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Hurley threads (merged)

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Maybe also of resources — is it possible for the team to get some high powered shooting consultant to work with him for the rest of the season? I have no idea what resources are like for additional support like that but the current coaches don’t seem to be getting him there fast enough.

It takes months, really years, to improve your shot. The best coach in the world isn't going to change Andre's shot for the better by the end of month.
 
This was a team that started the season unranked, had a hot weekend on a neutral court and then has more or less played to reasonable expectations.

Sweet 16 and BET finals are my criteria for a successful season but I don't see how that can be baseline expectations. Particularly with this current team.

And again, go through the country and find programs that are in the sweet 16 every season I think you'd walk away and realize it's just not that easy.
So in year 5 of a rebuild your expectations weren’t even a S16? And you don’t see an issue with that? Rebuilds dont take 10 years. Look how fast Oats and Muss got Bama and Arkansas cooking.
 
I notice not many of the double big obsessors weigh in on this AJ convo. Can they admit double big has no chance of working with AJ in the lineup?

Giving 10mpg from AJ to Clingan might be the best solution.

We are still good. A 3 pt loss at Creighton is not a bad loss. Getting over the hump doesn’t require a complete tear down just an adjustment on the margins.
 
It is such a simple answer but I’ll say it.…

Learn to set a good screen! Not a moving screen but a SCREEN.

We don’t run enough of them to break our shooters free - we give up as the game goes on and then we have all our good shooters locked up - today it especially hurt it because with Newton refusing to shoot, and AJ being AJ, it was 3 on 5.
Lousy screens, and never - NEVER - a double screen. Why? I know I preach this ad nauseum, but why aren't fundamentals taught before the season starts?

John Wooden, "It's the little things that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
 
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Think the only thing he is capable of is the one thing he is afraid to do and that’s drive at the basket and try to draw fouls. I’m not sure he can do anything else. He can’t hit floaters or any jump shot so just use your athletic ability to force the defense to foul you or draw enough attention to dump it off to big…
His missed floaters drive me crazy. He usually does the hard part to get in position for pearl drop but then misses. Maddening
 
I think it can be boiled down further to:

We are far too frequently less than the sum our parts. And that is squarely on coaching.
Maybe the parts aren't as good -- or as mentally or physically capable of getting it done in winning time -- as you think.

Now, they're Hurley's recruits, so he bears blame in that regard, but that's different than it being a coaching problem.
 
Lousy screens, and never - NEVER - a double screen. Why? I know I preach this ad nauseum, but why aren't fundamentals taught before the season starts?

John Wooden, "It's the little things that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
Thank you for your comments - was starting to think I was the only one seeing this.

Especially with AJ, if you aren‘t gong to shoot because of issues then become the “Dr. of good screens” and free up Hawkins, Karaban and Newton to do what they do,


What frustrates me the most is the lack of adjustments as the game goes on either.…. Okay no one has been open for a shot in the 2nd half except AJ….

The answer isn’t to have AJ heave up the ball but rather start running some screens/double screens.

If I could coach UConn Basketball for 1 practice session that is all I would do for 2 hrs.
 
Again, that would make sense if it was over a season, maybe a couple seasons where it was a bad mix of players. This is now 5 seasons of it with a bunch of different players who simply don't win close games.
The 1st season was a wash, picking up KO's trash. The 2nd season was cut short due to COVID and we were turning the corner.

So now let's talk about seasons 3-5. Jackson and Sanogo were there for all 3. Cole, Martin, Whaley, and Polley for 2. Hawkins for 2. Bouknight for the first one.

How many different "mixes" of players have we really been able to assess? It's uncomfortable to say, but maybe these guys just don't have the mental toughness to get it done. Hawkins and Jackson don't exactly scream "cool under pressure".

Let's see how the Castle class performs (imagine him in Jackson's place, goodness), with guys like Karaban and Clingan as lineup anchors.
 
