Boneyard hysteria

[Durks07]

Let's all try to make intelligent comments so the Boneyard doesn't become a complete waste of time...

 

[upstater]

That's all we did was "run the offense" last year, we didn't have a guy that can break someone down off the dribble which was a huge hole for us. Newton brings us that skill plus being able to "start an offense". This isn't 1980 we need guards that can take guys 1 on 1 and score at will.

Our timing was way off. We were out of sync. Just the command wasn't there. You could see players running plays but we rarely seemed to be in the spot.

 

[gtcam]

Following the best season we have had in years and the announcement of the intended departure of a handful of players who clearly didn’t earn the confidence of the coaching staff to gain playing time, many of you decided that it was time to panic and reject your leader (Hurley). You decided you, with all of your division 1 coaching experience, and your daily interactions with the players, and your daily discussions with the assistant coaches (I’m being facetious here), knew more about what’s going on with the team than Hurley. “Fire him, something is terribly wrong with the culture, he’s a terrible recruiter.” I watched these posts for a week or so and was amazed at the grandiosity behind many of the wild opinions being shared. Did it ever occur to those of you who were certain that the sky was falling that you are a fan and that you don’t have 1/100 of the knowledge and the insight about coaching a D1 bball team as Hurley does? Why did you not assume the most likely scenario…. Hurley gave players honest feedback about where they stand and they decided to leave because they want playing time? You thought Hurley and his staff can’t evaluate talent correctly after a year with these players? Come on. You didn’t think Hurley knew he needed to get guards from the transfer portal??? Wow! I know the fun of the boneyard is to be an armchair quarterback but many of you went overboard after a wave splashed up over the bow . I’ve posted this to give some of you the chance to repent. .

It was a joke oh serious and humorless one. No worship needed…. Just offering a reasoned opinion in a often nutty place.

A joke is a reasoned opinion???????

If you are now playing this as a joke or attempt at satire - you wasted a lot of time or just fishing for likes from the usual suspects who stand by the kool-aid fountain
Dan Hurley is Dan Hurley, you get the whole package, and there's areas to be critical of and there's aspects to be positive about
When he starts winning some of the games that really count people will be less ready to jump on things that happen and things he does.
All in the UConn mens basketball world isn't ending but there is a lot of things that need correcting.
One doesn't need to be a D1 coach to know something about coaching or the game.
Lets wait and see what shakes out of this whole portal BS and what Dan Hurley does with his new kids now that the ones that he recruited so hard and heaped praise upon are no longer around.
I want UConn basketball to be what it was in the OBE days but everything now isn't all roses. On to 2022-2023!!!!

 

[Dean Wormer]

The Transfer Portal age is changing how we see things. We’re all a work in progress. Every program in multiple sports is going through the same thing. We’re lucky we’re at the top of the food chain instead of some mid major that loses its stars every year. That would totally suck.

 

[Billy Bob]

You are guaranteeing a National Championship next year? Excellent.

It's hard for someone like AJ to iniitiate any offense when he can't shoot from the outside consistently and can't take it all of the way to the hole. Yeah, he can stand at the top of the key and pass. That's about it.

 

[Get a Job]

iron balloon disbanded in 1980, around the same time as you hung that weird smelling little xmas tree thing on the rearview mirror of ur chevy citation, almost a half century ago.
time to change it, and rescent ur hoopty. 'eau de mothball' prolly ur best bet.

While I appreciate the impromptu stylized nickname for Led Zeppelin, and I'll accept balloon as a valid description, if not synonym, of zeppelin, I cannot accept iron and a stand-in for "led". First, Theo Kattamis (famed UConn material science professor) would roll over in his grave (if he were dead) if he heard someone using iron and lead interchangeably. They are completely different elements with very different densities (the relevant property of the metal in the "lead balloon/zeppelin" metaphor). Secondly, even if iron were acceptable, you'd have to misspell it. I give you a D+.

Aside: The Mythbusters proved that a lead balloon can indeed fly.

 

[Waquoit]

There was not much hysteria at all until Floyd transferred. Which obviously doesn't make this about playing time.

