Dan Hurley Post Game Press Conference 1/15

[Deleted at users request]

At least he hasn’t picked up any Ts. Lord knows the old Danny would have been tossed a few times the past few games. Wish his kids could get that part too.

Wouldn’t mind seeing how the kids play with Kimani.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Yea, the full transcript quotes are interesting. Of note, one of the most annoying things about these pressers is the context of what the coaches and players are saying is often difficult to fully ascertain as the reporters aren't mic'd up so you don't know the exact context of their answers..

In reply to “[garbled lead-in to...How do you turn it around?”

Hawkins: “Watch the film and don’t do the same thing twice. Stop making the same mistakes we’ve made over and over and over again…and just execute it the next game, bounce back the next game…"
Karaban: “What Hawk said…and just listen to the coaches…I mean, they are just trying to put us in the best position possible every game and, you know, if we drift away from what they say, we just put ourselves in failure..."

Seems like the coaches are scouting/gameplanning and the players just aren't executing.

Mesh this with Hurley's comments about players hugging 0-3 3pt shooters beyond the arc...and offensive struggles bleeding over into defensive efforts/approach.

The reason(s) behind this and the solutions are beyond our pay grade as fans.

I think AJ's over zealous defense is part of what all is going on.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Yea, the full transcript quotes are interesting. Of note, one of the most annoying things about these pressers is the context of what the coaches and players are saying is often difficult to fully ascertain as the reporters aren't mic'd up so you don't know the exact context of their answers..

In reply to “[garbled lead-in to...How do you turn it around?”

Hawkins: “Watch the film and don’t do the same thing twice. Stop making the same mistakes we’ve made over and over and over again…and just execute it the next game, bounce back the next game…"
Karaban: “What Hawk said…and just listen to the coaches…I mean, they are just trying to put us in the best position possible every game and, you know, if we drift away from what they say, we just put ourselves in failure..."

Seems like the coaches are scouting/gameplanning and the players just aren't executing.

Mesh this with Hurley's comments about players hugging 0-3 3pt shooters beyond the arc...and offensive struggles bleeding over into defensive efforts/approach.

The reason(s) behind this and the solutions are beyond our pay grade as fans.

(Agreed on the lack of press microphones in the pressers - annoying to say the least. I wish it was the biggest of our problems lol).

 

[Greedo]

Wouldn’t mind seeing how the kids play with Kimani.

What does this mean? Fire Hurley and have Kimani take over? Or just have Hurley have a seat while Kimani takes over? What are you advocating for?

Kimani seems great. He needs to prove himself at a lower level school before taking the helm at a place the level of UConn. Running a program is a big learning curve over being an assistant. He needs to learn that. Coaching one game (Villanova) after Hurley got ejected is not evidence Kimani is ready for taking over a program of UConn’s stature. UConn made the mistake of hiring an assistant without any head coaching experience before.

 

[Deleted at users request]

What does this mean? Fire Hurley and have Kimani take over? Or just have Hurley have a seat while Kimani takes over? What are you advocating for?

Kimani seems great. He needs to prove himself at a lower level school before taking the helm at a place the level of UConn. Running a program is a big learning curve over being an assistant. He needs to learn that. Coaching one game (Villanova) after Hurley got ejected is not evidence Kimani is ready for taking over a program of UConn’s stature. UConn made the mistake of hiring an assistant without any head coaching experience before.

Meant moreso if Hurley got ejected from a game to see how he does.

I agree that he doesn’t have the experience necessary for a school like UConn but it was super impressive watching him out duel Jay Wright that one game and am interested in seeing more.

That mistake got us another NC btw. One of the most unlikely NCs in history.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yea, the full transcript quotes are interesting. Of note, one of the most annoying things about these pressers is the context of what the coaches and players are saying is often difficult to fully ascertain as the reporters aren't mic'd up so you don't know the exact context of their answers..

In reply to “[garbled lead-in to...How do you turn it around?”

Hawkins: “Watch the film and don’t do the same thing twice. Stop making the same mistakes we’ve made over and over and over again…and just execute it the next game, bounce back the next game…"
Karaban: “What Hawk said…and just listen to the coaches…I mean, they are just trying to put us in the best position possible every game and, you know, if we drift away from what they say, we just put ourselves in failure..."

Seems like the coaches are scouting/gameplanning and the players just aren't executing.

