Confidence in Danny Going Forward

[Fatroony5]

As soon as you compare Dan Hurley to JC, your post has lost all validity. There was only one JC. UConn is not going to have another coach that great ever. Firing Dan Hurley isn't going to change that.

lol where did I compare him to JC? All I said was he’s getting paid a lot of money, paid as an elite coach. And thus, games like that are unacceptable regardless of whose playing. I’m not sitting here expecting some miraculous tournament run. I like Dan Hurley a lot and it’s clear there’s a different vibe with the guys he’s bringing it. It’s okay to question some of his coaching moves while acknowledging that he’s got the ship headed in the right direction.

 

[BlueDogs]

As soon as you compare Dan Hurley to JC, your post has lost all validity. There was only one JC. UConn is not going to have another coach that great ever. Firing Dan Hurley isn't going to change that.

I agree, but it helps highlight areas that need improvement. I don’t think anybody suggests firing Dan Hurley. That’s insane. I also believe he can grow into a great coach if he allows himself that self appraisal and works at getting better at his craft. The worst coach is the guy who thinks he has all the answers.

 

[uconnbill]

People are jumping the gun.

He needs time to shed the losing mentality that plagued UConn the past three plus years. That takes time and we hope that this year ends in a tournament trip and the team improves by the end of the season.

 

[GoDAWGS]

I'm going to give it a solid 7. There's allot I didnt like about the game last night, and I've said this before but this defense were trying to play is too much for the players we have, we get killed on the switches. I think Hurley is good at developing players, our freshman look like they're developing nicely, and Badams and Whaley are definatley better than last year.
Back to the game, I think we played a terrible game to start, the amount of balls through the hands, missed rebounds, crazy shots looked like in prepared street ball, I also think the cincy D came out looking very good, which killed us. They are a good team who I think went through some new coach/ new unit pains early on but they are starting to geL. I also think we have played a really bad schedule in terms of timing lots of breaks, which was because of the late thanksgiving/ finals and no true road games until now. The team just looked like they weren't ready last night.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

Before this year 8. Right now 6.5 leaning towards a 7.

It was like when Ollie won the ship in 2014, I would have given him a 10. Picking up right where we left off. But in opposite fashion he was winning with JC's players. Just like Dan Hurley is losing with Ollie's players. But if you start stacking class rankings and talent... he should really be doing more with this group. Other groups in the american have done more with less.

Even with this group - I thought Dan Hurley would inspire enough to squeeze something of a post season run with this group. Given that this is trending in the other direction, one USF loss away from the wheels falling off. I stick by my 6.5.

Get through a few more games playing tough and winning on the road 7. Barreling ahead with the same lineup with the same results 6-6.5. Especially given that some semblance of what we are seeing this year is going to be our core group next year.... going into the big east...

 

[GoDAWGS]

Chief agrees up to a point. But, you still need guys, who can knock down the shot off a well designed and executed play. Additionally, there were two torture chambers going inside on both ends of the court, and our guys just got totally physically abused.
Akok was the only guy who competed in the paint. He is still a relative skinny dude, but he is also a serious dude, who did The Grind ALL summer.
Watching Akok play and practice, one thing is clear, he sets high standards for himself. When he messes up, he’s very unhappy with himself. He doesn’t keep repeating a mistake like some of his teammates.

Akok has a great attitude, his progression has been exponential so far this season

 

[Bonk]

We can say "hE's cHaNgiNg tHE cULtUrE" until we're blue in the face but it's mid year 2. His year one plan was to come in and change the culture, this effort and toughness stuff should have been fixed by now.

We are at the point where we need to start seeing results. This "first he has to change the culture" BS is getting quite annoying. Coaches in their first two years around college basketball are doing way more with less. We can tell ourselves its lack of culture or lack of talent, but as of now I'm not quite buying those excuses.

 

[Towney007]

Before this year 8. Right now 6.5 leaning towards a 7.

