especially considering SMU is truly awful this year

We have an awful roster. I know SMU is bad but when you look at there roster they have a more complete team. Our front court is horrid. Hurley needs time to build this program back to winning. Most people on this board went into the season with an unrealistic expectation that we would get better because of the coaching change. Hurley inherited a garbage roster left by Ollie and co. No coach in the country could take this team the NCAAs. You can't win big games or games in general when you have wasted roster spots on whaley, cobb, williams... And our "best" player never puts on a complete game when healthy.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The fact that we can't pass or dribble drive the lane without falling on our face and committing a turn over is making things hard. We have compiled a team of "back up" level 2 guards. IMO, until we get a true point guard we are in deep trouble and wont dig ourselves out of this mess.

 

[Tommyboy]

We have an awful roster. I know SMU is bad but when you look at there roster they have a more complete team. Our front court is horrid. Hurley needs time to build this program back to winning. Most people on this board went into the season with an unrealistic expectation that we would get better because of the coaching change. Hurley inherited a garbage roster left by Ollie and co. No coach in the country could take this team the NCAAs. You can't win big games or games in general when you have wasted roster spots on whaley, cobb, williams... And our "best" player never puts on a complete game when healthy.

We have an abysmal frontcourt. I look at teams in much "lesser" conferences and their frontcourts are filled with much more talented players. Guys who can actually move their feet, guys who can rebound, block shots, etc.. Guys who look like they have picked up a weight once in their lives. I just don't get it.

Don't even want to talk about the guards actually keeping someone in front of them on defense. Not a single guy can stop his guy from blowing right past him. Though the frontcourt doesn't help with this at all during screens.

 

[John]

We have an awful roster. I know SMU is bad but when you look at there roster they have a more complete team. Our front court is horrid. Hurley needs time to build this program back to winning. Most people on this board went into the season with an unrealistic expectation that we would get better because of the coaching change. Hurley inherited a garbage roster left by Ollie and co. No coach in the country could take this team the NCAAs. You can't win big games or games in general when you have wasted roster spots on whaley, cobb, williams... And our "best" player never puts on a complete game when healthy.

nothing against Ollie kids, but I suspect they'll all need to clear out before we see any real improvement.

 

[superjohn]

nothing against Ollie kids, but I suspect they'll all need to clear out before we see any real improvement.

It's frustrating but it seems to be the case. We need all these guys to cycle out of the program. Our starting point will be with the incoming class.

 

[Rico444]

I was hoping for a little more from Hurley, but this season is 90% on the players. The talent just isn't there. One area where I'm a little disappointed in Hurley is the fact that he doesn't have a recruit lined up for next year that can play the 5. That's the one area where we are completely barren, and he's whiffed on his two top targets. Hopefully he can find a JUCO that can play a little bit for next year to bridge the gap between Carlton and the next recruit we are able to bring in.

 

[superjohn]

I want to believe that, but he spent a lot of time before the season telling the media there is a lot of talent here, Jalen should be an NBA player, and his expectations were higher than any UConn fan. If he ends up with a worse record than Ollie, I will have some serious reservations, especially if we end up with a JUCO kid and Grad Transfer.

He wasn't going to tell them and everyone that they all suck. He chose to be the good guy and chose for stability keeping them all on. You can criticize him for not blowing it all up and starting from scratch if you want but not for not saying they all suck.

 

[Lefty2one]

I just realized we are 4-9 in AAC play; in 10th place. We're 0-7 in road games. This is the roster...

• We lost our best player, who was already a polarizing topic around here.
• We have an abysmal frontcourt. Carlton is a poor man's Gavin Edwards and he's the best we've got. Cobb has his moments but it is ideally a 3rd or 4th big, not our second.
• The wing isn't much better. Sid has the athleticism but has a ways to go. Polley should be a shooter off the bench, not a guy playing 38 minutes.
• Gilbert isn't himself. Without him and Adams we don't have a playmaker.

So we don't have a point guard, we don't really have any wings, and we don't have a front court. On top of that, we have a losing culture that needs to be squashed out; that won't happen overnight. I hate to say it, but the team has given up. The fight we saw earlier this season is gone. This is how you end up at 4-9 in a terrible conference. This will be a long process. We'll see what we have next year with Bouknight, Gaffney, Akok, and whoever else rounds out the class.

 

[6xChamps]

No he wasn't, he hit some threes. The threes are nice but it's literally all he does, no defense, no rebounding, no driving etc.

Ehhh I'll give you no rebounding and driving but he is a solid defender. He has shut down the opponent's best player multiple times this season.

