Big East Changes

[Hurleyman216]

One thing that was brought up at least a half a dozen times by the talking heads at the Final Four is how could this team possibly lose 8 games in the Big East? Hurley has taken the high road and mostly blamed a difficult schedule where we literally had to play every top team in the league back to back to back to back. The officiating was the majority of the issue and it was so lopsided that it shook the confidence of our team and when that happened our defense took a hit. Our coaches were literally forced having to decide how we can defend teams when we get 40 fouls called on us a game that weren’t being called out of conference. After 3-4 games of this it was apparent to anyone with half a brain that there were some personal agenda between the officials and our coach. It’s inexcusable at any level to have personal opinions influencing calls and outcomes of games.

In the next few years UConn is going to have options to change conferences if we want. I personally think we should stay in the Big East, but the BE officiating needs to be addressed in the off-season. Does anyone think Villanova would have ever gotten the whistle we got this year from league officials? We have one blue blood program in the BE and a few other very strong historic programs. If the officiating issues don’t get fixed there are going to be some major ramifications for the league. I heard even before the NCAA Tournament started that our AD was already talking to the league about these issues. There’s a clear answer as to why we lost so many league games and it isn’t that we just forgot how to play basketball. Val needs to get this straightened out while also getting the league a better media deal if she wants to keep her one blue blood program.

 

[Drumguy]

I don't know about options to change conferences, but it's one thing to F-- around with a run of the mill coach and not respecting he or the team, it's another to mess with a national champion coach. There is now a focus on UConn and the non-conference vs conference games and officiating has to be fairer or all the press will jump on it.

Danny was self deprecating about it but it was in the limelight as a major issue for our January slump.

 

[FatElvis]

"The officiating was the majority of the issue..."

Please stop with this. Yes, they were unfair but to suggest that was our biggest problem is the stuff of sore losers. And we're the champions.

Embrace and enjoy it.

 

[REB1094]

I think the only game that we lost because of the refs was @ Providence. Every other loss can be attributed to something else that caused the loss more than officiating

• @ Xavier had some bad calls down the stretch, but for the most part we just imploded under pressure
• @ Marquette we couldn't hold onto a double digit lead and let them go crazy in the second half
• vs. SJU and @ SHU, we just got punked. Plain and simple
• vs. Xavier they ran us out of the gym in the first 5 minutes and we couldn't close the gap despite a strong second half
• @ Creighton and BET vs. Marquette were just 2 great games against great teams that we came 1 possession short of winning

I do think BE refs were not fair to us, but I don't think more than 1.5 losses can be majority blamed on officiating. The best thing we can do is have Hurley tone it down (he did a good job at this later in the year), and play to win even if we aren't getting the calls we want

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I think the only game that we lost because of the refs was @ Providence. Every other loss can be attributed to something else that caused the loss more than officiating

• @ Xavier had some bad calls down the stretch, but for the most part we just imploded under pressure
• @ Marquette we couldn't hold onto a double digit lead and let them go crazy in the second half
• vs. SJU and @ SHU, we just got punked. Plain and simple
• vs. Xavier they ran us out of the gym in the first 5 minutes and we couldn't close the gap despite a strong second half
• @ Creighton and BET vs. Marquette were just 2 great games against great teams that we came 1 possession short of winning

I do think BE refs were not fair to us, but I don't think more than 1.5 losses can be majority blamed on officiating. The best thing we can do is have Hurley tone it down (he did a good job at this later in the year), and play to win even if we aren't getting the calls we want

With a stretch you could possible make a case for 3
I agree we got our butts kicked by St Johns . Every team has a game like that .
I only was really disappointed in three maybe 4 of the losses
Xavier at home , I hate home losses and getting swept , Seton Hall and ironically Creighton.
The latter because I thought we had jelled at that point , we needed a good League road win and I thought we were better than them .
I forgot PC because we should never lose to those guys.

 

[runner11]

Idk. You want the conference to address officiating. Everybody talked about how during the tournament the refs let the defenses play physical and swallowed their whistle. Hurley said it was nice to play games that weren’t as physical as in conference.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Little tired of the "blue blood" talk. Villanova, Providence, St. Johns, Seton Hall and Georgetown with the parity we have now can all make noise in the tournament. Lets see how next year plays out. There will not be a better basketball conference next year

 

[Edward Sargent]

Idk. You want the conference to address officiating. Everybody talked about how during the tournament the refs let the defenses play physical and swallowed their whistle. Hurley said it was nice to play games that weren’t as physical as in conference.

