Confidence in Danny Going Forward

[Doctor Hoop]

This is a tough one. I'm in the 6-7 range right now, mainly based on the offense which is at this point incoherent, and the fact that while the defense is better, with fewer 'ole' drives to the hoop, I still see players overplaying, making the wrong rotations and leaving guys open in dangerous scoring positions. The recruiting seems to be fine, if Akok and Bouknight are any indication. And the culture seems to be better, although the Wilson issue is still out there.

Sure, Hurley is playing with "Ollie's players" in part. Carlton is limited against similar sized players, Vital and Gilbert make questionable decisions with the ball, Wilson is now DNP-CD and Polley may be only a 3 and D guy without the rebounding. But there are offensive schemes that can take advantage of their best attributes, and I haven't even seen him use Akok and Bouknight, "his guys," on offense effectively to this point either. So I've got to see more from the offense, and not see them rely on some guy "making a play" on his own.

Watching Creighton last night against Marquette you saw a team that knew how to create space, get open shots, and hit them. They scored 92. Their freshman point, Zegarowski, from Tilton (no less) and ranked #110 on 24-7, scored 16 with 8 rebounds, 6 assists. Leading scorer last night was Ballock, a 6-5 shooting guard. He had 24 and was ranked #76 in 2017. #77 was Sidney Wilson. Ty-Shon Alexander, 6-4 shooting guard, looked so smooth and confident, had 21 and 8. He was #78 on ESPN. So it's not just about recruiting rankings. It's finding players that know how to play the game, always play hard and smart, and can hit shots, regardless of their rankings.

 

[boog204]

Your ratio is a bit bizarre. But I'd put it as a 7. He's bringing in talent, we are going back to the Big East, and this is just not a very talented roster. Our best players are freshmen who are still learning how to play and our most "reliable" players are a very flawed guard who gets by on toughness and a lack of conscience and a big man who is robotic and best suited to be a backup on a big-time team.

Hurley's teams at Rhody did not play pretty ball. They relied on guys, much like JCs offences, who could make plays. We have pretty much one guy who can do that and he's a freshmen. So as annoying as the horn/hand off weave looks, it can be effective if you can get guys in space to be triple threats. It's not there yet.

Looking at this team, the biggest issue is we do not have an adequate point guard. I feel bad for AG. But he is an absolute shell of what he could have been. Without a point guard, you cannot get organized, run anything worthwhile or get things to flow. Not only do we need Cole to be legit, but we have to bring in another guard who can play some point. Gaffney has potential, but he's a ways away from being someone who can run a team.

 

[Banta55]

Tonight was sickening, and there are some things that I have wanted to discuss, and now seems like a great time.

What is your confidence in Danny Hurley leading this team on a scale of 1-10. 1 being bring back KO tomorrow and 10 being the next JC.

I am currently at a five.

I think the biggest mistake he has made as UConn's head coach is not cleaning house when he got here. I understand why he didn't, but it's clear that he needs players that fit his scheme and personality or else it just doesn't work. Danny's best trait as a coach is his ability to recruit (which if we suck the rest of this year, we could be in big trouble). Keeping everyone on the roster limits that ability. He made the politically correct move, but it set the program back another 2 years because it is going to take a while to get new players into the program and developed. There are several players on this roster that do not have the talent to play here. I will leave it at that.

The scary thought to me is what happens next year? What changes? RJ Cole is a player, and is a PG we desperately need, but what immediate help do we have? Andre Jackson is a great prospect, but I am not sure he will be a game changer as a freshman. Richie Springs might be a role player and Javonte Brown Ferguson is two years away from really helping. I think we need to recruit a nasty 6-8 grad transfer that can score, and we need another impact big.

What is the ceiling for the current roster? Will Sid ever be a player? Can Josh ever develop a mean streak? Can Polley ever rebound a mfing basketball?

We should be competitive in the league year two. No excuses. But for some reason, I have the same feeling watching this team as I did watching the mess that Ollie produced. It blows my mind Danny keeps getting absolutely out coached and out classed by other teams. He says the right things in interviews and press conferences, but this is now the same thing in year two and year one. I thought there would be so much progress in the off-season, and there hasn't been. Maybe the players have reached their ceilings, but I would rather develop our core for the future than watch Josh Carlton get his feeling hurt by any player with a pulse.

Something has to change. If Hurley can't wait 19-20 games with this roster, that will be a huge reg flag, and it will be harder and harder to recruit and retain our current talent if we don't start to produce.

Are you serious?

 

[Kolumbo]

10. He will blaze his own trail. He's got the confidence and the background. Combine that with recruiting for a blue chip program in a Northeast basketball conference based in MSG: Gold.

 

[Excalibur]

Hurley just got his tits lit by 7-5 Cincinnati, and you are "lmaooo"ing about the time Ollie won a National Championship because you don't think it counts?

