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Hurley Outcoached

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Oh, so we could’ve changed our lineup for a different outcome.
Or maybe we could have played better.

Are you drinking?
 
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It makes zero sense, as you point out Whaley is nothing like a typical big defender. You can easily play him with Sanogo who was the best player on the court. Sanogo played 17 minutes and Josh only played 3 minutes. Adams played 30 minutes. Hurley is managing to play to our weaknesses and alienating our bigs.
He's letting the other team dictate who we play
 
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Timeouts and free throws.....all things Jim Calhoun should know a thing or two about.

Give him a ring for some advice.
We were spoiled having one of the best game day coaches on the planet...expecting to duplicate that is a recipe for disappointment
 
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1. Yes. Hurley was our coached.
2. Give SJU credit; they played hard and won with less taken but a better coach.
3. Yes, it is great to see UConn play traditional rival teams.
4. Glad to be back in the Big East.
 
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Doctor Hoop

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With a team going small, and with the size we have up front, you have to find a way to punish them inside so that they can't stay small. And on the defensive side of the ball? There are variations of man to man, even a matchup zone, that can stymie that small ball without going SU 2-3.

Now, all of that may not have mattered what with two 25% guys from 3 pt. range drilling them like a Curry, on top of our squad missing free throws repeatedly down the stretch.
 
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Blaming Hurley feels reactionary. He drew up a play that got Martin a wide open three, which he hit. It's unfortunate that Martin missed those free throws after a strong drive and even more so on the heels of Cole and Creighton, but it happens. This team continues to be put in a position to make winning plays. Tough loss.
 
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I made the comment that Hurley coached this somewhere out of hubris, stubbornness and ego.

He coached like he wanted to prove he could put a better small ball team out there than SJU could put out there. And he lost. Bigly.

Instead of putting the best team out there to exploit the opponents' weaknesses, he tried to coach against their strengths.
Best take I have seen. Hurley point would make sense if we were down or it had been even. We were up damn near 10 points and running shot clock on every halfcourt possession. So why bench the guy who had a clear advantage in the halfcourt?
 
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I love Hurley, but his answer doesn't cut it. Maybe if Whaley was having one of his better games today, but he struggled all game. Sanogo should have been the big on the floor.

My take, Hurley coached to not lose the game and didn't coach to win. You can't do this. When you have the lead, make the other team come and get you.
 
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I made the comment that Hurley coached this somewhere out of hubris, stubbornness and ego.

He coached like he wanted to prove he could put a better small ball team out there than SJU could put out there. And he lost. Bigly.

Instead of putting the best team out there to exploit the opponents' weaknesses, he tried to coach against their strengths.
We didn't play a small ball lineup. We played our normal post-Bouk closing lineup. It's the lineup that has played the most minutes together over the last 5 games. It's got 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center. It was a 6'1" PG, a 6'4" SG, a 6'6" SF, a 6'8" PF, and a 6'9" center. That's about as prototypical a lineup as you'll see from a high major team. It had 2" in height and probably more in length over the Johnnies at basically every single position.

You can certainly make a case we should have played Sanogo over somebody, but the narrative that Hurley was trying to play a better small ball lineup or that Hurley was dictated into going small by St John's is just wrong and is getting repeated all over the place. He said that Sanogo couldn't guard anyone against a small ball lineup, not that he had to play a small ball lineup. And he didn't. Whaley is a big capable of guarding against a small ball lineup, so Hurley played him. We didn't play any smaller than usual, and it's our most experienced lineup in terms of age (aside from Carlton).

By playing what Hurley thinks is our best lineup, he attempted to play to our own strength. Whether you think he should've coached more to exploit St. John's weakness instead is certainly a valid question, and one of the hardest things a coach has to balance. It's entirely possible he got it wrong tonight. Did he get it wrong because he was stubborn? I probably would have at least tried Sanogo at some point between 10 and 4 minutes left, but I don't think it's ridiculous not to considering the game context and season history so far. We put Depaul away with the same lineup that lost it for us tonight.
 
