Appreciation for Hurley the Contrarian

[Uconn10922]

I think Hurley should get major props for what I think was a contrarian way of constructing and running his team. He is a coach at a High Major conference college and yet in many ways his offense ran like a mid-major or smaller college team. All the big schools seem to rely heavily on high level play makers. A lot of the offenses that UCONN faced relied on their individual players going 1 on 1 and either taking it to the basket or shooting a three pointer. I understand that this is how the NBA plays and that many college coaches have adopted a similar style. In contrast, this UCONN team was constructed with, at best, average 1 on 1 playmakers who relied heavily on offensive sets being run for them to get good shots. It's been the knock on UCONN all year that they did not have a real point guard, who's going to take the last shot. Yet Hurley relied heavily on their big men establishing position, their screens opening up their shooters and Andre using his excellent court vision and uncanny passing ability, at the 3 position, to create great looks. It was so obvious the difference between UCONN being highly organized on offense and the other teams struggling to run their 1 on 1 plays against them that my wife, who hardly watches basketball, was calling the games in the first half for UCONN because the other team looked disorganized compared to the highly efficient and productive UCONN offense. Maybe she should post on the Boneyard, she was right on.

Hurley should get a tremendous amount of credit for going old school and trusting in Andre and what seems like Luke Murry for running their offense so effectively when from my perspective the other high major colleges are all relying on a individual play maker model. I hope he keeps it up. I think doing things differently will give them a distinct advantage for a couple of years but I do realize that they have a few playmakers coming in next year. That is by no means a bad thing but I hope they can continue to rely on the High Basketball IQ of the coaches, Andre, Karaban and Clingan to continue what they are doing because it is a beautiful thing to watch.

 

[CL82]

I think Hurley should get major props for what I think was a contrarian way of constructing and running his team. He is a coach at a High Major conference college and yet in many ways his offense ran like a mid-major or smaller college team. All the big schools seem to rely heavily on high level play makers. A lot of the offenses that UCONN faced relied on their individual players going 1 on 1 and either taking it to the basket or shooting a three pointer. I understand that this is how the NBA plays and that many college coaches have adopted a similar style. In contrast, this UCONN team was constructed with, at best, average 1 on 1 playmakers who relied heavily on offensive sets being run for them to get good shots. It's been the knock on UCONN all year that they did not have a real point guard, who's going to take the last shot. Yet Hurley relied heavily on their big men establishing position, their screens opening up their shooters and Andre using his excellent court vision and uncanny passing ability, at the 3 position, to create great looks. It was so obvious the difference between UCONN being highly organized on offense and the other teams struggling to run their 1 on 1 plays against them that my wife, who hardly watches basketball, was calling the games in the first half for UCONN because the other team looked disorganized compared to the highly efficient and productive UCONN offense. Maybe she should post on the Boneyard, she was right on.

Hurley should get a tremendous amount of credit for going old school and trusting in Andre and what seems like Luke Murry for running their offense so effectively when from my perspective the other high major colleges are all relying on a individual play maker model. I hope he keeps it up. I think doing things differently will give them a distinct advantage for a couple of years but I do realize that they have a few playmakers coming in next year. That is by no means a bad thing but I hope they can continue to rely on the High Basketball IQ of the coaches, Andre, Karaban and Clingan to continue what they are doing because it is a beautiful thing to watch.

I don’t know if it was a conscious decision to construct the program this way, or a recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the guys he had brought to Storrs. I am perfectly content. If it’s the latter, because, in my opinion, putting the players he had in a position to succeed was one of the defining things that made Calhoun great.

 

[Umami Zen]

IMO.. One of Dan's strengths is having the flexibility to adjust his schemes to his players/who is on the roster in a particular year. Next year will be different.. And then using those adjustments as a weapon for opposing teams to adjust to.. Energy/boards/defense/sharing the ball are part of his non-negotiable components to any of his teams.. Leveraging Andre's strengths/commitment to Adama's dominance in the paint/using his bench/bringing DC along as a tremendous asset off the bench/empowering Hawk to feel free to use his natural talents/ utilizing Newton's talents as an asset,etc.

He has assembled an outstanding coaching staff who he gives responsibility and freedom to.. Respects our Program's history and the coaches that have helped build it.

His self-effacing sense of humor and cat and mouse game with the press is fun to watch.. Huge Gorilla gone.. Lets run it back..