Hurley Apologistas

[Dogammit]

Wouldn't say the program's gone nowhere but haven't been very impressed by Hurley's in-game coaching decisions to this point.

Then again, Calhoun spoiled us badly. That's a high bar for anyone.

Yes, but that IS the bar and we should never settle for less

 

[businesslawyer]

I know i might get bashed for this but Dan Hurley may be a poor mans Calipari. Great recruiter but simply not a top tier X n Os guy. I am truly concerned.

There is our fanbase’s delusion in a nutshell. In a sane world, comparing a basketball coach to Calipari is not an insult or a worry — it’s a likely unreachable goal. But we had Jim Calhoun, so the expectations for any coach any time soon will be absurd.

We need better offensive players. Certainly, at least one go to offensive weapon. Hurley is recruiting better and better players, and there is every reason to believe that most years we will have the star. But the combination of Hawkins not being star ready and Bouk leaving early has left us one egg roll short of a combination plate.

 

[Fatroony5]

Not really in panic mode just more so surprised with how much he’ll ride certain guys even if they’re seriously struggling. If players are hot it’s one thing. But I’d definitely like to see Hawkins get more then 12 minutes. People will point to his defense as an issue which is partially true but we need as many guys out there as possible that can make some offensive things happen. This offense is in desperate need of that. I’ll continue to say they’ve got to find a way to get Diggins a little bit of run as well. We’ll see what happens when Sanogo is back but quicker subs and diminishing minutes for guys that aren’t playing well is something I’d like to see.

 

[Rashadsmask]

Not really in panic mode just more so surprised with how much he’ll ride certain guys even if they’re seriously struggling. If players are hot it’s one thing. But I’d definitely like to see Hawkins get more then 12 minutes. People will point to his defense as an issue which is partially true but we need as many guys out there as possible that can make some offensive things happen. This offense is in desperate need of that. I’ll continue to say they’ve got to find a way to get Diggins a little bit of run as well. We’ll see what happens when Sanogo is back but quicker subs and diminishing minutes for guys that aren’t playing well is something I’d like to see.

When asked this question in the past, Dan Hurley’s response was only that Diggins, etc have to crack the rotation, which does not make sense under the circumstances given that the rotation is not working. Others might have a better recollection on this, but I think Dan Hurley took too long to give Bouk more minutes even though it was pretty obvious that he was an elite player, and the offense needed him. The concern is that he is too reluctant to give some minutes to younger players, maybe based upon loyalty to upperclassmen.

 

[HuskyFich]

When asked this question in the past, Dan Hurley’s response was only that Diggins, etc have to crack the rotation, which does not make sense under the circumstances given that the rotation is not working. Others might have a better recollection on this, but I think Dan Hurley took too long to give Bouk more minutes even though it was pretty obvious that he was an elite player, and the offense needed him. The concern is that he is too reluctant to give some minutes to younger players, maybe based upon loyalty to upperclassmen.

Yup, but remember Bouk also had the whole fleeing the scene of an accident debacle really early into his frosh year as well. This also happened to Sanogo last year, and people were concerned of his future here at the time (total BY meltdown maybe lasted 2-3 weeks for his playing time to change). It’s a negative trend that Hurley has, but also has adjusted to and fixed each year. Just not quick enough for the BY. Hopefully this game was the Aha! moment for Dan Hurley this year.

 

[navery12]

When asked this question in the past, Dan Hurley’s response was only that Diggins, etc have to crack the rotation, which does not make sense under the circumstances given that the rotation is not working. Others might have a better recollection on this, but I think Dan Hurley took too long to give Bouk more minutes even though it was pretty obvious that he was an elite player, and the offense needed him. The concern is that he is too reluctant to give some minutes to younger players, maybe based upon loyalty to upperclassmen.

It's a take that's repeated over and over again on here, but not one based in fact. I've had no issues with the speed he works freshman into the rotation with

 

[kemba]

Yes, but that IS the bar and we should never settle for less

No it isn't. Firing any coach who isn't as good as Jim Calhoun is a recipe for disaster

 

[MTBingNinja]

this is... extreme. Auburn was a big win. Cuse at the garden was a big win. 2020 Houston was a big win.

The problem hasn't been an inability to win big games. The problem is the inconsistency and the lack of in-game coaching.

