Hurley Has To Pull A Rabbit Out Of A Hat

[MexicoHusky]

Very happy with the win, but I certainly see the offensive issues that have plagued the team for the past two games. It's impossible not to notice.

I also see it as an opportunity. The offensive needs work, Bouk looks sloppy and unmotivated. Hurley has an opportunity to turn it all around and get the team playing right in the next few games. Prove who he is as a coach.

We won tonight. We have some control of our own destiny. Anything is possible.

 

[Ts5034]

That really seems like somebody thats unmotivated.

 

[krinklecut]

That really seems like somebody thats unmotivated. View attachment 64943

I spent way longer than I’d like to admit trying to <3 the tweet

 

[UCDaveD]

We have one player who can create his own shot. That’s a problem that isn’t getting resolved this season.

 

[Palatine]

Oops wrong hat.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It was mostly frustration I think. They played very good defense on him. Sent help when he came off screens and overall just guarded him well. They were also playing physical and he wasn’t getting calls.

 

[navery12]

All I want to see is improvement from Hurley game to game. It would be nice if eventually all the improvements show up in the same game, but so far that's yet to happen. Tonight the lineup usage showed up and the timeout usage left

 

[Chin Diesel]

There are so many undisciplined passes every game. Passes that are thrown at a teammates ankle, passes from impossible angles, both PG's trying one handed passes out to wings, terrible passes up the court during fast breaks and transitions. It's mind numbingly bad for this level of basketball.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

We have one player who can create his own shot. That’s a problem that isn’t getting resolved this season.

Or next season

 

[UconnU]

We have one player who can create his own shot. That’s a problem that isn’t getting resolved this season.

Our offense will come around we have options dump down to Sanogo, Polley in rhythm, Cole in the PnR, second chance points with an ELITE offensive rebounding team. We’ll be ok.

 

[navery12]

Or next season

We have at least 2 open scholarships to fix that problem for next season, still too early to say

 

[HuskyFich]

Or next season

Don’t sleep on Hawkins my guy

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Don’t sleep on Hawkins my guy

I love Hawkins . Lotto pick for sure

 

[Hankster]

There are so many undisciplined passes every game. Passes that are thrown at a teammates ankle, passes from impossible angles, both PG's trying one handed passes out to wings, terrible passes up the court during fast breaks and transitions. It's mind numbingly bad for this level of basketball.

Also, it seems when the passes are dumped low, they are ankle high our bigs seem never to be ready. Bobble the ball or it gets stolen.

 

[CTBasketball]

That was a chippy, backyard brawl game. If you watched closely a lot of players were talking trash and going after Bouknight and Cole aggressively.

Hence why Bouknight drove the floor 90’ past 5 Hoyas and 5 uncalled fouls and threw down an emphatic exclamation point. He’s not unmotivated. We got the final punch.

 

[Umami Zen]

There are so many undisciplined passes every game. Passes that are thrown at a teammates ankle, passes from impossible angles, both PG's trying one handed passes out to wings, terrible passes up the court during fast breaks and transitions. It's mind numbingly bad for this level of basketball.

They look like lazy passes with no intention.

One aspect of the Nova game that I enjoyed as a BB fan was Nova's ability to make the extra pass and share the ball. I can remember a number of times that they passed around the key/perimeter without the ball ever touching the floor and eventually landing in the hands of a shooter for an open jump shot.

BTW.I thought UConn defended their 3 pt shooting fairly well that game but it was the passing that caught my eye.

 

[auggie22]

sanogo needs to be running pnr drills 6 hours a day until next season starts. He has talent but only one arrow in his quiver right now.

 

[UConnSwag11]

We have one player who can create his own shot. That’s a problem that isn’t getting resolved this season.

And our offense smothers him so he can’t create.

 

[Improviser]

They look like lazy passes with no intention.

One aspect of the Nova game that I enjoyed as a BB fan was Nova's ability to make the extra pass and share the ball. I can remember a number of times that they passed around the key/perimeter without the ball ever touching the floor and eventually landing in the hands of a shooter for an open jump shot.

BTW.I thought UConn defended their 3 pt shooting fairly well that game but it was the passing that caught my eye.

Lou Carneseca consistently taught and employed that strategy of passing without the ball touching the floor, and his players minimized dribbling.

Maybe the players are not making themselves available for the passes by not creating spacing by not moving without the ball.

Inconsistent ball handling by Bouk, but his overall skills put us over the top.

Still, I think 3 more wins in a row are possible.

 

[elmcityboy]

And our offense smothers him so he can’t create.

does it, though? georgetown had success where villanova did -- they doubled him off of pick-and-rolls and he turned it over. he had a couple of chances to go one-on-one in this game and passed them up. we were trying to push the bull in the first half and it was a disaster. hurley ran a few plays for him in the second half that worked well.

i don't know what's going on with bouknight, but i think the tendency of some on this board to blame the coach for everything is a little unfounded.

 

[imno1]

Bouk is very good!

