Butler hires Thad Matta

[McLovin]

Saying DH has won in March is true, but not genuine IMO. He’s only won 2 games and has a loosing record in the tournament. Shaka GOT to a final 4. Hurley’s never gotten out of round of 32. Not a sign of a good tourney coach IMO. like it or not Holloway has only been a HC for 4 years has more lifetime NCAA wins than Hurley.

Its fair (and true) to point out that Holloway has more lifetime wins than Hurley in a shorter career.

But Kevin Ollie has more lifetime tournament wins than Greg McDermott (who is 5-10 in the NCAAs). So by that logic is KO a better coach than McDermott? Or how about Hubert Davis who is 5-0?

I think we are all in agreement with how the Big East coaching tiers generally fall and that Hurley is somewhere in the Shakka to Holloway realm and not in the Matta / Miller realm. Which tier it is exactly is just semantics based on cherry picked stats.

 

[NJHusky]

very true. Hurley does seem to lack the flexibility in adapting game plans, I think he does adapt it, just not enough. But no matter how much adaptation occurs the players still are responsible to a varying degree. A coach can adapt optimally and the players could still mess it up.
for example look at Josh Carlton. It was best for both UConn and Josh to part ways for sure, and I am not saying there was necessarily another way to keep Josh, maybe there was, maybe there wasn't, considering Sanogo was kicking ass. However, Hurley kept asking Josh to do things he wasn't good at. Carlton was a solid defender, he just couldn't play defense the way Hurley wanted him to play defense.

And that’s what concerns me about Clingan. I doubt he can play D the way Hurley has Sanogo hedge. IW was ideal for that role, Sanogo manages ok….DC, who knows?

 

[methodology]

Since you despise DH so much, who would you want that could do better?

I don’t despise DH at all. He has work and growth to do and hasn’t proven to be open to changing his ways. He needs to do a better job adjusting based on the roster he’s assembled and in game adjustments to put the team in better position to be the best they can

 

[ThabeetDown]

I don’t despise DH at all. He has work and growth to do and hasn’t proven to be open to changing his ways. He needs to do a better job adjusting based on the roster he’s assembled and in game adjustments to put the team in better position to be the best they can

I couldn't agree more tbh

 

[Fishy]

You'll be waiting a long time for the Georgetown situation - Pat Ewing will be there a while - I'm very OK with that
Anderson is a really good coach and is perfect for St Johns - he brings the style that the NYC people like - he will get some studs - the guy has won over 400 games and brought 3 teams to numerous NCAAS and reached the elite eight and sweet sixteen. He is a much better coach than most people give him credit. In both experience and success he is above DH

I disagree on Georgetown…I think Ewing gets one more year.

But on St. John’s, yup, Anderson is their level. They’re not going to hire anyone better than him.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

It's shocking how little middle ground we have between "Hurley is the literal spawn of Satan put into a coaches body" and "Hurley is a god-send and I wish I could kiss his feet"

It's pretty fair at this point to say he's a pretty solid coach that has turned around the program through elevated recruiting and player development...with some very concerning weaknesses that might impact his ceiling and tenure at the helm if he doesn't make significant changes to his coaching style.

This is a good assessment. And I'm optimistic that those concerning weaknesses will improve.

And it takes many years for most coaches to reach high levels of success. Hurley is still on the young side. Not everyone is a wunderkind like Brad Stevens, or like we thought Shaka Smart would be.

I think Hurley has demonstrated the ability to grow and learn as a person and a coach. He's no dummy, he's watching the NCAA tournament just like we are. He knows which areas he has to improve to get UConn on track to being at the level of the teams playing late into the tournament. Although I'm not sure his sideline antics will be going away anytime soon.

I think it was pretty encouraging that his main priority for roster construction going into next season is surrounding the current roster with elite shooting and ball-handling. If he executes on that priority, then I still like where we are at as a program with Hurley at the healm.

And I really like the coaching staff we have around him. I think having another year of the same exact staff is going to pay dividends. We're fortunate that it looks like Kimani and Luke are sticking around.

 

[HuskyHawk]

What an insufferable fan base. This offseason is going to be miserable.

Seriously. I read all this bather and I‘m thinking we need a profanity day for me to share my feelings about how ridiculous it is. It’s like a bunch of fat 50 year old guys with combovers coming to blows over which Miss America pageant is hottest. “No! Her cheekbones aren’t are good.“.…“I don’t like her eyebrows”. blah, blah.

 

[NJHusky]

This is a good assessment. And I'm optimistic that those concerning weaknesses will improve.

And it takes many years for most coaches to reach high levels of success. Hurley is still on the young side. Not everyone is a wunderkind like Brad Stevens, or like we thought Shaka Smart would be.

I think Hurley has demonstrated the ability to grow and learn as a person and a coach. He's no dummy, he's watching the NCAA tournament just like we are. He knows which areas he has to improve to get UConn on track to being at the level of the teams playing late into the tournament. Although I'm not sure his sideline antics will be going away anytime soon.

I think it was pretty encouraging that his main priority for roster construction going into next season is surrounding the current roster with elite shooting and ball-handling. If he executes on that priority, then I still like where we are at as a program with Hurley at the healm.

