How has UConn improved over last year?

[Hey Adrien!]

Thats a bit harsh. Carlton had a brutal few games. He has not regressed.

One idea:

After earning the "Most Improved Player Award" and having Hurley say he will make a "big jump" over the offseason, is this the first time we've seen Carlton face the added pressure of a upperclassman leader?

The kid played with nothing to lose last year, but this is the first year where the team, and him, are expected to do big things. He played great against Indiana then had three snoozers that conditioned him not to be ready to play against two quality conference teams.

After a poor stretch, I can see Carlton feel like he's been punched in the mouth. Watch him use an undersized Tulane as his spark and then extend that confidence into a tough match between Echenique and Wichita State.

 

[pj]

Ollies wife killed the program, damn her

Don't forget Ollie's mistresses

 

[HoopsHype34]

The problems with this team are consistent with a rebuild, a new coach with old players. My guess is the Ollie guys have begun tuning Hurley out and with little to play for, are focusing on the "i" and not the "team". It goes back to beginning. Most on here applauded Hurley for not cleaning house at the start. We all understood why he chose to do that. This is a direct result of that decision. We are a team of misfits. Some with skill sets that don't match Hurley's philosophy. Some who were dart throws from the last regime. Most who shouldn't be playing a ton of minutes at a program UConn was and all of us want to again be.

To attack Dan Hurley now could be the dumbest thing this fan base can do. He was the perfect hire for a school in the Northeast returning to its roots. He still is even after two very poor performances from his team and himself. So has UConn improved from last year to this? The answer is a resounding HELL YES it has. Maybe not on the court, but the future is brighter than ever. Hurley is slowly replenishing the cupboard with UConn quality talent. A rebuild is a process. This is all part of it.

Agreed 1000%. He made the decision he had to make to start creating a culture with the program he wanted. I think the Ollie guys are now seeing that their future with the program is up and next year they will be relegated to bench roles with the team next season and it absolutely hurts them to have that happen but when your bringing more talent the old players are going to get pushed out.

 

[AdamaNation]

Don't forget Ollie's mistresses

1$ oyster night too.

 

[metsfan2323]

ollie killed the program

2014 was all calhoun.

let hurley build his team

Amen!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Has anyone looked at how Hurley did at Rhode Island? Jim Baron got fired due to a 7-24 season, after posting 20+ win seasons the previous 4. Baron had a young team that had some talent, but he had thrown a player off the team and had some other disciplinary issues that year. It took 4 years for Hurley to turn that program around. A lot of players transferred, and a couple went on to productive college careers at other programs. The ones who stuck around didn't improve that much.

How much did players improve at URI? EC Matthews didn't improve much at all at URI. Terrell got a little better, mostly because his 3 point shooting improved. How much did Hassan Martin improve after his Sophomore year? Garrett got worse. Robinson and Iverson were transfers in, and they didn't show a lot of improvement under Hurley. Andre Berry did show meaningful improvement during his time at URI. I will give Hurley credit for out-recruiting the A10, but his track record in player development is not great.

 

[Kenny11]

Bouknight should have been starting since the beginning of the season. By this point he would have enough experience to be more impactful. Maybe this was the plan and he messed it up with the Audi incident.

but that is only one of the problems. There are a bunch right now starting with our halfcourt offense which just doesn’t work at all.

 

[djct1999]

Has anyone looked at how Hurley did at Rhode Island? Jim Baron got fired due to a 7-24 season, after posting 20+ win seasons the previous 4. Baron had a young team that had some talent, but he had thrown a player off the team and had some other disciplinary issues that year. It took 4 years for Hurley to turn that program around. A lot of players transferred, and a couple went on to productive college careers at other programs. The ones who stuck around didn't improve that much.

How much did players improve at URI? EC Matthews didn't improve much at all at URI. Terrell got a little better, mostly because his 3 point shooting improved. How much did Hassan Martin improve after his Sophomore year? Garrett got worse. Robinson and Iverson were transfers in, and they didn't show a lot of improvement under Hurley. Andre Berry did show meaningful improvement during his time at URI. I will give Hurley credit for out-recruiting the A10, but his track record in player development is not great.