And poor shooting percentage

 

[Brochacho]

I'm mad at Hurley but I love him. People forget Calhoun had 14? seasons at Northeastern before coming to UConn to develop as a coach. Hurley is an excellent recruiter and program manager. The in game coaching isn't there right now but he should get there with time. There's no reason to even think about moving on from him at this time.

 

[businesslawyer]

Yup, but remember Bouk also had the whole fleeing the scene of an accident debacle really early into his frosh year as well. This also happened to Sanogo last year, and people were concerned of his future here at the time (total BY meltdown maybe lasted 2-3 weeks for his playing time to change). It’s a negative trend that Hurley has, but also has adjusted to and fixed each year. Just not quick enough for the BY. Hopefully this game was the Aha! moment for Dan Hurley this year.

Bouk played plenty as a frosh from the moment his suspension was over. Akok started from game one. Sanogo's playing time was limited by his inability to play without fouling. But more importantly they were all in the rotation from day one. That should lead to an obvious conclusion about why it might be that Johnson and Diggins are not. (Oh, and the obvious conclusion is not that your evaluation of who could be helping the team is better than Hurley's.)

 

[HuskyFich]

Bouk played plenty as a frosh from the moment his suspension was over. Akok started from game one. Sanogo's playing time was limited by his inability to play without fouling. But more importantly they were all in the rotation from day one. That should lead to an obvious conclusion about why it might be that Johnson and Diggins are not. (Oh, and the obvious conclusion is not that your evaluation of who could be helping the team is better than Hurley's.)

Never said that my evaluation was the conclusion, but yours sure as hell ain’t the conclusion either mr. Lawyer….


objection: speculation

 

[Kolumbo]

Check out this thread. Post #1 and Post #17. To me those two coaches are night and day. What they can do in practice or in games, I'm not sure. But the presence of each are light years difference. Hurley doesn't exactly exude confidence.

Hurley Providence Post Game Presser

the-boneyard.com

 

[NJHusky]

Bouk played plenty as a frosh from the moment his suspension was over. Akok started from game one. Sanogo's playing time was limited by his inability to play without fouling. But more importantly they were all in the rotation from day one. That should lead to an obvious conclusion about why it might be that Johnson and Diggins are not. (Oh, and the obvious conclusion is not that your evaluation of who could be helping the team is better than Hurley's.)

All true but Hurley kept B Adams in the rotation for way too long.

 

[freescooter]

Bouk played plenty as a frosh from the moment his suspension was over. Akok started from game one. Sanogo's playing time was limited by his inability to play without fouling. But more importantly they were all in the rotation from day one. That should lead to an obvious conclusion about why it might be that Johnson and Diggins are not. (Oh, and the obvious conclusion is not that your evaluation of who could be helping the team is better than Hurley's.)

But we saw videos. And First Night. Man they looked really good then. Who you gonna believe, your Own eyes or some basketball coach who’s livelihood depends on making the right choices of players? Some of you people just don‘t get it!

 

[businesslawyer]

All true but Hurley kept B Adams in the rotation for way too long.

Adams lost his spot in the rotation when AJ came back from his injury. If Hurley was just better at player evaluation, presumably AJ would have recovered from his injury more quickly.

Look, my point is not that it's impossible that a coach might be slower to make a change than in hindsight he wished he made. It's certainly possible. The truth remains, however, that when a good coach who has shown that he's willing to put freshmen into the rotation doesn't put them into the rotation, the most likely reason is that from what he sees in practice they are not at that point good enough.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Adams lost his spot in the rotation when AJ came back from his injury. If Hurley was just better at player evaluation, presumably AJ would have recovered from his injury more quickly.

Look, my point is not that it's impossible that a coach might be slower to make a change than in hindsight he wished he made. It's certainly possible. The truth remains, however, that when a good coach who has shown that he's willing to put freshmen into the rotation doesn't put them into the rotation, the most likely reason is that from what he sees in practice they are not at that point good enough.

Part of the problem is that Hurley makes his decisions based on what is going to deliver the best results in the immediate game/moment.

As we all know, Calhoun would make his decisions based on what is going to deliver the best results in late March.

Hopefully Hurley will soon realize the difference and adjust his philosophy.