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Wow. If that's Hurley's answer for not playing Sanago for the last 10 minutes when the game completely shifted, then he really is not a top-level coach. There's tactical & strategic errors that every coach makes, and then there's incompetence. The fact he couldnt adjust when the game shifted 180-degrees & then defended his decision afterwards makes me think he's more fit as a recruiter and not a good coach. He's proven again and again he doesnt know how to push the right buttons with the game on the line. His record in close games has been abysmal. Its 3 years folks - enough of a sample size.
 
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We didn't play a small ball lineup. We played our normal post-Bouk closing lineup. It's the lineup that has played the most minutes together over the last 5 games. It's got 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center. It was a 6'1" PG, a 6'4" SG, a 6'6" SF, a 6'8" PF, and a 6'9" center. That's about as prototypical a lineup as you'll see from a high major team. It had 2" in height and probably more in length over the Johnnies at basically every single position.

You can certainly make a case we should have played Sanogo over somebody, but the narrative that Hurley was trying to play a better small ball lineup or that Hurley was dictated into going small by St John's is just wrong and is getting repeated all over the place. He said that Sanogo couldn't guard anyone against a small ball lineup, not that he had to play a small ball lineup. And he didn't. Whaley is a big capable of guarding against a small ball lineup, so Hurley played him. We didn't play any smaller than usual, and it's our most experienced lineup in terms of age (aside from Carlton).

By playing what Hurley thinks is our best lineup, he attempted to play to our own strength. Whether you think he should've coached more to exploit St. John's weakness instead is certainly a valid question, and one of the hardest things a coach has to balance. It's entirely possible he got it wrong tonight. Did he get it wrong because he was stubborn? I probably would have at least tried Sanogo at some point between 10 and 4 minutes left, but I don't think it's ridiculous not to considering the game context and season history so far. We put Depaul away with the same lineup that lost it for us tonight.
You're doing some serious gymnastics for what was terrible coaching today. He killed by far our biggest advantage in this game and killed our momentum. His reasoning was the inferior team was dictating the terms of the game.
 
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You're doing some serious gymnastics for what was terrible coaching today. He killed by far our biggest advantage in this game and killed our momentum. His reasoning was the inferior team was dictating the terms of the game.
Answer me how playing the lineup he thinks is our absolute best lineup is getting dictated to?
 
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Answer me how playing the lineup he thinks is our absolute best lineup is getting dictated to?
Answer me how he thought that was our best lineup when the player who was clearly the best player on the court wasn't in the game for the final 13 minutes?
 
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Hurley just isn’t a good in-game coach, yet. Just isn’t. I give him both Ls this season.
 
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The reaction today from our fan base is insufferable and embarrassing. If Sanogo should transfer because he didn’t play in the last 10, should Hurley resign and take his stellar recruiting classes because UConn has better coaching options on a website?
While some of the comments are a little over the top....(extreme frustration from passionate fans including me) Hurley’s coaching was atrocious at best and coaching malpractice at worst....it is what it is.
 
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Just a really really disappointing loss today and I'm sure the whole team feels brutal. Channel that anger and beat Creighton this Saturday, and it'll be like it never happened. Let's ride dawgs.
 
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Answer me how he thought that was our best lineup when the player who was clearly the best player on the court wasn't in the game for the final 13 minutes?
So you didn't answer, great.

I will answer you: Because opinions on lineups are formed over hundreds of hours of practice and previous games, not just minutes of game time from the current game. Because that lineup had shown it could lock down multiple similar opponents and win multiple games in crunch time.
 
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it’s seems like not playing zone was more important than staying with hot Sanogo.

we have to be ok with an emergency zone package or it’s gonna be a lot harder to accomplish our goals
 
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So you didn't answer, great.

I will answer you: Because opinions on lineups are formed over hundreds of hours of practice and previous games, not just minutes of game time from the current game. Because that lineup had shown it could lock down multiple similar opponents and win multiple games in crunch time.