How do you measure player improvement? He took a relatively dormant URI program and made them annual contenders in the A-10. He won regular season titles, conference titles, and made it to the second weekend of the tourney.

You are completely off base on this and this narrative of Dan Hurley can't coach needs to stop. We get your agenda but its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

How do you measure player improvement? He took a relatively dormant URI program and made them annual contenders in the A-10. He won regular season titles, conference titles, and made it to the second weekend of the tourney.

You are completely off base on this and this narrative of Dan Hurley can't coach needs to stop. We get your agenda but its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

The program was an above average A10 program under Baron. Not bad, not great. Baron got fired off one bad season, and it took Hurley 4 years to get the team back to where it was in Baron's second to last season.

Your agenda is trashing players and blaming Ollie for everything that has ever gone wrong. Its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

Let's just look at the facts. Hurley's track record for player development is not great. He is a solid recruiter compared to high mid-major conferences like the A10 and AAC, but the training wheels are about to come off. He has issues as a game coach. You can't look at the last two games and not see that.

80% of this board are trashing student athletes that stuck with UConn through a lot of crap, and holding the coach blameless when there is no logical way to explain the results of this team without holding Hurley responsible.

 

[djct1999]

The program was an above average A10 program under Baron. Not bad, not great. Baron got fired off one bad season, and it took Hurley 4 years to get the team back to where it was in Baron's second to last season.

Your agenda is trashing players and blaming Ollie for everything that has ever gone wrong. Its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

Let's just look at the facts. Hurley's track record for player development is not great. He is a solid recruiter compared to high mid-major conferences like the A10 and AAC, but the training wheels are about to come off. He has issues as a game coach. You can't look at the last two games and not see that.

80% of this board are trashing student athletes that stuck with UConn through a lot of crap, and holding the coach blameless when there is no logical way to explain the results of this team without holding Hurley responsible.

Again, not true at all, but believe what you want. Your blame is misguided and your expectations, what ever they may be, seem unrealistic. Happy New Year!

 

[superjohn]

Thats a bit harsh. Carlton had a brutal few games. He has not regressed.

He's regressed badly. He got outfought for balls and knocked off his position last year because he's soft and physically weak but he actually dunked it when open and was solid converting on his moves around the basket. He no longer dunks and shots around the rim no longer have any real purpose, he just sort of blindly throws them in the general direction of the hoop and hopes they go in. You add in the turnovers and getting lost in no man's land on D and it's a major regression.

 

[superjohn]

The program was an above average A10 program under Baron. Not bad, not great. Baron got fired off one bad season, and it took Hurley 4 years to get the team back to where it was in Baron's second to last season.

Your agenda is trashing players and blaming Ollie for everything that has ever gone wrong. Its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

Let's just look at the facts. Hurley's track record for player development is not great. He is a solid recruiter compared to high mid-major conferences like the A10 and AAC, but the training wheels are about to come off. He has issues as a game coach. You can't look at the last two games and not see that.

80% of this board are trashing student athletes that stuck with UConn through a lot of crap, and holding the coach blameless when there is no logical way to explain the results of this team without holding Hurley responsible.

Jim Baron was at URI for 11 years and never made the NCAA tournament, Hurley was there 6 years and took them to 2 straight NCAA tournaments before he left. Clearly he didn't take them to where Jim Baron had them.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

One idea:

After earning the "Most Improved Player Award" and having Hurley say he will make a "big jump" over the offseason, is this the first time we've seen Carlton face the added pressure of a upperclassman leader?

The kid played with nothing to lose last year, but this is the first year where the team, and him, are expected to do big things. He played great against Indiana then had three snoozers that conditioned him not to be ready to play against two quality conference teams.

After a poor stretch, I can see Carlton feel like he's been punched in the mouth. Watch him use an undersized Tulane as his spark and then extend that confidence into a tough match between Echenique and Wichita State.

im thinking that 'big kid' josh will have the lightbulb moment where his effort will be infused with a 'don't mess with my money' attitude. face it, they all come here with a belief that afterward, they'll be getting paid.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

How do you measure player improvement? He took a relatively dormant URI program and made them annual contenders in the A-10. He won regular season titles, conference titles, and made it to the second weekend of the tourney.

