For those who want Dan Hurley to be accountable...

[GHSWolverines]

Yup, Danny Hurley is not perfect. But some posters here refer to Calhoun like he was perfect, and won every expected game. Either they were not around or forget some of the stressful losses and stretches of games that had fans scratching our heads.
I remember JC's sit downs with the media and making comments like, "I can't put the ball in the basket", or "As much as you try to motivate these kids I can't force them play hard for 40 minutes".
I remember the game when we scored 9 points in the first half against UMess. And I remember his frustration when he kicked the scorers table. And there is the (my personal favorite) audible "hit the Mothe F'er!"
Bottom line for me is that coaches can do everything right to put players in a winning place but it doesn't always work the way fans want it to.
I want a coach who is passionate, skilled with a basketball background, demands the best effort from his players, and is dedicated to the program. Oh, and recruits aggressively!
Some can argue his skills but I like a lot of things about him. Can he do it? We'll see.
We can't fire the coach every time we lose a head scratcher.

Amen!

 

[UCLJ0211]

And finesse will be essential toward success in pursuing 6 consecutive victories in this year's NCAA Tournament.

The ability to defeat opponents from a variety of post-season conferences has been the defining characteristic of UConn's 21st Century National Championships.

Being superficially tough(er) will only get us so far. Recall that we never had to meet Pitt teams that bullied UConn in OBE play. They invariably got bounced in a tournament game where battle-style Big East teams did not fare well with the refs. The same could happen to UConn in a game with closely-called fouls that puts key players early on the bench. Playing smart as a team will be essential, even as UConn seeks to avenge its road losses in the weeks ahead.

What about our 20th century national championship?

 

[GHSWolverines]

Ya, it's glaring that this team needs to practice end of game scenarios. The players have looked lost and so have the games.

I am certain they are practiced. Practice and game time are much different with the mind set

 

[gtcam]

and then the other failure was not forcing us to continue to improve.”

Quite a statement. But if a majority of people are good with that, then accept it. To me, sending out the same starting 5 vs Butler and seeing the first 5 minutes doesn't indicate seeking improvement. While it was a large victory, Butler couldn't hit the brood side of a barn with a watered down roster and that allowed UConn to do some things they hadn't done in the past 5-6 games. There still wasn't any overt sets to free up Hawkins or AK. His lineup rotations where unchanged with the exception of adding Samson. Yes there was driving to the basket so that is an improvement and is applauded.
The rest of the rematches vs PC, Marquette, Creighton, St Johns and Nova will tell the full story.
DH can make the changes that he has to see as apparent - but the question is - will he?

And this hater crap is just that. Most who criticize don't hate and if they do there is another issue.

The last part of the schedule is the make or break point of this team.

It can be done.

 

[Jaydumo20]

That accountability is just not good enough for the Hurley-haters. Won't ever be good enough until he resigns and gives back all his contract money.

And you know they don’t want that either. They would then jump on the A.D. for making a bad hire. blaming personal unhappiness on others is ego 101, and it’s rockin up in here!

 

[Hurleyman216]

I am certain they are practiced. Practice and game time are much different with the mind set

For anyone that knows DH personally you know that the team is not afflicted with being under coached. From the second the season starts Danny is so consumed in results and practice that to be around him is like walking on eggshells. I think this is an area for improvement. The team and staff needs an occasional day off for mental and physical rest. Even though his coaching job consumes him 24/7, the kids on the team are still just kids and there needs to be more of a balance. We can practice hard but still have “fun” and play loose. This is something DH is still learning but I can tell you this last little bit away from the team with Covid had him reflecting on the fact that he was likely putting too much pressure on his guys to be great. It’s gotta be a balance

 

[alphasigko]

UConn really became active and more assertive offensively especially with driving to basket and looking for opportunities inside. Karaban, AJ, Newton, Diarra, Hawkins all pushed play inside with great success. There still were opportunities outside. It was great to see and can be replicated.

Yes, that is all true... However, Butler did not play the very aggressive defense that Providence, X, Marquette, the Johnnies and SH played in each of our losses. Hence, we were given many passing and driving lanes by Butler that allowed us to score easilly as compared to the other games.