Oh you're right but did it lock down anything? It was consistently torched and badly, with no help. The rotation on defense was putrid and the guards were allowing easy penetration to the basket. This wasn't just a minute or 2 it was the last 12 minutes of the 2nd half and nothing was done to change. Sorry but opinions here may be way off due to hours of practice but obviously there were many people who didn't do their jobs yesterday, many!
 
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Answer me how he thought that was our best lineup when the player who was clearly the best player on the court wasn't in the game for the final 13 minutes?
Sanogo was the best player on the court? Slow down. Are you part of that crowd that felt Polley or even Whaley can play themselves into the NBA draft after the Marquette showing? Sanogo looked great. Especially the first half. He wasn't the best player on the floor and isn't the reason why we lost. But go on preaching what you preach. I forgot, that in between all this goodness from Hurley over the last few weeks, that you still know more than him.

In fact, even Donny Marshall was questioning why we weren't pushing the ball up the floor quicker. Part of the problem was we played too slow. Sanogo doesn't help that.

It was a bad game that we should have won. We had horrible execution the entire second half. We are without our lottery pick on a team without a true second scorer. We still should have won. But to try to price Hurleyto perfection on this game, given these circumstances is ludicrous. Sure, I do think that Sanogo should have atleast got some run in the last 12. In no way do I feel that is why we lost. I blame Whaley's brutal defense, Polley's horrendous shot selection, and the fact our second and third best players can't make free throws far more than I blame Hurley.
 
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Sanogo was the best player on the court? Slow down. Are you part of that crowd that felt Polley or even Whaley can play themselves into the NBA draft after the Marquette showing? Sanogo looked great. Especially the first half. He wasn't the best player on the floor and isn't the reason why we lost. But go on preaching what you preach. I forgot, that in between all this goodness from Hurley over the last few weeks, that you still more know than him.

It's really not at all about knowing more than him. DH has done a great job but if you watched that game and believe that Sanogo shouldn't have seen the floor in the last 11-12 minutes or think maybe he should have considered playing a zone as his guards and Polley were torched on the defensive end then you must have missed a lot. This is a board to discuss games would you prefer everyone to only be able to say "Hurley was great the team let him down"? He didn't have a good game and it started early when up 19-7 and coming out of the time out with a new lineup. Hopefully he's learning as well.
 
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Answer me how playing the lineup he thinks is our absolute best lineup is getting dictated to?

I think the point everyone is making is that Hurley didn't know what our best lineup was. Your question doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Performance in practice can dictate who starts, and who gets in the rotation early on. When games happen, you play who is performing well. Sanogo was certainly our best big yesterday, and probably our best player. Doesn't mean he will be next game, next year, or ever again. But he clearly needed court time. Coach sat him the last 13 minutes of the game. Crunch time is the final 4 minutes--there's 9 minutes he could have played without impacting the crunch time lineup you claim is so important.
 
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It's really not at all about knowing more than him. DH has done a great job but if you watched that game and believe that Sanogo shouldn't have seen the floor in the last 11-12 minutes or think maybe he should have considered playing a zone as his guards and Polley were torched on the defensive end then you must have missed a lot. This is a board to discuss games would you prefer everyone to only be able to say "Hurley was great the team let him down"? He didn't have a good game and it started early when up 19-7 and coming out of the time out with a new lineup. Hopefully he's learning as well.
I agree that Sanogo should have seen the floor and with his play in the first half and their is no question he earned it. I do not think for one minute his absence is why we lost this game. Its a big difference. People are on here emphaticaly stating that we lost because Hurley chose not to play Sanogo. To me, that is ludicrous and not well thought out. Hurley felt that a shorter, more experienced lineup would combat St. John's speed and momentum. Is he that wrong? With a minute left in the game, we still should have won. To blast Hurley and say the reason we lost was because we didn't play a freshman who still is widly inconsistent as the reason is a headscratcher.
 

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