You are completely off base on this and this narrative of Dan Hurley can't coach needs to stop. We get your agenda but its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

Honestly, it's no worse than the amateur hour psychology about "Ollie's guys focusing on the 'i' and not the 'team.'"

 

[Kenny11]

He's regressed badly. He got outfought for balls and knocked off his position last year because he's soft and physically weak but he actually dunked it when open and was solid converting on his moves around the basket. He no longer dunks and shots around the rim no longer have any real purpose, he just sort of blindly throws them in the general direction of the hoop and hopes they go in. You add in the turnovers and getting lost in no man's land on D and it's a major regression.

You’re right. this is not the same guy. He’s lighter, quicker, jumps slightly better, has more touch and is more decisive in the video (yes. I know it’s a highlight video)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Jim Baron was at URI for 11 years and never made the NCAA tournament, Hurley was there 6 years and took them to 2 straight NCAA tournaments before he left. Clearly he didn't take them to where Jim Baron had them.

Can you not read, or are you competing for the most obtuse poster on this board?

 

[superjohn]

Can you not read, or are you competing for the most obtuse poster on this board?

It took Hurley 4 years for Hurley to get the program back to where Baron had it....Baron never made the tournament, Hurley made it twice and won two games. You can't possibly be as dumb as the character you play here.

The program was an above average A10 program under Baron. Not bad, not great. Baron got fired off one bad season, and it took Hurley 4 years to get the team back to where it was in Baron's second to last season.

Your agenda is trashing players and blaming Ollie for everything that has ever gone wrong. Its not constructive at all. Its not accurate at all.

Let's just look at the facts. Hurley's track record for player development is not great. He is a solid recruiter compared to high mid-major conferences like the A10 and AAC, but the training wheels are about to come off. He has issues as a game coach. You can't look at the last two games and not see that.

80% of this board are trashing student athletes that stuck with UConn through a lot of crap, and holding the coach blameless when there is no logical way to explain the results of this team without holding Hurley responsible.

Jim Baron was at URI for 11 years and never made the NCAA tournament, Hurley was there 6 years and took them to 2 straight NCAA tournaments before he left. Clearly he didn't take them to where Jim Baron had them.

 

[HooperScooper]

EC Matthews didn't improve much at all at URI.

The points you bring up don't seem to have merit no matter how you argue them. You sound like a person with an agenda.

Do you think that EC Matthews not improving as much as you would have liked had anything to do with injuries? Seemed to be improving before the injuries.

As a freshman, Matthews averaged 14.3 points per game and was named A-10 rookie of the year. He increased his points production to 16.9 per game as a sophomore and led Rhode Island to the NIT. In his junior season, he suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee in the first game. He credits the injury for teaching him how to live in the moment.

As a redshirt junior, he was named to the Third Team All-Atlantic 10. Matthews averaged 14.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and was Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 tournament after leading Rhode Island to a title. In November 2017, he fractured his wrist and missed several games. He repeated on the Third Team All-Atlantic 10 as a senior. He led the Rams to a NCAA Tournament appearance and averaged 13.1 points per game.

E. C. Matthews - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The points you bring up don't seem to have merit no matter how you argue them. You sound like a person with an agenda.

Do you think that EC Matthews not improving as much as you would have liked had anything to do with injuries? Seemed to be improving before the injuries.

As a freshman, Matthews averaged 14.3 points per game and was named A-10 rookie of the year. He increased his points production to 16.9 per game as a sophomore and led Rhode Island to the NIT. In his junior season, he suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee in the first game. He credits the injury for teaching him how to live in the moment.

As a redshirt junior, he was named to the Third Team All-Atlantic 10. Matthews averaged 14.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and was Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 tournament after leading Rhode Island to a title. In November 2017, he fractured his wrist and missed several games. He repeated on the Third Team All-Atlantic 10 as a senior. He led the Rams to a NCAA Tournament appearance and averaged 13.1 points per game.

E. C. Matthews - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You are splitting hairs on some player whose best season may have been his sophomore year as justification for Hurley's player development?

