Hurley media presser

[CL82]

To win a national championship you can’t lose vital starters, but we have depth at wing. God forbid our starting center Reed goes down then Reibe can’t do this by himself as a freshman and we go “small”. Would that hold up against elite competition in the tourney? I don’t know. Are our 6’8 guys strong enough to do that?

Couldn't you argue that the loss of any starter would put stress on the team?

 

[AllHusky]

I realize that I am going back a bit here, but Rod Sellers was 6'9" and he went toe to toe with taller, better, stronger dudes all the time. And he did not have an outside game. Koroma and Alex at 6'8" will play center this year when foul trouble happens. But that is okay for brief periods. Alex playing 5 means that he will present huge offensive mismatches. And Koroma has 5 fouls to give and dude finds a way to get open under the basket for easy dunks. I think we are fine, so long as Bear can give us 25 to 28 minutes a game.

Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, on and on. I have a feeling Koroma is going to give us more than many expect. A little creativity in situations where Reed takes a seat, and we won't miss abeat, we'll be different, but effective.

 

[RuffRuff]

I could be wrong but our wing situation is so strong we could lose a player as long as it’s not Solo, Alex or Mullins. We also can’t lose our lead point guard.

I feel like this could always be the case. The 2-4 can be so interchangeable in profile, you can probably always find ways to get guys minutes there off the bench. The 5 and 1 are highly specialized.

 

[thekollieman]

I could be wrong but our wing situation is so strong we could lose a player as long as it’s not Solo, Alex or Mullins. We also can’t lose our lead point guard.

Key portion of that response from the perspective I endorsed: “we could lose a player as long as it’s not…” (insert names of three projected vital starters). Thinking more about this reminded me of the 2009 final four loss and how we’ll never get to know how it would’ve ended if Dyson was with us all the way through. Of course we all know here it would’ve been another UConn championship, but the world never gets to know that.

Edit: your* point, which I endorsed. I don’t disagree about the potential depth we’ve got giving us a cushion, but like you said, there are those guys whom clearly we cannot lose.

 

[HooperScooper]

Love Hurley asking usnto stay off the message boards in the summer lol

I thought he was saying he wants the players to stay off social media. I don't think he expects the fans not to discuss the team on message boards, social media, etc. At least I hope not! Lol

 

[Waquoit]

My favorite narrative are those that cry about 3rd string players.

And free throw shooting

 

[Husky68]

And free throw shooting

2014 National Championship Game:

Free throws:

Kentucky 13 of 24

UConn 10 of 10

Score UConn 60 Kentucky 54

Sometimes after all is said and done, after all the great and terrible plays and calls by refs, it does come down to making your free throws.

 

[DRBackup]

2014 National Championship Game:

Free throws:

Kentucky 13 of 24

UConn 10 of 10

Score UConn 60 Kentucky 54

Sometimes after all is said and done, after all the great and terrible plays and calls by refs, it does come down to making your free throws.

Obviously, some truth to this. But that wasn't some kind of aberration. Kentucky, as a team shot 68% for the year. If they just shoot their season average, they still lose by 3. But it also matters who is shooting them. Randle was 4-7 and shot 70% for the season. That's just one less make than his average would suggest. Hawkins and Johnson were the only other guys to shoot more than one and they were 49% and 39% FT shooters on the season, and went 1-6 in that game.

 

[Waquoit]

2014 National Championship Game:

Free throws:

Kentucky 13 of 24

UConn 10 of 10

Score UConn 60 Kentucky 54

Sometimes after all is said and done, after all the great and terrible plays and calls by refs, it does come down to making your free throws.

That game wasn’t about free throws. KY never had the lead. FT guys think you can just add what was missed when it doesn’t work that way.

 

[huskymedic]

Love Hurley asking usnto stay off the message boards in the summer lol

I thought he was saying he wants the players to stay off social media. I don't think he expects the fans not to discuss the team on message boards, social media, etc. At least I hope not! Lol

 

[HooperScooper]

Thanks. O.K. so we only have to stay off until November. Lol

 

[Samoo]

To win a national championship you can’t lose vital starters, but we have depth at wing. God forbid our starting center Reed goes down then Reibe can’t do this by himself as a freshman and we go “small”. Would that hold up against elite competition in the tourney? I don’t know. Are our 6’8 guys strong enough to do that?

Nova managed it

 

[Waquoit]

To win a national championship you can’t lose vital starters, but we have depth at wing. God forbid our starting center Reed goes down then Reibe can’t do this by himself as a freshman and we go “small”. Would that hold up against elite competition in the tourney? I don’t know. Are our 6’8 guys strong enough to do that?

I think any team's title hopes are reasonably doomed if their starting center is a key piece and gets hurt. I find the best way to handle that is to not worry about it. I mean how much more confident will I be if they bring in a Singare 2.0? Not much, I'm thinking

 

[Waquoit]

ehhhh he was ticked at how people tore down mahaney last year

Rightly so.

 

[CL82]

Pretty sure Danny reads The Boneyard.

 

[RuffRuff]

Pretty sure Danny reads The Boneyard.

He should because I’m way smarter than him

 

[CL82]

He should because I’m way smarter than him

Pretty sure Danny has you on ignore.

 

[PAHusky]

Key portion of that response from the perspective I endorsed: “we could lose a player as long as it’s not…” (insert names of three projected vital starters). Thinking more about this reminded me of the 2009 final four loss and how we’ll never get to know how it would’ve ended if Dyson was with us all the way through. Of course we all know here it would’ve been another UConn championship, but the world never gets to know that.

Edit: your* point, which I endorsed. I don’t disagree about the potential depth we’ve got giving us a cushion, but like you said, there are those guys whom clearly we cannot lose.

I know this is the wrong place to be advancing this argument but I’m not sure that, even with Dyson, UConn beats UNC in the championship game that year. Impossible? No, but that UNC team is a wagon.

Almost definitely would have beaten Sparty on their de facto home court though for sure.

 

[HooperScooper]

He should because I’m way smarter than him

Or at the very least you're on social looking for UConn content way more than him.

 

[thekollieman]

I know this is the wrong place to be advancing this argument but I’m not sure that, even with Dyson, UConn beats UNC in the championship game that year. Impossible? No, but that UNC team is a wagon.

Almost definitely would have beaten Sparty on their de facto home court though for sure.

That’s a fair assessment. I was just taking the default pro-UConn stance.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Pretty sure Danny reads The Boneyard.

Are YOUUU Danny?