How many 4* recruits does Hurley need to not lose to USF?

[navery12]

I think you guys a missing the point. No team in AAC (except Memphis this year) has any history of getting any 4 star players and yet Hurley needs them to put a legit team on the floor. How many 4 stars did Tulane's 1st year coach (with mostly new players) need to beat Cincinnati?

You mean the team where a coach came in and turned over the whole roster to bring in his players? Like we're arguing Hurley should have done?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn has one game left this season (vs. ECU) against a team with a worse NET ranking than USF.

 

[RJScootin]

Sort of. What he recruited was guys he thought could play in a positionless system. Hurley is also recruiting guys to play in a positionless system. We are getting thumped by teams with fairly standard lineups. If you don’t want that muscular PF who scores inside because he can’t be a stretch 4, them somebody else will take him and your skinny stretch 4 will need to handle him down low. I’m not sure that Hurley or Ollie would ever recruit Jeff Adrien because he can’t play outside.

I think Dan will be a good coach here for a long time, but my concern when he was targeted as the guy is that he essentially has very similar offensive and defensive philosophies to Ollie. DH emphasizes pressure on D to a greater extent and taking away the 3. Its very hard to get guys to play in and execute those systems. It requires all your players to be shooters, ball handlers, distributors. If you have a guy with a single skill set he fails. Traditional lineups are the different and try to maximize the specific things those players are good at. The roles are specialized.

You nicely laid out both philosophy thanks for reply.
UConn definitely got those positionless players that don’t have a position or play out of position. IWilson “energy” he has nothing he excels at outside of jumping. Whaley isn’t a center, a PF or SF. Carlton a compliment to a good big guy, Polly is a SG that cant dribble, pass, or drive. Gilbert PG that is a decent passer but TO prone, can’t finish at hoop or shoot. Vital is best player on team that brings that philosophy but as a bench player not team lead. Think AA and JB have a chance to fit this system but I’m still a fan of traditional lineup.

 

[SubbaBub]

There is a "winning" gene or a winner's mentality or whatever you want to call it. Some guys have it. They are willing to do the small things consistently everytime out, every day in practice. We have had these guys in the past whether they were All-American's or guys who did one thing particularly well, even if that thing was effort and hustle to make one meaning full contribution in the 2 mins/game they see the floor.

And the back end of the Ollie era we were asking guys to do things they weren't capable of. I don't think there is any other explanation for this team losing to St Joes and USF than we don't have enough guy who are winners. If they didn't show up on campus with that trait, enough certainly didn't learn it in their time here. That's on Ollie breaking the chain of culture, the one reason to hire a former Calhoun player in the first place.

Now it's up to Hurley to instill that. Can he do it? We don't know. He should have been around it based on his family, his father built a winning culture, but that was HS prep ball. He's not embracing the winner play and guys who keep making mistakes sit until they learn ethos of the Calhoun era.

He is short or young in the positions that need the most work, but that isn't an excuse for bad losses. If I'm him, I still start AG or anyone else until they make the same mistake, then play the guys that are running the offense correctly and playing hard on defense. I'd have Adams on standby and give more minutes to Gaffney as he earns them. If that means moving CV to the point, that's what we have to do. If CV is taking plays off or taking too many heat check shots, in comes Bouk. If the freshmen, do too many freshman things, back to the bench. Same for Carlton, Polley, Akok, Whalley and Sid. That's 5 bodies up front even without playing bouk at the 3. Rotate, rotate, and adjust the sets accordingly. Carlton, Whalley, and Akok can all play minutes at the 5. Polley, Akok, and Whalley can all play minutes at the 4. Polley, CV, Bouk, and Adams can all play the 3. Hurley has versitility. He has no reason to stick so rigidly to a set rotation that appears to have a sole objective of stealing a few minutes rest before TV timeouts.
Hurley needs to better there. Half way through the season and 0-2 in conference, no one's feelings should be hurt being held accountable for their performances to date. If they are, they don't belong here. There is a winning combination on the roster, I'm sure of it. It's just not roll out the most "talented" players and work in their backups for 40 minutes. It's watching what's working and not working then adjusting. That too is on Hurley.

 

[Jaker]

What is concerning, Cincy and USF have first year coaches who took over and out Coached Hurley, with probably less talent.

 

[RJScootin]

What is concerning, Cincy and USF have first year coaches who took over and out Coached Hurley, with probably less talent.

I painfully watched both games. Where did you see more talent on UConn than those teams? Both those teams had top two players on the court that day.

 

[Kenny11]

We are close in talent level to Cinci and more talented than USF. I agree we have nobody as good and as composed as Cumberland. But these weren’t tough losses that came down to the wire. These were blowouts. That’s why it’s so unacceptable.

our halfcourt offense is a huge issue. In 2020 we seem like we are the only team that is playing without good spacing. Alterique and any other ball handler has no room on their drives. These type of issues are fixable but need to be corrected fast or else the season is over and the morale will plummet on the team.

hurley has been bringing a picture of the aac trophy with the team everywhere they go. That’s not for 2022. That’s for this season. He and the players expected to do very well in conference play.

 

[RJScootin]

For what it’s worth and I know not much but the AAC coaches know talent levels of conference teams I assume better than us and both teams picked to finish ahead of UConn in conference.

 

[J187Money]

I'm not a BB X&O expert - but it seems to me that when Carlton is bad we are in trouble. And yesterday he was bad and then Hurley sat him. Carlton is super inconsistent. I'm not sure I can lay that all on Hurley.

