Hurley and Transfer Portal

[AntG168]

I’ve been waiting to see your blue colored glasses, thank you for not disappointing. You make the class of ‘14 proud.

Saying as sucked for 36 minutes is blue colored glasses. Kick rocks

 

[navery12]

I might be wrong, but the perception at the time seemed to be that we pursued Noah Locke. He has started every game at Louisville. He is also having his worst shooting season yet, by far, 33.1% overall, 31.3% from 3, 77.8 FT%, and 10.5 PPG. Did we legitimately pursue him? Did we have a realistic chance at him? Would he have been a difference maker? I don’t know the answers. I don’t know which other shooters we went after and had an actual chance to land.

Could be spin, could be reality, but the story seems to be we pursued him until Polley decided to come back

 

[Jimdish255]

Um, Hawkins is supposed to address that issue and he is seeing the floor. Polley supposedly is a shooter and the fact that he isn’t making them is not something a coach can change. Martin is not a horrible shooter. Ditto Cole who right now isn’t shooting at a great clip. I’d guess Hurley thought he had that base reasonably covered with some contribution. from Akok who right now is making a case for Johnson to play more, and Whaley . While I’ve said Gaffney (who also supposedly can shoot) isn’t the worst back up option, I’ve also said I’d like to see Diggins more. Can he make jumpers? A limited sample implies maybe.

There is some sort of assumption that some unidentified transfer would be taking and not missing a bunch of the shots all of the guys I’ve identified are missing. And play the D Hurley wants which has pretty good even in the losses. Personally, I think if the main offensive rebounders would stop tipping wildly so much and grab the ball to go back up and maybe score or be fouled we might get 6-10 more points a game.

One is a freshman and the other a streak shooter that disappears for weeks at a time. That's not at all what we're talking about. At least not what I ever suggested was a solution to a problem that was apparent last year. If that's what Coach was banking on the results so far suggest he was badly mistaken. I hope things turn around but that's just hope, not the proven scorer we needed.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Could be spin, could be reality, but the story seems to be we pursued him until Polley decided to come back

Honestly, even though it is still early in the year, those shooting numbers are bad. If he was shooting like that and taking minutes from Hawkins, then the Boneyard would be livid. I have not watched them play, though, so I don’t know if there is anything I am missing with Locke.

 

[TRUCONN76]

Right. Three years ago he wouldn't play IW and the next year found him to be his best big man.
Last year he overlooked AS so much there was a fear he'd lose him to the portal until a late season change of heart gave him more time and significant development.
This year it's Samson Johnson and RD and, to a degree, too little usage of JH.

I seem to recall Isaiah saying two years ago that it took him to the Villanova game to finally realize that he had to change his ways in how he practiced and the consistency of his effort. When Akok went down he was ready to step in. With regard to Adama he started as a freshman fouled a lot and was inconsistent. I remember with Calhoun that type of playing put you on the bench especially from a freshman. I would like to see more of the freshmen too, but not if they are not ready either due to confidence, strength, understanding assignments, or academic issues in adjusting to college. I have no idea where they stand in development and neither do you. To suggest that Hurley can’t assess the readiness of his players but you can is rather arrogant. I also seem to recall that Uconn is one of only two schools in the country with no transfers in this year. I believe that is because he must be being honest and consistent and earning the players trust.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I seem to recall Isaiah saying two years ago that it took him to the Villanova game to finally realize that he had to change his ways in how he practiced and the consistency of his effort. When Akok went down he was ready to step in. With regard to Adama he started as a freshman fouled a lot and was inconsistent. I remember with Calhoun that type of playing put you on the bench especially from a freshman. I would like to see more of the freshmen too, but not if they are not ready either due to confidence, strength, understanding assignments, or academic issues in adjusting to college. I have no idea where they stand in development and neither do you. To suggest that Hurley can’t assess the readiness of his players but you can is rather arrogant. I also seem to recall that Uconn is one of only two schools in the country with no transfers in this year. I believe that is because he must be being honest and consistent and earning the players trust.

Hurley has a history of benching talented freshmen here. Bouk was a lottery pick and was benched for Polley until his injury. Sanogo might make the NBA as well and came off the bench for a significant chunk of his freshman season. Perhaps Sool/Hawkins/Johnson will never play in the NBA, but we'll never know if they aren't given a thorough chance.