It was like when Ollie won the ship in 2014, I would have given him a 10. Picking up right where we left off. But in opposite fashion he was winning with JC's players. Just like Dan Hurley is losing with Ollie's players. But if you start stacking class rankings and talent... he should really be doing more with this group. Other groups in the american have done more with less.

Even with this group - I thought Dan Hurley would inspire enough to squeeze something of a post season run with this group. Given that this is trending in the other direction, one USF loss away from the wheels falling off. I stick by my 6.5.

Get through a few more games playing tough and winning on the road 7. Barreling ahead with the same lineup with the same results 6-6.5. Especially given that some semblance of what we are seeing this year is going to be our core group next year.... going into the big east...

See, you guys are going to have to sell me on this 'we're more talented look at class rankings' stuff. We're most definitely NOT more talented than they are right now - or at the very least nowhere near as developed. St Joe's? Clearly - that loss is unacceptable. But Cincy?

Their recruiting rankings since '16 are 44, 61, 58, 63
Ours (16-19): 8, 84, 118, 18

And that #8 class lost 4 out of 5 players. Vital's the only guy left from that. This year's class is undoubtedly better, but they're freshmen and they have arguably the best player in the conference and a Center who literally ran our team over and everyone who guarded him effortlessly last night (including Akok) and is 100% WAY better than whatever he was ranked. I three of these other four classes they haven't just recruited better - but A LOT better (or at least haven't had any magic, evaporating classes). Just the eye test alone. It was like looking at men vs boys last night.

Should we be getting blown off the court? No, probably not. But acting like this is some unacceptable defeat worthy of deep inner reflection as to the what the state of the program when we lost to a better team almost up and down - seems silly to me. Clearly MILES to go offensively and certain things to be worried about - but some of the pearl clutching here is wild.

This aside - the camps seem to be divided between people who think the core of the current team is inherently flawed and that what you see is what you get and the people who think he should be getting more from them, but isn't.

 

[superjohn]

See, you guys are going to have to sell me on this 'we're more talented look at class rankings' stuff. We're most definitely NOT more talented than they are right now - or at the very least nowhere near as developed. St Joe's? Clearly - that loss is unacceptable. But Cincy?

Their recruiting rankings since '16 are 44, 61, 58, 63
Ours (16-19): 8, 84, 118, 18

And that #8 class lost 4 out of 5 players. Vital's the only guy left from that. This year's class is undoubtedly better, but they're freshmen and they have arguably the best player in the conference and a Center who literally ran our team over everyone who guarded him effortlessly last night (including Akok) and is 100% WAY better than whatever he was ranked. I three of these other four classes they haven't just recruited better - but A LOT better (or at least haven't had any magic, evaporating classes). Just the eye test alone. It was like looking at men vs boys last night.

Should we be getting blown off the court? No, probably not. But acting like this is some unacceptable defeat worthy of deep inner reflection as to the what the state of the program when we lost to a better team almost up and down - seems silly to me. Clearly MILES to go offensively and certain things to be worried about - but some of the pearl clutching here is wild.

This aside - the camps seem to be divided between people who think the core of the current team is inherently flawed and that what you see is what you get and the people who think he should be getting more from them, but isn't.

Losing to them is certainly acceptable, the way we lost to them is certainly unacceptable.

You're way overrating Cincy. That game was over right from the tip. We were completely unfocused. That "star" center who ate Carlton's lunch averaged 1 ppg and 4 ppg his previous 2 years at Northern Kentucky.

Cinci is bigger than us, so what? We're faster than them, play to your strengths. Cinci was bigger than Colgate and Bowling Green too.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Cincinnati and St. Joe's have first year coaches, and those coaches have to change the culture from the super-annoying head coaches that came before them.

 

[freescooter]

This! Also, from like 1991 to 1998 there were PLENTY of fans calling for Calhoun's head saying he can't win the big one, can't coach offense, could not develop a competent big man (constant calls of UConn being a "donut" team with no center). Hurley is 1 1/2 seasons in rebuilding a roster that was devoid of the talent needed to consistently compete. I want to see Akok, Bouk, Gaffney, Cole, Springs, Jackson, Javonte Brown Ferguson, et al with experience. I know some don't have any patience for it but I think Dan Hurley is going to get it done and maintain it.

