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[willie99]

Providence is pretty good, as are most of our opponents

Providence and most of our opponents are capable of beating good teams

Providence and most of our opponents want to win too, and most really hate us

We are still playing shorthanded with our best player out

We will lose games, it's not the end of the world until we lose sometime after the Ides of March

ENJOY THE RIDE

 

[BapeKidd88]

Mediocrity = Losing to Providence at home

 

[BigFanCT]

If you’re getting taken to school by Ed Cooley- there’s a problem. Sorry.

 

[willie99]

Haha, clueless wonders abound. Some will never grow up

Have a great day

 

[OUTATIME]

I will never enjoy losing.

 

[8893]

Willie, what do you think the guy in your avatar thought about that game? Do you think we would have been as contented as Hurley is?

 

[willie99]

Willie, what do you think the guy in your avatar thought about that game? Do you think we would have been as contented as Hurley is?

I doubt Hurley is content, he's a fierce competitor, he just may not share it with us. I know Calhoun wouldn't be content either. But the reality is UConn lost 28% of their games with Calhoun, and 37% of their conference games. He lost games too, and sometimes he lost bad games. We don't even have a "bad loss" thus far this year

In 2004, Jim Calhoun was awarded the "Uncoach of the Year" by some media member because of how poorly he perceived them to be

In 2011, we were 500 in conference play. The modern day board would be in meltdown.

PS: Now before the people that fancy themselves to have a high basketball IQ around here go into a Boneyard Meltdown, I'm not comparing Hurley favorably to the GOAT. I'm just responding to a question posed by a respected member and trying to bring some perspective to the table

 

[willie99]

I will never enjoy losing.

Me neither, I'd rather win, but reality is practically every team, if not every team, is going to lose more games than their fanbase wants to lose.

I like the job Hurley is doing overall, I like the direction of the program, I like the recruits he's bringing in, and I'm guessing the GOAT will say the same thing

I would like to see a couple of rotation changes, minor tweaks, but we don't know what's going on in he locker room.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I doubt Hurley is content, he's a fierce competitor, he just may not share it with us. I know Calhoun wouldn't be content either. But the reality is UConn lost 28% of their games with Calhoun, and 37% of their conference games. He lost games too, and sometimes he lost bad games. We don't even have a "bad loss" thus far this year

In 2004, Jim Calhoun was awarded the "Uncoach of the Year" by some media member because of how poorly he perceived them to be

In 2011, we were 500 in conference play. The modern day board would be in meltdown.

PS: Now before the people that fancy themselves to have a high basketball IQ around here go into a Boneyard Meltdown, I'm not comparing Hurley favorably to the GOAT. I'm just responding to a question posed by a respected member and trying to bring some perspective to the table

The 2011 team had Kemba Walker and a bunch of freshman, this years team has a bunch of freshman who don't play and no Kemba Walker. We struggled in conference play but won all our OOC games.

 

[willie99]

OK, thanks for that, doesn't change a thing I said

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Willie, what do you think the guy in your avatar thought about that game? Do you think we would have been as contented as Hurley is?

Calhoun was always very dialed in to his talent level and the personalities he was coaching. He would constantly rip some teams a dozen new ones (like the 2006 team), and other teams got a little more leash (the 1997 team). This team is in the middle. I think Calhoun would be tougher on them than Hurley, but a coach losing his spit is not what this team needs.

It needs a better offense.

 

[mauconnfan]

Willie as you know you’re one of my favorites so by no means do I have anything but respect for you.

But this isn’t the only game which they have not looked like a very good basketball team. They scored 53 against an MSU team trying to hand them a game. They got very lucky that VCU can’t score in the third game on the island but we will take wins. WVU was awful, we were worst. The Bonnie’s was a win albeit unimpressive but again take those as you try to get better and grow. Grow? There hasn’t been many signs of them being better especially on the offensive end. Let’s not pretend PC is a great defensive team, we got 53 yet again.

I understand the conference will be tough it always is, and Sanogo is out. But if we’re watching right now closely Sanogo won’t get an open look because they will double down on our only scorer with any consistency. We can’t shoot that’s an issue. Our substitution patterns are head scratching to say the least.

Overreacting, you might be right. I’m afraid I’m not though. Stay with your positive thoughts we do need you and others. I am always a fan no matter, just not liking the pattern of what I’m seeing for a while. Hope you’re right and the crows are waiting at the dinner table in March

 

[Brochacho]

If we can’t beat Providence at home down Sanogo we aren’t a top 5 team in the Big East and we are staring at a 0-3 start to conference play. That’s all there is to it.

 

[storrsroars]

Sort of off topic, but in the chat yesterday a few posters were pointing out how WVU was losing to "lowly" UAB, implying it was a worse loss than originally thought.

UAB came into that game with a NET of 34. PeeCee was 40.

The more you know...

 

[Doctor Hoop]

If you don’t have the kind of offensive talent that can just create buckets then you have to design offensive sets that will create those openings. Every now and then we see something like that, like the couple of pick and rolls that got Whaley layups.

