Hurley Media Availability Tweets

[kemba]

“At this level, you can get skill and size,” Hurley said. “The situation we’ve been in, Isaiah and Adama have been two of our best players, and the drop off to our sixth player is pretty significant, and it’s about putting your best players on the court.”

This prior quote doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of Hawkins, but in the next paragraph, which you quote above, he still thinks he will become a centerpiece of the offense. Strange.

Also interesting that he's already naming Andre a captain and expecting him to be the leader of the team. Sounds like he's going all in on Andre.

Can't say I saw the leadership there, but perhaps with Martin and RJ leaving he will step into that void. I suppose someone has to. At least I hope so.

Lots of question marks. Should be an interesting year.

I don’t think it’s a strange quote. They think Hawkins is going to be a big time player, he wasn’t one yet last year.

With leadership it’s hard to judge as a fan. I know Hurley raves about his work ethic all the time though and that’s definitely one aspect of it

 

[imno1]

Did Hurley mention Johnson at all? For a player with “wall potential” I would hope to hear that Samson should be competing for a starting spot.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I don’t trust how Hurley handles freshman sometimes. I do not think he fairly hands out minutes to guys most talented. It took a Polley injury during Bouknight’s freshman year for him to finally start. Hawkins did not get enough minutes IMO and it hurt his game at the beginning of the year.

He has to learn to forget experienced guys feelings and play the best players, period. I’m not even all the way sure Diggins wasn’t good enough to play, or if he just didn’t give him a chance cause he’s a freshman.

 

[drayenob]

Did Hurley mention Johnson at all? For a player with “wall potential” I would hope to hear that Samson should be competing for a starting spot.

He did not. Yikes.

 

[Umami Zen]

Need shooters-bucket-getters who can create their own shot when necessary. PG/CG/SG-Whatever you want to call them.

Reading between the lines.. Also looks like DH will not hesitate to give early season minutes to CF/AK if AA-JG aren't producing .

DH has always been a big fan of Jay W.. Not surprised to hear about four-and-out as the offensive scheme featuring AS and our shooters. With the right guys-- It could be a lot of fun. Let's get these guys on campus for the dog and pony show.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Also, if Sanogo doesn’t become a better passer, building an offense around him sounds like a nightmare.

 

[NotADime89]

Sarcasm or you think so?

Definitely not sarcasm, he's one of the best recruiters (especially northeast) in the country with a ton of connections

 

[Kathy]

Definitely not sarcasm, he's one of the best recruiters (especially northeast) in the country with a ton of connections

Then why are we going to the portal for a PG for years 5?

 

[Umami Zen]

Also, if Sanogo doesn’t become a better passer, building an offense around him sounds like a nightmare.

Opposing teams double and tripled teamed AS often.. Until or if you have shooters that make you "pay' for that defensive strategy.. They will continue to do it. His perceived passing deficiencies were influenced by those double teams and his teammates not getting open for their shots and/or missing their shots when open.. As the talent around him gets better and the overall team BBIQ improves with that talent-- Good things will happen.

 

[McLovin]

I don’t think he’s talking about Hawkins when he mentions the 6th man drop off in talent. He’s likely referring to Polley (very one dimensional), Akok and Gaff (who both did basically nothing). He also sounds like he has basically moved on from Akok and Gaff but will let them decide their own fate for next season. Saying those 2 guys are “at a crossroads” is not an endorsement that they’re a lock for any significant playing time next year

Also interesting, if that quote was complete, he did not mention Johnson when speaking about RS freshman fighting for PT…

 

[Hogoff]

Then why are we going to the portal for a PG for years 5?

How many off seasons of recruiting has Murray been on this staff for?

 

[tcf15]

Then why are we going to the portal for a PG for years 5?

To be fair, Luke's only been here since May of last year so you can't really put that on him.

 

[NotADime89]

Then why are we going to the portal for a PG for years 5?

Luke's only been here for about a year. He helped lock down one most sought after point guards, Stephen Castle, for 23/24 season so I'd say he's doing just fine Kath!

