Borges: Sanogo could see "limited minutes"; AJax calf issue; Diggins unlikely to see the floor

[Jimdish255]

The faster pace is Hurley’s wish, no?

I don’t read his other comments as suggesting that the rotation will be changing materially anytime soon, and certainly not tonight, except that Johnson may see some minutes if the pace allows.

Hurley seems to do a lot of wishing. Not sure what the wishful thinking is based on though. If you make actual changes, adjustments in scheme or personnel you can justify it. But nothing he stated indicates anything of substance has changed. So we can expect high 50's to mid 60's most nights against decent defensive teams and try to keep them under that? At the very least run some plays to get Whaley more shots and give anybody who can go better than 60% against Auburn then average around 10% against the other 5 decent teams we've played a few of those minutes. Or just keep banging heads against the wall and hope we play better.

 

[Husky68]

We have no idea what is going on in practice! I think this DH quote from after the Xavier loss down in Charleston applies to all the 'coaches' on the BY ... "you don’t even know what you’re watching. You flip on a game, you watch 30 games a year and you watch the NBA, you don’t know shi* about what we do. You don’t know a thing about it. Not a thing.”

Sounds a lot like HCRE2.0. Basketball is not that complicated a game, the eye test can easily differentiate "wow that's some good stuff" from "what the duckk are they trying to do on offense".

Don't see much difference between current offense and the Gilbert/Vitale offense where those 2 had to constantly bail out the team on offense as no one else could dribble/shoot and others caught the ball past the 3 point line only to pass it back to Gilbert or Vitale.

Cole is the Gilbert and Vitale all rolled up in one guy.

So, starting lineup, what does the offense run the 1st 5 minutes. Unless the defense breaks down AJ, Akok and Whaley are just there to pass the ball back to Cole. Martin is the go to guy?

Of the 7 or so teams UConn played that are more or less equal to UConn name the ones that after the game said "boy I wished we ran an offense as effective as UConn". Not even sure the 5 cupcakes would say that.

 

[8893]

I watch very little NBA, but I followed the discussion about Bouk and the Hornets here.

It occurs to me that the description of what Borrego was doing there is very similar to what Hurley is doing here, i.e., Borrego was/is playing veterans with greater experience but more limited upside in hopes of making the playoffs, at the expense of developing younger talent with greater potential. He has no designs on actually competing for a championship at this point; he just wants to make the playoffs and he figures that his veterans give him the best chance at that. And apparently, that is consistent with the goals of that franchise.

Likewise, Hurley says he wants to play his upperclassmen even if they are more limited because he would prefer to lose by a few points with their experience than to lose by a lot with mistake-prone freshmen. Hurley is trying to make the NCCAs and get at least a post-season win or two under his belt here; I don't think he has any designs on a winning a championship this season, but he figures that his upperclassmen give him the best chance to win games now. He is much less concerned about developing younger talent with greater potential, unless and until those players are consistently beating the upperclassmen in practice.

Perhaps this was obvious to most, but it was something that occurred to me during the interminable meeting I've been in most of the day. Not saying it's good or bad, but I thought it was an interesting similarity in the dynamic between the two.

 

[CL82]

I watch very little NBA, but I followed the discussion about Bouk and the Hornets here.

It occurs to me that the description of what Borrego was doing there is very similar to what Hurley is doing here, i.e., Borrego was/is playing veterans with greater experience but more limited upside in hopes of making the playoffs, at the expense of developing younger talent with greater potential. He has no designs on actually competing for a championship at this point; he just wants to make the playoffs and he figures that his veterans give him the best chance at that. And apparently, that is consistent with the goals of that franchise.

Likewise, Hurley says he wants to play his upperclassmen even if they are more limited because he would prefer to lose by a few points with their experience than to lose by a lot with mistake-prone freshmen. Hurley is trying to make the NCCAs and get at least a post-season win or two under his belt here; I don't think he has any designs on a winning a championship this season, but he figures that his upperclassmen give him the best chance to win games now. He is much less concerned about developing younger talent with greater potential, unless and until those players are consistently beating the upperclassmen in practice.

Perhaps this was obvious to most, but it was something that occurred to me during the interminable meeting I've been in most of the day. Not saying it's good or bad, but I thought it was an interesting similarity in the dynamic between the two.

Of course, you realize Hurleys giving us false choices. In essence he saying I’d rather play my seniors the whole game and lose by a few points rather than play my freshman the whole game and lose by a dozen points. There is a whole world of options in between those two choices that might result in, oh I don’t know winning a game?

 

[BGesus4]

Of course, you realize Hurleys giving us false choices. In essence he saying I’d rather play my seniors the whole game and lose by a few points rather than play my freshman the whole game and lose by a dozen points. There is a whole world of options in between those two choices that might result in, oh I don’t know winning a game?

i.e. have a chance at winning vs no chance. Seems pretty straightforward.