 

[freescooter]

No it isn't. Firing any coach who isn't as good as Jim Calhoun is a recipe for disaster

Yeah, but there is a pretty wide cavern between as good as Jim Calhoun and a coach who can get you to the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8 on a semi-regular basis with a shot at going all the way.

But answer this. How long will UNC wait for Roy’s successor or Duke wait for K’s to get them to make deep runs? I’m betting not 6-7 years. Those guys aren’t getting it done by year 4 they’ll be coaching at Raleigh Community College the next year.

I think the Calipari comment means exactly what Nelson said. Guys a hustler, with good connections who can recruit. But come game day he tosses the ball out there and says, go play! It is the caricature folks have of Cal, but you don’t win as many as he does without some ability to coach.

 

[businesslawyer]

Yeah, but there is a pretty wide cavern between as good as Jim Calhoun and a coach who can get you to the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8 on a semi-regular basis with a shot at going all the way.

But answer this. How long will UNC wait for Roy’s successor or Duke wait for K’s to get them to make deep runs? I’m betting not 6-7 years. Those guys aren’t getting it done by year 4 they’ll be coaching at Raleigh Community College the next year.

I think the Calipari comment means exactly what Nelson said. Guys a hustler, with good connections who can recruit. But come game day he tosses the ball out there and says, go play! It is the caricature folks have of Cal, but you don’t win as many as he does without some ability to coach.

Hurley didn't win at Wagner and at Rhodey just by being a recruiter.

 

[Fatroony5]

When asked this question in the past, Dan Hurley’s response was only that Diggins, etc have to crack the rotation, which does not make sense under the circumstances given that the rotation is not working. Others might have a better recollection on this, but I think Dan Hurley took too long to give Bouk more minutes even though it was pretty obvious that he was an elite player, and the offense needed him. The concern is that he is too reluctant to give some minutes to younger players, maybe based upon loyalty to upperclassmen.

If some of the upperclassmen continue to struggle, I’d think we’ll see some changes. I appreciate how he sticks to his players but his rotation patterns just aren’t great. Of course some of the younger players will make mistakes but you have to give them some leash and grow with that. We saw that with Hawkins against St Bonnies. Some of the older guys just are what they are. Not trying to pick on him specifically but Tyler Polly just cannot be getting these minutes playing how he’s playing. Not asking for huge minutes for SJ or RD but small spurts seem warranted at this point and definitely more than 12 min for Hawk.

 

[kemba]

Yeah, but there is a pretty wide cavern between as good as Jim Calhoun and a coach who can get you to the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8 on a semi-regular basis with a shot at going all the way.

But answer this. How long will UNC wait for Roy’s successor or Duke wait for K’s to get them to make deep runs? I’m betting not 6-7 years. Those guys aren’t getting it done by year 4 they’ll be coaching at Raleigh Community College the next year.

I think the Calipari comment means exactly what Nelson said. Guys a hustler, with good connections who can recruit. But come game day he tosses the ball out there and says, go play! It is the caricature folks have of Cal, but you don’t win as many as he does without some ability to coach.

Well Roy's and K's successor's aren't and won't be taking on massive rebuilding projects either, so it's not really a fair comparison. Hurley each of his first 3 years improved on where we were the year before. Too early to say about this year yet, but until that trend stops there's no point in even worrying about this. It's overeactionary enough when this board treated every single game as proof of how far this year's particular team is going to go, now half the board treats every game as proof of how much we might achieve in Hurley's entire tenure.

It was a winnable game at home against a good but not great team. Disappointing loss but not inexcusable. Better teams than this one have had worse losses than this. On to Marquette.

 

[F101Voodoo]

This^^^
I compared him to Herb Sendek at NC State. Good teams every year. Low top 25 often. NCAA bids. Early exits. Made 1 Sweet 16.

The worst description I heard was “the poor man’s Calipari.” Coaches like Cal, and recruits like him. Just not as good players.

I think most UConn fans see the Calhoun years as an aberration. In a good way, one none the less. They will be thrilled to make the tournament most years and get to the Sweet 16 once in a while. Remember, it has now been 7 years since UConn has been even slightly relevant on the national stage. Our best player would be a backup on most of those teams from the mid 90s on. Our backups would be in the A10. Despite all the success of the Calhoun years, most fans deep down have never lost the Yankee Conference mindset. My sense is our destiny is Indiana post-Bob Knight.