And I really like the coaching staff we have around him. I think having another year of the same exact staff is going to pay dividends. We're fortunate that it looks like Kimani and Luke are sticking around.

Good points. But why haven’t we been able to have PG grow under DH. I know Cole was first team BE, (how much did he grow v how much did he arrive with) but DH couldn’t do anything with AG, JG or RD. Doesn’t some of that fall on the coach ?

 

[AntG168]

It’s amazing how Cooley has one really good season and we just forget how mediocre he was before. I mean the team he had last season severely underachieved. The Cooley love is over the top. That man wouldn’t of even lasted til year 5-6 at UConn. The reason he’s had a chance to have that season is because he was at Providence. Gun to my head do I want Cooley or Hurley to lead this program? I wouldn’t even need a gun, give me Hurley

 

[methodology]

It’s amazing how Cooley has one really good season and we just forget how mediocre he was before. I mean the team he had last season severely underachieved. The Cooley love is over the top. That man wouldn’t of even lasted til year 5-6 at UConn. The reason he’s had a chance to have that season is because he was at Providence. Gun to my head do I want Cooley or Hurley to lead this program? I wouldn’t even need a gun, give me Hurley

Yea but to win one game give me Cooley. Cooley is a better in game coach and a hell of a coach. Been a fan of his for years from before Providence. Stand up guy and easy to root for

 

[superjohn]

It’s amazing how Cooley has one really good season and we just forget how mediocre he was before. I mean the team he had last season severely underachieved. The Cooley love is over the top. That man wouldn’t of even lasted til year 5-6 at UConn. The reason he’s had a chance to have that season is because he was at Providence. Gun to my head do I want Cooley or Hurley to lead this program? I wouldn’t even need a gun, give me Hurley

They only made 2 tournaments in the 14 or 15 years before he got there. Cooley took them to 5 straight tournaments. That was a really bad job and broken program before he got there, he hasn't been mediocre.

 

[Dean Wormer]

Seriously. I read all this bather and I‘m thinking we need a profanity day for me to share my feelings about how ridiculous it is. It’s like a bunch of fat 50 year old guys with combovers coming to blows over which Miss America pageant is hottest. “No! Her cheekbones aren’t are good.“.…“I don’t like her eyebrows”. blah, blah.

 

[AntG168]

They only made 2 tournaments in the 14 or 15 years before he got there. Cooley took them to 5 straight tournaments. That was a really bad job and broken program before he got there, he hasn't been mediocre.

Up until last season Hurley had more tourney wins at URI in the A10 than Cooley had a Providence in the Big East. Imo he was very mediocre. Great guy, hard to root against. But all this Cooley talk is weighted in what he accomplished this season(which is fair btw, he was excellent). But let’s not pretend anyone would’ve put him over Hurley before this season. Let’s talk a couple years from now.

 

[superjohn]

Up until last season Hurley had more tourney wins at URI in the A10 than Cooley had a Providence in the Big East. Imo he was very mediocre

He's not mediocre, he wasn't before his sweet 16 and National Coach of the Year and he isn't after it. He's done a very good job in a tough place to win.

 

[AntG168]

He's not mediocre, he wasn't before his sweet 16 and National Coach of the Year and he isn't after it. He's done a very good job in a tough place to win.

We’ll agree to disagree. URI is much tougher to win at than PC

 

[AntG168]

Don’t disagree. Which is why I didn’t mention Hurley at UConn but rather Hurley at URI. Cooley isn’t a bad coach(obviously) but he isn’t great either. He and Hurley at worst are on the same tier imo. I believe that wouldn’t even be a point of contention before this season. It’s not a knock on Cooley. A contingent of the UConn fanbase are just in the practice at this point of saying Hurley is worse than everyone. It’s recency bias. And if the results flip next season, no one here will be touting Cooley over Hurley. In laymen’s terms, “pump the breaks” and let’s see how it plays out. Hurley’s ceiling is really high.

Cooley is a great human being and mentor for young men. I’d never diminish his accomplishments regarding the culture at PC. This is strictly about their coaching ability.

 

[superjohn]

We’ll agree to disagree. URI is much tougher to win at than PC

I never said it isn't, I never said anything about Hurley other than he's less accomplished in the tournament than every other coach in the Big East other than Stubblefield and Ewing.

 

[AntG168]

Nope. But he has to prove one year wasn’t an outlier. Right now it is

 

[NotADime89]

I mean Ben Howland was also NCOY, like AntG said he has to prove this year wasn't an outlier

 

[superjohn]

I mean Ben Howland was also NCOY, like AntG said he has to prove this year wasn't an outlier

It's an outlier because he went 27-6 and got national coach of the year but making 6 tournaments out of 10 seasons at Providence is not mediocre considering they never made tournaments before he got there.

 

[Friarsnoop]

I mean Ben Howland was also NCOY, like AntG said he has to prove this year wasn't an outlier

Ben Howland has been to 11 NCAA tournaments, including 3 consecutive Final Fours.

 

[Dean Wormer]

I mean Ben Howland was also NCOY, like AntG said he has to prove this year wasn't an outlier

Ben Howland was a very good coach who resurrected Pitt for Jaime Dixon to take over, and went to like 3 Final Fours in a row at UCLA. He fell off the last few years, but he deserved his NCOY.