Hurley quotes at Middlesex C o C Event

[pj]

We were 312th in the country last year in free throw rate on defense and we fouled good shooters too often. All in all, opposing teams scored the 30th most free throws as a percentage of total points against us. Free throws are highly efficient shots. Opponents averaged 1.46 points per trip to the line for 2 against us last year, vs. 1.01 points per defensive possession in total (which means the strictly non-foul shot part of the pie was an even lower number).

You could argue it was the single biggest flaw on the team last year. It may have been a symptom of other issues (personnel and/or scheme) rather than just physical, aggressive play, though.

It's at the least a fair question to ask if Hurley is emphasizing avoiding fouling opponents enough.

I gave you a like for data and analysis, but I think the chance that the high foul rate was due to a defect in Hurley's coaching is somewhere below 1%.

Getting more depth, getting Hurley's guys, getting better athleticism, better strength and conditioning, better team chemistry, better talking, better familiarity with the system, better rim protection / shot blocking, all of these will help reduce the foul rate. This stat is going to improve every year for Hurley's first four years.

 

[dennismenace]

I felt like he was overwhelmed by the pace of the game and hampered a bit by conditioning last year. He could be poised to make a decent Soph jump this year, though "athletic enough" is faint praise.

He's a big (6-4) strong kid and would love to see him play valuable minutes off the bench. Hope he is an igniter and can take it to the hole. We need some physicality on this team for a change. The quote above about practice being like hand to hand combat is music to the ears.

 

[mauconnfan]

He's a big (6-4) strong kid and would love to see him play valuable minutes off the bench. Hope he is an igniter and can take it to the hole. We need some physicality on this team for a change. The quote above about practice being like hand to hand combat is music to the ears.

I keep hearing he's a good shooter and I do believe it but we will need to see it. Improvement there and his foot speed will be required to get some solid minutes from the 2-3 spot. He also needs to improve ball handling as when guarded tight last year he had some issues. Overall I love his competitive nature, toughness and willingness to stick his nose in at anytime anywhere. Love to see this kid succeed he's just one of those hardworking kids who deserves a lot.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I keep hearing he's a good shooter and I do believe it but we will need to see it. Improvement there and his foot speed will be required to get some solid minutes from the 2-3 spot. He also needs to improve ball handling as when guarded tight last year he had some issues. Overall I love his competitive nature, toughness and willingness to stick his nose in at anytime anywhere. Love to see this kid succeed he's just one of those hardworking kids who deserves a lot.

Not predicting it, but what if he developed over his career like his brother?

 

[mauconnfan]

Not predicting it, but what if he developed over his career like his brother?

We'd all be very happy let's hope so!

 

[Tenspro2002]

How many times will this burn us? Can't have people getting 2-3 fouls in the 1st 10 minutes.

They have to be smart, not just tough, on defense. Last year it was like he had to coach effort so much that he didn't even have time to coach basketball IQ.

Fortunately, getting some of his own recruits, who should possess that IQ from the get-go, will make this easier.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Brendan Adams is the fifth guard. I hope he continues to improve but I can't see him playing more than 10-12 minutes a game.

10-12 is high. I would expect more like 3-5 mpg, with probably some DNPs sprinkled in against better opponents.

 

[Caronimo]

Like like like like like

 

[auror]

I gave you a like for data and analysis, but I think the chance that the high foul rate was due to a defect in Hurley's coaching is somewhere below 1%.

Getting more depth, getting Hurley's guys, getting better athleticism, better strength and conditioning, better team chemistry, better talking, better familiarity with the system, better rim protection / shot blocking, all of these will help reduce the foul rate. This stat is going to improve every year for Hurley's first four years.

Excellent stat to have, and I'm sure the kind of info that the coaches have looked at and are planning to address.

What do you think led to our high foul rate? New aggressive style of defense they're getting used to? Inexperience? Genuinely a bad defensive scheme? Player personnel?

