Hurley is not a good in-game coach

[mauconnfan]

I watched the game, and I watched the previous two games where the offense looked light years better with Gaffney on the court.

Previous 2? Last one AG didn’t play against that dreadful team. What did he do better the game before when AG had zero TOS? And he was awful in the OT just like AG has been down the stretch so help me understand how he was so much better unless you just don’t like the other guy?

 

[Sportsfan71]

I don't have faith in his decision making during games. His blind faith in Alterique Gilbert is astounding.

Judge him when he has his full roster. I don’t disagree but any coach couldn’t do much with this roster. Namaste

 

[Slick]

When your players can’t make shots what do you do?

You let RICO play and eat some spaghetti off his head

 

[navery12]

And 0 assists

Did you check with Jalen before posting this?

 

[GHSWolverines]

AG was fine with Gaffney in the game. Hurley has failed AG not putting him in the right situation.

And what is that situation? Time to take a short break and enjoy the superbowl.

 

[Rico444]

Previous 2? Last one AG didn’t play against that dreadful team. What did he do better the game before when AG had zero TOS? And he was awful in the OT just like AG has been down the stretch so help me understand how he was so much better unless you just don’t like the other guy?

Gaffney is a freshman, I can live with bad stretches from him here or there. He's going to improve.

I personally think the offense looks much better with him running the point. If you disagree that's fine. We just can't keep giving the ball to Gilbert late in these games.

 

[Mike1984]

Gaffney is a freshman, I can live with bad stretches from him here or there. He's going to improve.

I personally think the offense looks much better with him running the point. If you disagree that's fine. We just can't keep giving the ball to Gilbert late in these games.

Honestly AG really didn’t make any bad decisions late in this game. He had one turnover at like the 6 minute mark and one drive with a minute or two to go which wasn’t even bad!

 

[mauconnfan]

Gaffney is a freshman, I can live with bad stretches from him here or there. He's going to improve.

I personally think the offense looks much better with him running the point. If you disagree that's fine. We just can't keep giving the ball to Gilbert late in these games.

We can agree on your last sentence no issues there. Well we can give it to him but coach needs him to know he can not be the plan and maybe draw up a better one.

 

[Rico444]

Honestly AG really didn’t make any bad decisions late in this game. He had one turnover at like the 6 minute mark and one drive with a minute or two to go which wasn’t even bad!

I disagree that the drive wasn't bad. It would've been an incredible play if that shot went in. And the turnover was definitely brutal. Compare that to the zero good plays he made late in the game.

I'm not trying to pile on the kid. At this point I blame Hurley more than anyone for him being in the game late.

 

[Kathy]

Did you check with Jalen before posting this?

Aren't you clever. LOL

 

[Mister P]

It looks like the offense has “opened up” some the last 2-3 games. It little bit more uptempo along with more 3’s being taken. Most of the 3’s have been good looks. Seems Hurley has adjusted some with Bouk starting trying to open up the driving lanes for him.
Also, it seemed like there was very little top of the key/timeline weaves being run last game and in the first half of today’s game which worked relatively well.

But, the damn weave came back with 8-10 minutes left in the game today and bogged the offense down again.

 

[Geronimo]

I don’t know. I feel like they move the ball so much better. They’re just such an abysmal shooting team. We’ve got guys airballing wide open threes and elbow jumpers.

I don’t think any of our guards ever dish it off when they drive in— they either get stuffed or they lose the ball. And many times they drive so hard they just slam it off the backboard— granted this usually happens when they’re being closely guarded.

 

[KembaStepback]

so.... who was on the floor the last 5 minutes? Gilbert or Gaffney? No saying what would have happened if 4 steal / 0 turnover Gaffney was out there, but the offense quite literally could have not been worse.

a majority of our transition offense (and total game points) came with Gaffney out on the floor. Our transition offense was virtually non-existent in the second half with Gaffney riding the pine.

Look...I'm not some Gilbert lover. In fact, I'm glad Hurley made a switch. However, Gaffney looked just way overmatched. It was obvious. Hurley didnt have a choice. This was always the issue with Gaffney. If teams really pressure the ball he will struggle.

 

[BNich]

Honestly AG really didn’t make any bad decisions late in this game. He had one turnover at like the 6 minute mark and one drive with a minute or two to go which wasn’t even bad!

Hurley on Gilbert: “It was good today, what he did for us. He can’t pull the trigger, trying that thread-the-needle bounce pass there. Otherwise I thought he gave us a spark. He gave us a lift. He looked like he was having fun out there.”

Coach agrees.

 

[mauconnfan]

I disagree that the drive wasn't bad. It would've been an incredible play if that shot went in. And the turnover was definitely brutal. Compare that to the zero good plays he made late in the game.

I'm not trying to pile on the kid. At this point I blame Hurley more than anyone for him being in the game late.

Zero good plays late in the game? What is late? He had 1 bad turnover and missed a layup how many more would you like to present? You are piling on like it or not but hey it’s your opinion.

 

[mauconnfan]

the job of the point guard is to be a facilitator first and scorer second. Yes he also had 0 assists but just watching the game, the team plays much more cohesively (on both ends of the floor) with Gaffney out there.

You’re kidding me right?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gilbert's shot the ball better than everyone else today, maybe driving in on their best shotblocker wasnt the right play (who knows if that was what Hurley wanted), but he should of absolutely been in to have been an offensive threat for a shot.

