Blaming the coach

[karstenkibbe]

The coach always bears at least some responsibility in each win or loss.

While none of us can analyze the game at (or even close to) Dan Hurey's level, some things do jump out. 1. Opposing offenses seem to be able to get downhill, head to the basket and score or get fouled while the Huskies seem unable to do the same. 2. It seemed obvious that Clingan needed to play more minutes. Hurley himself mentioned this. Yet he seems unable to figure out how to get him more minutes. 3. When Hawkins plays well we win. Other teams focus on him. However, we seem unable to find a way to get him open shots.

These would all seem to fall into Hurley purview.

Finally, let's not compare the ZBE with the Big East that Calhoun coached in. That was a special time and place, the coaches in that league were a legendary group. Hell, one year three BE teams were in the final four. It's not the same.

I think, Hurley is a very good coach. His record proves it. But this is his best team at this level. It is new for him. He needs to make adjustments faster. I have said before and still think he would benefit from an old hand on his staff. A George Blaney, a smart older mentor type that has seen it all before. Such a calming influence would also help him emotionally on the sideline.

You make an interesting final point about the importance of a Blaney type on the bench. I believe we have that guy already (at a younger age) in Tom Moore. I’ll just note his absence last night due to illness. Hurley could have used him.

 

[Jaydumo20]

@Get a Job I'm not attempting to be useful or produce a positive result. Just expressing an opinion on how the knee jerk reaction is that Hurley let us down.


What I do think is useless is general fans giving coaching opinions to each other which will never be heeded by anyone on the staff. that's p*ssing in the wind and hence, useless

 

[freshler40]

You make an interesting final point about the importance of a Blaney type on the bench. I believe we have that guy already (at a younger age) in Tom Moore. I’ll just note his absence last night due to illness. Hurley could have used him.

But what about the other road losses, was Tom present? did Hurley listen? Is Calhoon still on a retainer???

 

[jake14mw]

Everyone always wants the perfect coach. Have fun finding him.

 

[Get a Job]

What I do think is useless is general fans giving coaching opinions to each other which will never be heeded by anyone on the staff. that's p*ssing in the wind and hence, useless

I agree with that, but only to the extent that everything on this forum is useless in that way. However, in the universe that is The Boneyard, criticism of the coach is just about the most appropriate/on-topic thing one could write about. Advising people on a basketball fan forum to stop criticizing the coach is just silly. Then again, my participation in this exchange is silly, so who am I to judge?

 

[Jaydumo20]

Pfft. A lot of you guys had no problems taking endless shots at Ollie for every thing we did wrong on & off the court after 2014 until he was pushed out the door. Now Hurley is untouchable to criticism and it's all on the players? Please. People have a right to question coaching strategies for anyone if something isn't working.

My OP was not that Hurley is untouchable it was saying that many fans in all sports are more attracted to blaming the coach because if it were mainly his fault it’s an easier road to success for the one person to change than it is addressing multiple issues. Similar to people who blame their job for why they aren’t happy or blaming whoever is in office for the ills of the country. My point really is that there are multiple reasons for that loss and we may not fix them completely no matter how much we yap. And that’s ok

 

[Deleted at users request]

@Get a Job I'm not attempting to be useful or produce a positive result. Just expressing an opinion on how the knee jerk reaction is that Hurley let us down.


What I do think is useless is general fans giving coaching opinions to each other which will never be heeded by anyone on the staff. that's p*ssing in the wind and hence, useless

Eh Hurley has tried and talked about a couple of things we have complained about this year on the board so far.

Not saying it’s because of us, but the whole nobody knows better than the coaches thing is kind of lazy lol.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I agree with that, but only to the extent that everything on this forum is useless in that way. However, in the universe that is The Boneyard, criticism of the coach is just about the most appropriate/on-topic thing one could write about. Advising people on a basketball fan forum to stop criticizing the coach is just silly. Then again, my participation in this exchange is silly, so who am I to judge?

