Hurley threads (merged)

[uconngb]

I am sure A.J is thinking down the road to the NBA. He needs a better outside shot to make it and may feel the pressure to prove it at the college level.

Where is this coming from?? He has ZERO chance at making it to the NBA. Just because he's a great athlete, which he is, that doesn't make him an NBA player.

 

[JB75]

Play Clingan way more and Diarra and Jackson way less. Simple.

Yeah forget about “some combination of diarra , Alleyne and clingan “basically just put clingan in for Jackson - simple. The rest of those guys are nowhere near as good as Jackson or bring as much as he brings. But again, Hurley refuses to give clingan more mins. It was almost like last year in his minutes allocation where he just continued to give Gaffney tremendous amounts of minutes -I’m having flashbacks lol. Stubborn cat

 

[UofCT]

Hurley has consistently shown that his teams end the regular season at their best. Another wrinkle that may or may not be super beneficial.

Seton Hall - Home game
Providence - Home game
@ St.Johns - Bus ride
DePaul - Home game
Nova - Bus ride
BET - Bus ride
Albany - Bus ride
MSG - Bus ride

This team does not need to deal with another flight until the Final Four.

 

[superjohn]

I feel as though everyone is being a bit disingenuous with the "year 5" comments as far as it pertains to big east and NCAA tourney comments. As you obviously know, we've only played in 2 and lost in the semis by 3 points both years. To frame it like a half decade of failings is pushing it.. same with the NCAA comment. Year 1 was a wash and we stood an outside shot of making it year 2 until COVID came..

i think it's a big year to get a win in the NCAA and hopefully the bet finals, but I'm not going to lose my mind if we don't.

maybe you can take a stab at this - what other programs should be our peers that we measure ourselves against? The way this board reads you'd think that there are 25 programs making the s16 every season.

Lost by 9 and 7 as the favorites in the tournament, never even got past Friday night in the Big East tournament. Yes, the Big East tournament losses factor into Hurley's 7-24 record in close games.

Nothing disingenuous about it, there's a bad track record. Hurley needs to break through in both tournaments this season.

Someone else provided a post with peer group programs and their tournament records. I think we're probably the best basketball school out of the peer group list and we're lacking in recent tournament success.

 

[superjohn]

Ok so both Alleyne and Diarra couldn't throw the lob. For some reason I thought it was both on Diarra. That's 4 points we should have gotten there.

Only Newton and Joey have had any success with lobs on the break I believe.

I forget the attempted lob by Alleyne but the Diarra crotch lob to Jackson wasn't the right play, Diarra and Jackson ruined that play. The play was an easy pass to Clingan as the trailer for the dunk.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Every team has the goal of winning the league and national championship. Almost every one of them fails to reach it.

Our expectations should be independent from the team's goals.

I think it’s reasonable to expect that we at least compete if that’s our goal. We aren’t even in the race as it stands.

And you’re only hitting on the championship piece. Is it okay to set a goal to not choke in the first round but then still proceed to choke?

 

[Colin G]

Would prefer winning 8 of 9 but as long as we play more than 1 tourney game I’ll be happy

 

[ThabeetDown]

Thing is, Hurley sets these expectations that he doesn’t hit. Last year we spent a whole off-season with the length of time that we didn’t score in the tournament just to get upset in the 1st round. This off-season was about winning a Big East championship and was the talk of going into conference play.

It’s not like we’re coming up with these ourselves. These are stated team goals that are not being hit.

This is what bothers me. Its HIS own goals that aren't being met, and quite frankly, not coming close. We're 3-4 games short of competing for a BE title right now. We're 8-7 in the BE, the same record as SETON HALL with a first year HC and not a very good roster. That is embarrassing. If you switch the Hall/SJU/one other games, we're 11-4 and in the thick of it -- all you can ask for and no complaints. Those 3 games are the difference and I'm fed up with not winning those games that separate us. The 13-6 last year should have been the floor for this team in conference play and best case we'll be a game behind that. We went 11-6 the year before that. The fact we already have 7 losses and probably will add on another 1-2 after the non-conference we had is a massive collective failure.

Yes, ultimately what happens in March defines this program. Hurley and Co goes on a run and the 7+ losses in BE play are an afterthought. But you have to walk before you can run. Calhoun won 8 conference championships pre-1999 season. EIGHT! We can't even SNIFF one and people expect Hurley to provide excellence in March? Hurley has not show he can create a winning culture and it's getting old fast. He's had plenty of time. This team is not far off talent wise, but is well off coaching wise.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Lost by 9 and 7 as the favorites in the tournament, never even got past Friday night in the Big East tournament. Yes, the Big East tournament losses factor into Hurley's 7-24 record in close games.