 

[Austin316]

If you say, being relevant means you’re a consistent top 25 team…. Then we haven’t been relevant in about 10 years. That’s hard to believe.

Hurley is only learning what relevancy is. Respectfully, he did well at URI but it was a pit stop for him and they never reached top 15 in the country. Furthermore, they were only ranked in 2 of his 6 seasons in coaching there. He brought them into the light but there was by no means a spot light in Kingston, RI. He understands the brand here, as do his players.

There’s a lot of pressure that goes into a rebuild of a program and maintaining relevancy. Hurley is learning this… as are the players.

IMO this is going to take a handful of years for him to figure out how to coach his guys while being in the spot light.

 

[Travelman6]

Here you go:

The men’s team, prior to Sunday’s smothering of Butler, had faltered in areas it takes the most pride in, defense and toughness, not to mention some significant limitations on offense. UConn had been exposed, again, in a number of ways Wednesday night in the second half at Seton Hall, this time under the watch of assistants Luke Murray and Tom Moore. Associate head coach Kimani Young also missed the game due to COVID.

“When you get back to where we took this thing back to where we were on the verge of being the No. 1 team in the country and had to settle for 2, I just think there's a certain pressure that comes with that,” Hurley said. “And then a mindset of, you better continue to get better even when you're at that level. I think as a coaching staff we just failed — I failed — these guys in terms of trying to do things to try to take the pressure off of them, and then the other failure was not forcing us to continue to improve.”

How UConn basketball coaches Dan Hurley, Geno Auriemma navigate challenging seasons: 'How do you explain it?'

The UConn men's and women's basketball teams were riding high in December, but injuries...

www.ctinsider.com

Not a shock, he's always been honest with others and himself in a down to earth kind of way. But let's now see it translate to improvement on the floor in the next two months or 10 weeks or what not.

 

[rip7774]

Hurley has his faults for sure but I really think he’s going to keep working at it until he fixes his deficiencies in all facets. He’s much more introspective than we give him credit for and I think he wants to win for this program as much as any of us.

Totally agree. He’s so frustrating at moments and sometimes mostly w roster construction but he’s getting better and I think shot creators is the next step. He will get it fixed.

 

[UCfor3]

If you say, being relevant means you’re a consistent top 25 team…. Then we haven’t been relevant in about 10 years. That’s hard to believe.

Hurley is only learning what relevancy is. Respectfully, he did well at URI but it was a pit stop for him and they never reached top 15 in the country. Furthermore, they were only ranked in 2 of his 6 seasons in coaching there. He brought them into the light but there was by no means a spot light in Kingston, RI. He understands the brand here, as do his players.

There’s a lot of pressure that goes into a rebuild of a program and maintaining relevancy. Hurley is learning this… as are the players.

IMO this is going to take a handful of years for him to figure out how to coach his guys while being in the spot light.

It's really hard to reach top 15 in the country or even be ranked on a somewhat regular basis at URI.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hopefully this means we’re back to being ready for the Big East.

 

[McLovin]

Here you go:

The men’s team, prior to Sunday’s smothering of Butler, had faltered in areas it takes the most pride in, defense and toughness, not to mention some significant limitations on offense. UConn had been exposed, again, in a number of ways Wednesday night in the second half at Seton Hall, this time under the watch of assistants Luke Murray and Tom Moore. Associate head coach Kimani Young also missed the game due to COVID.

“When you get back to where we took this thing back to where we were on the verge of being the No. 1 team in the country and had to settle for 2, I just think there's a certain pressure that comes with that,” Hurley said. “And then a mindset of, you better continue to get better even when you're at that level. I think as a coaching staff we just failed — I failed — these guys in terms of trying to do things to try to take the pressure off of them, and then the other failure was not forcing us to continue to improve.”

How UConn basketball coaches Dan Hurley, Geno Auriemma navigate challenging seasons: 'How do you explain it?'

The UConn men's and women's basketball teams were riding high in December, but injuries...

www.ctinsider.com

This is great. It’s a start, but it’s just words until he backs it up with change.