 

[Umami Zen]

Luke's impact will be significant with the current roster openings we have to fill. You can take that to the bank.

 

[auror]

I don’t trust how Hurley handles freshman sometimes. I do not think he fairly hands out minutes to guys most talented. It took a Polley injury during Bouknight’s freshman year for him to finally start. Hawkins did not get enough minutes IMO and it hurt his game at the beginning of the year.

He has to learn to forget experienced guys feelings and play the best players, period. I’m not even all the way sure Diggins wasn’t good enough to play, or if he just didn’t give him a chance cause he’s a freshman.

Relying on freshman outside of the top 30 early isn't very smart. Offensively talented doesn't always mean you know what to do for team defense. Most freshman aren't ready right away and we've also had some weird bad luck with freshman having issues (off court troubles, injuries) in the off-season shortly before season starting the last 3 years.

• I believe Hawkins was going to start last season before his injury based on the team he was on in the blue/white scrimmage (It was Cole/Martin/him/Whaley/Sanogo on one team). We eased him back in before Atlantis but then he saw very good minutes when we got back (partially due to Martin injury). He hit a bit of a wall and lost some minutes in BE play when Martin returned, but Hurley did stick with him, and he was turning a corner and getting more minutes by the end of the year before his 2nd injury.
• Bouknight had his motor vehicle incident. Then he saw his minutes increase incrementally from around 15 to 20 to 25 (Polley injury) to 35 (Gilbert sabbatical). Pretty normal progression for a freshman as is. He got the start when Polley went down but was already getting 20 min a night before that.
• Diggins got hurt and missed a few weeks during the fall with a knee injury right before the season started. Then never showed anything.
• Jackson's injury was during the season but he missed 7 games in Dec/Jan. We needed him right away when he got back and he jumped to 20+ min a game after playing ~10 before he got hurt.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Opposing teams double and tripled teamed AS often.. Until or if you have shooters that make you "pay' for that defensive strategy.. They will continue to do it. His perceived passing deficiencies were influenced by those double teams and his teammates not getting open for their shots and/or missing their shots when open.. As the talent around him gets better and the overall team BBIQ improves with that talent-- Good things will happen.

Yes the shooters and spacing didn’t help, but Sanogo definitely still has big issues passing the ball. He got a little better and more patient towards the end of the year and I hope that continues going into the summer.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Relying on freshman outside of the top 30 early isn't very smart. Offensively talented doesn't always mean you know what to do for team defense. Most freshman aren't ready right away and we've also had some weird bad luck with freshman having issues (off court troubles, injuries) in the off-season shortly before season starting the last 3 years.

• I believe Hawkins was going to start last season before his injury based on the team he was on in the blue/white scrimmage (It was Cole/Martin/him/Whaley/Sanogo on one team). We eased him back in before Atlantis but then he saw very good minutes when we got back (partially due to Martin injury). He hit a bit of a wall and lost some minutes in BE play when Martin returned, but Hurley did stick with him, and he was turning a corner and getting more minutes by the end of the year before his 2nd injury.
• Bouknight had his motor vehicle incident. Then he saw his minutes increase incrementally from around 15 to 20 to 25 (Polley injury) to 35 (Gilbert sabbatical). Pretty normal progression for a freshman as is. He got the start when Polley went down but was already getting 20 min a night before that.
• Diggins got hurt and missed a few weeks during the fall with a knee injury right before the season started. Then never showed anything.
• Jackson's injury was during the season but he missed 7 games in Dec/Jan. We needed him right away when he got back and he jumped to 20+ min a game after playing ~10 before he got hurt.

This is some good context. It was clear from day one that Bouknight was the most talented player on the team though. It shouldn't take 2 months and an injury to let him start and have him be a major part of the offense.

Hawkins got minutes, but the way Hurley handled him was terrible. He had him on a vrry short leash despite his hot start and "freshmen'd" the hell out of him. He can make a couple of great plays and with one mistake Hurley would pull him INSTANTLY. Thats when his wall came. when he became tentative from being afraid to make a mistake.

