Hurley after Cincinnati: “Leash is going to be a lot shorter”

[jdb50]

We are still physically weaker than Cinci and wait till we play Houston. This years freshman can't be blamed for this and Akok worked to get stronger and it shows but Hurley needs to recruit more solid players up front.

 

[RayRay]

After this game, a test to see if Dan Hurley is the real deal is if he makes a lineup change to start the game. You can't say all these things in the post game and not back it up. We need an infusion of young talent in that starting lineup. Akok can't do it alone. I realize we need the older guys to succeed this year, but bringing one or 2 of them off the bench is the way to do it at this point. Let's see if he pulls the trigger for Saturday.

 

[yungdowork]

Akok's hands on offense was most perplexing. He was still active and grabbing rebounds well and his timing on blocks qreat. Even had the alley oop and put back slam. But my goodness, he must have had four easy passes go through his hands tonight.

I was surprised by this too because he’s had great hands all year. He did seem to get it together later in the game including in that play where he got a block, sprinted the floor, and finished with an alley oop. I think once we got down, we lost confidence and everyone started trying too hard instead of getting in a rhythm

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gilbert's role should probably be reduced and he should have a shorter leash.

Carlton gums Hurley's offense up completely. He's a back to the basket big man who's slow as molassas and he clogs up lanes. I feel like they play him less and stretch the floor more and create lanes, things get better quickly. Hurley's never liked using guys like him so i'm not surprised that of the older vets not playing well - he's been the guy Hurley's had no issues sitting.

The rest is just off the ball movement. Our pick and rolls are slow. Guys don't get open I mean heck - go watch some rando footage of tonight's game and just look at guys off the ball and watch how many of them ever get open consistently. It's wild. So we weave up top, no one is open - Vital/Gilbert are forced to force something, they drive into a lane with Carlton dragging two rhinos in tow and we either throw up something contested in the lane or pass and take a bad jumper.

Young guys have got to get better off the ball movement. Carlton needs to be clogging the lanes less. Those two things happen and i think a lot changes.

Carlton gums up Hurley's offense. So Hurley needs to change the offense to stop that from happening. He doesn't have an athletic big man who can shoot from outside. So he needs to stop asking Josh, or Whaley to do that. Calrton needs to be standing in the lane all the time, and the guards need to stay the hell out of the lane, except Bouk and Adams.

Pick and roll? I have seen us run a pick and roll one time all season. Josh caught it and scored. The rest of the time nobody comes out to guard Josh, because why would you? So he never rolls and the defender has no problem staying with the ball handler. It accomplishes nothing. Stop running those ball screens. Those are great if you set solid screens and you have Kemba or Bazz with the ball.

 

[HuskyHawk]

There is no way in hell Carlton was taught to do that. You can’t fix stupid.

Of course he is being taught to do that. 100% Dan wants man pressure on all five guys. So he expects every player to do that, even when they aren't capable of it. He needs to realize he cannot play defense that way with this team, and likely not with any roster he's ever going to have. Plant your 260 pound 6'11" guy under the hoop and leave him there. Josh is great in that role.

 

[CTBasketball]

Please don't think they wanted him guarding a 7 footer out there aggressively that's ridiculous.

That’s what I was thinking...

Of course he is being taught to do that. 100% Dan wants man pressure on all five guys. So he expects every player to do that, even when they aren't capable of it. He needs to realize he cannot play defense that way with this team, and likely not with any roster he's ever going to have. Plant your 260 pound 6'11" guy under the hoop and leave him there. Josh is great in that role.

How? He has taken 0 three pointers this year. Then that’s bad scouting or a communication breakdown.

If you believe that, than we are in MASSIVE trouble. Because he does it all game long. So in that case, the stupid that needs to be fixed is Hurley, not Josh.

It’s on both.

 

[Towney007]

Carlton gums up Hurley's offense. So Hurley needs to change the offense to stop that from happening. He doesn't have an athletic big man who can shoot from outside. So he needs to stop asking Josh, or Whaley to do that. Calrton needs to be standing in the lane all the time, and the guards need to stay the hell out of the lane, except Bouk and Adams.

Pick and roll? I have seen us run a pick and roll one time all season. Josh caught it and scored. The rest of the time nobody comes out to guard Josh, because why would you? So he never rolls and the defender has no problem staying with the ball handler. It accomplishes nothing. Stop running those ball screens. Those are great if you set solid screens and you have Kemba or Bazz with the ball.

100%.

I don't think much has to change for us to get better. I'm just not sure with the personnel we've got that it'll ever be *good* this year. We just don't have the pieces.

But i'm there on Josh. They've gotta be better about using him - even if that means using him a lot less. They at least need to make him not be the high screen guy because he stinks at it.