I remember early in my corporate career, I made a big error on a research report for a client. I called my boss and admitted full responsibility. I felt proud of myself for “owning the mistake” and being “accountable”.

After I finished explaining to him how and what I messed up, he told me “I don’t really care how or what happened. What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” It caught me off guard. That’s when I realized being “accountable” for mistakes is more than just owning them. It’s ensuring you don’t repeat them.

Hurley has talked a lot about his “mistakes” in close games during his tenure here. Let’s see what he actually does to change his approach.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

What about our 20th century national championship?

Easy - UConn was the best team in the best conference, and undefeated in OOC play. By the time it got to the Finals, it had beaten a greater number and wider variety of top teams than Duke.

After the game, Calhoun said, "I didn't come here to prove anything. I came here to coach my team as well as I possibly could."

CONSIDER:
UConn was 11-2 against ranked teams before NCAA Final (Duke was 9-1)
UConn beat 5 ranked teams IN NCAA Tournament (Duke beat 1)
BOTH were conference regular season & tournament champs
Big East had 5 Tournament teams, seeded 1, 2, 5, 5, 8
ACC had 3 Tournament teams, seeded 1, 2, 3
UConn defeated common opponents Fairfield and Michigan State by larger margins than Duke did
UConn's loss to #16 Syracuse was w/Hamilton I'll and mostly not playing, and was avenged by double digits on the road
UConn's loss to #15 Miami was by 2 points. Miami ended up a 2 seed.
Duke's loss to #15 Cincinnati was by 2 points in the Great Alaskan Shootout finals
Both teams won their early season Great Eight pairing

 

[alphasigko]

This is great. It’s a start, but it’s just words until he backs it up with change.

I remember early in my corporate career, I made a big error on a research report for a client. I called my boss and admitted full responsibility. I felt proud of myself for “owning the mistake” and being “accountable”.

After I finished explaining to him how and what I messed up, he told me “I don’t really care how or what happened. What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” It caught me off guard. That’s when I realized being “accountable” for mistakes is more than just owning them. It’s ensuring you don’t repeat them.

Hurley has talked a lot about his “mistakes” in close games during his tenure here. Let’s see what he actually does to change his approach.

Well said....

 

[mauconnfan]

Yup, Danny Hurley is not perfect. But some posters here refer to Calhoun like he was perfect, and won every expected game. Either they were not around or forget some of the stressful losses and stretches of games that had fans scratching our heads.
I remember JC's sit downs with the media and making comments like, "I can't put the ball in the basket", or "As much as you try to motivate these kids I can't force them play hard for 40 minutes".
I remember the game when we scored 9 points in the first half against UMess. And I remember his frustration when he kicked the scorers table. And there is the (my personal favorite) audible "hit the Mothe F'er!"
Bottom line for me is that coaches can do everything right to put players in a winning place but it doesn't always work the way fans want it to.
I want a coach who is passionate, skilled with a basketball background, demands the best effort from his players, and is dedicated to the program. Oh, and recruits aggressively!
Some can argue his skills but I like a lot of things about him. Can he do it? We'll see.
We can't fire the coach every time we lose a head scratcher.

Hate to say no comparison. I mean JC was able to say these things because kids were expected to live up to what UConn had succeeded in for a long long time. He didn't say that in years 1-5 or so that's for sure. But later he deserved to say that as he brought in really good players with high expectations. Dan needs to get us back to winning in the NCAA tourney before he appraoches that mindset.

What he said above is a start for sure, good for him. Long way to go this year, starts again on Wednesday night!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I cam[e] away from the Seton Hall game, my first watching in 5 games, thinking they looked tired overall.

They were worried about you.

It’s good to see Hurley holding himself accountable first. Now... his best players... Let’s see if he can keep it up when the margin for error is a lot smaller.

Your final sentence is key. The team made many mistakes in yesterday's game, but stayed alert, responded to situations quickly, and cleaned up messes well. The better teams in the conference won't offer as many opportunities to right the wrongs. Still, major kudos for many 'second chance' interventions.

That accountability is just not good enough for the Hurley-haters.

