Hurley Postgame Press

[RitzLuce1]

I'm glad he recognized that the bench was a real problem.

I'm not going to worry too much about one Big East game against a team largely built to game the Big East "officiating" -- but Reed and Ball "gutting out it through injuries" (to their credit) instead of healing seems like it is going to limit this team's ceiling. Neither is currently the player UConn needs them to be for a title run.

What injury is Reed gutting it out over? Still using the wrist as Solo's excuse? I guess that one will last all season,

Sooner or later the excuses need to stop. There are plenty of players on this team that are not making jumps.

 

[RuffRuff]

What injury is Reed gutting it out over? Still using the wrist as Solo's excuse? I guess that one will last all season,

Sooner or later the excuses need to stop. There are plenty of players on this team that are not making jumps.

It’s the annual player is underperforming due to a mysterious nagging injury even though Hurley hasn’t mentioned it in a month. The AK concussion, the Liam ankle.

As for Elite 8 max - still plenty of season to go. I’d say as of right now we know that big athletic teams could pose problems, and there are a few of those in the top 8 (UM, AZ, Duke, Illinois, Houston). I wouldn’t want to see Florida again earlier than we needed to.

We are a finesse team, similar to last year but with Silas. Hurley is going to have to coach his ass off for this team to get to the F4.

 

[UCan3]

Glad you aren't the coach. Mullins is a threat every second he is out there. I also think they have to run more plays for him. I can see Mullins being just as good or better than Austin Reeves in the NBA. He will get stronger

You might have misread my post in that it wasn’t a criticism of Mullins - he is a star!

But we need to either run plays for him or get him the ball so he can start to make plays off dribble.

He rarely touched the ball in the 2nd half.

So yes if he is not going to get the ball, we either get it to him or sub for someone who can be more active in the offensive sets.

We agree Mullins is a star. But we must find ways to involve him - 2nd half it often felt like it was 4 on 5.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I fall prey to this too, but 24 was at the same time the best and worst thing to happen to this fanbase.
Even though we may not consciously be doing it all the time, the lingering thought that "we did it with it with the same staff and same landscape, why can't we do it again?" is always in the back of our minds.
Our body and minds dont like stress. We'll always want to go back to that feeling of ease. Biologically we seek the path of optimal comfort. When we don't get it we complain.

 

[ArizonaHsky]

You might have misread my post in that it wasn’t a criticism of Mullins - he is a star!

But we need to either run plays for him or get him the ball so he can start to make plays off dribble.

He rarely touched the ball in the 2nd half.

So yes if he is not going to get the ball, we either get it to him or sub for someone who can be more active in the offensive sets.

We agree Mullins is a star. But we must find ways to involve him - 2nd half it often felt like it was 4 on 5.

I just don't know who would be more active. Stewart and Ross are not the answer on offense. Some fans might say its on Mullins to get open, but I see him trying to get open. This is on the coach to run more plays for him.

 

[jibsey]

You might have misread my post in that it wasn’t a criticism of Mullins - he is a star!

But we need to either run plays for him or get him the ball so he can start to make plays off dribble.

He rarely touched the ball in the 2nd half.

So yes if he is not going to get the ball, we either get it to him or sub for someone who can be more active in the offensive sets.

We agree Mullins is a star. But we must find ways to involve him - 2nd half it often felt like it was 4 on 5.

I bet the coaches are going to do something on this.

 

[DogMania]

The FT yips will cost you in the Tournament and this team is actually get worse in that department. It started last year with AK and now the FT misses and FT disparity is becoming more and more evident against good teams.

I remember the Kemba and Bazz championship runs. They were money at the free throw line, their supporting cast was pretty good as well, and they won so many close games because they converted at the free-throw line at an extremely high rate when it counted most. To win it all you need to have at least a couple of players who knocked down some shots at critical times and take care of business at the free throw line throughout most of the game. Leaving points at the line can be the difference of advancing or going home early. Demary, Ball, Mullins and Alex need to be money at the line while the rest, including Reed, Reibe, Smith, Stewart and Ross, need to just be solid. Going 0-2, 1-2 or missing the front end of a 1:1 can add up and prevent them from moving on.

If UConn can put it together and dominate the field like they did in their last two championships, they might get away with poor free throw shooting. But I don't think they have that kind of team and the margin of error will be much smaller this time. We need some of our poor free throw shooters to at least be adequate and the ones that we want at the line late in close games be money at the line. I think the latter is more likely, but I'm not sure they will get there. I hope they do. We've often found that once we get out of the Big East, the officiating plays in our favor, where losing a free throw fest is less likely.

 

[dogpause]

Castle wasn't the same player in February that he was in the tournaments. While Mullens is not as physically mature, I'm certain he will be better in March, and so will this team.