Nothing disingenuous about it, there's a bad track record. Hurley needs to break through in both tournaments this season.

Someone else provided a post with peer group programs and their tournament records. I think we're probably the best basketball school out of the peer group list and we're lacking in recent tournament success.

It's been two Big East tournaments. He's 0-2 in his attempt to win one. Maybe it's me, but (paraphrasing) saying it's year 5 and not even 1 big east tournament final on the surface comes off as a bigger indictment than it really is.

That was me posting the tournament records. Point being was that it's freaking hard to get to sweet 16s even just multiple times in a decade. The level of success we had with Calhoun was an aberration that we'll never have again. I think the bar many people on here have just simply isn't attainable for non blue blood programs or programs without a sure fire HoF HC.

 

[Rico444]

Hurley has consistently shown that his teams end the regular season at their best. Another wrinkle that may or may not be super beneficial.

Seton Hall - Home game
Providence - Home game
@ St.Johns - Bus ride
DePaul - Home game
Nova - Bus ride
BET - Bus ride
Albany - Bus ride
MSG - Bus ride

This team does not need to deal with another flight until the Final Four.

They have to get a top 4 seed to get to Albany, and they have zero guarantee of being in the East region.

 

[HuskyHawk]

His seat isn't even warm, because it's a ranked team that will make the tournament for the third year in a row and because, what the hell is the alternative? There is no alternative.

That said, if he can't get to the Big East final and at least win one stinking NCAA tournament game, he needs to really closely evaluate why, and it has to start with him. Saying "the guys just didn't execute, or the guys didn't make the clutch play or shot" is fine in a given game. But if your team doesn't make clutch plays in big games for 5years in a row with lots of different guys, then it's something else.

I've shared my best guess before. I think Hurley is wound so tight that when a game is close, the team feels it, they feel the stress and it leads to second guessing themselves and making mistakes. I do think it's getting better and he's trying to keep himself and the team calm. Karaban hit a big late 3 recently. Hawkins did make that shot on Saturday, despite having an off game.

 

[Greathusky]

Where is this coming from?? He has ZERO chance at making it to the NBA. Just because he's a great athlete, which he is, that doesn't make him an NBA player.

I agree but take a look at the pre-draft boards. His name is on there.

 

[Huskybass]

The two NCAA wins were in different years at URI.

You are correct. One win each in two straight years.

 

[ThabeetDown]

It's been two Big East tournaments. He's 0-2 in his attempt to win one. Maybe it's me, but (paraphrasing) saying it's year 5 and not even 1 big east tournament final on the surface comes off as a bigger indictment than it really is.

That was me posting the tournament records. Point being was that it's freaking hard to get to sweet 16s even just multiple times in a decade. The level of success we had with Calhoun was an aberration that we'll never have again. I think the bar many people on here have just simply isn't attainable for non blue blood programs or programs without a sure fire HoF HC.

Winning a tournament game when you're a favorite two years in a row is a pretty damn low bar buddy

 

[1999GoodSon]

People complain about Jackson's shooting. But we simply are not getting good shots for our best shooters late in games.

Hawk, Karaban and Newton should be getting the ball in shooting positions down the stretch and they are not. We need to run plays for them, NOT just run our offense and hope they get the ball. Other teams know who they need to stop. We need plays that are designed to defeat the defense on Hawkins or Newton. We are just way too easy to stop down the stretch.

Right on. Throughout the Creighton 2nd half I must have yelled Baby Jordan Newton Kman 25 times. Family thought I was losing it. It's all right there. Why won't we take it?

 

[storrsroars]

I agree but take a look at the pre-draft boards. His name is on there.

I've seen him listed 3x in mocks from the past week, twice at #59, once at #31. And Hawk as high at #14 and as low as #30. There's a ton of movement yet to happen outside the top 12 or so guys.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Winning a tournament game when you're a favorite two years in a row is a pretty damn low bar buddy

Look, I hear you and while there are never any upsets ever in the NCAA tournament (fact check me there, buddy) it was a 7/10 and 5/12 game, not exactly earth shattering.

 

[Hi-Low]

Lost by 9 and 7 as the favorites in the tournament, never even got past Friday night in the Big East tournament. Yes, the Big East tournament losses factor into Hurley's 7-24 record in close games.

Nothing disingenuous about it, there's a bad track record. Hurley needs to break through in both tournaments this season.

Someone else provided a post with peer group programs and their tournament records. I think we're probably the best basketball school out of the peer group list and we're lacking in recent tournament success.