Shabazz Napier won a National Championship.

I said people are overrating our talent this year. I've been proven right.

 

[jmail1]

In last night's game I saw the same fundamental errors that were evident on Ollie's team.
The guards can not bring the ball up the court efficiently and they do not pass the ball well as a team.

Smart teams win championships!

 

[kansashusky]

I agree. Not sure why it's so black and white with people.

Great mentor. Great defensive coach generally. He has the potential to be an elite college coach.

But hes also absolutely not maximizing our offense throwing Carlton on the perimeter. Even Akok isn't facing up on the 3 pt line when he gets in the handoff situations. Sooo easy to defend.

It simply isn't working.

I'd love to see some dribble at back cuts, guard to guard handoffs with Bouk to switch him onto Riques (usually smaller) defender. Have polley set screens and open up for shots. Pin down screens for our shooters. Horns sets again. Anything.

A lot of options have the potential to work. We have yet to adjust at all.

All I want to see is Akok set a high flat screen above the three point line every time in transition and have Alterique get downhill. Have Akok pop off the screen instead of roll and plant Tyler and CV in the corners ready to shoot. Carlton go to the short corner and just stay there. IT IS MADDENING

 

[Towney007]

Shabazz Napier won a National Championship.

I said people are overrating our talent this year. I've been proven right.

This is what I keep coming back to, here. It's like we think these kids are/should be good because they're in a UConn uniform. Truth is - and it sucks to say - that most of them probably wouldn't have been if Kevin Ollie had cared about recruiting. At the very least if they were, they wouldn't be in the outsized roles they're being made to fill right now.

This team had has two losing seasons. Lost their leading scorer. So because we have a new coach and three freshmen, that's all supposed to turn around magically? Again - not Planet Earth, here guys. We're still thin up front literally and structurally. We still don't have a reliable PG who is eligible. We're thin on athleticism. What players we do have are young and raw and a whopping 12 games into their college careers.

Now apply that to everything happening in our offense. You don't have a PG who can distribute and/or finish at the rim. You have another guard who's notorious for poor decision making. You lack athleticism, so your guys don't move the way they could/should. Mix that with some freshmen playing the game and still learning the speed of the game and everything that goes into executing in this level and you get poorly/slowly set screens, pick and rolls and the like. Then you have a big man who doesn't realize he's that - being basically asked to carry the entire load for the team and who either doesn't get the ball in good position and when he does, thinks he's 5'2 all of a sudden and can't/won't finish down low.

-You don't have distribution
-You can't set screens
-You can't get guys open
-You can't get the ball in consistently downlow
-When you do your target can't finish
-When you dribble the kickouts are sloppy or in traffic because guys can't get open
-When you dribble your guards can't finish at the rim

I'm fine with Hurley's system and sure - but this group is going to struggle to implement it for literally all the reasons I just mentioned. And he's not going to throw his whole offensive set in the trash so we can be a bubble team with guys who won't be on the team after next year and force the guys who he wants to have play a certain way - not play that way.

Now there's things I don't find acceptable regardless of that. The number of turnovers is insane. Shouldn't be happening. And he needs to have some sort of system of accountability. We could play to our strengths a bit and run the ball/press more. I don't know why he won't do that. And Sid must've killed someone, because I have no idea why he refuses to play one of his only athletes. If for nothing more than setting some screens - i'd like to see him play him more.

But the rest of this is a pretty straight-forward cocktail here. Mix this in and it's a pretty awful drink. I'm not mad because people are mad. I'm more surprised people are so surprised the offense is bad. I mean this has been staring you in the face from the floor for three years. It'll get better, but it's going to take more of Hurley's guys who have the skillset to play how he wants to play. The personnel isn't there yet. It will be and I expect things to get better this year, even (and hey - it might even improve enough for us to be pretty good!) - but i'm not going to be surprised/big mad if it's not.

Now if we're in January of 2021 and we're still doing this. Oh boy.

 

[Towney007]

Also side bar piece - I think they improve a lot by having Carlton not being the high screen guy so much. Defenses know he's not rolling quickly or isn't a threat from that range, so defenders camp the key and AG/CV are shooting over some monstrosity every dribble drive. Isn't a big deal when you've got Kemba running around, but neither one of them is anything close to him.

They've gotta find a way to rework Carlton into the offense and not having him be the high screen. It's literally taking him totally out of the equation and it's so predictable that it ends up stunting our guards' production, too. No one collapses.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is difficult. Long term, I'll give him an 8. Short term, more like 5-6. I think he came here thinking he could win the way he did at URI but with better talent. He cannot. He seems to suffer from excessive optimism, and unrealistic expectations. The odds that he will ever have a roster that can play the way Villanova did from 2016-18 is very very low. Those skill sets are rare. I think he thought UConn and now the Big East would let him get those guys, and yes, Jackson looks like he is one. So maybe. But damn, you just can't rely on that.

