Hurley Threads (merged)

[BapeKidd88]

Read the section of Gavin Keefe's pre-game article about UConn in yesterday's New London Day below.
Two things jump out - 1. Ollie's termination was determined to be w/o cause resulting in a $11mm payday for him and 2. Ollie won a National Championship from the 7th spot in 2014.
Before Hurley opens his mouth again, he should put some positive numbers on the board.

"This group will always be remembered for lifting this program from a really, really embarrassing, bad point....," Hurley said. "It's not easy coming from a worst league with a bad team to one of the best leagues in the country and playing at the top of the conference two years in a row, getting to the (Big East tournament) semis and being a hair away from playing for a championship Saturday, going to back-to-back NCAA tournaments from where we were in the AAC."

Really? Go win your first game at the dance for UConn before you say another peep!

Early after the conference switch, I recall Danny Hurley saying often than "we would have been fine if we stayed where we have been."

Danny being so negative now about the AAC rings more hollow coming off the loss to NMSU.

The NBE is not the Big 12, and Kelvin Sampson (and Josh Carlton) are in the Sweet 16 out of the American.

UConn should've been able to prop up the AAC. However, UConn's lack of success weighed the league down.

It's disappointing seeing Coach Hurley play that card - as we watch Josh Carlton advancing in the NCAA tournament without him.

 

[Kathy]

I would like to let you know that in JC's ist 13 years at UConn, the Huskies made the NCAAs 8 times, 1 NC, 3 ELITE 8's, 3 Sweet 16s, the NIT 4 times, 1 NIT championship and 1 NIT third place. JC won the NIT in his 2nd year and went to the Elite 8 in his 4th year when he won his 1st OBE championship
I think the BYers would have been very satisfied
I think if DH did that the BY would be very happy

Those who didn't live it have no clue.

 

[rip7774]

Like business some leaders are better at the turnaround job. Others are better at scaling, operating, etc. Hurleys good at the turnaround part, jury way out on the stabilizing + growth phase

This is exactly where I am. Really feels like just the former. But jury’s still out.

 

[Chief00]

Danny is a bit of a dichotomy. When you talk to him, he seems to be pretty honest with himself and brutally candid. Yet, operationally he is stubborn about doing things a certain preset way, even if it’s clear it’s not working.
I said many months ago he should designate an assistant coach to focus on recommending adjustments during the game. True, that’s a role of an assistant coach anyways, but when you don’t seem to do something well you give it more focus and make someone even more accountable.
Heck, Calhoun made adjustments sometimes 20 seconds into the game. It shouldn’t be a loyalty or ego thing, it should be about winning,

 

[FfldCntyFan]

lol I wonder what this board would’ve said of Jim Calhouns first 13 years as UConn’s coach

You have no idea.

I was at the Civic Center in early November 1989 for a doubleheader in the Big East-ACC Challenge. We just returned from the Great Alaska Shootout, lost the first game to a run of the mill Texas A&M (probably third or fourth best Texas school then) and were the second game of the doubleheader (Pitt vs iirc Clemson was the first).

Throughout the first game all i heard was "We should have hired Penders, he was able to take URI Tto the sweet 16". "Calhoun couldn't make the tournament with Robinson, how can he do it without him?". "He yells too much on the sideline. The players can't play their best because they are too afraid of him. A coach like Shabel gets the best from the kids.".

In a game late in the 1992-1993 season the comments were "Calipari and UMass are ahead of us." "Calhoun took then as far as he could. It's time to move on.".

A few years later it was "Yeah, he can recruit and build very good teams from November to February but he can't win big games in the tournament.".

The existence of a good amount of miserable fans who will always complain that whatever they have seen hasn't been good enough predates social media by decades. They are far from a majority but they are loud enough in their complaints that they make it appear that they represent the entirety of the fan base.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Early after the conference switch, I recall Danny Hurley saying often than "we would have been fine if we stayed where we have been."

If he said that I will need some context as I know (from the horse's mouth) that he was thrilled that we were returning to the BE.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

This has zero relevance. It is a tired old phrase. HE coached them...period. Guess we can go through history and every 1st or 2nd year coach....I mean Calhoun won the NOT with Perno's guys.

With all due respect it’s true to large degree. Program culture takes years to establish and does not fizzle out immediately after the Hall of Fame coach leaves. These players were recruited and coached by Calhoun and familiar with the culture. Calhoun was also a part of the program until that national championship so his footprint was all over it. It was once enough years were separated from his departure that the obvious difference occurred

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You could change a few words in some of these Apologist posts and they could be for Pasqualoni, Diaco, or Edsall 2.0.