Hurley routinely has his teams ranked over 300th in defensive free throw rate (as in many more free throws given to the other team than average). It's a common thread. 6 of his 9 D1 teams have ranked over 300th (and the best was 233rd). In contrast, Calhoun's first 3 title teams were 12th, 1st, and 5th in the country in the other direction. It's not necessarily a defect, but certainly a systemic tradeoff.

I think it's partly Hurley's focus on defensive on ball aggression and running hard at guys on the perimeter to prevent 3s, leading to other defenders needing to rotate and help in disadvantageous positions when the primary gets beat. It's nice to prevent 3s, but at the cost of FTs is a bad statistical tradeoff (can't fast break in retaliation off a FTA in addition to the bad points per shot numbers). Probably partly a lack of overwhelming athleticism compared to Calhoun's teams that didn't need to foul to recover. Maybe even more than athleticism it's about height, where Hurley historically has played a lot of 3 guard lineups and we were particularly small last year for a UConn team; Small teams likely foul more often on rebounds and guarding the rim. Also partly Cobb and Yakwe were egregious, especially defending high hedges in the PnR lol.

Edit to add- Looked it up. Hurley's never started 2 players above 6'8" simultaneously except for last year, but Polley basically doesn't count since he plays so much smaller than his height.

 

[RichZ]

Shelby, Adrien, Donnie Marshall, and back to LyMan DePriest; Just tough men who took any intrusions into there zone personally.

Shelby? That's my grand daughter.

 

[UCDaveD]

Love Hurley’s candor.

 

[pj]

Hurley routinely has his teams ranked over 300th in defensive free throw rate (as in many more free throws given to the other team than average). It's a common thread. 6 of his 9 D1 teams have ranked over 300th (and the best was 233rd). In contrast, Calhoun's first 3 title teams were 12th, 1st, and 5th in the country in the other direction. It's not necessarily a defect, but certainly a systemic tradeoff.

I think it's partly Hurley's focus on defensive on ball aggression and running hard at guys on the perimeter to prevent 3s, leading to other defenders needing to rotate and help in disadvantageous positions when the primary gets beat. It's nice to prevent 3s, but at the cost of FTs is a bad statistical tradeoff (can't fast break in retaliation off a FTA in addition to the bad points per shot numbers). Probably partly a lack of overwhelming athleticism compared to Calhoun's teams that didn't need to foul to recover. Maybe even more than athleticism it's about height, where Hurley historically has played a lot of 3 guard lineups and we were particularly small last year for a UConn team; Small teams likely foul more often on rebounds and guarding the rim. Also partly Cobb and Yakwe were egregious, especially defending high hedges in the PnR lol.

Edit to add- Looked it up. Hurley's never started 2 players above 6'8" simultaneously except for last year, but Polley basically doesn't count since he plays so much smaller than his height.

Great response, I think lack of height and lack of athleticism are key factors in foul rate.

 

[Husky68]

On the other hand, absolutely if a massively more experienced coaching staff with dramatically more direct insights decides redshirting is best for both an individual player and program. Advantage Hurley, Moore, et al

Springs ends up anywhere nearly matching early hype he's not a 5 year or even 4 year UConn kid.

 

[formerlurker]

Agree, Chief has been high on Springs too.

I knew it!

 

[BuckleyNerd]

Hurley routinely has his teams ranked over 300th in defensive free throw rate (as in many more free throws given to the other team than average). It's a common thread. 6 of his 9 D1 teams have ranked over 300th (and the best was 233rd). In contrast, Calhoun's first 3 title teams were 12th, 1st, and 5th in the country in the other direction. It's not necessarily a defect, but certainly a systemic tradeoff.

I think it's partly Hurley's focus on defensive on ball aggression and running hard at guys on the perimeter to prevent 3s, leading to other defenders needing to rotate and help in disadvantageous positions when the primary gets beat. It's nice to prevent 3s, but at the cost of FTs is a bad statistical tradeoff (can't fast break in retaliation off a FTA in addition to the bad points per shot numbers). Probably partly a lack of overwhelming athleticism compared to Calhoun's teams that didn't need to foul to recover. Maybe even more than athleticism it's about height, where Hurley historically has played a lot of 3 guard lineups and we were particularly small last year for a UConn team; Small teams likely foul more often on rebounds and guarding the rim. Also partly Cobb and Yakwe were egregious, especially defending high hedges in the PnR lol.

