Hurley, Gilbert Work to Control Offense (Hartford Courant Jan2)

[Son of Robert]

Could someone post this please. Thank you, Happy New Year! Go Huskies!

Good article here. Hurley making moves, coaching adjustments. Slow it down and play half court team offense especially after opponents made baskets. With Gilbert predominately running the point Jalen this year will have to move better without the ball, finding spots besides the arc to receive it, and then making plays and scoring. I'm sure that he will still be mostly a dribble driver but he has to shake it up, all that isolation play isn't getting it done; he's always getting doubled.

More open looks, more assists, less turnovers. Players have to provide interior passing, it should not all be guard penetration. Hopefully Eric Cobb sees the floor. He might be challenged defensively but the offense will sure work better.

 

[RichZ]

He threatened to do this a while back if they couldn't stop turning it over playing fast. I hope it works, but they are still the same players.

 

[awfuldan]

Dan Hurley, Alterique Gilbert, work to get offense under control as UConn men start AAC play - Hartford Courant

 

[August_West]

Great so the one thing we had going for us (sans turnovers) - high tempo offense - is being throttled back . I get it, we werent efficient............but............ if we are going to make an adjustment how about a defensive one since the hard high hedging failures are probably our biggest weakness this year. And the thing is that the hard high overplays go hand in hand with running on offense. So if you are going to play 1/2 court offense, there is no point in exposing yourself defensively like that.

Might as well bring Miller back and mix some 2-3 zone too.

 

[intlzncster]

He threatened to do this a while back if they couldn't stop turning it over playing fast. I hope it works, but they are still the same players.

gotta do something...

 

[Palatine]

"But we also have to be able to execute, make other teams guard us, grind people up occasionally. Especially when the other team’s going on a run, we’ve got to slow things down and not try to shoot our way out of it.”

Calhoun used to run the double screen when we got in the half court. It will be interesting to see what Hurley's offense relies on.

 

[gtcam]

We will see
Going to be tough with run run run since DH arrived to a more disciplined style
I understand what and why he is thinking this way
A little confused with the following quote because since the season began he has been saying he has been doing this:
" I have to help him more by coaching that position better for him. Kind of like, coaching him possession in and possession out, all season long, every practice, getting him to think like a point guard.”
I think AG is smart enough to adopt but I would love to see the ball in JA's hand a lot more going forward

 

[UConnStats]

We've been turning the ball over too much, but our half court offense also hasn't been inspiring. It'll be interesting to see what new ideas we bring to the table in the half court if Hurley intends to be more methodical after opponent makes.

 

[Hoophound]

I’m starting to think Hurley is willing to sacrifice some wins this year to train Alterique for next year. Clearly, moving Jalen to PG when we need to score in crunch time or when we can’t buy a basket would help now and then.

There are players at all levels that are great scorers at PG but just can’t get it going when they are at SG. Some players need the ball to get in the flow and find their spots. Other players, thrive not having to handle the ball. Jalen clearly needs the ball.

None of this is a knock on AG, he’s going to explode next year. He just doesn’t have the ability to put the team on his back yet. Jalen does.

 

[BFieldHusky]

We've been turning the ball over too much, but our half court offense also hasn't been inspiring. It'll be interesting to see what new ideas we bring to the table in the half court if Hurley intends to be more methodical after opponent makes.

Agreed. The major problem is the lack of a post scorer. If you don't have a consistent post player (we don't) and you don't have great shooters (we are inconsistent) you are very easy to defend in the half court.

 

[Jimdish255]

Agreed. The major problem is the lack of a post scorer. If you don't have a consistent post player (we don't) and you don't have great shooters (we are inconsistent) you are very easy to defend in the half court.

Coach never talks about that and has shown no commitment to developing an inside game. That would have had to start in the pre-season. We saw him experiment with it to open the Villanova game and anyone could have guessed how that would turn out. Maybe next year he'll see more value in it but I wouldn't hold my breath. He's been Guard Guard Guard in every discussion about the offense.