I agree with this 95%. And it’s all at once silly and not silly. I love chatting it up with everyone on and off this board. The only thing I may correct is that I wasn’t trying to remove all criticism from Hurley (I couldn’t if I tried) it was mainly to point out the temptation as a fan that “if Hurley just did these obvious things we’d be good”. There are many who present his shortcomings as obvious fixes. It ain’t that easy and sometimes there is no perfect recipe to win every game (Which it seems like many think we should be doing)

 

[Jaydumo20]

Eh Hurley has tried and talked about a couple of things we have complained about this year on the board so far.

Not saying it’s because of us, but the whole nobody knows better than the coaches thing is kind of lazy lol.

I’m not saying that he is perfect. I can’t say for sure but I’d wager he doesn’t weigh our tips. If he does something someone on the yard suggested, to make the direct correlation is specious. And most of our criticism comes after something clearly didn’t work. That is the laziest and easiest. Very rare is the “Hurley coached a crap game but we are lucky we won”

 

[CL82]

A common theme here during losses is that Hurley is the problem. Blaming the coach has roots that go way back, in every sport. But there is a psychology behind it. The brain likes simple, digestible solutions: It's easier to live with

True, but it’s also human nature to hold the person accountable who is responsible. Captains are responsible for the losses of the ship, regardless of whether they have individual blame. Officers are responsible for the actions of their men. Managers are responsible for the failures of their department. And, yes, coaches are responsible for their teams losses. They put together the roster and they designed the game plan.

So, yeah, Hurley is ultimately responsible for his team’s losses. He would be the first one to say that.

This is in no way an anti-Hurley post. He’s the man who is “responsible” for a top 10 team. I’m just disagreeing with your point that people assigning blame to Hurley are somehow suffering from a psychological shortcoming. I think it’s as simple as “This is your job. Fix it.”

 

[superjohn]

Marquette had an excellent game plan to defend our starters. It was to blanket Hawkins and double Adama. They executed it to perfection. They also had an excellent offensive plan against our starters to put Sanogo in areas where he is not defending post one on one (which he is good at) and instead trying to be a help defender or defending quicker guys 12 feet from hoop, which he is not so great at. We did have answers with our bench. Marquette had no answers for Clingan on either end, and our mixed lineups confused them a bit. So what did Hurley do to adjust? Kept going back to the starting 5 who were neutralized on both ends in every occasion. That is why we lost this game. We didn't exploit a in-game apparent weakness. Who do we blame for that besides coach?

We know as fans what these good teams are going to do to us defensively, collapse on Sanogo and blanket Hawkins. We also know what we're going to do defensively. That means these opposing coaches are going to keep doing the same things against us on both sides of the ball, it's scary how coach hasn't figured out ways to expose what he knows is coming.

There aren't any surprises here and we continue to look unprepared for it.

 

[superjohn]

Hurley can’t make the open shots that we are missing, but people are upset because our playstyle feels very scripted and rigid. It’s a fair complaint, exaggerated by a board that loves to complain

Even Hurley says this about his own offense, fix it.

 

[TerryBoyz]

If you think Marquette, providence and/or Xavier are better teams than UConn then the onus is NOT on Hurley.
Otherwise I think its fair to criticize Hurley.

 

[Husky68]

Coaching is about alternatives. You have alternatives in who you recruit as freshman and transfers until time is up and school starts. You have alternatives for picking assistants, type of offense and defense to teach/stress; then games start and you observe/learn/adjust.

Observing UConn's play, as teams have more time/incentive to game plan specifically for UConn (league games) there have been some good plans to thwart UConn and they have worked well recently.

Guard Newton full court and take lot time off clock and start offense way past 3 point line, let Hawkins run around picks as easy for 2nd defender to step out and stop pass or make shot hard, Diarra over dribbles and when in game usually not lot of shooters in and seems to always have ball when shot clock ticking down, Andre doesn't make his man pay by driving all way to rim, Adama has limited rim protection and passing ability, Karaban can be made to disappear on offense and liability on defense against pounding type forwards, Joey and Alleyne make them take tough shots, Clingan force him to make an offensive move from 5 feet and make him guard on high hedge.

