Dynasty

[El Obrero]

Now THAT is some talent

I don’t know. I don’t see a lot of rebounding there.

 

[evmore]

It's been said that its a Northeast thing to perpetually wait for the other shoe to drop when experiencing success.. maybe not exclusively northeast but we are conditioned to believe happiness is probably fleeting, and contentment is the feeling you get before tragedy hits..... Everything pointed out is true.. Dan Hurley and the staff are uber-competent, the wholistic approach works, culture & player development are the bedrock of the program, we play winning basketball and now we are getting players w/ ELITE talent matched with top class character. All true. But it can't be perfect all the time.. we will eventually hit adversity...... Probably not this year though, so i'm going to continue enjoying this carpet ride and hope I never wake up. I simply cannot fathom how far we've come in such a short time.. I remember 6-12 in the AAC vividly because it was only 5 or so years ago. I just hope everyone can set aside their inherent pessimism and appreciate what is happening with this program.

 

[Scrutineer]

View attachment 100262

That's the kind of dynasty I could live with..........at least four of them.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

As incredible as this current run is, this is the one part that somewhat worries me. I'd absolutely love to be the Alabama football of college basketball but I hope our fanbase doesn't get to the point of spoilage that ANY loss at all is cause to claim the sky is falling.

Dabo has had an incredible ten-year run at Clemson by nearly any metric but look how the fans have treated him after the last few "down" years. Straight up calling into sports talk shows to question why he deserves to get paid so much and maybe it's time to move on...um what???

I hope to God we are better than that Husky Nation.

Spoiler alert: we're not. Enjoy the moment.

 

[August_West]

Spoiler alert: we're not. Enjoy the moment.

We actually collectively are probably worse. hahaha

 

[Scrutineer]

Rob Duaster said on his podcast that McNeeley and Mahaney both left multiple 100s of k in nil on the table from other schools for the opportunity to get coached up by this staff. The belief now is you come to UConn to become a pro and make more on the backend. That says it all.

Amen to that. The whole basketball world is acknowledging the quality of coaching and play and that will make it easier to get the right kind of players to commit here.

When you've got Batum and LeBron talking it up and high profile coaches and schools talking about the need to find players with the right mindset, as well as talent and the need to play team basketball, you've made UConn the team upon which everyone will focus.

I keep mentioning Scheyer and his sudden realization that he needs some guards to go with the six 5 stars coming in, but either he's panicked or just saying the right things. He's hot after Kadary Richmond.............who plays when he wants to play, and never seems to care about the team, but that's fine.

 

[Waquoit]

Frank Isola said that NBA guys consider Hurley the best coach not in the league.

 

[djct1999]

No he didn't. He was speaking in the abstract. He doesn't know this, he didn't claim to know this. He was postulating. He was saying "maybe players think they can take a little less to maximize their value to the NBA down the road".

He never stated as fact that they left money on the table. People have to stop quoting opinions as fact and stop hearing what they want to hear instead of what is actually being said.

This has been especially hilarious in the NIL area where no one has ANY idea what offers are. Not Trilly, not Dauster, not anyone.

It is amazing how wrong people get NIL. And also that people don't realize that it is the interest of both players AND Schools that inflated numbers are out there.

Now I will give my opinion in the form of a question. When has anyone ever known 18-22 year olds be forward thinking about money (taking less to have more later) ? In most cases, all things being equal, a kid will want to take the biggest offer because it is a measure of value against their peers. There of course are exceptions like kids want to play for winners, or maybe their family situation reduces the allure of NIL, but again those are exceptions not the rule. Kids may take less at UConn (but again nobody really knows that except the parties involved.) but you better believe it isn't as far apart as people want you to believe.

He absolutely did. Go back and listen. He even initially said a specific number w McNeeley of 400k then caught himself and tried to back track by being less specific and said multiple 100’s. Goodman all but agreed. Nothing abstract about it.

And you are wrong. People absolutely know numbers. Now, I agree, kids aren’t always paid in full but people within basketball community do know what’s going and it’s probably way more egregious than you can grasp.

 

[Scrutineer]

As incredible as this current run is, this is the one part that somewhat worries me. I'd absolutely love to be the Alabama football of college basketball but I hope our fanbase doesn't get to the point of spoilage that ANY loss at all is cause to claim the sky is falling.

Dabo has had an incredible ten-year run at Clemson by nearly any metric but look how the fans have treated him after the last few "down" years. Straight up calling into sports talk shows to question why he deserves to get paid so much and maybe it's time to move on...um what???

I hope to God we are better than that Husky Nation.

One of my neighbors says Dabo won't use the portal so criticism of him may be warranted in an era with massive change. Our basketball staff has quickly adjusted and the results are what the Clemson football fans want.