Strongly disagree. What this is about is that many people here hate Hurley and go DEFCON 1 on a hiccup.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

This post needs a fisking, unfortunately.

Following the best season we have had in years and the announcement of the intended departure of a handful of players who clearly didn’t earn the confidence of the coaching staff to gain playing time, many of you decided that it was time to panic and reject your leader (Hurley).

This is a straw man argument, yet another logical fallacy. I read those same posts - in fact, I probably posted a couple of them - and very few showed "panic" or rejection of Hurley. The majority wondered how it could have been that the staff was so wrong in assessing the ability of 3 highly ranked and aggressively recruited guards that they felt, after those post-season discussions, that their best option was to transfer for playing time. We all are aware of the portal, and understand that you are more likely to find solid contributors if you are shopping in the 'already proven' aisle. But that doesn't explain why Floyd didn't play when it was clear that Gaffney and Diggins weren't trusted to contribute. It doesn't explain how the staff was unable to develop highly ranked guards like Gaffney and Diggins into productive college players. Unless, of course, they were completely off in their evaluations when recruiting them.

You decided you, with all of your division 1 coaching experience, and your daily interactions with the players, and your daily discussions with the assistant coaches (I’m being facetious here), knew more about what’s going on with the team than Hurley.

While you're right that very few of us have Div. 1 coaching experience, or even playing Div. 1 ball, we have all played and watched and sometimes coached a lot of basketball. We know how teams work, how players and coaches interact, and we know talent when we see it. My questions on Hurley started when I saw him not playing Whaley, when what I saw was a quick and agile defender with high energy and court smarts. It took an injury for him to get his chance.

“Fire him, something is terribly wrong with the culture, he’s a terrible recruiter.”

I saw a couple of "fire him" posts. I took them to be hyperbole. Apparently you didn't. And I've said he's a much better recruiter than Ollie, obviously, but there are questions about guard evaluations that need to be answered. Castle will probably do that. But if you want to compete with the big boys you cant swing and miss often.

I watched these posts for a week or so and was amazed at the grandiosity behind many of the wild opinions being shared.

They are just opinions. Everyone has them. Some are right, some are wrong. Right or wrong are not often known immediately. Some are only proven right much later, as time and events reveal. It's best to have some humility about right or wrong until those events become determinative.

Did it ever occur to those of you who were certain that the sky was falling that you are a fan and that you don’t have 1/100 of the knowledge and the insight about coaching a D1 bball team as Hurley does?

There are very few chicken littles here. Virtually all of us want to see UConn in the running for national championnships every year, but when a team flames out in the first round 2 years in a row against lower ranked teams, you get concerned.

Then you follow up with another straw man. You don't have to coach a D1 hoop team to know basketball. Having been on this board for a number of years, there are a lot of members with deep basketball knowledge. Yes, even if they haven't coached D1.

 

[nycscooby]

I don’t love our coach for a number of reasons. It doesn’t make me hysterical. It doesn’t mean that I don’t understand the game. And, it definitely doesn’t make me less of a fan than the most ardent of BYers. I have been rooting on and watching the Huskies since 1979 and I am an alum of the school.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

There are very few chicken littles here.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Well, maybe a few ...

 

[zepfan]

The Transfer Portal age is changing how we see things. We’re all a work in progress. Every program in multiple sports is going through the same thing. We’re lucky we’re at the top of the food chain instead of some mid major that loses its stars every year. That would totally suck.

Excellent point!

 

[ClifSpliffy]

ok, u got me. it's true that i have never coached at a d1 school, but i have often stayed at a holiday inn when coaching nba'ers in a tourney. i mean, where else would i have learned aboot twin sinks in the restroom next to the foyer? who knew? in the mbr? sure, id seen that, but in the entryway portal? impressive.
u can learn a lot of stuff from those tourney afterparties. stuff like 'that guy really, really, eats a lot of chicken,' or 'that girl drinks like a sailor on shoreleave. u'd never know that by watching her on the tube...'
saw two pros one time in a comp to see who could eat more dunked chips in a row without breaking one. gifted gents, those two. lots of convo by us in the peanut gallery aboot technique. i don't recall if we decided it was better to dip the pointy end in first, or the flat end, to reduce the chance of cracking one.
pro tip: those corn chips made to aid in the dipping thing without breakage mostly taste like cardboard.
i really do not like tostitos. kind of a corn fraud iffn u ask me.