Jackson got the playing time he deserved imo and yeah without seeing too much of Diggins cant really speak on it. im really just going off Bouknight and Hawkins, guys who were clearly the most talented scorers and NBA talent that Hurley refused to let loose until absolutely forced to.

 

[gtcam]

He was a 17 year old borderline top 100 recruit. He was not going to solve the issues this team had.

So Hurley was lying when he said he would have helped the team?
Then again - who knows

 

[gtcam]

They played a six man rotation all year

Their six men were/are mostly experienced 4th/5th year kids of a high level
UConn not anywhere near that level in talent

 

[gtcam]

I don’t trust how Hurley handles freshman sometimes. I do not think he fairly hands out minutes to guys most talented. It took a Polley injury during Bouknight’s freshman year for him to finally start. Hawkins did not get enough minutes IMO and it hurt his game at the beginning of the year.

He has to learn to forget experienced guys feelings and play the best players, period. I’m not even all the way sure Diggins wasn’t good enough to play, or if he just didn’t give him a chance cause he’s a freshman.

Part of his problem is he lays all kinds of superlatives on his recruits which gives them all a "can't miss" label. Unless you absolutely know that a kid will be an AA and gone in one or two years it may be a better idea to laud some of the things they do and simply say he may open some eyes in a short time. If you hear guys like Jay W, they usually say that the kid comes in with lots of hype and we have seen what attracted us to him but he now starts all over from day one.
There was no excuse for DH not to use his freshmen in those early cupcake games - it was a wasted opportunity. I think he knows it but so far he hasn't admitted it. If Gaffney and Akok are at a crossroads now, what has transpired since the last game to place them in that category? Gaffney's minutes could have been better utilized during the year.

 

[nycscooby]

With our massive struggles in running a fluid half court offense, I don’t know why DH believes that emulating a Nova style of walk it up disciplined offense is the way to go with this roster? We are loaded with athletes who are
devastating on the offensive glass and in transition. Maybe DH believes that JH and AK and others will be shooting lights out. I just want to see better offensive production that doesn’t rely on offensive rebounding. And I agree that running the O through AS is not a recipe for sustained offensive success.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Their six men were/are mostly experienced 4th/5th year kids of a high level
UConn not anywhere near that level in talent

What are you talking about? 4 of our 6 were seniors and 3 of them 5th years.

 

[husky429]

Luke's only been here for about a year. He helped lock down one most sought after point guards, Stephen Castle, for 23/24 season so I'd say he's doing just fine Kath!

That was all Kimani.

 

[imno1]

This is some good context. It was clear from day one that Bouknight was the most talented player on the team though. It shouldn't take 2 months and an injury to let him start and have him be a major part of the offense.

Hawkins got minutes, but the way Hurley handled him was terrible. He had him on a vrry short leash despite his hot start and "freshmen'd" the hell out of him. He can make a couple of great plays and with one mistake Hurley would pull him INSTANTLY. Thats when his wall came. when he became tentative from being afraid to make a mistake.

Jackson got the playing time he deserved imo and yeah without seeing too much of Diggins cant really speak on it. im really just going off Bouknight and Hawkins, guys who were clearly the most talented scorers and NBA talent that Hurley refused to let loose until absolutely forced to.

I've got to disagree. Bouk got plenty of run after his suspension was over and Hawkins was injured at the start of the season

 

[BGesus4]

Hurley looking to improve UConn's roster during upcoming signing period

Storrs — UConn started spring team workouts this week, trying to put a stunning end to last season in the rear view mirror and begin to build momentum for next season. It's a strange time for coach Da...

www.theday.com

Really good read about what Hurley spoke about today. Doesn’t really make it sound like he’s expecting any more departures but who knows. Mentions Jackson Hawkins and sanogo as the big 3 next year and trying to get the right talent to supplement them.

Love hearing that he’s expecting Sanogo and Young back. Having Kimani another year could be massive for the 2023 class.