 

[dennismenace]

I watch very little NBA, but I followed the discussion about Bouk and the Hornets here.

It occurs to me that the description of what Borrego was doing there is very similar to what Hurley is doing here, i.e., Borrego was/is playing veterans with greater experience but more limited upside in hopes of making the playoffs, at the expense of developing younger talent with greater potential. He has no designs on actually competing for a championship at this point; he just wants to make the playoffs and he figures that his veterans give him the best chance at that. And apparently, that is consistent with the goals of that franchise.

Likewise, Hurley says he wants to play his upperclassmen even if they are more limited because he would prefer to lose by a few points with their experience than to lose by a lot with mistake-prone freshmen. Hurley is trying to make the NCCAs and get at least a post-season win or two under his belt here; I don't think he has any designs on a winning a championship this season, but he figures that his upperclassmen give him the best chance to win games now. He is much less concerned about developing younger talent with greater potential, unless and until those players are consistently beating the upperclassmen in practice.

Perhaps this was obvious to most, but it was something that occurred to me during the interminable meeting I've been in most of the day. Not saying it's good or bad, but I thought it was an interesting similarity in the dynamic between the two.

I believe you are correct in what DH's goals are and thus justifying his decisions. However, he could have kept the same goals and not risked anything by playing some of the freshman in games against cupcakes and given them more experience and probably the team more March potential by letting them play. The two goals are not mutually exclusive. IMHO that is a risk he took with little upside and a lot of potential downside risk (experience (in case of injuries), discovery of how they can play, confidence, more fresh bodies for wearing down opponents and avoiding frustration with these recruits and potential new ones. Too me it is an unnecessary downside risk and also rewards what are in some cases consistently bad performances by a few marginal upperclassmen.

 

[8893]

Of course, you realize Hurleys giving us false choices. In essence he saying I’d rather play my seniors the whole game and lose by a few points rather than play my freshman the whole game and lose by a dozen points. There is a whole world of options in between those two choices that might result in, oh I don’t know winning a game?

I don't put much stock in the particulars of what he says when he's in this defensive mode. I'll look at the bright side and be thankful that at least we're not getting the daily lectures anymore about how bad off the program was before he came and what a great job he has done building it back up.

I took his comments to basically say, "Trust me, if you think these guys are bad, the younger guys are worse, and I have the luxury not to play them now because I don't need to." And the message from many here is, "Shut your traps and trust your coach because you don't know what he's seeing in practice."

So, I'm going to try that. For tonight at least. On the board, if not in the chat. If I stay awake...

 

[UConnSean]

I remember these remarks, it was after Gilbert had an awful game and people were asking him to play AG less minutes. We may not be watching practice but you can know what’s going on in the games. Plenty of people on this board have or currently coach and understand the sets and defensive philosophy that he instills.

You can be a huge supporter of Hurley while also criticizing some of the moves he’s made. They aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m very much in the camp of: very happy to have Hurley, he’s done a great job of elevating the program, but he isn’t perfect. I mean people question Bill freakin Belichick. It’s okay to question some of the things Hurley does while fully supporting him and being happy he’s the coach.

I definitely agree with your point that you can be a huge supporter of Hurley while also criticizing some of his decisions. I just personally think all the people insisting that he play Diggins rn are off-base. Hurley has put freshmen into the rotation before, and the fact that he isn't playing Diggins tells me that Diggins is far off in practice/simply not good enough right now. I would trust Hurley/his coaching experience/what he sees in practice to make that decision

 

[Woodson]

With the 2011 roster do you think Hurley would've been giving Bazz, Roscoe, Lamb, Giffey major minutes early in the season or would he go with Olander, Beverly, and Okwandu?

Woah no need to drag Chuck into this mess. Also Olander was also in that freshman class, so he definitely wouldn't have played. For sure would have seen a lot more Coombs though

 

[UCTitleTown]

"You win with older guys" is probably not something 5* recruits want to hear.

 

[Waquoit]

"You win with older guys" is probably not something 5* recruits want to hear.

The truth?

 

[bendm]

I think in general we need to temper expectations for players in that 40-70 range that we recruited in this class.

I think folks here also have this inflated sense for how impactful freshmen typically are for a team.

THank you both. I knew Hurley couldn’t be refusing to play guys that were killing it during practice in favor of gaff and polley because he’s overly loyal and/or stubborn. It’s because 2/3 of the freshmen aren’t ready, which is perfectly normal.

It’s hard to imagine digg and Samson being much worse than gaff and polley but if Hurley says our single digit losses would have turned into double digit losses had they played instead well then We have to defer to him.

 

[Husky Alien]

 

[Mazhude]

And yet, look at Kemba and Thibodaux... sometimes stubborn is just plain wrong.

 

[UCTitleTown]

The truth?