 

[Ricker]

I haven't noted any posters saying that they knew better than Hurley that Diggins was game ready and that playing him will solve our problems. What posters seem to be expressing, is that keeping Diggins on the bench and not giving him a chance in games is essentially an endorsement that Hurley is satisfied with how Gaffney is playing. A lot of people have an issue with Gaffney's contribution so far, and, would rather suffer some freshman mistakes. Coupled with Hurley's growing record of underestimating players on the bench and stubbornly sticking with underperforming veterans, I think it a fair criticism.

 

[tzznandrew]

Right. Three years ago he wouldn't play IW and the next year found him to be his best big man.

It's possible, just possible, Whaley improved a lot.

I know the board really liked Whaley back then, because he had passion and energy, but the kid didn't know how to be part of a team offense or defense. He frequently didn't know where to be. That sort of level of confusion sometimes—by mere chance—leads to stray rebounds and points because he's doing things the opponent (and his teammates) don't expect. But the vast majority of what little minutes he got then, he sucked. But he was recruiting as the sort of kid who would sit on the bench and by junior and senior year be able to give minutes. That's what happened.

 

[superjohn]

It's possible, just possible, Whaley improved a lot.

I know the board really liked Whaley back then, because he had passion and energy, but the kid didn't know how to be part of a team offense or defense. He frequently didn't know where to be. That sort of level of confusion sometimes—by mere chance—leads to stray rebounds and points because he's doing things the opponent (and his teammates) don't expect. But the vast majority of what little minutes he got then, he sucked. But he was recruiting as the sort of kid who would sit on the bench and by junior and senior year be able to give minutes. That's what happened.

Hurley even said he screwed up not playing Whaley.

 

[tzznandrew]

Hurley even said he screwed up not playing Whaley.

Coaches say a lot of things to the media that are directed to their own players, particularly for confidence. Do you really think Justin Brown was ever the best player in practice?

Whaley was almost never where he was supposed to be. You could even see him realize it and get mad at himself in some games.

 

[auror]

We (the assistants) kicked the tires on a bunch of transfers. We were looking for a very specific archetype since we were so deep everywhere. We needed a 20 min a night ball handling wing shooter who can defend. A few that I wanted: Grady, Locke, Kolek, Myreon Jones. Richmond doesn't shoot and apparently was never an option (done deal to Seton Hall from before he announced he was transferring).

Myreon Jones is shooting 30% from 3. Kolek is shooting 21% from 3 and sub 40% from 2. Locke is shooting 31% from 3 and sub 40% from 2.

Grady would have been perfect, but doesn't seem realistic that we could have beaten out Kentucky even if Hurley went all in.

 

[dennismenace]

I also seem to recall that Uconn is one of only two schools in the country with no transfers in this year. I believe that is because he must be being honest and consistent and earning the players trust.

I think you just made a fine case of Hurley's loyalty to upperclassmen and his sticking with them despite continued lackluster performance. It's the same reason that talented freshman are not getting play time and at least giving the non-performers something to think about when they lose minutes. That will frustrate top recruits and give others pause to committing here.

 

[Rico444]

Um, Hawkins is supposed to address that issue and he is seeing the floor. Polley supposedly is a shooter and the fact that he isn’t making them is not something a coach can change. Martin is not a horrible shooter. Ditto Cole who right now isn’t shooting at a great clip. I’d guess Hurley thought he had that base reasonably covered with some contribution. from Akok who right now is making a case for Johnson to play more, and Whaley . While I’ve said Gaffney (who also supposedly can shoot) isn’t the worst back up option, I’ve also said I’d like to see Diggins more. Can he make jumpers? A limited sample implies maybe.

There is some sort of assumption that some unidentified transfer would be taking and not missing a bunch of the shots all of the guys I’ve identified are missing. And play the D Hurley wants which has pretty good even in the losses. Personally, I think if the main offensive rebounders would stop tipping wildly so much and grab the ball to go back up and maybe score or be fouled we might get 6-10 more points a game.

The coach can't make these guys shoot better, but he can control the minutes each player gets. If Polley isn't making his shots, what value is he bringing to the court? Get someone else in there.

 

[AntG168]

The coach can't make these guys shoot better, but he can control the minutes each player gets. If Polley isn't making his shots, what value is he bringing to the court? Get someone else in there.