Mesh this with Hurley's comments about players hugging 0-3 3pt shooters beyond the arc...and offensive struggles bleeding over into defensive efforts/approach.

The reason(s) behind this and the solutions are beyond our pay grade as fans.

That is currently one of Hurley's biggest flaws in his coaching style. He player substitutions seem to be based on predetermined player rotations or foul trouble rather than players being yanked because they aren't doing what coached prepped the player to do.

And no, I'm not advocating just benching a player and letting them sulk. One of the assistants should be next to that player explaining exactly why they were pulled and linking that to specific things which were discussed in practice or film room. Then (hopefully) show the player on the bench how his replacement is correctly doing what the coaches want players to do.

Or, in the instance of players hugging non-shooters on the 3-point line, call an immediate TO and emphasize to every player in the huddle who gets closed out on and who gets slack off of as per the game plan.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think McDermott let Kalk guard Sanogo one on one as it was a big matchup and kind of a showdown. He will not do that again at Creighton. Sanogo will get doubled there. The whole Adama gets the ball and everyone in the arena pauses and watches for it seems like 10 seconds for the decision to be made, reminds me of Caddyshack and the Judge "Welll, we're waiting!" line. St Johns let him think for a few then doubled and it was over.
Jackson has slid in BE play trying to defend one on one. The PG issue is real.

I do know this. During the second half, when Hurley substituted in Clingan, there was an audible cheer, almost Bronx cheer like sound from the crowd.
Also, in the second half there was one time when UConn dumped it down to Sanogo and Sanogo methodically started doing his thing and you could hear an audible moan/grumble from the crowd.
I don't bring this up as a criticism of Sanogo because it is obvious he and the team are doing what the coaches want, but the disconnect in the second half between what the crowd was seeing and what the players/coaches were doing, was there.

 

[Mets1432]

I think McDermott let Kalk guard Sanogo one on one as it was a big matchup and kind of a showdown. He will not do that again at Creighton. Sanogo will get doubled there. The whole Adama gets the ball and everyone in the arena pauses and watches for it seems like 10 seconds for the decision to be made, reminds me of Caddyshack and the Judge "Welll, we're waiting!" line. St Johns let him think for a few then doubled and it was over.
Jackson has slid in BE play trying to defend one on one. The PG issue is real.

I just wish Sanago would catch the ball, make his 1st move and go up. I don't get the holding the ball until the double comes.

I would understand it if Sanago was a capable passer but he isn't and coaching HAS to see that right? How many times this season has Sanago gotten the ball, did his little dance, then tried to pass it out with 3 seconds on the shot clock and threw it 4 feet over his teammates head? The fact that he hasn't improved on that part of his game is partially why i think the comments Hawk and Karaban made are directed at him. Pure speculation though.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

That is currently one of Hurley's biggest flaws in his coaching style. He player substitutions seem to be based on predetermined player rotations or foul trouble rather than players being yanked because they aren't doing what coached prepped the player to do.

And no, I'm not advocating just benching a player and letting them sulk. One of the assistants should be next to that player explaining exactly why they were pulled and linking that to specific things which were discussed in practice or film room. Then (hopefully) show the player on the bench how his replacement is correctly doing what the coaches want players to do.

Or, in the instance of players hugging non-shooters on the 3-point line, call an immediate TO and emphasize to every player in the huddle who gets closed out on and who gets slack off of as per the game plan.

Agree with the gist of what you're saying. I do think a lot of this already goes on if you really pay close attention to the sidelines. Kimani, Luke, and occasionally Tom can been seen getting up barking instructions directly to players during game flow. Also, many times the players will have a seat next to an assistant after getting subbed out. Impossible for me to know what they're saying, but I'd guess it would be reinforcement of assignments/strategy.

Some of these things can definitely be done without burning a timeout, but others probably demand a full TO when things go egregiously wrong. Seems like things are more wrong overall lately, so I would endorse more aggressive early use of timeouts when it "feels" like the team is going down the wrong path (basically, mid-2nd half in all of our losses.

Most of our timeouts start with Hurley out of the huddle and the assistants starting up discussions. I would guess these are tactical discussions. The "in the huddle" segments on TV showing Hurley are almost always the "general lets get the team locked in/fired up" variety (get on the boards, toughness, etc.).