Where is the next Hilton Armstrong or Donny Marshall? Where is the guy that could barely play as a freshman, and became an NBA draft pick?

 

[BNich]

Terrible the past two games but cant just throw out the first 12 games...he has improved.

Maybe rebounding? Look at his statistics. His FG % is putrid for a guy that attempts most of his shots around the basket. He's horrible from the FT line. And he's only averaging about the same PPG as a year ago. So I ask you, HOW has he improved?

 

[HooperScooper]

You are splitting hairs on some player whose best season may have been his sophomore year as justification for Hurley's player development?

I'm not trying to do that. I'm not making a case that Hurley is a good developer of talent or isn't. I'm just saying you're not making good points to support your arguments. You sound like a lawyer forcefully trying to make your case without fundamental facts.

And to be honest I find many of your posts very annoying because you sound like a person who is a know-it-all. Sorry, that's just how you come off.

 

[HoopsHype34]

I'm not trying to do that. I'm not making a case that Hurley is a good developer of talent or isn't. I'm just saying you're not making good points to support your arguments. You sound like a lawyer forcefully trying to make your case without fundamental facts.

And to be honest I find many of your posts very annoying because you sound like a person who is a know-it-all. Sorry, that's just how you come off.

Too bad he doesn't know anything

 

[Lefty2one]

First, I will say that rebuilds don't happen overnight. I don't care what Hurley's track record or timeline is at past rebuilds at other programs. He isn't free of blame here and we all want to see incremental improvement but a good chunk of our fanbase has been in denial about how far we had fallen and how bare the cupboard really was. If people can't tell the massive difference between Hurley's first recruiting class and what we've had over the last 4-5 years then I don't know what to tell them. This will take time, it may take a few more years than we realized. Hurley isn't a perfect coach and enough folks knew that X's and O's were his weakness. When that's the case, you need your Jimmys and your Joes. The biggest thing holding back this program is talent. We get the program full of Hurley guys and we will continue to improve.

Anyway...

Adams has improved.

Carlton has improved but he remains wildly inconsistent. He's a low-ceiling 3-star guy who can take advantage of certain matchups and will be a minimal factor in others. He's not much more than a beefier Gavin Edwards. I view Carlton like I view Brimah: they're both far better than I expected given their recruiting rankings but they aren't great bigs. They'll have good games and bad. No coach in the history of the sport is turning Josh Carlton into a 20 & 10 guy.

Sid Wilson is Marcus Johnson. There just isn't enough there. We talked about it during the summer: he was bad last year. Whaley has improved but not significantly. Same goes for Polley but again, these KO recruits are mid-major guys. If they're going to make a big leap it'll likely be going into their senior year.

This all comes down to a mix of a simple offense and a veteran backcourt that has been bad. Our team isn't that talented and we need a system or playmaking guards to elevate our current talent. College basketball has always been about guards and we've had terrible guard play this year. Al is shooting .306 from the field. Vital is at .381. Neither sets the table well for other guys.

 

[Bonk]

Our recruiting is better but lets not act like we're reeling in some insane class next year. Jackson is very good, but has his shooting deficiencies. Javonte Brown Ferguson is a couple years away from being a formidable big in the Big East. Springs and Cole will help, but it is unknown how Cole's Howard stats will translate to big time competition.
Hurley mentioned in his USF press conference a lack of an alpha to go to in these games. Who is that alpha next year?

Also side note, wasn't New Jersey supposed to be Hurley's bread and butter for recruiting?

 

[MadMax1999]

Not sure how much we improved on the court, seems Josh, CV and AG may be regressing a bit (sounds much worse then I was thinking when I say that out loud). But two important things happened. 1) Coach Hurley proved to be a sound judge of talent as Bouk, Akok, and Adams are all effective players. Gaffney getting better too. 2) We will be able to call ourselves a Big East team in a few months. I truly believe that will give the guys a huge mental boost which is what we need. Court improvement: slim to none. Program improvement: Pretty solid.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurley mentioned in his USF press conference a lack of an alpha to go in these games. Who is that alpha next year?

We better hope Bouknight and Akok.