 

[Scrutineer]

No he didn't. He was speaking in the abstract. He doesn't know this, he didn't claim to know this. He was postulating. He was saying "maybe players think they can take a little less to maximize their value to the NBA down the road".

He never stated as fact that they left money on the table. People have to stop quoting opinions as fact and stop hearing what they want to hear instead of what is actually being said.

This has been especially hilarious in the NIL area where no one has ANY idea what offers are. Not Trilly, not Dauster, not anyone.

It is amazing how wrong people get NIL. And also that people don't realize that it is the interest of both players AND Schools that inflated numbers are out there.

Now I will give my opinion in the form of a question. When has anyone ever known 18-22 year olds be forward thinking about money (taking less to have more later) ? In most cases, all things being equal, a kid will want to take the biggest offer because it is a measure of value against their peers. There of course are exceptions like kids want to play for winners, or maybe their family situation reduces the allure of NIL, but again those are exceptions not the rule. Kids may take less at UConn (but again nobody really knows that except the parties involved.) but you better believe it isn't as far apart as people want you to believe.

I think the fact their mothers were on the visit and heard the offer may have brought a higher, less emotional, thought process into the equation and perhaps some longer term thinking but.............I'm speculating but it came to me later in life that I would have benefited by listening to parental advice more than I did.

 

[August_West]

He absolutely did. Go back and listen. He even initially said a specific number w McNeeley of 400k then caught himself and tried to back track by being less specific and said multiple 100’s. Goodman all but agreed. Nothing abstract about it.

And you are wrong. People absolutely know numbers. Now, I agree, kids aren’t always paid in full but people within basketball community do know what’s going and it’s probably way more egregious than you can grasp.

He was picking numbers out of thin air to use an example as an opinion.

You probably think Kobe Brea told Duke his asking was 1.8 million don't you? Because Trilly said so? LOL.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

As incredible as this current run is, this is the one part that somewhat worries me. I'd absolutely love to be the Alabama football of college basketball but I hope our fanbase doesn't get to the point of spoilage that ANY loss at all is cause to claim the sky is falling.

Dabo has had an incredible ten-year run at Clemson by nearly any metric but look how the fans have treated him after the last few "down" years. Straight up calling into sports talk shows to question why he deserves to get paid so much and maybe it's time to move on...um what???

I hope to God we are better than that Husky Nation.

I can only speak for myself but I vividly remember the post Corny/McKay pre Jim Calhoun days and where we were then, compared both to what could be viewed as run of the mill programs and compared to the top of the BE (and a few non BE schools), who appeared to be built for multiple deep tournament runs.

I imagine I am not alone in feeling this way but this is beyond anything anyone could have hoped for forty years ago. There are times when I think I'm going to wake up, it will be 1984 and what we would be hoping for is a chance to finish above .500 more often than not, occasionally (maybe 30% of the time) make the NCAA tournament and once a decade make a sweet sixteen run. The plus side to that would be I'll know when to invest in Microsoft, Walmart, Dell, when to invest in Google, Netflix, Amazon, and I'll make sure that once NIL arrives in collegiate athletics, we will be in position to rule the world.

 

[djct1999]

He was picking numbers out of thin air to use an example as an opinion.

You probably think Kobe Brea told Duke his asking was 1.8 million don't you? Because Trilly said so? LOL.

Ok.

 

[Hoophound]

I have a very high comfort level that we will be fine post Hurley. We’ve got a couple great options in the family now.
This can be a very sustained run if managed correctly and conference realignment doesn’t derail us.

 

[ec33]

Now I will give my opinion in the form of a question. When has anyone ever known 18-22 year olds be forward thinking about money (taking less to have more later) ? In most cases, all things being equal, a kid will want to take the biggest offer because it is a measure of value against their peers. There of course are exceptions like kids want to play for winners, or maybe their family situation reduces the allure of NIL, but again those are exceptions not the rule. Kids may take less at UConn (but again nobody really knows that except the parties involved.) but you better believe it isn't as far apart as people want you to believe.

Let me preface this by saying there is nothing wrong with taking top dollar. Obviously, all other things being equal, more money is preferable to less money and we all need to do better when players we want opt for more money elsewhere.

That said, the current "dynasty" of Georgia football operates on a "take less now and we will get you to the NFL and the big money" principle. Yes, the money is (likely) generous by most standards - just not maximum. They lose a fair amount of Georgia high school talent to USC, Ohio State, and Florida State.

The "take less now to make more later" sales pitch (which UConn basketball wants to be on the basketball side) is a great model for building a program. You get the hard workers capable of putting off short-term rewards in order achieve their long-term goals. And since the other players are like minded, there is a certain bond that unites the team. They are in it together.