And how many hall of fame coaches is he facing? The Cincy guy might get there. If he buys a ticket.

 

[Towney007]

Losing to them is certainly acceptable, the way we lost to them is certainly unacceptable.

You're way overrating Cincy. That game was over right from the tip. We were completely unfocused. That "star" center who ate Carlton's lunch averaged 1 ppg and 4 ppg his previous 2 years at Northern Kentucky.

Cinci is bigger than us, so what? We're faster than them, play to your strengths. Cinci was bigger than Colgate and Bowling Green too.

I'm not overrating Cincy. That's their actual recruiting rankings vs. ours and based off the results of the actual games - saying things like 'we're way more talented than them' isn't something even close to true. And we can keep pumping away at the Colgate and Bowling Green, but they also tore up Tennessee a week and a half ago. Vogt's averaging 13 ppg, 6 boards and is blocking a shot and a half per game. Outside of Cumberland - he's easily been their best player. And their size made a huge difference all night. We had *zero* answers. They had bigger, stronger, more athletic kids.

We didn't have much success running on them either.

I'm not cool with HOW we lost last night either to be clear. He clearly needs to shake some things up, think much more seriously about the lineups he's putting out there and stop babying the vets. He needs to use Carlton differently if he's going to use him at all. #FreeSidWilson should be a thing, too. Everything about that is fair and our offense sucks right now.

But i'm not surprised by the struggles. I'm not worried about them, either. And i'm not contemplating Hurley's future because of it.

 

[Towney007]

Calhoun comps are stupid.

Calhoun had tougher competition, but also a much higher profile to recruit from and a story he could basically write on his own. Also took him four years to make the tournament in spite of that and outside of the dream season, we didn't exactly light the big east on fire until about 94... Hurley's in a dump conference five years removed from one of the most successful runs in college basketball history with a fan base riddled with anxiety.

They're not the same situations or anything even close to the same kind of build/rebuild.

It's also insane on any level to compare any coach to a top five guy who's ever done it.

 

[superjohn]

I'm not overrating Cincy. That's their actual recruiting rankings vs. ours and based off the results of the actual games - saying things like 'we're way more talented than them' isn't something even close to true. And we can keep pumping away at the Colgate and Bowling Green, but they also tore up Tennessee a week and a half ago. Vogt's averaging 13 ppg, 6 boards and is blocking a shot and a half per game. Outside of Cumberland - he's easily been their best player. And their size made a huge difference all night. We had *zero* answers. They had bigger, stronger, more athletic kids.

We didn't have much success running on them either.

I'm not cool with HOW we lost last night either to be clear. He clearly needs to shake some things up, think much more seriously about the lineups he's putting out there and stop babying the vets. He needs to use Carlton differently if he's going to use him at all. #FreeSidWilson should be a thing, too. Everything about that is fair and our offense sucks right now.

But i'm not surprised by the struggles. I'm not worried about them, either. And i'm not contemplating Hurley's future because of it.

You're the one who brought recruiting rankings into it trying to say Cinci has higher ranked recruits than us which is strange because it's completely untrue. Yes, Brannen is getting a lot out of that center who averaged 4 ppg at Northern Kentucky last year while our big man is regressing. Brannen is a first year coach there, Hurley is a second year coach here with higher ranked talent and we got our doors blown off last night. It is what it is, you can try and explain it away but it's what happened.

Hopefully it's an aberration but I fear it's not, there are troubling things emerging since Charleston and he needs to start figuring things out or the season could get away from us in a hurry.

 

[Towney007]

You're the one who brought recruiting rankings into it trying to say Cinci has higher ranked recruits than us which is strange because it's completely untrue. Yes, Brannen is getting a lot out of that center who averaged 4 ppg at Northern Kentucky last year while our big man is regressing. Brannen is a first year coach there, Hurley is a second year coach here with higher ranked talent and we got our doors blown off last night. It is what it is, you can try and explain it away but it's what happened.