I'm okay with tight BE officiating. I think it forced us to play better defense in the long run

 

[August_West]

One thing that was brought up at least a half a dozen times by the talking heads at the Final Four is how could this team possibly lose 8 games in the Big East? Hurley has taken the high road and mostly blamed a difficult schedule where we literally had to play every top team in the league back to back to back to back. The officiating was the majority of the issue and it was so lopsided that it shook the confidence of our team and when that happened our defense took a hit. Our coaches were literally forced having to decide how we can defend teams when we get 40 fouls called on us a game that weren’t being called out of conference. After 3-4 games of this it was apparent to anyone with half a brain that there were some personal agenda between the officials and our coach. It’s inexcusable at any level to have personal opinions influencing calls and outcomes of games.

In the next few years UConn is going to have options to change conferences if we want. I personally think we should stay in the Big East, but the BE officiating needs to be addressed in the off-season. Does anyone think Villanova would have ever gotten the whistle we got this year from league officials? We have one blue blood program in the BE and a few other very strong historic programs. If the officiating issues don’t get fixed there are going to be some major ramifications for the league. I heard even before the NCAA Tournament started that our AD was already talking to the league about these issues. There’s a clear answer as to why we lost so many league games and it isn’t that we just forgot how to play basketball. Val needs to get this straightened out while also getting the league a better media deal if she wants to keep her one blue blood program.

Oh dear lord.

Danny has also admitted why we got that patch. He was fighting with refs and writing emails and making calls to head of officials instead of coaching his team. He stunk.

Then simultaneously besides that Andre stunk bad. Newton Stunk. Alleyne Stunk. Calcaterra really stunk. Clingan hit a wall. We lost games. We lost confidence. It happens. Especially during a tough schedule.
None of those players stink. At all. Neither does coach.

It was a slump. We hit competition and got handled. Lost confidence. It happens. Coach made adjustments. Players came out of funks on their own and also with the aid of great coaching changes and got their groove and confidence back.


THATS what happened .

Whatever ref conspiracy theory you want to make is lol funny. And whatever if any shred of that might have been there there was self inflicted. No one knows that better than coach.


Dear lord what’s wrong with UConn fans?

We just won a natty, and now want to threaten big East for leaving because of refs? Holy crap.

 

[homunculus]

@ Xavier had some bad calls down the stretch, but for the most part we just imploded under pressure

The majority of that game was fine in terms of officiating. However, you’re seriously underselling how it ended. From the moment Jackson stole the ball at 69-71 up to the point of Hurley’s technical, it was a full game’s worth of egregiously bad officiating packed into 2 minutes of game time.

Even without the T, Xavier would then have been up by 4 with 2 minutes left and the home crowd roaring. There were no less than 10 obvious failures by the refs during that stretch. The Providence game was awful but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like the two minutes at Xavier.

 

[B1GEast]

A couple of those games were on Hurley not being able to control his emotions and getting technicals.

Hurley was right when he said in an early tournament press conference that the tourney games are reffed differently.

But in all I agree with the sentiment of others that several of the poorly officiated games that we played were winnable. We just didn't execute and coach may have made some poor decisions.

It's all water under the bridge.

With the monkey off his back, I think Hurley's going to be an even better coach. I'm excited.

 

[willie99]

We're in the best place we've been since the ACC first raided the OBE

We're UConn

We're national champs

And I love the Big East

I'm happy with what we have

 

[Luna]

One thing that was brought up at least a half a dozen times by the talking heads at the Final Four is how could this team possibly lose 8 games in the Big East? Hurley has taken the high road and mostly blamed a difficult schedule where we literally had to play every top team in the league back to back to back to back. The officiating was the majority of the issue and it was so lopsided that it shook the confidence of our team and when that happened our defense took a hit. Our coaches were literally forced having to decide how we can defend teams when we get 40 fouls called on us a game that weren’t being called out of conference. After 3-4 games of this it was apparent to anyone with half a brain that there were some personal agenda between the officials and our coach. It’s inexcusable at any level to have personal opinions influencing calls and outcomes of games.