Calhoun started here in 1986. The dream season was 89-90 so it took Calhoun 3-4 years and a miracle shot to make us noticed and be the start of things into the March madness. Hurley had to clean a schiest cesspool created by Ollie. If we use the Calhoun time track I expect that this season may be salvaged with some respectability by Hurley. No I do not think that Hurley will be another Calhoun but how many Calhoun are there! How many are there to match a coach Szewszewski ( I spell it phonetically.

 

[MJ1]

No it is not a joke. Football drives the bus and we spend too much money on basketball. It’s better for the athletic department as a whole if resources are poured into football. All means nothing at this point - nothing will happen until Hurley leaves. I was asking when it makes most fiscal sense to jettison him after a few more mediocre seasons.

Sure put money money into Football so Mora can land a 3 star and finally beat Holy Cross! That’s the way to go.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’m never going to complain about the fact that Hurley has brought life back to the program. He’s a high energy guy and a great recruiter. I had concerns about his X’s and O’s at URI when it looked like we were about to hire him. I assumed (a) he was forced into it somewhat by the players he had and (b) he could learn and adapt.

So far I’m not seeing much adaptation. He forces square pegs into round holes over and over and just pounds on them expecting a fit. He strikes me as unusually arrogant. Either the assistants are telling him what he wants to hear or are afraid to speak freely. I don’t know we can expect Clingan to ever play for this team if he simply will not adjust his defense to fit his players. The big problem this causes is that every decent coach we face, like yesterday, knows what Hurley will do and exploits it. He never shows them anything different.

 

[NJHusky]

Hurley didn't win at Wagner and at Rhodey just by being a recruiter.

I have no way of knowing how good his recruitment was at those stops. I'm sure his energy and enthusiasm provide a jolt to the program. It's probably easier to have better talent than your competitors at lower levels, since under recruited or late bloomers should be easier to find....and the guys you are coaching against are at that level for a reason.

He's done a great job getting us back on track...but I don't think it's unfair to question game day decisions.

 

[MTBingNinja]

I’m not sure Sanogo will come and and generate a ten game winning. The players are getting a lot of open looks, credit to Hurley and the coaching staff. But the players’ shooting percentage is atrocious.

 

[huskysupporter]

Sure put money money into Football so Mora can land a 3 star and finally beat Holy Cross! That’s the way to go.

I don’t think that would be the goal. Just reallocate some of the money spent on basketball into football. It is the better investment. Doesn’t mean basketball can’t still do well in a conference like the Big East.

I struck a nerve and I apologize. Believe me, as a football fan I feel your pain.

 

[hardcorehusky]

In College Basketball, you can win by having more talent. That works to a certain point and then coaching decisions and strategies have to take it the rest of the way. Hurley has the talent part down as he improves the talent level of this roster. However, his x and o's and personnel groupings need developing. That only comes with experience at this level. He will learn not to stay with guys who don't have it on that day. He will learn to trust his bench. It is all part of the development and UConn is a Blue Blood, which puts all his moves under a bright microscope.

 

[giddyup]

In College Basketball, you can win by having more talent. That works to a certain point and then coaching decisions and strategies have to take it the rest of the way. Hurley has the talent part down as he improves the talent level of this roster. However, his x and o's and personnel groupings need developing. That only comes with experience at this level. He will learn not to stay with guys who don't have it on that day. He will learn to trust his bench. It is all part of the development and UConn is a Blue Blood, which puts all his moves under a bright microscope.

Agree. I would hope he learns. I’m concerned that his style of game management won’t allow that. He can’t be thinking about the big picture when he’s actively orchestrating every posession from the bench like he’s the point guard and a cheerleader. Weirdly, he knows his x and o(s) inside and out, but can’t seem to apply theory to the situation at hand. Until he figures it out, we are going to have a ceiling.

 

[YellowMamba]

It’s pretty simple, Hurley got out coached by Cooley. As a friars fan you guys have more talent but we have the experience and coaching to win games.

Thank you! I swear I never heard or thought about this before! Truly breakthrough thinking! GT.FOH!

 

[kobebeanbryant]

I don’t know we can expect Clingan to ever play for this team if he simply will not adjust his defense to fit his players.

If he has Clingan try the “hard hedge” even once, then we will know that all hope is lost.