That's a sure way to fail in recruiting these days. If you tell the truth, you better have some huge NIL backing. Didn't a recruit coming next year say DH told him that he was probably a one and done player? Inconsistent message?

 

[Lefty2one]

We have no idea what is going on in practice! I think this DH quote from after the Xavier loss down in Charleston applies to all the 'coaches' on the BY ... "you don’t even know what you’re watching. You flip on a game, you watch 30 games a year and you watch the NBA, you don’t know shi* about what we do. You don’t know a thing about it. Not a thing.”

There are plenty of casual fans but players and especially coaches pull out this gatekeeping stuff far too often, like basketball strategy is an advanced field of knowledge that few "outsiders" could possibly have. It's basketball; it ain't that complicated. I stopped listening to JJ Redick's podcast because he got so bad with the gatekeeping, as if knowing where "the nail" is defensively is a mythic piece of information.

If you've played or coached at a reasonable level and study the game you can know just about everything out there. Sure, you'll never be in the locker room and know exactly what coaches tell the team or what they say their gameplan or scouting report is but it's pretty easy to pick this stuff up by watching the game.

Also, while it's true that we don't know what's going on in practice, to a certain extent that's a dated philosphy: playing time is earned in practice. If a player gets it done when the bright lights are on then they should be on the floor.

 

[mauconnfan]

Scary he said “one possession games” would be lost if he played the freshman because they would make too many mistakes. Yet he had the guy who had 5 turnovers and made zero positive plays in the game to try to win it the other day. I think he’s lost at times I really do.

 

[TheChamps990411]

What is a 'calf issue'?

Dont know what it is but i know what i hope its not. A potential achilles injury.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

hey! i see what u did here. nice. right out of grey's anatomy.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Scary he said “one possession games” would be lost if he played the freshman because they would make too many mistakes. Yet he had the guy who had 5 turnovers and made zero positive plays in the game to try to win it the other day. I think he’s lost at times I really do.

Yeah i got a good laugh out of that.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

There are plenty of casual fans but players and especially coaches pull out this gatekeeping stuff far too often, like basketball strategy is an advanced field of knowledge that few "outsiders" could possibly have. It's basketball; it ain't that complicated. I stopped listening to JJ Redick's podcast because he got so bad with the gatekeeping, as if knowing where "the nail" is defensively is a mythic piece of information.

If you've played or coached at a reasonable level and study the game you can know just about everything out there. Sure, you'll never be in the locker room and know exactly what coaches tell the team or what they say their gameplan or scouting report is but it's pretty easy to pick this stuff up by watching the game.

Also, while it's true that we don't know what's going on in practice, to a certain extent that's a dated philosphy: playing time is earned in practice. If a player gets it done when the bright lights are on then they should be on the floor.

'If you've played or coached at a reasonable level and study the game you can know just about everything out there.'
yes! that's a big ten-four there. heck, some people who don't even know a sport that they're watching, can tell who is good and moves well. or who can't.

 

[80shusky]

Of course, you realize Hurleys giving us false choices. In essence he saying I’d rather play my seniors the whole game and lose by a few points rather than play my freshman the whole game and lose by a dozen points. There is a whole world of options in between those two choices that might result in, oh I don’t know winning a game?

My concern is this regarding the playing time of younger players:
If they rarely play even against the cakes might they start to look elsewhere?
If they rarely play even against the cakes other than practice where are they getting game experience?
If recruits see the younger players rarely play even against the cakes might they look elsewhere?

I'm not a coach so my understanding of the dynamic is from my couch which probably means I'm wrong. But from the outside looking in it seems problematic.
Important to note, I am a Husky Champion. I was "a part of it". This is clear from my bio picture.

 

[UCSouth]

Thigh issue equals knee issue. They’re connected right?

Next time someone gets a deep tissue bruise I hope the BY docs don’t diagnose a torn ACL.

Does that mean a concussion is actually low BB IQ?

 

[Umami Zen]

There are plenty of casual fans but players and especially coaches pull out this gatekeeping stuff far too often, like basketball strategy is an advanced field of knowledge that few "outsiders" could possibly have. It's basketball; it ain't that complicated. I stopped listening to JJ Redick's podcast because he got so bad with the gatekeeping, as if knowing where "the nail" is defensively is a mythic piece of information.

If you've played or coached at a reasonable level and study the game you can know just about everything out there. Sure, you'll never be in the locker room and know exactly what coaches tell the team or what they say their gameplan or scouting report is but it's pretty easy to pick this stuff up by watching the game.

Also, while it's true that we don't know what's going on in practice, to a certain extent that's a dated philosphy: playing time is earned in practice. If a player gets it done when the bright lights are on then they should be on the floor.

Lefty is right

 

[Lefty2one]

Poetic that Marquette just erased a double-digit lead with nothing but freshman and sophomores on the floor.