Hurley postgame presser

[djct1999]

We can blame the staff, while still recognizing their value and supporting them. I want Hurley and staff to remain at UConn for the next decade plus. But I also think they’ve had a rough season - with the seton hall game being the icing on the cake. We can acknowledge the obvious, which is that game was poorly coached. And the roster construction and player development this year has been head scratching.

I have no doubt Hurley and co. will figure it out. My only concern is that it might not be figured out until next season at this point.

Everyone, from us fans to the staff got drunk on our insane past success. You should have been concerned since Maui. Call me crazy, but this isn’t at all about development. It’s about loyalty. Six months ago, I was applauding the staff for not losing anyone in the portal. I know realize that was a mistake. To be the best, you need the best. We do t have it. To blame Hurley for yesterday is misguided. Blame him for being loyal, blame him for having an ego, blame him on missing a key players. But yesterday? That was simply poor execution by a team of kids who didn’t want it enough.

 

[djct1999]

Dan Hurley is an acquired taste. You either love him or hate him. Admittingly, I love him. He is both old school and new. Sure he has flaws, a ton of them. But the good overwhelm the bad and he is a perfect fit for this program. Could he have done a better job yestweday? Sure. But he was more pissed than us.It wasn’t about development or missed transfers. It was disgust. Yesterday was about a bratty 10 year old refusing to have dinner and a dad saying go to bed hungry. The team did not execute. It’s on the them, not the coach. They are too good to play the way did. And it was still enough. They didn’t want it or worse, thought it would be given to them.

If Danny is as old school as I think he is, I’d have them get dressed today for practice only to kick their ass out before it started. Come back when you are ready to be a UConn player.

 

[RuffRuff]

We can blame the staff, while still recognizing their value and supporting them. I want Hurley and staff to remain at UConn for the next decade plus. But I also think they’ve had a rough season - with the seton hall game being the icing on the cake. We can acknowledge the obvious, which is that game was poorly coached. And the roster construction and player development this year has been head scratching.

I have no doubt Hurley and co. will figure it out. My only concern is that it might not be figured out until next season at this point.

Players will come and go, the staff is the constant and the program, and we have a great one.

This feels like a hangover season. We were due. Staff is coming off a perfect team high, now trying to coach up a very flawed roster, has to be exhausting. If the players weren’t going to put it on themselves to get this right at this point, this was never gonna happen. More than anything that game yesterday exposed that part of this groups DNA. Still feels a little unfocused, a little lazy, a little whimsical, undisciplined, disconnected, lacks self starters. This at a point they need to be hitting stride.

The Mahaney experiment was so darn off - needed a dude that knew who he was and confident he could come in and add value, lead, be bedrock. Instead we got a kid changing positions with a total lack of confidence. The staff knew what they were getting with the Sophs, man did they miss on every level with AM. Needed upper class strength in that add, not someone confusing an already confused rotation further. That has been a massive miss, and I’m sure they’re kicking themselves. Had we gotten a kid like Haggerty or Small, we’d likely be in a very different position. Instead of bringing in a kid ready to be an alpha, the staff has probably burnt their time massaging confidence. Live and learn.

 

[SwingDog]

Poor leadership. Throwing the kids under the bus. If he hasn’t lost his team previous to these comments, he certainly has now.

Not necessarily. Last year Pitino was able to motivate his team by basically saying they were soft, and Mick Cronin woke up his team this year with similar comments.

 

[David 76]

But we are more talented than Seton Hall. And Dayton. And Colorado. And Villanova. And by a lot In most cases. Something is wrong and it has been obvious for some time. Seton Hall just showed it most clearly. I think it is coaching from misjudging talent to roster construction, to trying to run a system with players who can’t play it.

Yeah. He must suck..

 

[uconnbill]

Can we have a fund to keep McNeeley another year as Flagg said he is not gone as some have said? Just a thought after a weekend that should have ended differently

 

[JohnFSilver]

Can we have a fund to keep McNeeley another year as Flagg said he is not gone as some have said? Just a thought after a weekend that should have ended differently

Flagg is gone. He is Just saying that, and, he could also strategically come back if not happy with no. 1 selection.

 

[Stinger92860]

Flip a coin on either of the two. What would’ve helped this team more is a defensive minded ballhawk who can guard 1-4.

That‘s one of a several capabilities this teams needs. They are very talented but flawed. Quite a dichotomy and it’s almost impossible to predict what they will bring to any game.