 

[mhshuskies]

Hurley wasn't the one missing layups and easy shots within 3 feet while getting bullied defensively.

Players didn't show up. Hurley should have had them better prepared but at the end of the day he can't make shots for them.

The team is disjointed between the old guard with a history of losing and a talented but inexperienced group of young guys. Hurley can't find the right combinations of players, especially with how inconsistent their play has been.

We desperately need a new era of Hurley's guys. Thankfully, that looks to be the case next year.

Second straight road game where the team forgot to get off the bus.

 

[coachn]

No excuses for anybody. This team has the talent and should be winning. Cincy came out and pressed full court denying everywhere putting out the energy . We could have and should have done the same thing. We didn't match it anywhere. Same with SF. Its on the coach to not let this happen. Other teams have weaknesses to be exploited. Why didn't we?
Time outs and substitution should be used for motivation. We have 10 bodies. Use them.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If a team like Cincinnati comes out in pressure defense, UConn should turn it into a layup line at the hoop.

 

[Bonk]

a snarky question gets a snarky answer. he didnt ask about top 200 players, but if he did i would have said we have 9 (not whaley) and they have 1 (mayan kiir)

Perhaps the same Mayan Kiir that left the USF program earlier this year? Yetna is injured too. USF is trash. We lost to trash.

 

[uconnbill]

The team needs more toughness, period.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

No one wants to be patient here. Next year and the year after is the real measuring stick. Hurley’s kids have been good. I would prefer simply playing youth. These are exhibitions to me.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The difference between the 40th best team in the country and the 100th best team in the country is really small. It is, on average, five to ten plays a game. The talent level for these teams is really close, because the superstars are mostly on the Top 20 teams, and the talentless teams are getting their doors blown off. These teams are all capable of pulling the big upset, or getting picked off by the #200 team.

This is where coaching really matters. It is the difference between 21-11 and the NCAA's, and 17-15 and no tournament.

 

[RMS25CT]

on our roster I’m more concerned with the (lack of) height/weight on these upperclassmen. The cavalry is coming but for now we get outmuscled at every position

This!!! Forget about the height. Current squad can’t match up with physically stronger teams. Carlton can’t match up physically and as a result goes in the tank. The guards can’t get clean penetration because they get bodied up and end up taking altered shots at the rim. Teams they struggle with the most are the ones with physically stronger players.

 

[king conn]

If a team like Cincinnati comes out in pressure defense, UConn should turn it into a layup line at the hoop.

The problem with this is we can't make layups

 

[UConnSwag11]

So we can bash college kids again?

 

[zls44]

If a team like Cincinnati comes out in pressure defense, UConn should turn it into a layup line at the hoop.

The guy you're saying is the key to the team cannot make a layup to save his life.

Its kind of a problem.

 

[BlueMAB]

Is it my fault that UConn got thumped by two mediocre to bad teams this week?

How much accountability for the losses do the guys on the court have? Trying to get a benchmark.

 

[BlueMAB]

We have too many players that aren’t mentally or physically tough enough.

This has been apparent for over 3 years.

But apparently that’s Hurley’s fault.

Hurley has been mediocre, but the players have been terribly inconsistent. That’s the one consistent thing about them. Feels like this team hasn’t strung together more than 2-3 good games in a row since 2014.

 

[Martin]

He's being sarcastic, don't take the thread too seriously. However, I have a feeling that if Brian Gregory was coaching UCONN that game and Hurley USF, we would have won the game.

Hurley has a deer in headlights look when the going gets tough. These past 2 games reminded me of what Duke did to his URI team in the NCAA tournament.

It starts with the point guard of the team. You need a steady and tough point guard to be a good team. We don't have that. It trickles down to everyone else.

PS: There is an obsession with weight training on this board with every player expected to look like Emeka. Kemba, Bazz, Boat, Lamb, Roscoe, Daniels, Giffey, Rip, Ray, Amida, Daniel Hamilton, etc were not some workout warriors. They had toughness physical and mental, a motor, a drive, a competitiveness, and of course talent.

This is not simply a problem of more beef on the court.

The state of Connecticut has invested $3 million/yr in this deer in headlights guy. Did he get 5 years?

 

[Huskymagic]

The state of Connecticut has invested $3 million/yr in this deer in headlights guy. Did he get 5 years?

The good news is that Hurley has better people around him who are invested in him doing well. The biggest problem we have besides talent is mental toughness. We get blitzed by a team and no one is there to stop the run until its too late.

The sport is mental as much as it is physical. Coaching hasn't been good either no sugarcoating that. After a performance like the one we had at Cinci, to come back the next game and lay another egg against USF is Olliesque. This mentality of the fanbase to keep waiting 2 to 3 years for UCONN to be competitive will lead us down the path to becoming Georgetown.

PS: We need to be more competitive mentally first and foremost. Hurley and the staff need to work with the team psychologically more than than anything. Really good coaches know this.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Trying to get a benchmark.

Your thinking is antiquated. You are still operating under the belief coaches are responsible for preparation, production, and results. That is too old school. In the modern age, responsibility for these thing rests solely with upperclassmen on a team.

See, if the team looks bad or loses, the blame goes to older players and thus Kevin Ollie. If they win or look good, credit belongs to Hurley and the freshmen. We call this new rule Ollie's Razor. Hopefully this clarifies things for you.