Closing Ability

[August_West]

I felt like Hurley accepted playing close as a win with around five minutes left in regulation; whereas Willard was playing to win.

Willard won the bench battle today. He was jawing at the refs at end of first half beginning of second and then Richmond literally drew about 7 fouls in a 4 minute stretch early in 2nd half. Hurley should’ve got T’d up on polys flop. It was a flop sure, it was also an offensive foul. Hurley lets stuff go for too long too often. Waits too long for calling timeouts during opponents runs ( although in fairness I thought he was good with that today) , and doesn’t know the right times to light up refs when advantages have been taken.

 

[superjohn]

I listen to @RobDauster's great podcast and he hit the nail on the head a few episodes ago when discussing fan frustration with A-Jax: UConn is no longer a program that attracts recruits with NBA-ready games, like Villanueva, Gay and Drummond. Those sorts of guys now go to the Ignite or a handful of teams in the P5. This generation of UConn fans need to be a little more patient with recruits.

Our recruiting strategy should be similar to 1992-2002, when Calhoun and his coaches banked on late bloomers and rising four-stars who flew under the radar (Ray, Emeka, Rip), or players with an outstanding individual skill but also one or two flaws (Caron, Khalid)... and then develop them. By its very nature, this strategy will lend itself to more misses than hits, especially when you aren't the the developer of talent that Calhoun was (and who is?).

Bouk was a major hit for Hurley, obviously, and he displayed the upside of this strategy. Like you, I sure hope we hit on another one soon.

Those Calhoun recruits aren't good examples. Rip and Khalid were McDonald's all-Americans, Ray was top 35 and picked UConn over Pitino at Kentucky, and Caron was a top 10 recruit in 2 of the ranking services and the other 2 never included him because of his pg year. Okafor is the only underrated guy.

Castle is big time but we need his class to be a monster class.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Hawkins shakes every time he touches the ball. I’ve never seen someone play more scared

Well he didn’t play like that at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t until Hurley benched him for every little mistake is when he started becoming scared to make them.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Hawkins' handle is horrendous right now, as is his decision making. Definitely not the game ending answer.

I understand he’s playing bad now but he did not start off that way. Reports out of practice were glowing on all accounts and he was filling it up with his opportunity. But coaching has made him how he is now.

 

[navery12]

Well he didn’t play like that at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t until Hurley benched him for every little mistake is when he started becoming scared to make them.

This is not true, that's how he looked from the first game he stepped onto the court. Just look at the Auburn game and how hard on himself he was after the turnover

 

[DMIL]

We simply don't have a closer. This team needs a closer. That player or players with ice in their veins. It could be Hawkins but not this year. Without a closer you need very good coaching in the clutch and your floor general to facilitate. This was missing at the end. Clearly the league is better this year so UCONN will need to figure this part out. It's a very consistent pattern in their losses.

 

[cohenzone]

No, it's not. It's the same coaches coaching the same players.

I get why people micro examine Hurley whether or not the conclusions drawn make any sense . But take a look at today’s for example scores and see how ranked teams did away from home. How many lost to lower ranked teams and didn’t come down to the wire? The point being, with a pretty flawed team, Hurley has this team playing pretty well. Coming off this lay off I was pretty happy how they performed Do other coaches get every move examined by fan bases the way ours does? I see us with two major problems and are still a tough out. It’s a lack of ball handlers and an inability to keep guards from penetrating. We have 4 losses, 2 in OT and all close. Except for Hawkins, whose value is yet to be determined, we are not seeing our other touted freshmen play. Johnson has a crowded field. Diggins really doesn’t. I still think we are a fun team to watch.

 

[Tiamat7]

We took #24 Seton Hall to OT at their place after a three week pause in which we barely practiced. Was the end of regulation and OT sloppy? Sure, does Hurley warrant all the blame? Absolutely not. We had Gaffney running point, which I think most on this board has criticized at some point this season.

Wasn’t Seton Hall ranked top 10 at some point this season? That’s a really good team. Why all the frustration?

Did I want a win. Yes. Does this mean our season is doomed? Not at all.

If there’s one thing I can say about Hurley is that he seems like the type to figure this out. It might take some time but I don’t think he’s putting this aside and not trying to become a better in game coach.

It's the pattern of late game losses that concerns many of us. Yes, we played valiantly against a quality opponent at their house. But we seem to falter on a regular basis in close games versus tournament-level teams.

Part of this is obviously on the players and a lack of creaters beyond RJ; the other part is on Hurley.

 

[NHRich]

It’s been so long, didn’t JC yank players immediately when they turned the ball over?