 

[zepfan]

This post needs a fisking, unfortunately.

This is a straw man argument, yet another logical fallacy. I read those same posts - in fact, I probably posted a couple of them - and very few showed "panic" or rejection of Hurley. The majority wondered how it could have been that the staff was so wrong in assessing the ability of 3 highly ranked and aggressively recruited guards that they felt, after those post-season discussions, that their best option was to transfer for playing time. We all are aware of the portal, and understand that you are more likely to find solid contributors if you are shopping in the 'already proven' aisle. But that doesn't explain why Floyd didn't play when it was clear that Gaffney and Diggins weren't trusted to contribute. It doesn't explain how the staff was unable to develop highly ranked guards like Gaffney and Diggins into productive college players. Unless, of course, they were completely off in their evaluations when recruiting them.

While you're right that very few of us have Div. 1 coaching experience, or even playing Div. 1 ball, we have all played and watched and sometimes coached a lot of basketball. We know how teams work, how players and coaches interact, and we know talent when we see it. My questions on Hurley started when I saw him not playing Whaley, when what I saw was a quick and agile defender with high energy and court smarts. It took an injury for him to get his chance.

I saw a couple of "fire him" posts. I took them to be hyperbole. Apparently you didn't. And I've said he's a much better recruiter than Ollie, obviously, but there are questions about guard evaluations that need to be answered. Castle will probably do that. But if you want to compete with the big boys you cant swing and miss often.

They are just opinions. Everyone has them. Some are right, some are wrong. Right or wrong are not often known immediately. Some are only proven right much later, as time and events reveal. It's best to have some humility about right or wrong until those events become determinative.

There are very few chicken littles here. Virtually all of us want to see UConn in the running for national championnships every year, but when a team flames out in the first round 2 years in a row against lower ranked teams, you get concerned.

Then you follow up with another straw man. You don't have to coach a D1 hoop team to know basketball. Having been on this board for a number of years, there are a lot of members with deep basketball knowledge. Yes, even if they haven't coached D1.

Very thoughtful post and criticism. I respect your thoughts and agree with some aspects of your criticism. The essence of my post is that laypersons too often base their opinions about the behavior of experts on minimal information and a lot of assumptions that fail to give the expert even the slightest benefit of the doubt. Hurley has flaws of course but he has also demonstrated considerable expertise. The boneyard is filled with opinions based on very little true understanding of the issues. This, in my opinion, is hard to argue. However, this does not mean that reasonable, fair, intelligent posters do not exist on the boneyard. Of course they do. I was speaking to those that jump to absolute truths from very little evidence. Yes, everyone is entitled to have their opinion and the debates are fun. Interjecting a reminder to temper our opinions with some degree of hubris… I thought was warranted in this situation. Some appear to agree and others not so much.

 

[olehead]

I meant to put a laughing face emoji after the word “repent.” The tone of the post wasn’t meant to be harsh, just amazement and an invite to those who went overboard to laugh at themselves.

Overboard? You do realize what the outcome of the 1st round game was? Did you see Creighton's part 1 and 2? Must be nice to be that fan, that says, "it's ok we'll get 'em next year".

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Very thoughtful post and criticism. I respect your thoughts and agree with some aspects of your criticism. The essence of my post is that laypersons too often base their opinions about the behavior of experts on minimal information and a lot of assumptions that fail to give the expert even the slightest benefit of the doubt. Hurley has flaws of course but he has also demonstrated considerable expertise. The boneyard is filled with opinions based on very little true understanding of the issues. This, in my opinion, is hard to argue. However, this does not mean that reasonable, fair, intelligent posters do not exist on the boneyard. Of course they do. I was speaking to those that jump to absolute truths from very little evidence. Yes, everyone is entitled to have their opinion and the debates are fun. Interjecting a reminder to temper our opinions with some degree of hubris… I thought was warranted in this situation. Some appear to agree and others not so much.

okeydokey, let's see if i got this correct.
you- 'repent!' and, 'Interjecting a reminder to temper our opinions with some degree of hubris…' soo, that's repent! and, temper with hubris! do i have that right?
me?- 'kiss my grits.'

one more- 'laypersons.' laypersons? kiss my grits, twice. on a sunday. in the middle of main street. in the words of master shake, 'don't u tell me to beware, cuz i'll tell u where to be.'