 

[dennismenace]

This one is tough to process. Hurley and the staff clearly knew/recognized that we shouldn't be playing a horrible 3 point shooting team like St. John's tight 25 feet from the hoop. Based on the above quote I'm confident that it was a focal point and communicated to our guys. The guards just kept doing it anyways?

That's what substitutes and time outs are for coach.

 

[Chief00]

There seems to be a lack of recognition of where the double came from and the relative easy hoop that could be found there.
But if you think Adama is our problem, I will only say there is a reason they are double teaming him and not someone else.

 

[HuskyFich]

Wait a minute, so Hurley proved, and the players reconfirmed that he is actively telling them to stop doing things during the game....and we're still blaming hurley for X&O malpractice?

Sounds like more so we need people who are buying into the game philosophy, and not trying to stand apart. We can blame hurley for that too, but I do agree that the transfer portal is extremely risky in terms of players buying into a coach's vision, regardless of minutes played.

 

[Northbound]

There seems to be a lack of recognition of where the double came from and the relative easy hoop that could be found there.
But if you think Adama is our problem, I will only say there is a reason they are double teaming him and not someone else.

This is correct. If AS is doubled there’s knowledge of where the double is coming from (opponent scout) the player who’s man has doubled move into the void and be prepared to shoot/drive or move it quickly if the slide is quick.

There has to be communication letting guys know where the double vacated early so AS or whoever knows. If you get doubled theres no guarantee you know where it came from - help guys out for gods sake.

Transfer portal is a fickle mistress.

 

[SwingDog]

Team leadership is paramount, but you get the sense it is lacking, and it is coming from the top down. Jackson and Sanogo are supposed to be the locker room/floor leaders but it didn't show yesterday. Even Hurley looked less animated than usual, often standing with his arms folded. (Maybe not a bad thing, but to his standards maybe toned down too much.) This teams needs more than pep talks from Chris Smith and Ray Allen.

 

[Husky pride]

Do you really want to listen to it ?

I read Borges asked him about making a change and Hurley said that they need a spark and definitely will be making some change. .. maybe we will see what some Yarders have been suggesting.

Some Yarders have been suggesting playing Sanogo and Clingan at the same time, allowing them to compliment one another, protect the rim, rebound and collect second chance points…and I agree with them …..even if there are some downsides like both fouling-out and dual player fatigue.

 

[Banta55]

At this point we have to do triage to preserve the recruiting class.

Hurley does not have any answers and probably should each game be coaching for his job.

That ridiculous.

 

[HailUConn]

There seems to be a lack of recognition of where the double came from and the relative easy hoop that could be found there.
But if you think Adama is our problem, I will only say there is a reason they are double teaming him and not someone else.

I don’t think that’s a positive light on AS, almost the entire world knows that he is a black hole with the ball and very high turnover ratio. Any coach worth a salt will scheme to double him.

 

[Chief00]

I don’t think that’s a positive light on AS, almost the entire world knows that he is a black hole with the ball and very high turnover ratio. Any coach worth a salt will scheme to double him.

If he’s a “black hole”, he is one who shoots 60% FG. What’s the team shooting minus Adama and Donovan? I think Clingan should start too. Let’s get our best players on the court.

 

[HailUConn]

If he’s a “black hole”, he is one who shoots 60% FG. What’s the team shooting minus Adama and Donovan? I think Clingan should start too. Let’s get our best players on the court.

I’m curious his shooting percentage in league play, not counting the cup cake games or invitationals.

 

[Greathusky]

I was 10 rows from the court. I was watching intently the interaction between the players during time outs.

I saw multiple times Sanogo very animated in whatever he was saying. He did not look happy.

 

[Husky68]

I'm up and down on AS's play, but UConn is posting up a guy that is almost always shorter, and in some cases way shorter than his opponent, like he is Wilt. He needs to make 5 fakes so that his shot isn't blocked. Factor in his turnovers (and those of guys trying to get him the ball) and his shooting % is way under 60%.
Offense doesn't work because AJ and Karaban never attack the rim. Several times Karaban turned down drives down the lane, AJ is a chicken on offense, never willing to take the responsibility to get to the basket. Newton takes 8-10 seconds to get the ball down court.
No team gets driven on like UConn, I've seen maybe 50 mostly whole games and probably 100 parts of games and no one, and I mean no, gets beat off the dribble as consistently as UConn. Yeah, it's on the players but as much on the coach as to how they play on man and help defense. Whatever you call what we are doing, it doesn't work.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think AJ's over zealous defense is part of what all is going on.