Long term I think he will accept reality that he needs to play offense in a more traditional manner, with a normal center and a power forward that can handle himself around the rim. He will come to accept that the risk that the other team's center and PF can burn you from 3 is very low (against most teams) and that you need to keep your bigs in and around the lane on the defensive end. He tries to play offense like 2016 Villanova and plays defense like he's playing 2016 Villanova. A reality check is due. He's too smart and comes from a great basketball family. He will figure it out, and end his fascination with trying to be Jay Wright.

 

[Palatine]

Way too early for this conversation.

It's fair to look at specifics, game play, player improvement etc. But there si insufficient evidence to assess the program.

 

[Phoenixhusky]

He's supposed to coach them, Hurley said Alterique and Josh would be all-league and Alterique would have a chance at AAC player of the year. Why do we make the coaching change and why does Hurley bring back all the same players if we aren't expecting him to coach them out of bad habits and make them better players? We're just supposed to sit here and say they suck while Hurley keeps playing them and expect to get our doors blown off every 4 or 5 games by teams that aren't really any good? If that's what you 100% expect then he obviously shouldn't be playing them more than some spot minutes to spell the young guys when they need a rest.

If you don't expect him to run a half court offense and instead of seeing these veterans to get better were supposed to see them stay the exact same of regress then what is he getting paid to do? Just keep running the same lineup out there and have three cr@p seasons in a row because he couldn't stomach running any players off.

You say you're not making excuses but you are. The talent thing excuse doesn't really work when you get your s***t pushed in by Cincy and St. Joes.

I think he said they’d need to play like all league players if we wanted to be an NCAA team.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I agree. Not sure why it's so black and white with people.

Great mentor. Great defensive coach generally. He has the potential to be an elite college coach.

But hes also absolutely not maximizing our offense throwing Carlton on the perimeter. Even Akok isn't facing up on the 3 pt line when he gets in the handoff situations. Sooo easy to defend.

It simply isn't working.

I'd love to see some dribble at back cuts, guard to guard handoffs with Bouk to switch him onto Riques (usually smaller) defender. Have polley set screens and open up for shots. Pin down screens for our shooters. Horns sets again. Anything.

A lot of options have the potential to work. We have yet to adjust at all.

Spot on. And part of the reason I'd like to see Sid get another chance. Maybe it's all on Sid for not practicing hard, but if you run the offense the way you just described and send Sid on cuts to the rim while Josh is there occupying the 5, he's going to dunk on people and draw fouls. Unlike everybody else on this team except maybe Bouknight, his instincts for scoring around the rim are very aggressive.

 

[Towney007]

Spot on. And part of the reason I'd like to see Sid get another chance. Maybe it's all on Sid for not practicing hard, but if you run the offense the way you just described and send Sid on cuts to the rim while Josh is there occupying the 5, he's going to dunk on people and draw fouls. Unlike everybody else on this team except maybe Bouknight, his instincts for scoring around the rim are very aggressive.

Yeah this one is weird to me. I don't get what Sid did to get so buried. I mean it's gotta be SOMETHING.

But even say what you want about any aspect of his game - he's one of the few super athletic guys we have. Why not have him setting those high screens instead of Carlton? Or playing him a little closer to the key? If mean if Carlton is sitting anyway and we're going small - why not Sid in Whaley's role just to see it a few times?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah this one is weird to me. I don't get what Sid did to get so buried. I mean it's gotta be SOMETHING.

But even say what you want about any aspect of his game - he's one of the few super athletic guys we have. Why not have him setting those high screens instead of Carlton? Or playing him a little closer to the key? If mean if Carlton is sitting anyway and we're going small - why not Sid in Whaley's role just to see it a few times?

He did play the five in Charleston when we had foul trouble and was excellent. I get that he doesn't seem to play hard all the time lately, but I never saw that before. I get tired of watching Polley avoid contact on offense, Josh never powers through a defender and instead send his little flip bank shot that gets blocked. It's not a layup because he doesn't jump, it's a three foot bank shot. Last year he shot back to the basket and made a very high percentage. This year he's facing up and missing everything. Sid, when he's near the rim, he plays through contact and dunks on people. He's more physical than any big we have except maybe Whaley.

 

[Mister P]

Confidence in Hurley moving forward...a solid 9.

Instead of looking back in hindsight on past coaches,players,etc. I’m looking at the planning foresight that Hurley has. He is only in year 2 of the rebuild and he has said that it will take time and he will not deviate from his plan. He has proven HIS method at two previous schools and I would expect his foresight to continue at UConn.

..Akok,Bouk,Gaffney.....after 13 games the future looks very bright with these guys.
..Springs,Cole,Jackson,Ferguson.....Based on scouting and past performances the future looks very bright with these guys. Mix in Akok,Bouk and Gaffney and you have a nice group of players that he will make into a TEAM.
Hurley and his staff has proven that they can recruit and I expect his future classes to be loaded with the talent and players that he needs to play his system.

