Hurley Postgame

[UCfor3]

Being good at pressers is almost an art. People want answers for what went wrong and sometimes the full truth isn't always for public consumption. Hurley wears his emotions on his sleeve. His stream of consciousness isn't always the best when the loss is raw. i wouldn't read into it so much. If you are looking for something to complain about you can always find it.

 

[uconngb]

He’s done a really excellent job rebuilding a dumpster fire and he is not a “bad coach”. He is just not an elite level coach this can get the extra something special out of his teams. He doesn’t perform well as the stakes go up and it’s a well established pattern. In year 5 you are getting what you’re going to get… talented teams that are very competitive but can’t take the next step. Perhaps in a year where we are super loaded, the talent overcomes the coach’s limitations. Hurley should really hire JC for a few months and go through the season, examine every decision and learn from a master.

Bravo……this is the BEST, least emotional, summary I’ve seen of the situation. Would give it 100 likes if I could

 

[auror]

I didn't get to see the game but does he address why Clingan only played 10 minutes, with 1 foul?

My answer: Sanogo getting easy buckets sealing off his defender was a huge boon to our offense with everyone else struggling and it was not a good matchup defensively to play them both together.

 

[UCfor3]

Earlier in the season?? We played them a month ago. You think they revamped their whole system just so they could trick us on a 24 hour turnaround on the off chance they got us in the Big East semis??

Lolololol

We changed a little over a month ago. Teams are always evolving and making adjustments. Not revamping the whole system. We smacked them a month ago. You think Shaka was showing up with the exact same gameplan. This must be like XMas morning to you.

 

[TRest]

The cold hard fact is we now have 2 wins and 11 losses in games decided by 4 points or less over the last two seasons - including 6 losses in a row.

Whatever Hurley is doing at the end of games isn't working. Begging the question, how can we reverse this painful pattern?

Get some clutch players.

 

[Marat]

We changed a little over a month ago. Teams are always evolving and making adjustments. Not revamping the whole system. We smacked them a month ago. You think Shaka was showing up with the exact same gameplan. This must be like XMas morning to you.

Shaka said in pregame exactly that. They rewatched film of game 1 and game 2, and concluded they needed to be more physical this time. So they came out with in your face defense. We had trouble overcoming it.

 

[tuvent08]

Great motivator. Great recruiter. Not a rocket scientist.

 

[Avon]

Hard to do when they were sitting on the bench.

I felt in this game the refs were overall fair to us. Unfortunately AJ’s fifth was questionable and instead of a possible tie up he’s done for the game.

My only real beef was with the non calls when Tristen was getting mugged driving to the basket. It’s a BE reffing decision to let that type of play go but that decision severely impacts what he brings to the table. And reduces the chances of getting players to foul out.

Because they didn’t practice for that possibility. It would’ve required making in game adjustments and we know how he doesn’t like to do that m.

Apparently not in his tool box

 

[Ripper32]

What hurts more is that they lost at MSG against an opposition coach that is not an X and Os wizard. We shouldn't be giving up 70 pts with that home court advantage, given the defensive pedigree of this team.

 

[Avon]

The cold hard fact is we now have 2 wins and 11 losses in games decided by 4 points or less over the last two seasons - including 6 losses in a row.

Whatever Hurley is doing at the end of games isn't working. Begging the question, how can we reverse this painful pattern?

The elephant in the room
Numbers don't lie
Speak for themselves
His in game or more specifically end of game coaching has been seriously deficient as the record in very winnable tight games over past 2 years reflect.

 

[Avon]

Earlier in the season?? We played them a month ago. You think they revamped their whole system just so they could trick us on a 24 hour turnaround on the off chance they got us in the Big East semis??

Lolololol

3rd game with Marquette this yr. His comment was the definition of lame

 

[Kolumbo]

probably posted elsewhere:

"There is an art to winning these games, an art past UConn teams had, an art Hurley’s Huskies, talented as they are, have yet to prove they have. That must change in 2023, because championships aren’t about owning buildings. They come from mastering moments." - Don Amore

Dom Amore: Talk is cheap. After another devastating loss UConn have much to prove as stakes are about to get higher

With another early Big East exit, the UConn men still have to prove they can master the moments that matter in March. Up next: The Big Dance

www.courant.com

 

[ctchamps]

The zone was a good move cuz man was a struggle with switching and it ultimately worked which is good. Glad he switched. Will say that part of the reason it worked was a little lucky. Marquette got some decent looks at 3's against the zone. The just missed a bunch quite frankly. We weren't like swarming them with it or anything. Sometimes a little luck is necessary.

It would have been a better move if we executed it like we did earlier in the year when we utilized it. It's a given for me that Donovan, Hawk and Andre can lose their composure if things aren't going right for them. But to see that in Triston, Joey, Adama and Alex was unusual. I can understand it because the stakes are high the pressure to win is greater. And it's compounded because these kids felt last season was a disappointment. They didn't want to repeat it. The only player that seemed not to be affected by the moment was Alleyne. Which is why I agree to some small extent in having him in for Jordan at the end of this game. But there's no way of knowing if that would have worked out better.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Hurley is basically Patrick Ewing with better recruiting. We are never going anywhere with Hurley as the coach.

 

[gsmooth]

The zone was a good move cuz man was a struggle with switching and it ultimately worked which is good. Glad he switched. Will say that part of the reason it worked was a little lucky. Marquette got some decent looks at 3's against the zone. The just missed a bunch quite frankly. We weren't like swarming them with it or anything. Sometimes a little luck is necessary.

This right here. In a one and done NCAAT, do we really want to leave the game up to chance that the other team will just miss open 3s? On the other hand I do think the zone threw Marquette a little off their rythmn so it was good move, but a move that could have made things worse and lead to a different discussion if some of those open 3s went down.

