Expectations Going Forward

[mauconnfan]

As a ray of hope, I would mention a game played in NYC on Jan. 2, 1990. Final score: St. John's 93, UConn 62. It put UConn at 10-3, but after an earlier homecourt loss to Villanova, it gave them an 0-2 start in the Big East. Calhoun had won the NIT in 1988, but after a very disappointing 1988-89 season, the debacle at St. John's had the doomsayers in loud chorus.

That was the Dream Season. UConn finished 31-6 with both Big East regular season and tournament titles, a #1 NCAA seed, and an Elite Eight finish, stopped short of the Final Four only by Laettner's overtime buzzer beater.

More to the point, it began the Calhoun dynasty that was to being four NC flags to the rafters of Gampel Pavilion. On the morning of January 3, 1990, there weren't too many die-hard loyalists assessing the St, John's loss and extrapolating that outcome.

I appreciate the comparison I really do. I just can’t find the Chris Smith, Scotty Burrell, Nadav Henefeld, Tate George, Rod Sellers on this roster, especially the very intelligent part of that team. Unfortunately this team has no shot of that turnaround but we can remain hopeful for one that makes us competitive throughout the league schedule.

 

[jibsey]

We either rise or fall with Jalen Adams this year because bench replacements are really no better than he is. How does your star shooting guard turn the ball over 6 times, many of them on bad passes? Hurley is stuck with him and he will at some point bounce back, but not being consistent or able to be counted on is devastating to the team’s chances this year. NIT but with a possible NCAA bubble tease this year if the team gets serious.

 

[Sphinx]

I appreciate the comparison I really do. I just can’t find the Chris Smith, Scotty Burrell, Nadav Henefeld, Tate George, Rod Sellers on this roster, especially the very intelligent part of that team. Unfortunately this team has no shot of that turnaround but we can remain hopeful for one that makes us competitive throughout the league schedule.

Point taken, but, of course, you are making these assessments on the morning of December 23, 2018, not the morning of January 3, 1990. You can be reasonably sure that our current crop of heroes will fare better in the comparison by the end of this season. I do concede that there is no Gaza Stripper in this bunch.

 

[8893]

My expectations for this season are no longer going forward.

 

[Mokum]

I realize my expectations for this season were a bit to lofty. Hard not to be optimistic when you are die hard fan. My hats off to those of you who made more realistic expectations coming in to this season. Getting back to where we want to be is going to take time. We have a lot of guys who were 3 stars coming out of HS. Mediocre grad transfers. Basically the same setup that had us stinking it up the last couple years. We are doing a lot better with Hurley at the helm, I think everyone would agree. An NCAA berth would be great, and it is not beyond the relm of possibility. I will be happy if we make the NIT, even happier if we win it. It would be a big step in the right direction. Give Hurley a chance to recruit the players he wants to have. Let’s face it, we are not going to be happy unless we are national contenders every year. That’s Uconn BB. We are not going to get back to that level overnight, and with these players. Jalen Adams is what he is. I am no longer expecting anything more out of him. Let’s be patient and give Hurley a reasonable amount of time to do the job.

 

[gampelcrazies]

I still have the same expectations that I had going into the season. Win as many games as you can and don't dwell on losses like the Nova game. This is the same team as last year so you can't really expect to make the NCAAs. NIT would be a huge step forward for this team.

 

[Danzz]

If they don't learn how to take care of the ball better we'll be a lot closer to .500 than 20 wins.

 

[Hurleyman216]

My expectation is for the Boneyard to step back from the ledge and let our first year coach continue to develop his team. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening.

 

[Huskybass]

After yesterday its tough to have big expectations for this season. 20 wins would be great. I always thought 2019-20 would be the year we could start to make some noise in the tournament. That is still my opinion.

 

[Yankees32123]

20 wins is a realistic goal, and a massive improvement from last year considering we’re running out the same roster.

 

[huskeynut]

Realistic goal from the beginning was/ is a winning record. 18 to 20 wins with maybe a couple of AAC tournament wins is reasonable with this team. No NCAA's this year. Not going to say we get an NIT bid either. Because I don't think we will.

 

[intlzncster]

That was the Dream Season. UConn finished 31-6 with both Big East regular season and tournament titles, a #1 NCAA seed, and an Elite Eight finish, stopped short of the Final Four only by Laettner's overtime buzzer beater.

More to the point, it began the Calhoun dynasty that was to being four NC flags to the rafters of Gampel Pavilion.

Way to reset expectations to a realistic level Sphinx.

 

[intlzncster]

Calhoun didn't have to worry about rebuilding an image, though.

It's as if people expect this all to be fixed in less than a year. Amazing really. They're harping on all Hurley's faults (as a young coach, he def has some), instead of being patient and waiting for the results to come in a year or two down the road.

There are so many moving parts to the program that need to be repaired and/or revamped. Can't do it all at once.

The standard reply is, "well KO was judged the same". Yeah, that was after 6 freakin years on the job, and being handed a bunch of guys with championship level guts. Hurley's guys right now are not like that (yet), especially in terms of experience.

The thing Hurley has done better than KO by a mile is restore our rep, both on the recruiting trail and in national perception.