But let me know when the high weave has generated wide open looks. I’ll wait. Those lobs at the rim to Jackson have to be set up, you can’t just expect him to jump through and over the D. Offensive creativity and deception are lacking, and as a result we take a lot of fadeaway and forced 3’s, and throw up prayers on drives. The best 3 look we got was on the Jackson kickout to Cole, which is inside out passing, plus a couple in transition. Against set D, not so much.

 

[willie99]

Sort of off topic, but in the chat yesterday a few posters were pointing out how WVU was losing to "lowly" UAB, implying it was a worse loss than originally thought.

UAB came into that game with a NET of 34. PeeCee was 40.

The more you know...

And WVU won, on the road

Our loss is looking better every day

OK, not to me, but to all those really high basketball IQ guys

 

[CL82]

I don’t think it’s the viruses that have people so riled up and as the way we lose, particularly the inability to score over long stretches.

 

[8893]

I doubt Hurley is content, he's a fierce competitor, he just may not share it with us. I know Calhoun wouldn't be content either. But the reality is UConn lost 28% of their games with Calhoun, and 37% of their conference games. He lost games too, and sometimes he lost bad games. We don't even have a "bad loss" thus far this year

In 2004, Jim Calhoun was awarded the "Uncoach of the Year" by some media member because of how poorly he perceived them to be

In 2011, we were 500 in conference play. The modern day board would be in meltdown.

PS: Now before the people that fancy themselves to have a high basketball IQ around here go into a Boneyard Meltdown, I'm not comparing Hurley favorably to the GOAT. I'm just responding to a question posed by a respected member and trying to bring some perspective to the table

Calhoun was always very dialed in to his talent level and the personalities he was coaching. He would constantly rip some teams a dozen new ones (like the 2006 team), and other teams got a little more leash (the 1997 team). This team is in the middle. I think Calhoun would be tougher on them than Hurley, but a coach losing his spit is not what this team needs.

It needs a better offense.

I am not suggesting that Hurley needs to morph into Jim Calhoun's personality, that Calhoun didn't have bad losses, or that Hurley needs to yell at these guys more.

I was and am concerned at Hurley's lack of adjustments to suit the game and the team he has, and the fact that he appears to believe that no adjustments whatsoever are needed.

Calhoun was far from perfect, but one of his great strengths was imposing his will on his teams, and, in turn, having his teams impose their wills on others. Not always, but often enough that it was a defining characteristic. The thing that concerns me the most about Hurley as our coach is that, even at our "best," we have yet to impose our will on another remotely decent team. Every opposing coach who is average or better has dictated the pace and style of play to us, and has made adjustments designed to expose our weaknesses and limit our strengths. It was stunning to me how forensically Hurley was able to identify exactly what Cooley did to game plan for us and how effective it was, yet he didn't see it coming and he did nothing to adjust to it. Hurley appears to be the easiest mark in CBB.

Tomorrow would be a great time to reverse that trend.

 

[willie99]

I do want to see some adjustments to the rotation. Specifically more Hawkins, more Diggins, less Gaffney and Polly only plays if he hits one of his first two shots

We are offensively challenged right now. Truthfully, that was also Calhoun's biggest problem until sometime in January

 

[Hi-Low]

It's not about Providence being good, it's about looking horrible losing to them.

What's does Providence being good have to do with missing many open 3's & missing 6 FT's & layups?

Polley, Gaffney, Akok & Hawkins combined for 1-14....that can't all be Providence.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I am not suggesting that Hurley needs to morph into Jim Calhoun's personality, that Calhoun didn't have bad losses, or that Hurley needs to yell at these guys more.

I was and am concerned at Hurley's lack of adjustments to suit the game and the team he has, and the fact that he appears to believe that no adjustments whatsoever are needed.

Calhoun was far from perfect, but one of his great strengths was imposing his will on his teams, and, in turn, having his teams impose their wills on others. Not always, but often enough that it was a defining characteristic. The thing that concerns me the most about Hurley as our coach is that, even at our "best," we have yet to impose our will on another remotely decent team. Every opposing coach who is average or better has dictated the pace and style of play to us, and has made adjustments designed to expose our weaknesses and limit our strengths. It was stunning to me how forensically Hurley was able to identify exactly what Cooley did to game plan for us and how effective it was, yet he didn't see it coming and he did nothing to adjust to it. Hurley appears to be the easiest mark in CBB.

Tomorrow would be a great time to reverse that trend.

I think "imposing his will" on a game is one of the more overrated aspects of coaching. Coaches win with better players, preparation and in game adjustments. That is true in the NBA, at the highest level of D1 college basketball, all the way down to the local middle school rec league.

Calhoun did one thing better than probably any coach in history: player development. Players that showed up at UConn got a lot better at UConn. Donny Marshall is one of the most striking examples of this, but there were many others. The second thing Calhoun did really well was game preparation. The 1999 Championship vs. Duke is one example, but there were many others where UConn showed up ready to play and the other team didn't. After that, Calhoun was not really exceptional as a coach. I agreed with the things he liked to do (force transition offense, aggressive man to man), but none of those things were splitting the atom from a coaching perspective.