In the next few years UConn is going to have options to change conferences if we want. I personally think we should stay in the Big East, but the BE officiating needs to be addressed in the off-season. Does anyone think Villanova would have ever gotten the whistle we got this year from league officials? We have one blue blood program in the BE and a few other very strong historic programs. If the officiating issues don’t get fixed there are going to be some major ramifications for the league. I heard even before the NCAA Tournament started that our AD was already talking to the league about these issues. There’s a clear answer as to why we lost so many league games and it isn’t that we just forgot how to play basketball. Val needs to get this straightened out while also getting the league a better media deal if she wants to keep her one blue blood program.

I totally agree with everything said here…and will add..the providence game was the worst..we had no chance to win that game with the way it was called

 

[Travelman6]

That monkey is off Hurley's back and in fact, he packed up, hailed a taxi and took a flight halfway across the globe.

We will see a more relaxed Hurley next year as I said directly after Iona, he looked different during Arkansas, this new type of confidence too and it was more and more with each passing game.

BTW, when I say relaxed I DO NOT mean less passionate, the passion might even be more intense, the passion for coaching young men and further honing his craft, finding the best players to fit his system and so on, that effort will continue. But that stress that comes from [insert whatever people were saying about/after THIS or THAT] - I won't mention any of it, but that particular stress is gone now because he has done THIS, THAT and the other thing. Well, the first 14 games and last six games were blow outs so maybe not "the other thing", yet, but he's proven he can do so much, so he will.

 

[Stinger92860]

The staff also tweaked the schemes. It was most apparent with Andre on offense. Can they please have him move in with Ray for the summer. He would be lethal, a lottery pick, and worth an incredible amount of money.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think the only game that we lost because of the refs was @ Providence. Every other loss can be attributed to something else that caused the loss more than officiating

• @ Xavier had some bad calls down the stretch, but for the most part we just imploded under pressure
• @ Marquette we couldn't hold onto a double digit lead and let them go crazy in the second half
• vs. SJU and @ SHU, we just got punked. Plain and simple
• vs. Xavier they ran us out of the gym in the first 5 minutes and we couldn't close the gap despite a strong second half
• @ Creighton and BET vs. Marquette were just 2 great games against great teams that we came 1 possession short of winning

I do think BE refs were not fair to us, but I don't think more than 1.5 losses can be majority blamed on officiating. The best thing we can do is have Hurley tone it down (he did a good job at this later in the year), and play to win even if we aren't getting the calls we want

The league has to address the officiating at Providence games. It wasn't just UConn. PC's home games against Creighton and Marquette were double OT PC wins with a lot of help from the officials. PC should also have lost to St. Johns at home. PC flops and flails its way to home foul calls while getting away with a lot of clutching and grabbing on D, but it doesn't work on the road, as evidenced by the fact that PC only has two semi-quality road wins: Villanova and Seton Hall. It does not help the league at all to help a team like this because they aren't going to win in the NCAA Tournament.

 

[Magic32]

Embrace the losses because they sure as hell made UConn a stronger, more resilient and focused team. Feel like it helped them get their swagger back.

 

[gtcam]

The refs are bad everywhere in college hoops, in the NBA, in the GLeague, - everywhere

But the calls look increasingly bad when the coach is too busy concentrating on them and making their lives more miserable. This is what DH had done from his 1st game at UConn until mid February 2023. He not only yelled at them during the game but reported behind the scene actions on his part were ridiculous.
Whomever sat him down and gave him the coming to God talk - Benedict via the NBE offices? his assistants? his family? Few know - but a huge THANK YOU.
DH did not have his head in the game and the deer in the headlight look he had down the stretch of some of those close games in January was scarry and pitiful.
Once he paid attention to the game on the floor the team played looser and good things happened. It's akin to Nelsonmuntz just stopping with his fixation over the refs/PC he could concentrate on who knows what.
Yes the officiating is bad in the NBE but as I said it stinks everywhere - and it was not the reason why UConn had a terrible January - it was DH.
Just as it was DH who helped win the NC in April.

 

[UofCT]

I didn't have an issue with the officiating in any game we played in the tournament.