In 3 loses 2nd half scoring was Xavier + 11, Providence + 9, Marquette + 10; starting to look like half time coaching adjustments impacting outcome. Isn't UConn short bench (like Geno's team).

UConn has taken 214 more 3's than opponents, 75 less 2's and 39 less free throws. A style of play not rewarded by the BE "call fouls on drives when offensive guy jumps into defender" type refereeing.

Coach needs to get past Jay Bilas "toughness" search and get right players on court offsetting opponents UConn specific strategies and utilize UConn opponent specific strategies.

There is a reason Providence wins lot of close games (besides some helpful refereeing) and it's a lot on their head coach.

Final UConn possession of 1st half was classic example of a confused offensive set. Score there and keep Marquette from scoring and maybe changes outcome.

 

[Jaydumo20]

True, but it’s also human nature to hold the person accountable who is responsible. Captains are responsible for the losses of the ship, regardless of whether they have individual blame. Officers are responsible for the actions of their men. Managers are responsible for the failures of their department. And, yes, coaches are responsible for their teams losses. They put together the roster and they designed the game plan.

So, yeah, Hurley is ultimately responsible for his team’s losses. He would be the first one to say that.

This is in no way an anti-Hurley post. He’s the man who is “responsible” for a top 10 team. I’m just disagreeing with your point that people assigning blame to Hurley are somehow suffering from a psychological shortcoming. I think it’s as simple as “This is your job. Fix it.”

I agree with everything you said. It’s just the spin: My point is that human nature is often to blame and not to be trusted. Also,of course any good leader would assume the onus whether or not it is largely his/her fault

 

[mauconnfan]

Team win. Coach the carpenter. Team loses, he can’t win close games.

That’s what happens when you are paid $4M a year. This is the business.

As far as the team, glaring issues with backcourt offensively. He just isn’t impactful enough, which doesn’t make sense considering the talent he has. He should be able to with his size, skill and athleticism attack the basket and create for other players.

I don’t like they are only using Hawkins as a spot up shooter off screens. He needs to attack the rim and be more aggressive.

Sanogo, offensively, is a beast 1-on-1, but the book is out in how to defend him. Double him, make him make a play. He has to process faster

I just want to team to oaky with pace and power. They are robots out there just running the offense, but not making basketball plays .

Agree with most of what you say but saying you don’t like how “they are using Hawkins as a spot up shooter off screens.” I’m critical of Dan Hurley and adjustments but this isn’t “they” who are using him that way it’s him that can’t get to the rim off the dribble. They would love him to get to the hole but you’ve seen the majority of his attempts are throws or the usual drive to the left and try to shoot with the right, zero left hand. He’s limited, we know that and Shaka and others do now too. Can Dan Hurley find ways to get him open, won’t be easy now that the scouting report is out there. It’s up to Hawkins at this point.

 

[RJScootin]

Everyone always wants the perfect coach. Have fun finding him.

Seems dramatic, who asked for a perfect coach? When a fan is sitting at home watching game and can see the starting lineup in 2nd half shouldn't reflect start of game it seems very reasonable to expect more. There wasn't a minute on that court yesterday the team wasn't better with DC. Instead of maybe building on UConn lead Hurley went back to same old which lead to Marquette run. Also don't see need to start Newton 2nd half, at least Diarra brings defense and energy.