 

[Stinger92860]

The Mahaney experiment was so darn off

It was clear, early on, this was a huge miss. I understand the focus to get him right, considering the alternative. Given his minutes recently, I think the focus is gone. In the new world of NIL, to which I lightly contribute, the value is not there.

 

[uconnever]

You're probably right about Ross. Although I guess I could see him as a defensive stopper off the bench if he puts in some work over the summer. As for Stew, I see him strictly as a 4, I don't think he has the handle to play the 3 spot. Now what if AK comes back and you also have Abraham waiting in the wings. some tough decisions to be made.

I love Ross off the bench for defense. He ‘s a freshman playing time wise. This year is an evaluation year for most of these guys because we’re not winning a title. But in the next couple of years he’ll grow into a key bench piece FOR SURE.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Players will come and go, the staff is the constant and the program, and we have a great one.

This feels like a hangover season. We were due. Staff is coming off a perfect team high, now trying to coach up a very flawed roster, has to be exhausting. If the players weren’t going to put it on themselves to get this right at this point, this was never gonna happen. More than anything that game yesterday exposed that part of this groups DNA. Still feels a little unfocused, a little lazy, a little whimsical, undisciplined, disconnected, lacks self starters. This at a point they need to be hitting stride.

The Mahaney experiment was so darn off - needed a dude that knew who he was and confident he could come in and add value, lead, be bedrock. Instead we got a kid changing positions with a total lack of confidence. The staff knew what they were getting with the Sophs, man did they miss on every level with AM. Needed upper class strength in that add, not someone confusing an already confused rotation further. That has been a massive miss, and I’m sure they’re kicking themselves. Had we gotten a kid like Haggerty or Small, we’d likely be in a very different position. Instead of bringing in a kid ready to be an alpha, the staff has probably burnt their time massaging confidence. Live and learn.

Your point about Aidan, confusion and lack of confidence is spot on. He so often passes on an easy shot to get the ball to one of the shooters. On St Mary’s he was the shooter. What ends up is a crappy shot too late in the shot clock. Saw some of that with Liam in this last game too.

 

[RuffRuff]

Your point about Aidan, confusion and lack of confidence is spot on. He so often passes on an easy shot to get the ball to one of the shooters. On St Mary’s he was the shooter. What ends up is a crappy shot too late in the shot clock. Saw some of that with Liam in this last game too.

Yeah the kids headspace feels like tangled spaghetti trapped between what he was and what we wanted him to be. It’s all lead to a kid that looks indecisive nonstop. And that’s exactly what we don’t need on this squad.

The eval on him was not good. My guess is they saw good cultural fit, comfort they saw him in person (and scouted him), shades of Cam, and thought he was smart, without weighing how hard the transition is.

 

[RuffRuff]

Can we have a fund to keep McNeeley another year as Flagg said he is not gone as some have said? Just a thought after a weekend that should have ended differently

Flagg is gone. Make no mistake. But it’s a genius marketing move for the Duke program. The first pick in the draft loves it here so much, he doesn’t want to leave to make 50mm.

If I’m looking NCs the next 5-8 years, I will be hard pressed not to see them come out of:

First tier
Duke - Scheyer will continue to out recruit everyone
UK - once Pope gets high caliber talent, watch out
Bama
Michigan - May is really good
Florida - Golden is a rising coach
Houston - Sampson is starting to recruit top kids
UConn


Second tier
Pitino - he’s gonna be focused on pure portal, don’t think he can win it with his system with only portal players
Pearl - could win it this year, but not a great in game coach
Otz - not sure he can draw NC caliber talent
to Ames regularly
Painter - already discussed
Lloyd - can’t get over hump
Barnes - can’t keep getting this lucky in portal

UNC and Indiana are TBD based on who their next coaches are

 

[jibsey]

The 3 peat talk which Hurley totally backed, Alex coming back, and Mahaney expectations made it reasonable for us fans to expect a better team this year.
We got kicked in the balls in Maui but still held out hope that a huge turnaround could happen. No one saw this coming in the summer. No one. And the “experts” in preseason rankings all over the country didn’t either. The other teams never got their memos.
There are no more illusions now.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Anyone here who is blaming this staff should be ashamed. There isn’t a program in the country that wouldn’t pay everything for this groups of coaches. Just ask the Lakers and Kentucky. Come on. Sure, they missed on quite a few kids. It happens. They will reload.

The Lakers wanted Ollie at one point too. Ijs

 

[Deleted at users request]

We got kicked in the balls in Maui but still held out hope that a huge turnaround could happen. No one saw this coming in the summer. No one.