Also, just as importantly, he's injected fun into this whole process (unless you're a miserable bastard).

 

[intlzncster]

Realistic goal from the beginning was/ is a winning record. 18 to 20 wins with maybe a couple of AAC tournament wins is reasonable with this team. No NCAA's this year. Not going to say we get an NIT bid either. Because I don't think we will.

If they get to 20 wins (not saying they will), they'll definitely get an NIT bid, on name alone. NIT is always scratching for viewers, so if they can get a marquee school in, they do it. In fact, normally, being north of .500 is all you need.

 

[intlzncster]

So then you bench him the whole game when its against better competition? We have an egregious front court and you don't play the person that went 13 & 13 in our only decent win of the season? Even in the cupcakes when he's made mistakes you give him more than 10 mins to develop, unless you're solely bent on developing for the future. Its been painfully obvious, and it didn't give us a fighting chance today. There's definitely something really wrong with this situation.

View attachment 37643

If Cobb helps deliver 2pts on offense, then gives up 4pts on defense, he's useless.

I kinda feel that's what's happening here in terms of Hurley's thought process.

 

[gtcam]

Nova didn’t have their starting point guard today & a disgruntled freshman player on Nova outscored Jalen Adams. Disappointing is an understatement.

Their starting guard couldn't hold a candle to his replacement
As far as JA is concerned - he will be OK
Thanks for the concern

 

[JMick]

Is as if people expect this all to be fixed in less than a year. Amazing really. They're harping on all Hurley's faults (as a young coach, he def has some), instead of being patient and waiting for the results to come in a year or two down the road.

There are so many moving parts to the program that need to be repaired and/or revamped. Can't do it all at once.

The standard reply is, "well KO was judged the same". Yeah, that was after 6 freakin years on the job, and being handed a bunch of guys with championship level guts. Hurley's guys right now are not like that (yet), especially in terms of experience.

The thing Hurley has done better than KO by a mile is restore our rep, both on the recruiting trail and in national perception.

Also, just as importantly, he's injected fun into this whole process (unless you're a miserable bastard).

Hurley came in and has so far beaten teams we're better than and lost to teams we're worse than. I'm not sure what more you can ask for in year one. It's like people forgot how bad the last two years were.

 

[kelde1wd]

Going into the season thinking NIT would be a success. I drank the kool-aid like most of us and set sights on NCAA after the 1st several weeks of the season. I don’t think that is out of the realm. The AAC isn’t as good as Villanova, FSU, Iowa, or Arizona. We played strong in spurts against those teams (except Iowa). This team will continue to grow and I don’t think it is fair to say what we saw in the 2nd half will be indicative of the rest of the season. We should be able to rack up some wins in the AAC...but still have to deal with Cincy & Houston.

I still think we have a shot at the NCAA, but post-season period will be a nice stepping stone season coming off 2 sub .500 seasons and building for 2019/20. Yesterday sucked, but isn’t the end of the road.

 

[UofCT]

I don’t remember them tanking in 2010.

He benched Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson when it was clear the team was not playing well. Darius Smith anyone?

 

[superjohn]

It's as if people expect this all to be fixed in less than a year. Amazing really. They're harping on all Hurley's faults (as a young coach, he def has some), instead of being patient and waiting for the results to come in a year or two down the road.

There are so many moving parts to the program that need to be repaired and/or revamped. Can't do it all at once.

The standard reply is, "well KO was judged the same". Yeah, that was after 6 freakin years on the job, and being handed a bunch of guys with championship level guts. Hurley's guys right now are not like that (yet), especially in terms of experience.

The thing Hurley has done better than KO by a mile is restore our rep, both on the recruiting trail and in national perception.

Also, just as importantly, he's injected fun into this whole process (unless you're a miserable bastard).

I thought 20 wins with a ceiling being us possibly sneaking into the tourny. I also had no idea Jalen would look like this. 20 wins should be the goal, next year will be better.

 

[kemba]

He benched Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson when it was clear the team was not playing well. Darius Smith anyone?

IIRC there was a game at the end of the year that we were playing poorly at USF and he benched the starters then stuck with the bench guys as they brought us back into the game. Then the starters were back in for the next game. He never tanked, focused on the future, etc.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

I have been lowering my expectations for this season with every loss. Sober reality is setting in and it's time to drop them down another couple of notches. I have been to all four UConn-Tulsa games in Tulsa since the we joined the AAC. UConn is 0-4 and I'll take a W (or at least a non-cringeworthy loss) on January 16. Based on last night's debacle, setting expectations anywhere above that seems like an exercise in self-torture.

 

[Milo65]

20 wins during the season. 2 wins in the AAC tourney, a bubble team.

 

[Horatio]

Weed out the weak players.
Build the roster.
Crush our enemies,
See them driven before us
And hear the lamentations of their Women.

That’s my expectations going forward.

 

[intlzncster]

I thought 20 wins with a ceiling being us possibly sneaking into the tourny. I also had no idea Jalen would look like this. 20 wins should be the goal, next year will be better.

This was my single biggest miscalculation this year.

I'm still not convinced it will continue for the rest of the season. Not saying he'll be a barn burner, but I'm hoping the listlessness falls away.