Hurley had a good team this season and just blew several games, including the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UConn could be a lot worse next season. This was the year that Hurley needed a deep run.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You could change a few words in some of these Apologist posts and they could be for Pasqualoni, Diaco, or Edsall 2.0.

Hurley had a good team this season and just blew several games, including the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UConn could be a lot worse next season. This was the year that Hurley needed a deep run.

Looking at this roster and matching it with any that made a deep run in the past, I see Sanogo in 2014 as being the only realistic argument of one of this team's starters being a starter if he were part if that team.

Yes, the head coach in college basketball is responsible for procuring the talent and that falls on Hurley. Anyone claiming that this was a team capable of competing with some of our better teams under Calhoun is either being intentionally moronic or it just comes naturally.

 

[metsfan2323]

Please list all the players that Hurley has developed

Alright, i'll break it down for you and the Goldfish memory club that "liked" your moronic post:

Vital - became a first team all AAC performer under Hurley
Whaley - became Big East defensive player of the year
Polley - became Big East sixth man of the year
Bouknight - Lottery pick after sophomore year in spite of the elbow surgery that derailed his second year
Andre Jackson - Huge improvement year one to year two, looking forward to more
Sanogo - first team all Big East after sophomore year
Cole - first team all Big East after second year at UCONN
Hawkins - Huge improvement during the course of his first year, was really coming on strong before the concussion
Martin.- should have made one of the all Big East team's, the consensus on this board was he got robbed.
Carlton - improved quite a bit under Hurley. Sanogo and Whaley blocked him from getting PT at UCONN so it's understandable that he transferred but he showed year over year improvement and found a great second home.

and BTW Hurley did win two NCAA tournament games at URI which is not easy to do, obviously he was developing talent there too. The URI program reverted back to Shiite after he left.

 

[Dean Wormer]

I’ve been on this board long enough that I shouldn’t be surprised by idiotic ____ being beaten into the ground but somehow posts like this still catch my attention. I feel like Mugatu in Zoolander.

That statement was Hurley crediting the departing seniors for sticking with the program thru some pretty bleak times, which is an objectively true thing that happened. He didn’t put anything on Ollie. He didn’t blame this season on Ollie. People who are posting ____ like this just want to hear themselves talk. It’s untethered from reality.

Yeah, right. Why bring it up at all? Nobody cares. He didn't inherit the Titanic and resurrect a dead program, at least IMO he didn't. The buck stops with him now. Give your seniors their props, thank them for a job well done, but stop acting like you're the martyr who was brought in to save the program We were UConn before DH, and we will be UConn during and after him. He's not doing us any favors.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Looking at this roster and matching it with any that made a deep run in the past, I see Sanogo in 2014 as being the only realistic argument of one of this team's starters being a starter if he were part if that team.

Yes, the head coach in college basketball is responsible for procuring the talent and that falls on Hurley. Anyone claiming that this was a team capable of competing with some of our better teams under Calhoun is either being intentionally moronic or it just comes naturally.

Martin and Whaley could have played for the 2014 team. Probably Cole too.

I think this was a good team, and the season was a disappointment before the New Mexico State loss. I think UConn should have been a Top 10-15 team all season. The program is nowhere near Calhoun-in-his-prime-caliber reloading rather than rebuilding. UConn needs to make every season count until it gets to that point again.

 

[Madmannsucks]

You have no idea.

I was at the Civic Center in early November 1989 for a doubleheader in the Big East-ACC Challenge. We just returned from the Great Alaska Shootout, lost the first game to a run of the mill Texas A&M (probably third or fourth best Texas school then) and were the second game of the doubleheader (Pitt vs iirc Clemson was the first).

Throughout the first game all i heard was "We should have hired Penders, he was able to take URI Tto the sweet 16". "Calhoun couldn't make the tournament with Robinson, how can he do it without him?". "He yells too much on the sideline. The players can't play their best because they are too afraid of him. A coach like Shabel gets the best from the kids.".

In a game late in the 1992-1993 season the comments were "Calipari and UMass are ahead of us." "Calhoun took then as far as he could. It's time to move on.".

A few years later it was "Yeah, he can recruit and build very good teams from November to February but he can't win big games in the tournament.".

The existence of a good amount of miserable fans who will always complain that whatever they have seen hasn't been good enough predates social media by decades. They are far from a majority but they are loud enough in their complaints that they make it appear that they represent the entirety of the fan base.

You are of course, referring to Toby Wes....LOL.

 

[auror]

Martin and Whaley could have played for the 2014 team. Probably Cole too.

I think this was a good team, and the season was a disappointment before the New Mexico State loss. I think UConn should have been a Top 10-15 team all season. The program is nowhere near Calhoun-in-his-prime-caliber reloading rather than rebuilding. UConn needs to make every season count until it gets to that point again.