 

[olehead]

I should note, you presume there are those who have not coached at the D1 level and lack the experience. You know what they say about assuming.

 

[Woodson]

Strongly disagree. What this is about is that many people here hate Hurley and go DEFCON 1 on a hiccup.

And football folk who love to pile on basketball program any opportunity they see

 

[metsfan2323]

Overboard? You do realize what the outcome of the 1st round game was? Did you see Creighton's part 1 and 2? Must be nice to be that fan, that says, "it's ok we'll get 'em next year".

and what is your wise alternative to the "go get em next year" crowd? We lost to Creighton twice and a first round tournament game, your solution is?

On the surface you seem like a spoiled POS.

 

[metsfan2323]

I should note, you presume there are those who have not coached at the D1 level and lack the experience. You know what they say about assuming.

Oh wow, you have D1 coaching experience? please enlighten us. Should we fire our coach for losing to Creighton? How dare he.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

and what is your wise alternative to the "go get em next year" crowd? We lost to Creighton twice and a first round tournament game, your solution is?

On the surface you seem like a spoiled POS.

the only thing in ur jibberjabber that is 100% correct is asking olehead for a 'wise alternative,' cuz olehead, along with very few others here, is truly wise in calling talent.
member when olehead told us all aboot a sort of unknown named cam whitmore? i do. let's take a looksee into what some are saying aboot mr whitmore today:
when coach wright retired, 'all eyes immediately shifted toward 5 star recruit cam whitmore, ... cuz if he did decide to transfer, he'd be not only the most coveted prospect in high school, but also the most coveted player in the transfer portal.'
Five-star prospect Cam Whitmore debating future at Villanova
no 'expert' at the time of olehead's opinion could have even imagined this outcome, sooooooo, olehead 1, rest of the flotsam 0.

what u got?

 

[olehead]

and what is your wise alternative to the "go get em next year" crowd? We lost to Creighton twice and a first round tournament game, your solution is?

On the surface you seem like a spoiled POS.

Nice, and from our distant interaction you assume such, from my even evaluation of Dan Hurley over the last three years. I gave him the yung bull mulligan for sideline and strategy gaffes through 2020. And your inquiry Could be devalued as petulant ad hominem to be written off summarily, written off further fueled by your evident Fandom of that triple a L.I. Mets program

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Very thoughtful post and criticism. I respect your thoughts and agree with some aspects of your criticism. The essence of my post is that laypersons too often base their opinions about the behavior of experts on minimal information and a lot of assumptions that fail to give the expert even the slightest benefit of the doubt. Hurley has flaws of course but he has also demonstrated considerable expertise. The boneyard is filled with opinions based on very little true understanding of the issues. This, in my opinion, is hard to argue. However, this does not mean that reasonable, fair, intelligent posters do not exist on the boneyard. Of course they do. I was speaking to those that jump to absolute truths from very little evidence. Yes, everyone is entitled to have their opinion and the debates are fun. Interjecting a reminder to temper our opinions with some degree of hubris… I thought was warranted in this situation. Some appear to agree and others not so much.

An excellent, thoughtful response. Nice.

There’s a boatload of basketball knowledge and history collectively in the site members. That’s what makes it worth coming here. And (using politics only peripherally) as we’ve seen over the last, say, at least 22 years disagreement with a ‘current administration’ doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

 

[olehead]

Oh wow, you have D1 coaching experience? please enlighten us. Should we fire our coach for losing to Creighton? How dare he.

Relax. Back off your monster induced light roast.

 

[zepfan]

An excellent, thoughtful response. Nice.