I don't know if they are "haters" so much as "emotionally immature," which is one of the criticisms regularly leveled by some of the strongest negative voices. Pointing out the irony is not satisfying, nor does it improve things, but it is a valid observation, and I'll continue to wish for greater maturity from coaches, players, and fans.

UConn's detractors in the media, including those trolling on this social media board, want nothing more than for UConn's coaches, players, and fans to not mature. I ask that my fellow Boneyard fans not take the bait by joining them and/or giving such parties more ammunition to spread elsewhere. Our quite understandable recent frustrations are ripe for exploitation by those who are not our allies.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Not a shock, he's always been honest with others and himself in a down to earth kind of way. But let's now see it translate to improvement on the floor in the next two months or 10 weeks or what not.

My preferred version of "what not" remains "each game as it comes."

The longitudinal picture will form and reveal itself one game at a time.

 

[bluestreak]

Hate to say no comparison. I mean JC was able to say these things because kids were expected to live up to what UConn had succeeded in for a long long time. He didn't say that in years 1-5 or so that's for sure. But later he deserved to say that as he brought in really good players with high expectations. Dan needs to get us back to winning in the NCAA tourney before he appraoches that mindset.

What he said above is a start for sure, good for him. Long way to go this year, starts again on Wednesday night!

You're right, not an exact comparison but both are driven individuals who were/are hunting championships for their program. It took Jim 13 years but from a very different starting place. Danny might be over estimating his abilities but I don't believe he should give up or step down. I do think he should better his last years accomplishments year over year or the heat will continue to be turned up. As it should be.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Danny might be over estimating his abilities but I don't believe he should give up or step down.

Granted this place has become a tough read but has anyone actually suggested he step down?

 

[ClifSpliffy]

They were worried about you.



Your final sentence is key. The team made many mistakes in yesterday's game, but stayed alert, responded to situations quickly, and cleaned up messes well. The better teams in the conference won't offer as many opportunities to right the wrongs. Still, major kudos for many 'second chance' interventions.


I don't know if they are "haters" so much as "emotionally immature," which is one of the criticisms regularly leveled by some of the strongest negative voices. Pointing out the irony is not satisfying, nor does it improve things, but it is a valid observation, and I'll continue to wish for greater maturity from coaches, players, and fans.

UConn's detractors in the media, including those trolling on this social media board, want nothing more than for UConn's coaches, players, and fans to not mature. I ask that my fellow Boneyard fans not take the bait by joining them and/or giving such parties more ammunition to spread elsewhere. Our quite understandable recent frustrations are ripe for exploitation by those who are not our allies.

ya, it's not war.
it's not clash of civilizations.
it's not homeland security.

it's just a game, a dang game.
ergo, res ipsa loquitor,
kiss my grits.

nervous people make people around them nervous.
the accounting will be tallied sometime on the sunday of the first weekend of the ncaa's. real world, an all that.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Granted this place has become a tough read but has anyone actually suggested he step down?

I don’t think anyone has actually wanted this. Some may be very critical, but with how he recruits it would really be best for him to figure this out soon rather than us slowing down the momentum we have having to get someone else.

 

[Ewekon]

I'd really just like to know if JC thinks our point guard situation is a fatal flaw or something he could fix. I've wondered several times what he thinks about it. I'm sure Danny has talked to him about all of this. They seem to be very tight.

Dan's dad knows a thing or 2 as well, He has, pretty much literally, The God squad of mentors. I think he is smart enough to know it.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I don’t think anyone has actually wanted this. Some may be very critical, but with how he recruits it would really be best for him to figure this out soon rather than us slowing down the momentum we have having to get someone else.

I don't have the faintest idea what this means. Figure what out? I know this requires a bit of perspective and maybe being born before the year 2000 but this season is not some kind of catastrophe.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I don't have the faintest idea what this means. Figure what out? I know this requires a bit of perspective and maybe being born before the year 2000 but this season is not some kind of catastrophe.

Figure out how to win games in the tournament. As of recently, it hasn’t looked good for that. Wednesday gives us a chance to see if we righted the ship.