 

[Son of Robert]

I see that we lost this game in 3 ways mostly: we were beat up in the paint terribly, minus 6 rebounds, but Cincinnati did most of their scoring here, secondly, Cincinnati played tougher and stronger (to our credit we did not give up, but what is that really worth on the scoreboard), and thirdly, our offense was mostly ragged, Cinci's defense was good, but our team play and execution on offense was lousy and really inefficient.

And for the comment of the day, Sid Wilson would have helped us in this game, he plays strong and physical inside with rebounding on both ends, good interior toughness and defense with 6'7 size and athleticism. His midrange slashing to the hoop from the foul line in would have been suited for this game, and he would have helped in transition. I do hope he gets out of Hurley's doghouse because in a game like this he plays stronger than some of the other 9, and that has an impact in and of itself.

This team is not strong inside. Akok has helped very much, the emergence of Whaley is a plus, and then you have Josh playing his game, Tyler who is more of a perimeter player, and we have rebounding guards. I see Sid as more of an interior player, we need his hops in there. These bigger and tougher teams we are going to play, having a player like Sid on the floor will make a difference.

And there you go, that is his role on this team, or something like that anyway.

 

[HuskylnSC]

But my goodness, he must have had four easy passes go through his hands tonight.

That was caused by Cinci making him hurry too much. He tried to go before he had the ball.

 

[HuskylnSC]

OK Coaches (bench and arm chair) here are your choices.

1. Try to win with a flawed team of players who have refused good coaching and rely on bad habits
OR
2. Throw talented but inexperienced players into the fray hoping they experience growth before they are crushed emotionally and never develop.
OR
3. Hope the flawed experienced players can win some while the young futures gain experience.


What do you say.?

 

[businesslawyer]

Polley needs to move more to get his shot. Standing still is okay at times, but other times he needs to make himself more available

With one guy inside and four outside, there is not that much room to move around the three point line to lose your man without running too close to a defender guarding someone else. I don't know why some of you think you know he's not doing what the coach wants him to do.

 

[uchusky32]

Means nothing if he doesn't do it. Who needs a short leash? Why is it taking so long to recognize this. Offensive scheme needs to change for these players. Need to coach up what you have. Recruit what you want.

 

[bendm]

He needs to realize he cannot play defense that way with this team, and likely not with any roster he's ever going to have.

i agreed with everything else in your post except the underlined part. with athletic bigs like akok, springs, and brown why wont Hurley be able to play man pressure with all 5 guys?

 

[Towney007]

That was caused by Cinci making him hurry too much. He tried to go before he had the ball.

We were unacceptably bad last night, but should be noted Cincinnati played some pretty fantastic defense last night.

 

[Kenny11]

OK Coaches (bench and arm chair) here are your choices.

1. Try to win with a flawed team of players who have refused good coaching and rely on bad habits
OR
2. Throw talented but inexperienced players into the fray hoping they experience growth before they are crushed emotionally and never develop. I don't think this applies to Akok and Bouknight. They are our most talented players and if you are coaching the other team, you prefer not to see them on the court. For Gaffney this applies. I think Hurley is doing a very good job of easing Gaffney in and using him more little by little.
OR
3. Hope the flawed experienced players can win some while the young futures gain experience.


What do you say.?

 

[ClifSpliffy]

y'all need to chill a bit on josh. he only has more than twice the ''o' boards of any other player on the squad. a 'one shot' team has no shot at any success. im guessing that tyler and al's reliable handful of total boards per game is finally getting noticed here as the major weaksauce it is. lame.
oh, and after 13 games for the aac, josh is tied at 28th ppg with cumberland, is 9th at rpg, 4th in blocks, and is 1st at o/rpg.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Lots of chatter about AG's poor shooting. It is not his shooting that is the problem.

He doesn't run the offense. Doesn't put players in position and run the play.

He wastes time dribbling around until he or CV has to force a poor shot. Then his poor shooting comes into play.

 

[Com'rGordon]

Let's go ball to the wall for Cliff so Carlton doesn't have to start next year if he keeps playing like this.

 

[Brochacho]

y'all need to chill a bit on josh. he only has more than twice the ''o' boards of any other player on the squad. a 'one shot' team has no shot at any success. im guessing that tyler and al's reliable handful of total boards per game is finally getting noticed here as the major weaksauce it is. lame.

I'd be willingly to bet the majority of the offensive rebounds are when he misses layups gets his own rebound and then misses again.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I'd be willingly to bet the majority of the offensive rebounds are when he misses layups gets his own rebound and then misses again.

so, if I understand this 'rebounds his own shot' thinking here, then by extension, he is either a) not allowed to miss a shot, or b) not supposed to crash after taking a shot, especially since someone else will be getting that board. ok then, who is that 'someone else?'

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Great comparisons for a spot up shooter role player

They didn’t play much in their day did they?

How much movement does he make to get open to be a catch and shoot sharp shooter? See Rip and Rashad. I ain't completely dogging the kid and didn't say he was the main reason for the loss, but not helping do things to win tonight is not argument for not losing. There's only 5 guys out there at once.