I think if Hawkins had been legit (and available) you could make an argument for top 15. Without him or with him only making 1/3 from 3, the team was just too thin and too sparse on scorers and shooting. 3 respected shooters out of the entire 7 man rotation is just not enough.

I know you're not a proponent of needing 5 shooters, but you need at least 3 on the court at all times, and our 3rd shooter was so limited that we didn't want to start him because he can't rebound and was a minus defender. Far too often we only had 2 respected shooters on the court.

 

[Milo65]

Does anyone here think that the Ollie situation would be different if in his second year, UConn moved back to the Big East?

 

[Connecticut13]

Does anyone here think that the Ollie situation would be different if in his second year, UConn moved back to the Big East?

No, he was a train wreck.

 

[Kathy]

Does anyone here think that the Ollie situation would be different if in his second year, UConn moved back to the Big East?

We'll never know will we?

 

[mauconnfan]

lol I wonder what this board would’ve said of Jim Calhouns first 13 years as UConn’s coach

Pretty proud quite honestly so your assumptions are way off. You must be clueless to Husky history to even post this.

 

[freescooter]

During Bouknight's visit in February he posted that tweet to Hurley paraphrasing "if not for you this doesn't happen" I believe referring to his NBA career. Hurley is a terrific developer of talent and good players want to play for him. Sorry if that doesn't fit your agenda but it is true.

Josh Carlton says hi. Diggins would too, but he can’t find his way out of the hole he’s in.

 

[Chief00]

KO had pretty good in game coaching instincts. Given everything going on in his life at the time, he was not a good program builder type guy. The transfer out issue was something I could not fully understand. I think today, you need to give kids that age more attention (and Hurley certainly does that). KO took a more pro style hands-off off court approach.

 

[freescooter]

Looking at this roster and matching it with any that made a deep run in the past, I see Sanogo in 2014 as being the only realistic argument of one of this team's starters being a starter if he were part if that team.

Yes, the head coach in college basketball is responsible for procuring the talent and that falls on Hurley. Anyone claiming that this was a team capable of competing with some of our better teams under Calhoun is either being intentionally moronic or it just comes naturally.

That Is a straw man argument. Our best teams blow this one out of the building. But THIS team lost to New Mexico State, a 12 seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This is the second consecutive year a Hurley coached team lost to a higher seed.

The Calhoun comparisons are just foolish. Once again, In his first year Calhoun took over a terrible team. By year 4 he was in the Elite 8. And he played in a far better conference than the current NOOBIE. Here are some of the coaches at the time. Jim Boeheim, John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, Rick Pitino, PJ Carlissimo, Rollie Masamino, Jim O’Brien. That just gives you a taste of what that league was like. In Year 4 there were 4 top 10, not top 25, teams in that league. Oh, and he Only lost a first round game 1 time. Dan Hurley has now done it twice.

And just for the record, he took Northeastern from D2 to D1 and within 2 years had them in the NCAA tournament. I might suggest that is a tougher jump than AAC to the NOOB. He missed In 1979 because under the rule at the time Northeastern wasn’t eligible as a transitional team though they won their league.

Please stop trying to defend young Dan by comparing his “accomplishments” to Calhoun’s. It just embarrasses you and indicates how modest young Dan’s list really is.

 

[Scoe]

Here’s a fact Hurley is 0-2 in tournament games for UConn, he hasn’t coached to his seed.

 

[metsfan2323]

Josh Carlton says hi. Diggins would too, but he can’t find his way out of the hole he’s in.

Carlton was blocked by a first team all Big East performer this year. He saw the handwriting on the wall and found a better situation for himself. Nothing wrong with that and certainly not a knock on Hurley.

and do we need to list all of the Freshman that barely played for Calhoun? How about McDonalds All American Scott Hazelton, damn that Calhoun if only he gave Hazelton a chance. (sarcasm off)

 

[AntG168]

Here’s a fact Hurley is 0-2 in tournament games for UConn, he hasn’t coached to his seed.

But we know he’s capable as he’s coached above his seed at URI

 

[Kathy]

Carlton was blocked by a first team all Big East performer this year. He saw the handwriting on the wall and found a better situation for himself. Nothing wrong with that and certainly not a knock on Hurley.

and do we need to list all of the Freshman that barely played for Calhoun? How about McDonalds All American Scott Hazelton, damn that Calhoun if only he gave Hazelton a chance. (sarcasm off)

Josh was POY in the AAC and is going to the sweet 16. He transferred partly because his style of game didn't fit Danny's offense. Sampson let him play to his strengths and he flourished.