 

[cohenzone]

It's the pattern of late game losses that concerns many of us. Yes, we played valiantly against a quality opponent at their house. But we seem to falter on a regular basis in close games versus tournament-level teams.

Part of this is obviously on the players and a lack of creaters beyond RJ; the other part is on Hurley.

But not on him that games against good teams are close and in doubt in the last 30 seconds.

Arguably they got screwed in the MSU game. Even today, it pretty much took a wild possession by SH that they got the bounce they needed resulting in a foul with less than a second of shot clock left. Big play. And our opponents get to try and mess up our designed plays just the way we try to do. Richmond’s last hoop was a very high level of difficulty but went in. I counted at least 2 great passes by Jackson into the post that I think Sanogo in one case and Whaley in another seemed not ready for and fumbled and we’re likely uncontested lay ups. Coach can’t control that. That’s 4 points not scored. I think Hurley does a real good job of preparing the team.

 

[UofCT]

Sally’s or Pepe’s?

 

[Umami Zen]

We have an over-reliance on RJ to close out games.. Need more finishers!! SH has Aiken/Rhodden/Richmond..

 

[Shamon30]

@UCSouth - you liked all the turnovers, muffed passes, silly fouls, missed layups, and lost 50-50 balls?

 

[cohenzone]

@UCSouth - you liked all the turnovers, muffed passes, silly fouls, missed layups, and lost 50-50 balls?

If you want perfection, don't watch basketball and be sure to see how often the other team misses chances.

 

[uconngb]

If you want perfection, don't watch basketball and be sure to see how often the other team misses chances.

Don’t think anyone is looking for perfection. Just one more point than the other team in these 50/50 games. Our record in them under Hurley is abysmal. That’s just a fact.

 

[FlyChigga]

This team is very good at making games a rock fight and keeping things close, but I have very little faith in our ability to close out tight games. I know that I am not saying anything new on this board, but I pride myself in not overreacting to every game, so I've withheld judgment until today. At this point, though, I have seen enough to conclude it's a real problem.

A lot of people blaming Hurley. He does call some questionable plays out of a stoppage. But does he really deserve most of the blame?

From where I'm sitting, we lack an athletic playmaker and we don't have enough good decision makers. Cole cannot be counted on to call his own number and get a bucket inside the three point arc. Tyrese doesn't have a tight enough handle. Sanogo needs to be fed, and he can be contained in closing time with a double-team or a spying defender.

Cole seems to be the only good decision maker of the starters.

Unfortunately, I don't see this being something we can "outgrow" this year. Someone (AJax or Hawk) needs to emerge as the athletic, dependable scorer we need. And they both seem to be a long way off yet.

Nailed it in the head. I went into this thread thinking one thing which is that we lack a go to athletic playmaker/shot creator that can consistently get their own bucket. That’s something that becomes the most important in closing minutes whether it’s college or the NBA. And we see how it’s hurting us now.

 

[uconnbill]

They have to close out games to show they are taking the next step

 

[MyDorona]

Those Calhoun recruits aren't good examples. Rip and Khalid were McDonald's all-Americans, Ray was top 35 and picked UConn over Pitino at Kentucky, and Caron was a top 10 recruit in 2 of the ranking services and the other 2 never included him because of his pg year. Okafor is the only underrated guy.

Castle is big time but we need his class to be a monster class.

Your points are well-taken about Ray and Rip, but I meant that Khalid (size, defense) and Caron (character) were flawed, if not supremely talented, recruits.

 

[Kenny11]

The truth is we are the most talented team in the big East. Our roster has some issues with balance at certain positions but Jay Wright would choose our roster over his. We need to start living up to that. Closing games is a huge problem. The players and coach tighten up and dare I say panic, at the end of close games.

 

[The Viking]

Well he didn’t play like that at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t until Hurley benched him for every little mistake is when he started becoming scared to make them.

I don't know about that. The second he made that mistake against Auburn, he hasn't been the same to me. It seems every turnover the kid makes, the entire team has to run to him to tell him to keep his head up.
It's bizarre. Did he never fail in HS?

 

[444JR]

Agreed. From top to bottom they’re scared. Nobody wants the ball when it matters. Hurley needed to give them a plan B besides Sanogo that last possession.

Look at the last possessions in the MSU, VCU, WVU, and now SHU games. We’re not getting better in these moments at all. It’s basically pure panic.

In today’s case it was an ugly ending to what I would consider a pretty impressive performance though.