Recognizing he/we needed to make an adjustment is a good thing, but sweeping changes don't appear to be in his DNA. But we had another Coach here who had a pretty big stubborn streak and he turned out to be fairly successful so there's that. Gotta let things play out. Only 2 teams in this league that seem to have the clear advantage over the rest.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Coach never talks about that and has shown no commitment to developing an inside game. That would have had to start in the pre-season. We saw him experiment with it to open the Villanova game and anyone could have guessed how that would turn out. Maybe next year he'll see more value in it but I wouldn't hold my breath. He's been Guard Guard Guard in every discussion about the offense.

Our 5 best players are all guards and wings. Hurley knows that the focal point of our future frontcourt offense isn't on the current roster. When he gets his guys in there (Akok, hopefully Cockburn), then you'll see more attention on the inside game.

 

[Hoophound]

I'd definitely like to see more of Cobb, especially to start the game.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Great so the one thing we had going for us (sans turnovers) - high tempo offense - is being throttled back . I get it, we werent efficient..but.. if we are going to make an adjustment how about a defensive one since the hard high hedging failures are probably our biggest weakness this year. And the thing is that the hard high overplays go hand in hand with running on offense. So if you are going to play 1/2 court offense, there is no point in exposing yourself defensively like that.

Might as well bring Miller back and mix some 2-3 zone too.

I disagree, I think this is our most needed adjustment. (Not to say defense isnt another huge problem).
This team needs to learn how to play a halfcourt offense. I'm glad Hurley is taking responsibility and making adjustments. He's not going to completely change his style, but he recognizes that Nova's 19-0 slow grind run on us was embarrassing, unacceptable and indicative of greater problems (that we were too reliant on getting out and running and suck at half court offense against any decent team).
Hurley knows what he has now with this team and he's adjusting accordingly. This is a good thing. Things will improve greatly by March.

 

[Husky25]

Coach never talks about that and has shown no commitment to developing an inside game. That would have had to start in the pre-season. We saw him experiment with it to open the Villanova game and anyone could have guessed how that would turn out. Maybe next year he'll see more value in it but I wouldn't hold my breath. He's been Guard Guard Guard in every discussion about the offense.

Recognizing he/we needed to make an adjustment is a good thing, but sweeping changes don't appear to be in his DNA. But we had another Coach here who had a pretty big stubborn streak and he turned out to be fairly successful so there's that. Gotta let things play out. Only 2 teams in this league that seem to have the clear advantage over the rest.

UConn doesn't have the pieces for sweeping changes. It's tough to develop an inside game with bigs who lack length. They definitely need to pick more spots to get it inside and keep defenses honest, but Hurley is coaching to his team's strengths.

 

[August_West]

I disagree, I think this is our most needed adjustment. (Not to say defense isnt another huge problem).
This team needs to learn how to play a halfcourt offense. I'm glad Hurley is taking responsibility and making adjustments. He's not going to completely change his style, but he recognizes that Nova's 19-0 slow grind run on us was embarrassing and indicative of greater problems (that we were too reliant on getting out and running and suck at half court offense against any decent team).
Hurley knows what he has now with this team and he's adjusting accordingly. This is a good thing. Things will improve greatly by March.

They do. I dont disagree. And it probably is overdue, which is yet another thing. But Im afraid we are on to "jack of all trades, master of none" slippery slope here for the remainder of the season. He obviously mis-evaluated what he had going in to season and the best way to play the hand he inherited. I dont hold it against him, I thought Rodney Purvis and Jalen Adams would both have AAC POY senior years, so my talent eval/evolution skills are abominable recently. Im glad hes adjusting. But changing horses in mid stream kinda can suck the little bit of optimism one tries to hold on to in early january when paradigm shifts in philosophy happen almost 1/2 way into a season.

 

[husky429]

They do. I dont disagree. And it probably is overdue, which is yet another thing. But Im afraid we are on to "jack of all trades, master of none" slippery slope here for the remainder of the season. He obviously mis-evaluated what he had going in to season and the best way to play the hand he inherited. I dont hold it against him, I thought Rodney Purvis and Jalen Adams would both have AAC POY senior years, so my talent eval/evolution skills are abominable recently. Im glad hes adjusting. But changing horses in mid stream kinda can suck the little bit of optimism one tries to hold on to in early january when paradigm shifts in philosophy happen almost 1/2 into a season.