 

[White Dwarf]

5 1/2

 

[Jaker]

His ability to recruit, I give him an 8-9
His ability to coach them and win, at this time a 5

 

[Madmannsucks]

Here is where I am. No number. Every time I hear the argument of "Ollie Players"...I don't care. Hurley in some ways has not lived up to expectations. Seems to come into games unprepared. Not all, but some. This looked to be the case. I d not no why, as I am not in practices or meetings. Still a work in progress. Last year I expected a winning record. With football it takes 4 or 5 classes to make a program competitive. Not the case with hoops. To me, the biggest problem is the guard play. We know these guys are good players, but he does not seem to be getting the best from CV and AG.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

7.1

Solid foundation starting with the crust. Sauce has some tang but lacks consistency which leaves much to be desired. Better mozz coming in next year. Will take time to refine to be something great.

 

[Chinokafor]

Here is where I am. No number. Every time I hear the argument of "Ollie Players"...I don't care. Hurley in some ways has not lived up to expectations. Seems to come into games unprepared. Not all, but some. This looked to be the case. I d not no why, as I am not in practices or meetings. Still a work in progress. Last year I expected a winning record. With football it takes 4 or 5 classes to make a program competitive. Not the case with hoops. To me, the biggest problem is the guard play. We know these guys are good players, but he does not seem to be getting the best from CV and AG.

"We know these guys are good players ..."

Your inflated opinion of Vital and Gilbert is fogging your perception of Hurley. When were those two players anything more than serviceable? Vital would be a sixth or seventh man on a quality team, and Gilbert would not be allowed in any game (except to shoot foul shots to close out a tight victory) in any game in which UConn either led or trailed by 10 or less because his poor decision-making would blow things up.

I give Hurley an 8.31749 and ask the original poster of this thread to pose the same question when (if?) UConn earns a solid road victory.

 

[gtcam]

So it's not just about recruiting rankings. It's finding players that know how to play the game, always play hard and smart, and can hit shots, regardless of their rankings.

I could not agree with this statement more - I've had been saying this about KO and now DH is following suit. They go after the elite - I understand that if you don't try you don't get them - but in reality these elite are going to the P5 teams.
If those don't work then they go after the flash and dash guys - these guys are usually smaller physically but look awful good against other high school/prep players. When these kids start playing against 21 yo guys who are much bigger and much stronger they are at a huge disadvantage.
Rarely do we look at those lunch pail guys - the kids who maybe ranked below 100 who are not as adept with the flashy stuff but can do the basics well, willing to be coached, work hard and most importantly - they either have no self absorbed ego or if they have a hint of one, they leave it off the court.
I've said many times in postings that teams like Gonzaga, Houston, Cincinnati, Creighton, Xavier, Butler etc. get these kids and have had success

I have confidence that Dan H can turn things around but I feel he needs to address a few areas:
1. Curb the ref baiting antics, expend that energy on evaluating the flow and establish a substitution pattern that is more beneficial to a smoother transition.
2. Have the team better prepared mentally at the start of games - establish some scripted plays that will create instant offense that are uncomplicated but will bring a high degree of success - these slow starts, the KO teams went through the same thing, are tough to overcome
3. Recruit smarter not harder - look for pieces that fit, ones that will produce over the long run and don't be afraid of "projects"

For the dolts who keep quoting this:
Shabazz Napier won a National Championship.

So didn't KEA and Rip, Omeka and Ben, Kemba

All were coached by someone and if there was ever a person who singlehandedly lead UConn to an NC it was Kemba but you don't hear - it was Kemba not Calhoun
KO and the team led by Shabazz won the championship. KO is gone and you'd think the haters would fade

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Last night was a coaching train wreck. UConn has bubble talent, and Hurley got blown out by a 7-5 team in a game that was never competitive and was not as close as the score. UConn didn't lose because of its ice cold shooting, or Cincinnati's hot shooting. UConn got outcoached in every facet of the game.

 

[JimHurley]

Next year is the real turnaround. We’ll have Cole, Bouk, Jackson, Akok, and Carlton starting with Gaffney, Adams, Wilson, Polley, Whaley, Springs, and Javonte Brown Ferguson off the bench. That roster is going to allow Hurley to play the style he likes.

 

[superjohn]

Next year is the real turnaround. We’ll have Cole, Bouk, Jackson, Akok, and Carlton starting with Gaffney, Adams, Wilson, Polley, Whaley, Springs, and Javonte Brown Ferguson off the bench. That roster is going to allow Hurley to play the style he likes.

You would think so but we already have people saying you can't win with Ollie guys on the team. Guess what we'll still have some Ollie guys on the team next season.