Sure. And he got fouled, hard, with no call. That’s the real story of the game for us.Memphis got away with too much.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I wasn't even arguing that you bench him. Just get Gaffney in the game with him.

When Gilbert is the only PG on the court late in games, it's a complete disaster. It's been happening in every game for the past month. How many more times do we have to watch this? The offense looked great in the first half with Gaffney and Gilbert on the court, then Hurley decides he has to get Gilbert his redemption. I don't get it.

The offense sucked in the first half. And in the second. We were awful running half court offense all game. Fortunately in the first half Memphis gave the ball away and we did well in transition. They tightened that up and our offense went away.

 

[Rico444]

The offense sucked in the first half. And in the second. We were awful running half court offense all game. Fortunately in the first half Memphis gave the ball away and we did well in transition. They tightened that up and our offense went away.

We're a bad shooting team, but if you couldn't see the good ball movement in the first half compared to the 2nd half then I don't know what to tell you. We shot 40% in the first half compared to 27% in the second.

 

[Rico444]

Zero good plays late in the game? What is late? He had 1 bad turnover and missed a layup how many more would you like to present? You are piling on like it or not but hey it’s your opinion.

My point is, if he made a couple mistakes but was also making positive plays to help us win then I wouldn't be so harsh.

Honestly it's more on Hurley at this point. Either he changes his offense in the last few minutes and is trying to run clock, which forces the guards to have to make a play, or Gilbert and Vital are doing it on their own, at which point he should pull them out of the game.

 

[BNich]

I really hope some of you lunatics don't have children that you coach, and if you don't coach them, I feel bad for their coaches. Holy cow. Some of this stuff you folks say is more mind numbing than what I see on the court.

 

[BNich]

We're a bad shooting team, but if you couldn't see the good ball movement in the first half compared to the 2nd half then I don't know what to tell you. We shot 40% in the first half compared to 27% in the second.

You realize the best offense in the first half was with Gilbert on the floor? Look at the end of the first half, that last possession with 20 seconds left ball in Gaffney's hands couldn't get a shot off and I don't think his feet even left the floor. Gilbert would have at least made something happen as would Vital.

 

[Rico444]

You realize the best offense in the first half was with Gilbert on the floor? Look at the end of the first half, that last possession with 20 seconds left ball in Gaffney's hands couldn't get a shot off and I don't think his feet even left the floor. Gilbert would have at least made something happen as would Vital.

You should read my comments in this thread. I said that Gaffney should have been on the floor with Gilbert. The two of them together in the 1st half lead to our best offense of the day. I just don't want Gilbert to be out there as the only PG on the floor for an extended period of time, because it stagnates our offense.

 

[the Q]

We don’t have that player

to me that’s all the more reason to draw up real offensive sets for those situations.

 

[UConnDad]

Eh. He has to be smart enough to put those players in the game. Where was Gaffney in the 2nd half?

Yes where was he?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Have you watched a game over the past month? Gilbert just can't be the main decision maker late in close games. He makes a terrible decision every single time.

I want a player in the game that will give us a chance to win.

That was Aiyegbusi before he stepped inside the 3-point line.

 

[HuskyHawk]

We're a bad shooting team, but if you couldn't see the good ball movement in the first half compared to the 2nd half then I don't know what to tell you. We shot 40% in the first half compared to 27% in the second.

Gaffney wasn’t good today. He said so himself. We forced more turnovers in the first half which lead to layups which is why we shot better. The half court offense stunk in both halves. Memphis had no turnovers over the last 5.5 minutes which is why our offense shut down and why they won. Gilbert was arguably our best player today, but nobody was great.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team so capable on defense and so totally inept on offense. I keep thinking that the law of averages would allow us to have one good shooting game against a decent team. But no. It hasn’t come.

 

[Jimdish255]

We simply don't have the players that can put a game away late. I will say that I felt this was the perfect game to start Whaley over Carlton and Carlton proved me right. Under no circumstance should he play ahead of Whaley. I like him but it isn't working.

 

[UConnDad]

Missed lay ups cost us another game. It’s excruciatin.

 

[gtcam]

Gaffney may be a real good guard some day but he has a bad habit of playing poorly on the road. I can understand that some would like to see both Gaff and AG in there at the same time but who the sits? Gaffney looked very timid when Quinones was facing him and Penny saw that.
A lot of things cost UConn the game and there is blame to go to everyone. Dan Hurley went back to his mysterious decisions, JC was a complete no show, Bouk has got to find his outside shot, AKok has the worst hands I've seen in ages, AG made a few bad decisions, CV could not shoot with consistency and that foul in the backcourt was stupid but I will bet that 95% of refs let it go - it didn't impede or bother the ball handler - UConn was slapped dozens of time harder without a call.
Free throw shooting, missed layups continue to haunt this team
Pork Chop was a bright spot - great drive, determination and quick hands
Sid would have helped spell Akok
Can one UConn coach please take 10 minutes out of their busy schedule to explain the proper way to set a pick? How about FT practice.
Finally, the AG hating on the chat is totally out of control.
I hope those spewing never have a kid who play at a high level, go through 3 surgeries and face what both he and Dan Hurley faced while at Seton Hall - second guessing everything basketball. I thought overall he had a good game.