Calhoun was not great at in game adjustments, in part because those are really hard for any coach. The 1994 Sweet 16 loss to Florida is a badly coached game. No other way to describe it. UConn was having an epic scoring drought and Calhoun refused to put Brian Fair on the court because Fair didn't play defense. Defense wasn't our problem in the second half of that game, we needed a scorer. Losing to George Mason with a team that had 4 future NBA draft picks was certainly not a shining moment for Calhoun either. If we are being honest, I thought Dan Monson out-coached Calhoun in the 1999 Final 8 game with Gonzaga, UConn just had the better team and pulled it out. Monson shut down Khalid, and UConn was in deep spit right up to the end.

 

[Waquoit]

Mediocrity = Losing to Providence at home

If you’re getting taken to school by Ed Cooley- there’s a problem. Sorry.

This is what Boneyard mediocrity looks like.

 

[CL82]

But the reality is UConn lost 28% of their games with Calhoun, and 37% of their conference games.

Of course, Uconn won 100% of their national championship games with Calhoun. That just seemed like a metric that was noteworthy as long as we are throwing around percentages.

 

[CV1]

Me neither, I'd rather win, but reality is practically every team, if not every team, is going to lose more games than their fanbase wants to lose.

I like the job Hurley is doing overall, I like the direction of the program, I like the recruits he's bringing in, and I'm guessing the GOAT will say the same thing

I would like to see a couple of rotation changes, minor tweaks, but we don't know what's going on in he locker room.

Well said. Providence is a good team and should be in the top 25 today. I’d like to see how they would have fared without their big guy Watson just like what we faced without Sanogo. In a conference like this, that is a big deal.

 

[8893]

I think "imposing his will" on a game is one of the more overrated aspects of coaching. Coaches win with better players, preparation and in game adjustments. That is true in the NBA, at the highest level of D1 college basketball, all the way down to the local middle school rec league.

The second thing Calhoun did really well was game preparation. The 1999 Championship vs. Duke is one example, but there were many others where UConn showed up ready to play and the other team didn't. After that, Calhoun was not really exceptional as a coach. I agreed with the things he liked to do (force transition offense, aggressive man to man), but none of those things were splitting the atom from a coaching perspective.

Well, preparation and in-game adjustments are part of imposing one's will, no?

Your example of the 1999 game vs. Duke is a perfect one: the question everyone had been asking was how UConn was going to prepare for and handle Duke; Khalid turned the question around and said people should wonder how Duke would prepare for and handle UConn.

That says it all in a nutshell imo.

And forcing transition offense is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about. That is also the strength of this year's team, and Hurley consistently allows the games to be played at a pace and in a style that takes away our transition game. As you note, it's not a groundbreaking discovery; that Hurley can't or won't do it is disconcerting imo.

 

[uconnfan68]

Every opposing coach who is average or better has dictated the pace and style of play to us, and has made adjustments designed to expose our weaknesses and limit our strengths. It was stunning to me how forensically Hurley was able to identify exactly what Cooley did to game plan for us and how effective it was, yet he didn't see it coming and he did nothing to adjust to it.

Nailed it.

 

[August_West]

Sort of off topic, but in the chat yesterday a few posters were pointing out how WVU was losing to "lowly" UAB, implying it was a worse loss than originally thought.

UAB came into that game with a NET of 34. PeeCee was 40.

The more you know...

And WVU won.

 

[storrsroars]

And WVU won.

Yes they did. Against a team with a top-40 NET rating. Quad 1 win. Not that myopic posters in the chat had any clue that UAB has a decent program.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Well, preparation and in-game adjustments are part of imposing one's will, no?

Your example of the 1999 game vs. Duke is a perfect one: the question everyone had been asking was how UConn was going to prepare for and handle Duke; Khalid turned the question around and said people should wonder how Duke would prepare for and handle UConn.

That says it all in a nutshell imo.

And forcing transition offense is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about. That is also the strength of this year's team, and Hurley consistently allows the games to be played at a pace and in a style that takes away our transition game. As you note, it's not a groundbreaking discovery; that Hurley can't or won't do it is disconcerting imo.

Nailed it. He not only allows it, he causes it. Polley can’t rebound, and defensive rebounding is the key to transition. In order, Jackson, Martin, Sanogo, Akok, Whaley drive the transition game. Hawkins hasn’t looked comfortable in it, but has speed. Gaff is much better in a fast game, he just dribbles away the clock in half court. Hurley sacrifices it to put what he thinks are outside shooters on the floor. Yet, those guys aren’t hitting the shots, so the offense has nothing left. Sanogo is our bail out. If we can’t run, he at least provides some option beyond chucking a 3. Yet we could absolutely feed Akok, Whaley, Johnson in the paint the same way and we almost never do.

 

[SubbaBub]

Providence is pretty good, as are most of our opponents

Providence and most of our opponents are capable of beating good teams

Providence and most of our opponents want to win too, and most really hate us

We are still playing shorthanded with our best player out

We will lose games, it's not the end of the world until we lose sometime after the Ides of March

ENJOY THE RIDE

Mediocrity = Losing to Providence at home

Proof that two things can be true at the same time.

Told you PC was only an important game if we lost.