Hopefully it's an aberration but I fear it's not, there are troubling things emerging since Charleston and he needs to start figuring things out or the season could get away from us in a hurry.

They literally have higher ranked recruits than we do. In three out of four classes. And by like.... 15 slots better plus. We basically haven't even really *had* recruiting classes in two of those years and one got vaporized by transfers. We 100% *do not* have more talent than they do. On paper and most definitely not on the floor.

As for the season getting away from us I mean we're 8-4 with a lot going on in that, but I guess that's the difference. I just don't care if we're a tournament team this year at all. You clearly do. It would be great, I've just never had that expectation with this group. I felt like a good run through the NIT would be a really fantastic season.

 

[Bonk]

I just don't care if we're a tournament team this year at all.

Bro...what? I'm sure UMass is looking for new fans maybe you should switch over

 

[superjohn]

They literally have higher ranked recruits than we do. In three out of four classes. And by like.... 15 slots better plus. We basically haven't even really *had* recruiting classes in two of those years and one got vaporized by transfers. We 100% *do not* have more talent than they do. On paper and most definitely not on the floor.

As for the season getting away from us I mean we're 8-4 with a lot going on in that, but I guess that's the difference. I just don't care if we're a tournament team this year at all. You clearly do. It would be great, I've just never had that expectation with this group. I felt like a good run through the NIT would be a really fantastic season.

They don't have higher ranked recruits than us, you're completely wrong and I'm obviously not including Vance Jackson, Durham or anyone who no longer plays for us.

 

[Towney007]

Bro...what? I'm sure UMass is looking for new fans maybe you should switch over

I've got a realistic worldview. Some people don't. Which is fine. No, I don't think the tournament is a realistic ask for this group. If *everything* hits - sure. But there's just too much that has to happen. I'm not there and haven't been.

Next year? That's probably my minimum expectation.

 

[Tenspro2002]

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.

Some, but they won't be the go-to players. Right now our usage is about 2/3 the holdovers and 1/3 the new guys. Next year should be the reverse. That makes a big difference.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Still all in here. Let's give him a minute.

 

[Bonk]

I've got a realistic worldview. Some people don't. Which is fine. No, I don't think the tournament is a realistic ask for this group. If *everything* hits - sure. But there's just too much that has to happen. I'm not there and haven't been.

Next year? That's probably my minimum expectation.

Yes but you said you don't care if we're a tournament team or not. We are UConn, and the second we are OK with not making the tournament is when we lose our brand as a top college basketball program. I agree that it's a lofty expectation but we can't just say "oh well" if we don't make it

 

[crazyUCfan23]

I'm a big Dan Hurley fan, but something needs to change. However, deciphering what exactly should be changed is not easy because there aren't a ton of options. Remember, we are essentially down three scholarships this year (Cole, Springs, violation). I understand Cole is a transfer and was sitting this year regardless, but having Spring would help. While Whaley has made a big jump from last year, he still isn't big enough to play the 5, so Hurley's options are limited when Josh isn't playing well (and it seems like he hasn't played well in like a month). If Springs was available, it would at least give Hurley another option and another big(er) body. Not saying our record would be any different with Springs, but it wouldn't hurt. Personally I'd like to see him really shake things up and go with this starting lineup:
PG: Gafney - I understand he's struggled on defense and not a great shooter, but he hasn't been the turnover machine like AG has for much of this year. I don't he's necessarily ready, but at the end of the day, although timid at times, hasn't turned it over as much as gilbert and gilbert has had more than a fair shot to lead this offense.
SG: Vital - While vital has been up and down, he didn't do anything last night to warrant being pulled from the starting lineup. Sure he got in foul trouble and missed some open shots, but overall I didn't think he played terrible. Keep in the lineup for now but make sure he knows he has a short leash.
SF: Bouknight - time to insert the most talent player in the starting lineup. I know he's a guard, but he's more than capable of playing the 3 in college. He has shown to be a pretty good rebounder of somebody his size and can shoot and create for others or himself, which nobody else can really do.
PF: Polley - I know he isn't a great rebounder and will have some trouble defending that position, but could work to our benefit on awesome. He is our best shooter and we need him on the court; although, we need to find a way to get him more open shots. While he may struggle on defense, he could potentially be a mismatch on offense and we are sorely lacking in offense.
C: Akok - Super athletic, can block shots, and rebound. Yes, he needs to get stronger, but Carlton has just been killing us on offense with turnovers and missed bunnies around the rim. This should also allow us to spread the floor and hopefully find more open looks for Polley.