As long as Hurley is here and the assistants remain of high quality, UConn is well positioned. The hard part may be maintaining the high-quality assistants.

The example of that problem from football is the above-mentioned Clemson. Dabo was the salesman to get the players on campus, the coordinators were the brains of the operation. Once the OC and DC left Clemson has fallen to "ACC power" despite having premium players.

 

[Bboy Lace]

Not really, it was totally abnormal how injured we were during the later Ollie years. Jackson had injuries and Samson's entire sophomore season was derailed by injury. Clingan and Castle were hurt this season but we were at full strength for the tournament.

Yeah, we were lucky their injuries and the timing of their injuries didn't derail us. So, yes really. We could've easily lost Steph or Clingan for the season or the tourney.

 

[temery]

Ask Florida how that worked out after their back-to-back.

UCLA was a dynasty. Celtics and Yankees had their own dynasties. UConn women - dynasty. UConn men - two years away from first round losses.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Can't wait to see what 2025 recruits we'll reel in.

 

[CL82]

I would never, ever go that far because I am certain that my words have a direct impact on our fortunes.

But I think Hurley and this staff, in recent years, have cracked the code on what kind of team wins. It’s beyond getting good players, it’s getting smart players who are capable of focus beyond what most college players are capable of.

That’s why we saw the UConn avalanche over and over and over the past two years. Good teams can keep up for 10, 15, 20 minutes, but eventually UConn cracks them and it’s off to the races.

The question is not only can we continue to replicate our approach successfully, but also how long will it take every other coach to adjust. The second part is unclear to me.

 

[Hoophound]

The question is not only can we continue to replicate our approach successfully, but also how long will it take every other coach to adjust. The second part is unclear to me.

I really don’t know if they can. It isn’t just basketball, it’s inner strength. Somehow, we find kids with IQ, skill coachability and most importantly, incredible work ethic. It is talent identification far beyond anything we’ve seen before. It’s like our coaches have some sort of special test they give players to see if they have the right makeup.

 

[CL82]

I really don’t know if they can. It isn’t just basketball, it’s inner strength. Somehow, we find kids with IQ, skill coachability and most importantly, incredible work ethic. It is talent identification far beyond anything we’ve seen before. It’s like our coaches have some sort of special test they give players to see if they have the right makeup.

Agree, it is one part personnel identification, but the other part is very, very sophisticated X's and O's. In essence we run 10 basic sets with each set having four or five variations available to it. That is incredibly hard to plan against. That's where I think the rest of college basketball needs to adapt.

 

[gsmooth]

Agree, it is one part personnel identification, but the other part is very, very sophisticated X's and O's. In essence we run 10 basic sets with each set having four or five variations available to it. That is incredibly hard to plan against. That's where I think the rest of college basketball needs to adapt.

And it's very difficult to learn. You can't be a low basketball IQ and run those sets. Last September, when Hurley was asked in front of a bunch of reporters how Castle was doing, he said he was doing okay, but that he needed to learn the offense better and the defensive scheme better. Castle's basketball IQ is high and he was more than up to the task, but he still had to learn it. It helps that Newton, Karaban, Clingan, and Diarra were returnees that could help him and Spencer learn.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

And it's very difficult to learn. You can't be a low basketball IQ and run those sets. Last September, when Hurley was asked in front of a bunch of reporters how Castle was doing, he said he was doing okay, but that he needed to learn the offense better and the defensive scheme better. Castle's basketball IQ is high and he was more than up to the task, but he still had to learn it. It helps that Newton, Karaban, Clingan, and Diarra were returnees that could help him and Spencer learn.

This.

A major part of what made our offense so difficult to defend this past season was that the players on the court were making decisions on the fly based on their positioning, the defense's positioning and how their teammates would going to react as the play develops. Everyone on the court needed to understand in detail how to act, what the read was and how to react if someone read something different than what he should have.

The returning freshmen (who some are automatically placing behind a couple very new names) will have a tremendous leg up as they already have a year in the system.

 

[superjohn]

Ask Florida how that worked out after their back-to-back.

UCLA was a dynasty. Celtics and Yankees had their own dynasties. UConn women - dynasty. UConn men - two years away from first round losses.

UConn is nothing like Florida.

 

[tzznandrew]

UConn is nothing like Florida.

Florida missed the NCAAT the two years after their back-to-back. They weren't ranked in the preseason poll the next year, and basically skirted the fringe of the poll for two years, topping out at #18 in 2009, but being ranked a total of 7 weeks out of the potential 38. Florida had little history before those back-to-backs, and have been only a good program since (5 E8s, 1 FF).

The programs aren't comparable, either historically or in terms of expectations and talent going into the season after their back-to-back.