Re-watch that last play. Someone pointed out Tyrese waved Adama away on that last possession, but Adama still flashed for a pick and roll bringing his man which allowed the trap. Rese had several turnovers but he also consistently made big shots throughout the game. He has been all season. He missed a layup in the first half that I thought showed our overall lack of sharpness following the covid pause.

 

[Deleted at users request]

This is not true, that's how he looked from the first game he stepped onto the court. Just look at the Auburn game and how hard on himself he was after the turnover

Huh? He was very aggressive when he first got on the court at the beginning of the season scoring almost a point a minute. He played very well but got bench for every little mistake. Even against Auburn he scored 16 points and only got 15 minutes for it… In a game that went to double OT.

When someone doesn’t get rewarded for the great things they do but gets easily “punished”, yeah they’re going to think about the mistakes more. Hurley should’ve done a better job of letting his very talent freshman play through his mistakes.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I don't know about that. The second he made that mistake against Auburn, he hasn't been the same to me. It seems every turnover the kid makes, the entire team has to run to him to tell him to keep his head up.
It's bizarre. Did he never fail in HS?

Look at his first two games and see how Hurley managed his minutes. I remember him being able to make a couple of good plays and then after one turnover he’d get pulled quickly. While most guys have a more rope.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

It really is amazing how many times we come out of a timeout and don't get a shot off.

Fairest take on this thread.

I was kinda hoping this thread was a mislabeled OT: Thread about the failures of picking up girls and suggestions on how to "close".

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I’m a huge Hurley guy, but was curious if his record in close games is as bad as people make it out to be.

Since he got here in 2019 UConn is 11-21 (or 34%) in overtime games and two possession games

If you exclude the first year where we were just an awful team, UConn is 10-14 (42%).

Bad? yes. Awful? Maybe

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

The truth is we are the most talented team in the big East. Our roster has some issues with balance at certain positions but Jay Wright would choose our roster over his. We need to start living up to that. Closing games is a huge problem. The players and coach tighten up and dare I say panic, at the end of close games.

Not so fast my friend. I don't think Jay Wright would swap rosters and honestly neither would I. It's basketball, not athleticismball.

 

[cohenzone]

Don’t think anyone is looking for perfection. Just one more point than the other team in these 50/50 games. Our record in them under Hurley is abysmal. That’s just a fact.

Beat good Auburn in OT. Beat decent VCU in OT. Arguably got hosed by a terrible call vs MSU that changed the game. SH gets a big break on a wild possession that UConn forced and wind up with a last instant foul that probably sealed the game. Not to mention we best Marquette in a relatively close game and I’m pretty sure they beat the snot out of Providence. I’d bet a bunch Hurley didn’t design a play that ran the clock down to one second. SH is a good defensive team that we hung a lot of points on. Guaranteed they had something to do with our running the clock down.

Honestly, people here react like the other team doesn’t play a role in how a possession goes. And we all know we have limitations on this team with creators, especially ones who can score for themselves. I once asked a player who did well for us under Calhoun if the other team ever made a good play. He smiled because he knew I was asking about Calhoun’s attitude and said “never”.

 

[Giddyup5]

I’m a huge Hurley guy, but was curious if his record in close games is as bad as people make it out to be.

Since he got here in 2019 UConn is 11-21 (or 34%) in overtime games and two possession games

If you exclude the first year where we were just an awful team, UConn is 10-14 (42%).

Bad? yes. Awful? Maybe

I think he had similar issues at URI as well.

 

[cohenzone]

I’m a huge Hurley guy, but was curious if his record in close games is as bad as people make it out to be.

Since he got here in 2019 UConn is 11-21 (or 34%) in overtime games and two possession games

If you exclude the first year where we were just an awful team, UConn is 10-14 (42%).

Bad? yes. Awful? Maybe

How many other coaches have you surveyed and who were the games against? Obviously we examine our own program under a microscope but have little info on others. How many of these games were close because we played better or worse than expected throughout the game? What were the possessions like? All I know about Hurley’s teams is unlike the last guy where effort an intensity was like a rollercoaster. Dan Hurley teams rarely take a play off.

 

[Glastonhusky]

I don't know about that. The second he made that mistake against Auburn, he hasn't been the same to me. It seems every turnover the kid makes, the entire team has to run to him to tell him to keep his head up.
It's bizarre. Did he never fail in HS?

Actually, I don't think he ever failed in HS, or at least not often. The problem is, he still plays like someone who can blow by defenders and dunk, like he did in HS. He hit a nice jumper yesterday when he was open, but also had a couple of bad TO's when he tried to force things. He'll be fine with a little maturity and an understanding of how he fits our system, but I'm not sure I want him in at the end of a close game.