I view this as perhaps our best lineup on offense. Sure we give up AG's defense and put polley out of position, but I think will give us our best chance to score more consistently and maybe gilbert won't try to do as much off the bench. I just don't see many other alternatives.

 

[Chief00]

Anyone who says it took Calhoun a decade to impose his will was clearly not around in the early 1980s. He took over a team that had never made the the NCAA tournament as a Big East member in a league where 3 teams made the final four one year, and every other team had made at least the sweet 16. With Thompson, Rollie Masamino, Lou Carnasecca, Jim Boehiem As opposing coaches and won the friggin’ league and went to the Elite 8 in his 4th year. Oh and won the NIT in his second st a time when UConn fans would have licked the yellow line down the middle of Route 195 just for an NIT bid.

Yeah - LOL - Calhoun was a bad *er from Day 1.

 

[tennmike]

7
I'm a Hurley fan. He says the right things, has energy and passion, is liked by players, has a terrific lineage, is competitive, and smart. However, he is not infallible.
- You cannot win in college hoops without solid point guard play and ours has been exceedingly poor. Hurley has been loyal - to Al - to a fault. Cole should be a significant upgrade.
- Maturity and senior leadership count for a great deal in college. It is usually an important determinant in teams that excel in the Tourney. Here again, ours has been awful.
- Despite dedicating himself by staying on campus during the off season getting stronger and bigger, Carlton is less mobile. less bouncy, and less effective. It's sad really because you hate to see dedicated effort yield such counterproductive results. Can Sal or Dan not see this? What are we getting, a collective shoulder shrug from the professionals?
- Even 25 lbs heavier, Whaley is not equipped to back up at the 5 and not skilled enough for the 4. Whenever is squares up to shoot, I cringe. While a few of his shots have gone in - and some folks point to his astounding development - he is shooting .389 from the field and .500 from the line. Based on his proximity to the basket, that is not admirable...and it is not like he is a rebounding machine. He would have been better served as a stud at a smaller school.
- We've got a young crop of talented freshmen (nice recruiting), but they are not the one-and-done impact types. You cannot ask for more from Akok (attitude, effort, skill), but he was overwhelmed by the moment during the first half. Bouk is showing glimpses and Gaffney is going to be fun to watch him figure it out.

As Husky fans we've seen great highs and terrible lows. I'll speak for me by saying that I cannot just write off this year until Hurley's guys are aligned. Perhaps that's easier for someone younger, but with age comes urgency. "Shortening the leash" seems to suggest that Hurley is planning on sitting someone. Let's get on with it! Sid will make room.

 

[Towney007]

They don't have higher ranked recruits than us, you're completely wrong and I'm obviously not including Vance Jackson, Durham or anyone who no longer plays for us.

Cincinnati Basketball Recruiting 2019 - ranked 44
Cincinnati Basketball Recruiting 2018 - ranked 61
Cincinnati Basketball Recruiting 2017 - ranked 58
Cincinnati Basketball Recruiting 2016 - ranked 63

Connecticut Basketball Recruiting 2019 - ranked 18
Connecticut Basketball Recruiting 2018 - ranked 118
Connecticut Basketball Recruiting 2017 - ranked 84
Connecticut Basketball Recruiting 2016 - ranked 8 (this was the Vital/Gilbert only class where everyone left)

In 2 of 3 years, they've ended up with better recruiting classes than us sans this past year. That's the actual recruiting rankings.

I mean we basically had two years where we didn't have classes, really. I'm not sure why this is shocking or something.