Who should take Polley's minutes?

 

[cohenzone]

The coach can't make these guys shoot better, but he can control the minutes each player gets. If Polley isn't making his shots, what value is he bringing to the court? Get someone else in there.

Cuz you don’t know a guy isn’t making his shots until he doesn’t make several. Streak shooters often heat up after a few misses. The big problem with Polley is that he has more cold streaks than hot streaks. And Hurley at this point isn’t exactly gluing Hawkins to the bench. Diggins is another matter.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Who should take Polley's minutes?

Akok/Hawkins/Samson

 

[Huskyforlife]

Who should take Polley's minutes?

Literally anyone.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Why didn't Hurley know that Martin and Sanogo would get hurt? What an idiot!!!!!!

You are so right. He should have asked Miss Claire Voiyant.

 

[Hoophound]

I

I agree in terms of Diggins and Samson. But with Cole, Sanogo, Hawkins, and possibly Martin returning. Nothing about that team is “young and inexperienced”. I don’t think we should judge this season and or this team just yet. We’ve beat some good teams, and lost to some good teams. It’s honestly we’re I thought we’d be. We’ve been top 25 for 75% of the season. I get the concerns, but I think the severity of the results have been a little overstated

Cole isn’t a pg. I’m happy to have him next season, but he is a shooting guard. I am worried that Diggins isn’t playing and Floyd is redshirting. Hawkins is a great talent but his handle is his weakness. We will have a very inexperienced backcourt to go with Cole and Gaffney, assuming no one transfers. I want a plan for our backcourt that makes us better, because we aren’t adequate right now. We don’t have creators, slashers or bucket getters.

Diggins needs to play a little bit, Hawkins need to play a lot and we all better pray Floyd is as good as he looks.

 

[Horatio]

Cole is not the problem. Him not having help at his position is.

 

[businesslawyer]

I don’t know. I think for many of us, we’ve been seeing the same problems for a few years and we don’t see a way to something better yet. We haven’t had a true PG, we can’t drive and we can’t shoot. Aside from that, we have some very talented guys on the bench getting no chance to develop and we will need them to be all grown up by next season. I really thought that next season would be when we’d see a return to UConn basketball with superior athletes and solid skills. Now I foresee a young team with little experience trying to find their way. Diggins, Johnson and Springs need to get some run.

People are still looking for Richie Springs to be part of a return to continuous national contending teams? He’s now in his third year and still hasn’t contributed. That’s not knocking the young man — I’m sure he’s capable of helping teams at some level. But if he was going to be helping us, you really don’t think he would be doing so by now?

 

[Hoophound]

Cole is not the problem. Him not having help at his position is.

I agree with this. Cole is an awesome person and player. He needs help in the back court, but it needs to be from a natural point guard. Cole is a good combo guard that should be playing shooting guard most of the time and backup pg some of the time.

 

[navery12]

I agree with this. Cole is an awesome person and player. He needs help in the back court, but it needs to be from a natural point guard. Cole is a good combo guard that should be playing shooting guard most of the time and backup pg some of the time.

What do you make of the fact that he's averaging 4.5 assists a game and a 2.5 A/TO ratio? Genuinely curious, not being snarky

 

[Hoophound]

What do you make of the fact that he's averaging 4.5 assists a game and a 2.5 A/TO ratio? Genuinely curious, not being snarky

He’s a good player so he produces in many ways. However, he’s not good at penetrating, getting in the lane and distributing, slashing to the hoop or even leading a fast break. He’s a very solid combo guard with tons of great attributes. He just isn’t a pure pg that can create for others enough. He makes some nice plays and finds guys cutting to the hoop, but he doesn’t make opportunity happen as much he capitalizes on what openings he’s given.

 

[Hoophound]

People are still looking for Richie Springs to be part of a return to continuous national contending teams? He’s now in his third year and still hasn’t contributed. That’s not knocking the young man — I’m sure he’s capable of helping teams at some level. But if he was going to be helping us, you really don’t think he would be doing so by now?

I don’t know, but he’s looked ok when in the game. He isn’t clueless. I’d like to see what he can do. With all the work he’s put in you’d think he’d get more than 2 minutes up 35 against CCSU or whomever.