You also must give DH credit for putting a UConn team on the court by year 2 of his tenure that was a borderline Tourney team (if there had been a Tourney). It was a complete re-build from scratch that has resulted in 4 straight years of national relevance at the very least. This year is his best team by far so yes lets see how then next 6 or 7 weeks play out before rendering a verdict on this season.

 

[Matt1010]

There are a million coaches (note to Hans Springfield it is a figure is speech. No I won’t give you a list of the million coaches) who can recruit, have great lineage and are good culture guys. Most of them get fired because they don’t win enough. My question, which none of the Hurleyites are willing to answer is how long are you willing to give him to win these games? He has had 5 years. Another 5? 2? 25? And what do you have as a standard? Is a Sweet 16 enough? An Elite 8? Final 4? National Championship? Round of 32? Here is mine: Elite 8 in the next 3 years. No excuses. Big East title within 2 years and Sweet 16. No excuses. No more 1-done tournament appearances starting now. You don’t want to be compared to Calhoun, coach at URI. You coach at Duke you’ll be compared to K. You coach at UNC you’ll be compared to Roy and Dean. UCLA and you get compared with Wooden. Indiana with Knight. You want to coach at a big time program that is the price of admission.

I'm willing to give Hurley 3 years (including this one) to make some noise in the tournament, but my main evaluating factor is going to be full season performance metrics. If over that 3YR period we average Kenpom ~15 or better, are consistently in the top 25, and show some tournament success (BET title or Sweet Sixteen plus at least another tournament win) I'll be very happy with the trajectory.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Hope Hurley is having them practice running a fast break because these guys seem clueless what they are supposed to do or just make the wrong decision. I'm not in fumes over this loss but it feels similar to the first Marquette game where the game was completely winnable but we couldnt execute down the stretch. What even was that inbound play to end the game? To me they should have had Clingan be at half court to catch it and dish to a shooter to hit a 3 to tie. It just seemed like Jackson heaved it hoping someone would catch and shoot it.

 

[Scottobot]

Records for close wins can be greatly skewed by having a clutch player in the program. Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, Khalid El Amin, and Rip Hamilton excelled in end game pressure and won many games for Calhoun. In Hurley’s era, I think Karaban is the first player he has had that has that clutch under pressure instinct. I’m not sure if Hurley recognizes this.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Look, I hear you and while there are never any upsets ever in the NCAA tournament (fact check me there, buddy) it was a 7/10 and 5/12 game, not exactly earth shattering.

We’re just not used to that at UConn.

Hell KO’s only NCAA tournament loss came to one seeded Kansas. Hurley doesn’t have any wins to stand on to have those losses on his resume.

 

[freescooter]

Every team has the goal of winning the league and national championship. Almost every one of them fails to reach it.

Our expectations should be independent from the team's goals.

I think this is not true. Most teams, even in power conferences are not really trying to win national championships. Seton Hall, Providence, they consider the season a smashing success with a win in the tournament. There is a small number of schools who actually have a national championship as a goal. Sometimes they make it, or run at it, but not always. And sometimes a Seton Hall or Loyola or St Peters makes a run, but it’s more like a magic carpet ride where everything breaks perfectly than a goal. A few coaches can impose their will on their teams…John Thomson (look at Georgetown’s record in the 20 years before Thompson absolutely no reason to think they’d become the Beast of the East) Calhoun, and a few others. The rest, deep down, are too scared to seriously think they can do such an outrageous thing.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I think Hurley is wound so tight that when a game is close, the team feels it, they feel the stress and it leads to second guessing themselves and making mistakes.

I’ve been saying this for some time. Then the quote about getting no joy, only relief, in winning was a massive tell. He’s clearly an anxious wreck, and of course a coach’s demeanor carries over to players

 

[ConnHuskBask]

We’re just not used to that at UConn.

Hell KO’s only NCAA tournament loss came to one seeded Kansas. Hurley doesn’t have any wins to stand on to have those losses on his resume.

Which is essentially my point - get used to new normal and adjust expectations accordingly.

This board is a funny place, in the sense that the same people who argue that Calhoun is the greatest college basketball coach of all time (he probably is.. him or Pitino).. are then using Calhoun's run here as the expectation of success going forward... When we're being led by... Not the greatest college coach of all time.

I went ahead and listed the last decade of our closest peer programs - nobody (maybe aside from Michigan w 6 S16) is consistently performing at a level that this board feels is 'UConn worthy'.

Hurley may ultimately not be the guy but id argue there's a better shot that the next guy is a bigger chance to fail than him. Give it time and let it breathe.