 

[HuskylnSC]

y'all need to chill a bit on josh. he only has more than twice the ''o' boards of any other player on the squad. a 'one shot' team has no shot at any success. im guessing that tyler and al's reliable handful of total boards per game is finally getting noticed here as the major weaksauce it is. lame.
oh, and after 13 games for the aac, josh is tied at 28th ppg with cumberland, is 9th at rpg, 4th in blocks, and is 1st at o/rpg.

Also Josh is dependent upon the guards for his offensive output (except put backs). We have seen glimpses of offensive dominance when the guards get him the ball in position to score. When the offense runs low post picks to free him up and when the offense swings the ball to get his man out of position. I think in an offense that is run correctly bu guards who understand their obligation to Josh, he will shine.

 

[HungryHuskies]

It's amazing JC is 6'11" and doesn't dunk through contact

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Let's go ball to the wall for Cliff so Carlton doesn't have to start next year if he keeps playing like this.

'like this?'
oh, and after 13 games for the aac, josh is tied at 28th ppg with cumberland, is 9th at rpg, 4th in blocks, and is 1st at o/rpg.
all at 24 mpg, which puts him at 5th for the team.

 

[superjohn]

It's amazing JC is 6'11" and doesn't dunk through contact

He ain't 6'11.

 

[HungryHuskies]

He ain't 6'11.

Regardless, he has like a 2 inch vertical

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Of course he is being taught to do that. 100% Dan wants man pressure on all five guys. So he expects every player to do that, even when they aren't capable of it. He needs to realize he cannot play defense that way with this team, and likely not with any roster he's ever going to have. Plant your 260 pound 6'11" guy under the hoop and leave him there. Josh is great in that role.

At the youth level, hybrid zones are becoming more popular. The guards and wings play man, but the center plays zone. Just keep switching on the cutters and you can account for everyone. It isn't rocket science.

 

[RayRay]

OK Coaches (bench and arm chair) here are your choices.

1. Try to win with a flawed team of players who have refused good coaching and rely on bad habits
OR
2. Throw talented but inexperienced players into the fray hoping they experience growth before they are crushed emotionally and never develop.
OR
3. Hope the flawed experienced players can win some while the young futures gain experience.


What do you say.?

This was really well said. However, after 13 games, bouk is ready aside from his defense, but that's not going to shatter his confidence. I would rather have a talented Bouk playing 30 minutes even though it may be slightly less efficient on Defense, because that will eventually catch up, but it will make our offense way better.
Think about how easy it must be for opposing defenses to guard us right now. Play Vital and Polley tight because they're not the best at slashing (CV shows glimpses but def not polley), guard alterique tight too because even if he gets by you he doesnt dish and often ends up getting blocked or throwing up a terrible shot. Push carlton out past the free throw line and he becomes ineffective. The only guy teams have to worry about is Akok because he can play inside and outside. Now, if you add Bouk into the mix you cant play him tight and you will have to double team him and it will open up things for the entire offense. Even when BA and Gaffney are in there it makes us a more dynamic and more difficult to guard team, especially as they cut down on turnovers over time. It is time to get these guys or at least one of them (Bouk ideally) into the starting lineup so teams have to actually put more time into preparing a defensive gameplan for us.

 

[UConnDad]

so, if I understand this 'rebounds his own shot' thinking here, then by extension, he is either a) not allowed to miss a shot, or b) not supposed to crash after taking a shot, especially since someone else will be getting that board. ok then, who is that 'someone else?'

The point is he’s missing bunnies at the rim and the ball bounces right back to him. Yes it’s a rebound stat wise. Most kids that size would be dunking from that close.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

This was really well said. However, after 13 games, bouk is ready aside from his defense, but that's not going to shatter his confidence. I would rather have a talented Bouk playing 30 minutes even though it may be slightly less efficient on Defense, because that will eventually catch up, but it will make our offense way better.
Think about how easy it must be for opposing defenses to guard us right now. Play Vital and Polley tight because they're not the best at slashing (CV shows glimpses but def not polley), guard alterique tight too because even if he gets by you he doesnt dish and often ends up getting blocked or throwing up a terrible shot. Push carlton out past the free throw line and he becomes ineffective. The only guy teams have to worry about is Akok because he can play inside and outside. Now, if you add Bouk into the mix you cant play him tight and you will have to double team him and it will open up things for the entire offense. Even when BA and Gaffney are in there it makes us a more dynamic and more difficult to guard team, especially as they cut down on turnovers over time. It is time to get these guys or at least one of them (Bouk ideally) into the starting lineup so teams have to actually put more time into preparing a defensive gameplan for us.

yes, switch young james in for tyler now. I mean, he already has more ppg and rpg than the pop-a-shot arcade champ, despite playing 25% less per game. duh. or is it doink? math is our friend.