There’s a boatload of basketball knowledge and history collectively in the site members. That’s what makes it worth coming here. And (using politics only peripherally) as we’ve seen over the last, say, at least 22 years disagreement with a ‘current administration’ doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

Thanks for the insights. Yes, I do fully appreciate the thoughts of many on this sight and come here for the same reason you stated… to learn what’s going on with the team from the insiders’ perspectives and the more helpful posters who have more knowledge than I about history and/or current happenings. It’s the pointless bickering over speculation and opinions that are loosely related to facts as well as the unnecessary vitriol that’s hard to stomach at times. But such as the world of social media!

 

[UconnPT2007]

Losing to New Mexico State = FIRED

 

[uconngb]

This post needs a fisking, unfortunately.

This is a straw man argument, yet another logical fallacy. I read those same posts - in fact, I probably posted a couple of them - and very few showed "panic" or rejection of Hurley. The majority wondered how it could have been that the staff was so wrong in assessing the ability of 3 highly ranked and aggressively recruited guards that they felt, after those post-season discussions, that their best option was to transfer for playing time. We all are aware of the portal, and understand that you are more likely to find solid contributors if you are shopping in the 'already proven' aisle. But that doesn't explain why Floyd didn't play when it was clear that Gaffney and Diggins weren't trusted to contribute. It doesn't explain how the staff was unable to develop highly ranked guards like Gaffney and Diggins into productive college players. Unless, of course, they were completely off in their evaluations when recruiting them.

While you're right that very few of us have Div. 1 coaching experience, or even playing Div. 1 ball, we have all played and watched and sometimes coached a lot of basketball. We know how teams work, how players and coaches interact, and we know talent when we see it. My questions on Hurley started when I saw him not playing Whaley, when what I saw was a quick and agile defender with high energy and court smarts. It took an injury for him to get his chance.

I saw a couple of "fire him" posts. I took them to be hyperbole. Apparently you didn't. And I've said he's a much better recruiter than Ollie, obviously, but there are questions about guard evaluations that need to be answered. Castle will probably do that. But if you want to compete with the big boys you cant swing and miss often.

They are just opinions. Everyone has them. Some are right, some are wrong. Right or wrong are not often known immediately. Some are only proven right much later, as time and events reveal. It's best to have some humility about right or wrong until those events become determinative.

There are very few chicken littles here. Virtually all of us want to see UConn in the running for national championnships every year, but when a team flames out in the first round 2 years in a row against lower ranked teams, you get concerned.

Then you follow up with another straw man. You don't have to coach a D1 hoop team to know basketball. Having been on this board for a number of years, there are a lot of members with deep basketball knowledge. Yes, even if they haven't coached D1.

Well done!!

 

[Hi-Low]

Nice, and from our distant interaction you assume such, from my even evaluation of Dan Hurley over the last three years. I gave him the yung bull mulligan for sideline and strategy gaffes through 2020. And your inquiry Could be devalued as petulant ad hominem to be written off summarily, written off further fueled by your evident Fandom of that triple a L.I. Mets program

What a bore...oy vey

 

[olehead]

What a bore...oy vey

Block me you dolt.

 

[bilsmafia64]

It's a monumental moment in Husky Hoops ("is the price increase worth the product?" ....that is basically the consensus for the insane spike in season ticket prices the FANS have seen (this is not a post to discuss that)).... Huskies are officially back in the spotlight of the CBB world and there is no doubt that Coach Hurley's energy was magnetic from the start....HOWEVER....there comes a point when what is coming out of your mouth needs to come to fruition for the UCONN FAITHFUL to trust ....here is a list of goals that might be pivotal to the success desired for next year and beyond:

1. Schedule Creighton @ Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on a mid/late Saturday afternoon in February
2. Don't get embarrassed at the Phil Knight Invitational
3. Win the 1st Big East Conference game (we lost to Providence last year....)
4. Hurley to not blame the FANS at all during the year (maybe tone it down a bit all together and start getting it done in between the lines....)
5. Beat Creighton (don't care where, don't care how....)
6. Finish Top 3 in BE standings (should be Top 2 but Top 3 is acceptable with the above listed items checked off....)
7. Make BE Tourney Final (should be "win it all" but this is the big bad BIG EAST right....)
8. WIN AN NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME!!!!

....but what do I know