He looks like he’s really trying, but I don’t think it’s been very successful. He loses his guy a lot, and goes for too many fakes. I always thought he could be an absolute lockdown defender and shotblocker by moving a foot further away.

 

[uconnfan68]

When I hear stories about possible friction amongst a team in the clubhouse, I always refer to a few of the greatest quotes, from one of the greatest coaches, who had what I consider the greatest Hall of Fame speech.
Bill Parcels....just a few of them (I'm sure many here have them memorized), I am a Pats fan but Parcels was my type of coach:

"Now we've got all kinds in this place. We've got white, we've got black, we've got Latin, we've got Asian, we've got Samoans, we've got Tongans, we've got Native Americans. Ladies and gentlemen, I played and coached with them all, and the only thing that made any difference is are you willing to help? And if you are, come on in. If you're not, get the heck out of here."

and

"In the old Giants Stadium, the Giants players will remember that as you walk through the players' entrance, there was a little room to the left that was like a little alcove room and had a couple chairs in it. Wellington took me over to the wall in that place, and on the wall was a little plaque and it had an inscription on it. Coincidentally, that inscription was attributed to the first black player ever inducted into this Hall of Fame, his name was Emlen Tunnell, and he was inducted in the class of 1967. That inscription said, “Losers assemble in little groups and complain about the coaches and the players in other little groups, but winners assemble as a team.”

And I thought the plaque was for Jimmy Hoffa…

 

[REB1094]

I’m curious his shooting percentage in league play, not counting the cup cake games or invitationals.

57-99 (57.6%)

 

[Chief00]

I’m curious his shooting percentage in league play, not counting the cup cake games or invitationals.

Adama has shot 57.6% in Big East play. He consistently shot over 50% in every Big East game. Adama is not the reason for our shooting woes. He needs to take more shots not less. The non Hawkins guards are the issue. The BY Sanogo is our shooting problem, is a BY myth.
13-21 Butler
6-10 Georgetown
3-6 Villanova
9-17 Xavier
5-9 PC
10-20 Creighton
5-7 Marquette
6-9 St John
57-99
57.6%

 

[Chief00]

The bottom line is Clingan and Sanogo shoot over 60% and the rest of the team 40%. We need both of them starting. It is a no brainer.

 

[Chief00]

Clingan has shot 68.9% in Big East play. He needs to start with Sanogo and get more shots.
2-2 Butler
1-2 Georgetown
2-4 Villanova
2-3 Xavier
4-4 PC
1-3 Creighton
8-11 Marquette
0-0 St John
20-29
68.9%

 

[Chief00]

The reason Adama and Donovan were frustrated in the St John’s game was they were a combined 6-9 instead of 18-27, if they got the ball more in the right positions shooting at a 66% clip.
Starting Double Big is such a no brainer this year.

 

[mauconnfan]

He looks like he’s really trying, but I don’t think it’s been very successful. He loses his guy a lot, and goes for too many fakes. I always thought he could be an absolute lockdown defender and shotblocker by moving a foot further away.

Fact is he could be a lock down defender but he's not playing smart defense. He chases and drifts too much, rides his guy way too much instead of keeping him in front of him and suddenly he believes he's a world class shot blocker. He jumps way to much on ball fakes as well. Need him to be better but he likes to be cute rather than just play basketball. Needs to read less clippings and his coach needs to sit him down and have a real man to man with him. How about just playing basketball, smart basketball like we need a real leader to do?

 

[mauconnfan]

If he’s a “black hole”, he is one who shoots 60% FG. What’s the team shooting minus Adama and Donovan? I think Clingan should start too. Let’s get our best players on the court.

You have a point but so does everyone else. How many times can you allow this guy to get the ball too far from the basket and try to make a play? More than a dribble, maybe 2 is either a turnover, a bad shot or just a bad possession for the team. And let's be honest it can't be fun to clear out all the time when coach says "throw it in and let him do his thing" when he can't pass and he takes 10 seconds to make his move(s). He needs to be faster with decisions and needs to be able to understand where the double down is coming from. It's 3 years later, not knowing how and where to pass the ball is really awful. McDermott will not play the same D next time, thats for sure.