Edit to add- Looked it up. Hurley's never started 2 players above 6'8" simultaneously except for last year, but Polley basically doesn't count since he plays so much smaller than his height.

Do you know what his past teams' Turnovers Forced/Points off turnover rankings were? If they were elite that could justify the strategy.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Physical defense is gonna lead to more fouls, saying hurley doesn't have anything to do with it, when he's preaching physicality, doesn't make any sense.

 

[gtcam]

Really haven't had that since Johnny Selvie left the program.

I thought Okafor and Adrien were pretty good

 

[husky429]

ams' Turnovers Forced/Points off turnover rankings were? If they were elite that could justify the strategy.

Hurley routinely has his teams ranked over 300th in defensive free throw rate (as in many more free throws given to the other team than average). It's a common thread. 6 of his 9 D1 teams have ranked over 300th (and the best was 233rd). In contrast, Calhoun's first 3 title teams were 12th, 1st, and 5th in the country in the other direction. It's not necessarily a defect, but certainly a systemic tradeoff.

I think it's partly Hurley's focus on defensive on ball aggression and running hard at guys on the perimeter to prevent 3s, leading to other defenders needing to rotate and help in disadvantageous positions when the primary gets beat. It's nice to prevent 3s, but at the cost of FTs is a bad statistical tradeoff (can't fast break in retaliation off a FTA in addition to the bad points per shot numbers). Probably partly a lack of overwhelming athleticism compared to Calhoun's teams that didn't need to foul to recover. Maybe even more than athleticism it's about height, where Hurley historically has played a lot of 3 guard lineups and we were particularly small last year for a UConn team; Small teams likely foul more often on rebounds and guarding the rim. Also partly Cobb and Yakwe were egregious, especially defending high hedges in the PnR lol.

Edit to add- Looked it up. Hurley's never started 2 players above 6'8" simultaneously except for last year, but Polley basically doesn't count since he plays so much smaller than his height.

Good points. Running at 3 pt shooters will lead to fouls, but 300th or worse is a problem. Not every team needs to be top 25 in every category, but average would be fine. The flaw may be systemic, but he needs to develop more disciplined perimeter defenders. You can close out hard on shooters and/or generate turnovers without being reckless. That's on Hurley and the staff after 9 years coaching D1 teams.

No coach is perfect, don't get me wrong. I still love Hurley!

 

[auror]

Do you know what his past teams' Turnovers Forced/Points off turnover rankings were? If they were elite that could justify the strategy.

He had a couple elite teams in defensive TO%, a few above average, and a few average. Generally the ones that did force a high TO% were some of his best defensive teams, although his 2nd best ever was just above average. The pattern seems to be a few average years then an elite year, so whether that's waiting for personnel to mature or the system teaching to set in, I'm not sure.

 

[Psolo12]

Springs ends up anywhere nearly matching early hype he's not a 5 year or even 4 year UConn kid.

What makes you think this kid is gonna get drafted? He looks like a four year role player to me

 

[Storrs South]

Here's the replay

 

[444JR]

Here's the replay

"Get behind me, I'm a sure thing."
-Dan Hurley

 

[soxfan23]

I love this quote. I long for the return of the days of (seemingly) dozens of fast breaks per game with all kinds of acrobatic finishes. Bring it back Dan!

Those fast breaking UConn teams of the 90's and early 00's, that played tough in your face defense, were some most fun teams to watch!

 

[Huskies4ever]

Nice to hear Isiah Whaley getting some props. Always loved the kid's, effort, athleticism, and motor.

 

[intlzncster]

What makes you think this kid is gonna get drafted? He looks like a four year role player to me

The Boneyard.