 

[freescooter]

What a bunch of garbage. The coach makes dumb decisions, has no rational offense, makes no adjustments, gets Teed up in the last 2 minutes and by the way recruits the players yet none of it is his fault. Wasn’t Ollie’s fault we fell off a cliff either. Actually, using your logic, we should have just kept Dom Perno. Mean he got to the NCAA tournament and won a game back when you actually had to win a tournament to get in. Something Hurley hasn’t accomplished to date. Hurley is a pretty good recruiter, though hardly the great one he is made out to be here. He’s had what? 1 draft pick.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I agree with everything you said. It’s just the spin: My point is that human nature is often to blame and not to be trusted. Also,of course any good leader would assume the onus whether or not it is largely his/her fault

I think that’s the thing that worries me most about Hurley is that we haven’t seen that I think. Even in times he clearly messed up. It’s always the players.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

It would be really interesting if there was some sort of +/- system developed for ranking the value of a Coach per match up. -do they add any possible points after time outs, affect a game by their in game substitutions, defensive switches, etc..
Maybe start off with the normal point spread then factor in a Coaches "potential" value to the outcome + or -. Calhoun was likely worth +4-5 in Big Games while a Calipari would be a -5. Unfortunately at the moment Hurley is much closer to the latter.

 

[UConnSwag11]

We know as fans what these good teams are going to do to us defensively, collapse on Sanogo and blanket Hawkins. We also know what we're going to do defensively. That means these opposing coaches are going to keep doing the same things against us on both sides of the ball, it's scary how coach hasn't figured out ways to expose what he knows is coming.

There aren't any surprises here and we continue to look unprepared for it.

Some might take this truth as blasphemous

 

[Icehawk]

I do blame the coach for planning, rotations, set plays, and other things he not only controls but designs. Getting Ts for no reason? That's on him. Even some of those missed shots are on him and his overreliance on set plays. His job is to help shore up our weaknesses and exploit our strengths.

11s left in 1st half with Marquette inbounding. Based on what we had seen so far do you leave Clingan in or swap in Adama? I seriously doubt anyone here thought swapping in Adama was the right move. What was he going to add? Leaving Clingan in gives you a chance for a block/rim protection. No foul trouble you need to plan for either.

I'm definitely not a savant but some stuff sure seems plain from my couch. This season is starting to give me deja vu vibes and that's no good especially when we started out so hard. Less standing around & more creativity is needed on the floor.

IMO Hurley still needs to work on the same things as last season - temper control and in game decision making. I do think the rotations and other in-game adjustments (ie, TOs) are better than last season but like the one I referenced above there are still ones that are headscratchers to the peanut gallery. I'm still in support of Dan Hurley but I'd like to see meaningful improvement here as well as some results in BET\NCAAs.

At least we don't have a bagel against Creighton anymore, so we've got that. Which is nice.

 

[mauconnfan]

True, but it’s also human nature to hold the person accountable who is responsible. Captains are responsible for the losses of the ship, regardless of whether they have individual blame. Officers are responsible for the actions of their men. Managers are responsible for the failures of their department. And, yes, coaches are responsible for their teams losses. They put together the roster and they designed the game plan.

So, yeah, Hurley is ultimately responsible for his team’s losses. He would be the first one to say that.

This is in no way an anti-Hurley post. He’s the man who is “responsible” for a top 10 team. I’m just disagreeing with your point that people assigning blame to Hurley are somehow suffering from a psychological shortcoming. I think it’s as simple as “This is your job. Fix it.”

This minus the "he'd be the first one to say it." He never has and rarely goes down that road or close. LOL

 

[CL82]

This minus the "he'd be the first one to say it." He never has and rarely goes down that road or close. LOL

And I feel as if he has made a quote. Well, that’s on the coaches to figure out” statement, but I could be wrong. I’m sure there is nobody who takes the losses harder than Danny Hurley. He is one hell of a competitive guy.

 

[Billy Jack]

But still not enough. Why does Hurley come out of TV timeout in 2nd half and DC should have been sent in. Instead he has him check in to scores table a second after they start play, then he sits there waiting 2 mins to get in. What sense does that make?

I remember thinking the same thing at the time. My guess is that Coach wanted to get a little more rest than just the TV timeout. You see the same thing in reverse when a coach pulls a player with 30-60 seconds before a TV timeout just to double the amount of rest at the timeout. This was the same thing.

And he didn’t sit there for 2 minutes. He missed 40-50 seconds of game time. You can look it up.