 

[uconntoatl]

There are so many undisciplined passes every game. Passes that are thrown at a teammates ankle, passes from impossible angles, both PG's trying one handed passes out to wings, terrible passes up the court during fast breaks and transitions. It's mind numbingly bad for this level of basketball.

The Polley pass to Martin that got stolen and Martin promptly made a block on the fast break was one of the weakest passes I've ever seen.

 

[AdamaNation]

Also, it seems when the passes are dumped low, they are ankle high our bigs seem never to be ready. Bobble the ball or it gets stolen.

Remember brimah?

 

[UConnSwag11]

does it, though? georgetown had success where villanova did -- they doubled him off of pick-and-rolls and he turned it over. he had a couple of chances to go one-on-one in this game and passed them up. we were trying to push the bull in the first half and it was a disaster. hurley ran a few plays for him in the second half that worked well.

i don't know what's going on with bouknight, but i think the tendency of some on this board to blame the coach for everything is a little unfounded.

Bouk does do a lot to hurt his potential to dominate, but when we have 5 guys above the three point line who bring their 5 defenders above the three point line he has no where to go.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The Polley pass to Martin that got stolen and Martin promptly made a block on the fast break was one of the weakest passes I've ever seen.

That one definitely caught my eye.

Here's the thing. Basics of passing. Passer and receiver. Martin needed to recognize the weak pass and come towards the ball to receive it. Instead he just stood there and let the defender shoot the gap. No way should a defender have a better feel of the pace and direction of the pass than the receiving player.

The other pass which caught my eye (and I forget who threw it) was in the first half when someone drove from the right wing in to the paint and then decided to pass it to Sanogo who was facing the basket from 15' away. At what point, while running the offense, does it ever include passing it Sanogo facing up the hoop from 15'. The play either ended with a stripped ball or a bad shot. I forget. But it was just a god awful decision to pass it to Sanogo in that position. Also puzzling what Sanogo was doing standing there.

 

[Abe1]

Very happy with the win, but I certainly see the offensive issues that have plagued the team for the past two games. It's impossible not to notice.

I also see it as an opportunity. The offensive needs work, Bouk looks sloppy and unmotivated. Hurley has an opportunity to turn it all around and get the team playing right in the next few games. Prove who he is as a coach.

We won tonight. We have some control of our own destiny. Anything is possible.

It’s not a lack of motivation it’s frustration. He has to adjust to be guarded this way and this physically(without getting calls). I think Nova and Gtown had really good game plans for him and he still had double doubles in both games. Not to mention he’s playing at less than 100%. Give the kid a break. People killed him for getting surgery, killed him for taking 5 weeks to come back, then questioned whether or not he would come back at all, now killing him for his endurance.

 

[businesslawyer]

, Bouk looks sloppy and unmotivated.

Good God. I must have been asleep the day at law school when they explained that “sloppy and unmotivated” is just a synonym for “rusty and banged up.”

Un-friggin-motivated? Two weeks ago we had lunatics explaining that we’d never see this guy in a UConn uniform again because he was worried about protecting his draft status. Now we see a guy who is still banged up flying all over people trying to get to loose balls and make defensive blocks and someone sees “unmotivated?”

 

[Sphinx]

Getting back to the theme of Hurley pulling a rabbit our of his hat, how's the following for a little magic?

UConn is 16-6 in its last 22 games dating back to last year, including 7 (SEVEN) conference road wins. This despite the total loss of Akok and major downtime for Bouk and Jackson. If Cole makes a foul shot and Bouk stays healthy, the team is probably 21-1 in that period.

Everything said above (and elsewhere) about Hurley's shortcomings is basically a lament that we did not beat Villanova last Saturday. That is the only failing of this team that cannot be excused by injury or the single bounce of a free throw on a rim. And the Villanova game was against a Top Ten team in their own gym.

Going forward, it's not so much whether Hurley can pull a rabbit out of the hat as whether there's anything left in the hat.

 

[elmcityboy]

Bouk does do a lot to hurt his potential to dominate, but when we have 5 guys above the three point line who bring their 5 defenders above the three point line he has no where to go.

i think that the point of those five-out offenses (high pick-and-roll, DHOs, etc.) is to create space and driving lanes to the hoop. cole was able to drive this game without turning it over because he has a stronger handle and is actually a threat to pass. bouknight was loose with it and coughed it up. i don't think that's necessarily the fault of the offensive system.

we are also talking about a guy here who is averaging 20 ppg on nearly 50% shooting as 180 lbs guard...

 

[ConnEd]

I cannot remember a season, ever, where I have yelled, “Bounce pass!!!” at the TV as much as I have this year. There were so many times where there was a defender between the passer and receiver and we tried to zip it through their arms to the target. Cole. Martin. Gaffney. Bouk. Just about everyone has done it. And bounce passes are a great pass for entry to the post since the ball is coming up to the big as they receive it. But I swear this crew is allergic.

Okay. That’s my mini rant. Not the prettiest win last night, but still a conference road win. And the key guys delivered in the 2nd half when they needed to step up. I’ll take it.