 

[Dooley]

Fact is that years of mediocre/bad coaching has created far too many bad, losing habits and a total loss of pride in the UConn name. This roster needs a complete overhaul and that will take years.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Talent breeds confidence. Every team we play can put 5 guys on the court who know what to do with ball when they get it and can take two dribbles without stepping out of bounds or pushing off. We don’t have that. We don’t have enough talent.

 

[tcf15]

I mean no shade or anything, I'm very curious what Uconn fans think of Hurley so far? I figured a year grace period is expected, but I definitely didn't expect his squad to look that unenthused to be somewhere. He seems to have a lot of fire that isn't translating to the team.

Is it the Memphis type of situation that's like "wait until he gets his own guys next year"? I just found it kind of odd, especially considering SMU is truly awful this year

Yeah, no wavering from me. Still think Hurley will be the guy to bring UConn back. He's got a great class coming in and could potentially add some more pieces that would make it a top 10 class. This season was going fine given the circumstances until being derailed by injuries. Think if Jalen and Alterique were both healthy for the last 6 games, we'd have a couple more wins.

 

[blue93]

This team needs a lot more grit. They were softer last season than this one, but we're still bullied way too often. There's not nearly enough talent on this roster to get away with that - doesn't matter who the opponent is. It'll change over time, but unfortunately I don't think you can change the way some of these guys tick - basketball skills aside.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Yeah, no wavering from me. Still think Hurley will be the guy to bring UConn back. He's got a great class coming in and could potentially add some more pieces that would make it a top 10 class. This season was going fine given the circumstances until being derailed by injuries. Think if Jalen and Alterique were both healthy for the last 6 games, we'd have a couple more wins.

The only game I think that really would be effected would have been Memphis.

Unbelievable how good we felt coming off the WSU game. That game feels like it was 50 years ago.

 

[uchusky32]

Yeah, no wavering from me. Still think Hurley will be the guy to bring UConn back. He's got a great class coming in and could potentially add some more pieces that would make it a top 10 class. This season was going fine given the circumstances until being derailed by injuries. Think if Jalen and Alterique were both healthy for the last 6 games, we'd have a couple more wins.

Injuries definitely were a big part of the derailment but we can't forget that Jalen was being disciplined basically for effort. This also is a big problem which points out the mindset of this team.

 

[Austin316]

I watch all these games and expecting Hurley to rally the troops and have a comeback for the ages... it feels like every game now.

Nothing will compared to this...

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

SMU may not be talented, but they can still hit their shots. We can't. We can't even make layups. Talent is very much the issue here.

And no, the 3 guys don't fix everything. But they def help with some. Shooting, length, athleticism. And some rim protection from Akok.

We need 2 or three more additions, whether freshman, Juco, or 5th year.

SMU may not be talented, but they can still hit their shots. We can't. We can't even make layups. Talent is very much the issue here.

And no, the 3 guys don't fix everything. But they def help with some. Shooting, length, athleticism. And some rim protection from Akok.

We need 2 or three more additions, whether freshman, Juco, or 5th year.

It seems like your trying to say we need more talent to compensate for the poor coaching after being blown out by SMU.... especially considering the somewhat comparable landscape of talent at the top of the AAC right now. Sure I am wrong and this league is loaded with *4 and 5*'s.

 

[Towney007]

They're bullied up front because they're not strong enough. Not because of effort.

They're blown by because they're not athletic or fast enough - Not because of effort.

They do quit - which is worse, but they aren't a good team and there's no use in people sitting there pointing to fringe recruiting rankings from years ago and saying 'they're better than this.' Guys - it's been how many years of this? They're not better than this. They actually might really be worse than this. Calhoun could magically be 45 again and coach this team and you'll see exactly what you're seeing now.

So. We'll have three good players coming in next year. Wilson and Gilbert should be better. Vital/Carlton help a bit - but expect more of the same with effort. And hopefully we cap up some more recruits and keep building up a talent base again. This is a rebuild guys, this is what one looks like. Not a reload.

 

[kansashusky]

He wasn't going to tell them and everyone that they all suck. He chose to be the good guy and chose for stability keeping them all on. You can criticize him for not blowing it all up and starting from scratch if you want but not for not saying they all suck.

I think there is a difference between saying they suck and tempering expectations.

 

[gtcam]

I agree 1000% that this program needs new, bigger and better overall talent - and not only on the offensive side of the ballgame
Defensively there is ZERO excuse as to how this team plays and a finger has to be pointed at the coaching staff on that issue. DH and staff doesn't get a pass on that issue or on the abysmal FT shooting.
You can't win if you can't defend and these kids look like they have never been taught the basics of defensive skills - it doesn't take a full season to teach those skills
I hope the 3 committed are coming in with some sense of defensive mentality and skill set beyond shot blocking.
I know DH dearly wants to bring UConn to where it was under the JC years and we all want to see that happen.