Developmental year. Hurley is going to play his own system and recruit to fill it over time. He needs the example to show recruits. It stinks, but it's just how to game works at this level. High school coaches have to be WAY more flexible than college coaches.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I think in the modern game of college b-ball you can’t survive by being one dimensional. One thing we miss out on by pushing the tempo (in addition to turning the ball over to the opposing team so much) is the ability to take and make more 3 pointers. The better teams are taking and making 3’s at a high clip. We actually have some decent 3 point shooters (Gilbert, Polley and Vital). Hurley recognizes that we need to run half court sets to get these guys open shots.

I’ll add that I think we often start out games trying to penetrate too much. If we can get good enough ball movement and hit some early 3’s that will open up the drives.

We also need to have Gilbert drive more with the intent to kick it out or pull up with his foul line floater. Too much dribbling into bigs and turning it over.

Hurley isn’t dumb, he knows the half court offense was going to take the longest time to develop. Hopefully these guys can find the right balance. As a side note, I think the team generally enjoys playing uptempo and now with what Hurley is instituting it will require better defense in order for them to get opportunities to push the ball. This may be wishful thinking but maybe this will make us play more inspired defense as well...time will tell.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

They do. I dont disagree. And it probably is overdue, which is yet another thing. But Im afraid we are on to "jack of all trades, master of none" slippery slope here for the remainder of the season. He obviously mis-evaluated what he had going in to season and the best way to play the hand he inherited. I dont hold it against him, I thought Rodney Purvis and Jalen Adams would both have AAC POY senior years, so my talent eval/evolution skills are abominable recently. Im glad hes adjusting. But changing horses in mid stream kinda can suck the little bit of optimism one tries to hold on to in early january when paradigm shifts in philosophy happen almost 1/2 way into a season.

Its still early, it's fine if he doesnt have his stamp on the team yet. These arent his players. In a couple years time he will stick to his style and it will work better.

I dont think its unreal to have expected Purvis and Jalen to be conference POYs at some point. It's not entirely their fault that they weren't at that level.

 

[Palatine]

The players have been in Hurley's system for 13 games. He has to pick and choose what he wants from them. He started with up tempo because it demanded they get in shape and focused on defense. Now he has to slowly add pieces to system.

In a year or two, when the system has veterans, he can tweak his game plans. The players will have experience in his system and the upper classmen can school the youngsters. For the present, every new challenge is a big hurdle. It demands special attention and time. To be successful, the Huskies will have to be quick learners.

 

[RichZ]

He's been Guard Guard Guard in every discussion about the offense.

Perhaps that's because our only skilled players are guards.

changing horses in mid stream kinda can suck the little bit of optimism one tries to hold on to

Yes, I find this change depressing. Playing the way he wants his team to play won't work because our guys aren't good/smart/determined (pick one) enough is not promising thing to base a wholesale change in philosophy on.

I’ll add that I think we often start out games trying to penetrate too much. If we can get good enough ball movement and hit some early 3’s that will open up the drives.

And if we miss a few consecutive early threes, the hole we are in is just as deep. I'd rather see them take the best shot available, inside OR out.

All I know, is if I see 17 seconds of windshield wiper offense on every possession, I'm not going to be a happy Husky fan. Or worse yet, Jalen or Alterique pounding the ball near mid court for 15 or 18 secondswhile the other guys are basically standing still.

 

[Marat]

All I know, is if I see 17 seconds of windshield wiper offense on every possession, I'm not going to be a happy Husky fan. Or worse yet, Jalen or Alterique pounding the ball near mid court for 15 or 18 secondswhile the other guys are basically standing still.

I shall hope not, as that was exactly our offense the previous couple of years. Hurley has seen the videos and knows not to repeat that.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Might as well bring Miller back and mix some 2-3 zone too.

Carefully, you might trigger Chief.

 

[August_West]

Carefully, you might trigger Chief.

Ive been waiting.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

All I know, is if I see 17 seconds of windshield wiper offense on every possession, I'm not going to be a happy Husky fan. Or worse yet, Jalen or Alterique pounding the ball near mid court for 15 or 18 secondswhile the other guys are basically standing still.

For example, do we even know how to screen away from the ball?