 

[uconngb]

We changed a little over a month ago. Teams are always evolving and making adjustments. Not revamping the whole system. We smacked them a month ago. You think Shaka was showing up with the exact same gameplan. This must be like XMas morning to you.

Lolololol

 

[UConnSwag11]

Speaking of ill timed quotes.

I guess everyone was out celebrating Thursday night after the game, FS1 did a brief interview with Hurley that I thought would produce its own thread.

He actually, in praising Ed Cooley, told a national television audience he made Providence the best team in New England and " we are trying to get to where they are". He then finished by saying what a downtrodden program we were when he took over.

Now, why on earth would you even contemplate saying that to the cameras, even if you truly believed it. Are you greasing the skid for another post season nosedive? Auditioning to be Ed's bench coach if you flame out here?

Why?

Wow. Didn’t hear that one. Besides this one, the one that stands out to me is him saying we’re not made for the Big East

 

[UConnSwag11]

What’d he say about Hawkins? I am genuinely unaware

Same

 

[UCfor3]

It would have been a better move if we executed it like we did earlier in the year when we utilized it. It's a given for me that Donovan, Hawk and Andre can lose their composure if things aren't going right for them. But to see that in Triston, Joey, Adama and Alex was unusual. I can understand it because the stakes are high the pressure to win is greater. And it's compounded because these kids felt last season was a disappointment. They didn't want to repeat it. The only player that seemed not to be affected by the moment was Alleyne. Which is why I agree to some small extent in having him in for Jordan at the end of this game. But there's no way of knowing if that would have worked out better.

I wanted Alleyne in but over Joey instead of Hawk. Alleyne has been good at both ends of the floor for a while now. My wife and I were both surprised Dan Hurley went Joey over Naheim. In my opinion, it's just not great practice to have Hawk, your best offensive player, on the bench at crunchtime regardless of his struggles. It shows a lack of confidence in him and the last thing you want is to mess with a kids confidence going into the tourney. Hawk also attracts a lot of attention and focus of the opponents D which could free other stuff up theoretically but what do I know. Takes a lot of guts to do it for sure. If it doesn't work out, it will be red meat at the presser. Coaches that have the guts to do that usually have serious resumes.

 

[DW1361]

I liken Hurley to a fine cheese that hasn’t aged enough. The narrative likely would have been different if a foul was called when Karaban was bumped under the basket causing him to lose the ball out of bounds. If the right call was made there Hurley would have never made such a dumb comment.

 

[alleyoops55]

No weirder than the man himself

Haha WELCOME BACK!!! Where ya been the last month ya Hurley hater?! Still giving us nothing of substance I see…

 

[CaptainRon]

That’s a mind boggling quote

Um, how much time did Marquette get to prepare? Weeks? Months?

 

[uchusky32]

AJ didn't play much. They ran what they wanted.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

These are pretty lame quotes and while acknowledging that it's probably also fair to concede Hurley isn't exactly masterful in dealing with the media and public speaking.

A sweet 16 run cures many ills. Going to be a long off-season if they come up short.

 

[ctchamps]

I wanted Alleyne in but over Joey instead of Hawk. Alleyne has been good at both ends of the floor for a while now. My wife and I were both surprised Dan Hurley went Joey over Naheim. In my opinion, it's just not great practice to have Hawk, your best offensive player, on the bench at crunchtime regardless of his struggles. It shows a lack of confidence in him and the last thing you want is to mess with a kids confidence going into the tourney. Hawk also attracts a lot of attention and focus of the opponents D which could free other stuff up theoretically but what do I know. Takes a lot of guts to do it for sure. If it doesn't work out, it will be red meat at the presser. Coaches that have the guts to do that usually have serious resumes.

Good points. I thought about it as I was typing. Taking out the best 3 point option is not where I normally would go but Hawk has been in a slump for a while now and he gets down on himself too much for me to believe he can be clutch in that situation. In the Providence game at the end of the half where he fouled the player you could see how visibly upset he was. Then he lost his dribble resulting in that half court violation and he was inconsolable. Joey is streaky which arguably could be the result of a mental block but this kid seems to be able to dismiss self failure so I leaned towards him.

But the point you make about not having Hawk in the game for that last shot impacting a player with poor self confidence is spot on. The kid by all accounts is a great kid and the last thing you want to do is mess someone up for an unknown. Unfortunately Hawk was the one who took that last shot and the result probably will impact him more than if he was not in during that moment. And that's the dilemma for a coach who has to make the call in these situations.

 

[UofCT]

The cold hard fact is we now have 2 wins and 11 losses in games decided by 4 points or less over the last two seasons - including 6 losses in a row.

Whatever Hurley is doing at the end of games isn't working. Begging the question, how can we reverse this painful pattern?

What about over the last 6 seasons?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

The cold hard fact is we now have 2 wins and 11 losses in games decided by 4 points or less over the last two seasons - including 6 losses in a row.

Whatever Hurley is doing at the end of games isn't working. Begging the question, how can we reverse this painful pattern?

What’s your answer? I know you have one. Enlighten us…

 

[Frank06830]

He’s not the best at a lot of things.

Shaka is a better coach. Period.

 

[jdb50]

Listening to postgame interviews on the radio Luke Murray and Kimani Young are much better describing things and don't make arrogant statements like that no time for preparation line. I was floored when I heard that last night. Smart went right to the" MSG is our house" line after the game.

 

[Frank06830]

Great motivator. Great recruiter. Not a rocket scientist.

Yep, meanwhile Shaka was a Magnum Cum Laude from Kenyon after turning down Harvard