I’ll never get proper credit on this board lol

 

[RuffRuff]

The 3 peat talk which Hurley totally backed, Alex coming back, and Mahaney expectations made it reasonable for us fans to expect a better team this year.
We got kicked in the balls in Maui but still held out hope that a huge turnaround could happen. No one saw this coming in the summer. No one. And the “experts” in preseason rankings all over the country didn’t either. The other teams never got their memos.
There are no more illusions now.

Easy to get over-excited about a staff who’s had the Midas touch the last few years, your leader coming back and new shiny objects. I know I took the hook. Wasn’t until the open practice that I saw things that made you go hmmmm.

On a most basic level staff has to avoid grabbing small undersized unathletic players in the portal, lol. If you’re gonna miss at least baseline it as a good athlete. Did they really think they could teach Mahaney to play defense? Everyone he’s going up against is bigger and faster and it’s not like the rest of the unit is collectively good at defense.

 

[Stinger92860]

I love Ross off the bench for defense. He ‘s a freshman playing time wise. This year is an evaluation year for most of these guys because we’re not winning a title. But in the next couple of years he’ll grow into a key bench piece FOR SURE.

Ross has 2 years left, in a couple of years he should have graduated. If you are suggesting he may be a nice bench piece during his Senior year, it could happen. If I am on the staff, I’m hoping the portal produces some nice players for us and the Freshmen next year are playable During primetime.

 

[RuffRuff]

Ross has 2 years left, in a couple of years he should have graduated. If you are suggesting he may be a nice bench piece during his Senior year, it could happen. If I am on the staff, I’m hoping the portal produces some nice players for us and the Freshmen next year are playable During primetime.

Ross is an interesting one - can’t see him as a starter until Senior year if at all. Does a kid like that stick around to be part of this program or move on to actually play?

 

[superjohn]

Ross is an interesting one - can’t see him as a starter until Senior year if at all. Does a kid like that stick around to be part of this program or move on to actually play?

I think the decision will be out of his hands along with some other players.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I think the decision will be out of his hands along with some other players.

Sounds like it will be an interesting and frustrating offseason.

 

[uconnever]

I think the decision will be out of his hands along with some other players.

With who we have coming and the portal, I would love to see him stay and continue to develop. I can see him being exactly what the staff thinks he is, just not this year. To me a defensive stopper in his size range is an important piece on a great team. It’s just too early for him. But when next years class become sophomores and some good pick ups in the portal, he would be very important for us as a senior stopper. Most championship level teams usually have one and he’s already here, because despite what anyone thinks, that year will be our next chance at a title if all goes well.

 

[Deleted at users request]

With who we have coming and the portal, I would love to see him stay and continue to develop. I can see him being exactly what the staff thinks he is, just not this year. To me a defensive stopper in his size range is an important piece on a great team. It’s just too early for him. But when next years class become sophomores and some good pick ups in the portal, he would be very important for us as a senior stopper. Most championship level teams usually have one and he’s already here, because despite what anyone thinks, that year will be our next chance at a title if all goes well.

I’m still of the opinion he has a chance to be more than a senior stopper.

If they get the chance, this summer will be huge for the sophomore group. This is their first year getting extensive on the court experience.

They’ve failed, know what they need to do better next season, and will have the opportunity to do so this summer. Depending on what Karaban does they will have the confidence and challenge of it being on them the same way it was for Hawkins and Andre as team leaders too. Unlike Karaban, I think they have the talent to shoulder that.

 

[RuffRuff]

I’m still of the opinion he has a chance to be more than a senior stopper.

If they get the chance, this summer will be huge for the sophomore group. This is their first year getting extensive on the court experience.

They’ve failed, know what they need to do better next season, and will have the opportunity to do so this summer. Depending on what Karaban does they will have the confidence and challenge of it being on them the same way it was for Hawkins and Andre as team leaders too. Unlike Karaban, I think they have the talent to shoulder that.

The thing is I bet Ross wants to be more than a defensive stopper. He’s going to want to be at least a 3-4 option. He’s a 6’7” kid with NBA dimensions, he didn’t come to UConn to be a stopper, lol.

 

[Deleted at users request]

The thing is I bet Ross wants to be more than a defensive stopper. He’s going to want to be at least a 3-4 option. He’s a 6’7” kid with NBA dimensions, he didn’t come to UConn to be a stopper, lol.

If the coaching staff agrees, he could have that opportunity next year. But based on people who seem to have some connection to the program on this board it doesn’t seem likely. And that’s disappointing.