It's the TRENDS that are concerning here with road losses, not this loss in particular.
This ^

And imo it’s the way we r loosing. My frustration comes from the fact this game was winnable with better substitutions/scheme/coaching.

Loosing to team that’s just better sucks but isn’t demoralizing, it’s reality. This game on the other hand….
 
There's really no way for any of us to know if he can ever become an effective 3 point shooter. There's all different kinds of development with shooting. Most of the good three point shooters are born to be shooters. Obviously for most it also takes a lot of work and development. For some, no matter how much you practice it, they just will never be good shooters.

Right now though, he's not somebody who should be shooting threes. He has no history that shows he can do it, his form doesn't suggest he can do it, and the statistic agree (27%) that he shouldn't be shooting it. Other teams WANT him shooting threes.

What to do with him is one of the biggest challenges for Hurley right now. It seems to me that he should be a screener. If his guy is not guarding him then if he sets a good screen, we should get an open shot. Hurley has to come up with ways that he doesn't hurt us offensively, or Andre needs to sit more. I feel terrible for the kid, he has to feel a ton of pressure right now. Maybe if he can just get some successes and see the ball go through the hoop, he can break out of where he's at right now. That would be best for him and the team.
 
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I'm of the belief that there have to be ways of taking advantage of a defense completely ignoring an opposing player and people who make a living running a top level college basketball program should be able to find more methods than I can.

One thing I see as a pretty straightforward way to take advantage of this (we kind of did this against Marquette) would be to setup AJ alone on one side (ideally exactly opposite Hawkins, to make it more difficult to double Hawkins with AJ's man), with a big in the free throw circle, three shooters outside the three point line (opposite side of Jackson). This should allow AJ a free path to the hoop and the opportunity for the big to screen whoever would attempt to rotate to defend AJ. Any decent pass from one of the three 'shooters' should lead to Jackson alone under the basket with the ball.
 
This ^

And imo it’s the way we r loosing. My frustration comes from the fact this game was winnable with better substitutions/scheme/coaching.

Loosing to team that’s just better sucks but isn’t demoralizing, it’s reality. This game on the other hand….
If Hawkins makes this open runner/layup we win the game:


Basically nothing else changes (we still play aggressive D down 1, we still probably foul them, they miss the FTs the same, we hit the shot to win it).
 
If A.J. puts his mind to it, he can be a good shooter.....but he has to want it bad enough. Its not a question of can he do it....its a question of desire.

It’s not.

You can work your ass off and not become a decent shooter….Taliek, Ricky Moore, etc.

He’s a junior in college - it’s not going to happen.
 
The 1st season was a wash, picking up KO's trash. The 2nd season was cut short due to COVID and we were turning the corner.

So now let's talk about seasons 3-5. Jackson and Sanogo were there for all 3. Cole, Martin, Whaley, and Polley for 2. Hawkins for 2. Bouknight for the first one.

How many different "mixes" of players have we really been able to assess? It's uncomfortable to say, but maybe these guys just don't have the mental toughness to get it done. Hawkins and Jackson don't exactly scream "cool under pressure".

Let's see how the Castle class performs (imagine him in Jackson's place, goodness), with guys like Karaban and Clingan as lineup anchors.
What guys have under Hurley? It’s unfair to say that about this group when all of his groups have been like this.
 
How is it the coaches have coached both but Adama has learned to shoot the 3 but Jackson can’t?
 
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I suggested a month ago that we should start Clingan in Andre’s spot and everyone laughed at me. I think it is still the right thing to do … Clingan +5 or 7 minutes per game, Andre -5 or 7 minutes a game.
That said it is not going to happen. Hurley is a loyal to a fault, and he will stand by AJ.
 
So in year 5 of a rebuild your expectations weren’t even a S16? And you don’t see an issue with that? Rebuilds dont take 10 years. Look how fast Oats and Muss got Bama and Arkansas cooking.

No? Being unranked I figured the baseline was making the tournament.

Oates is one of your examples? He's made 1 sweet 16 (in which he got bounced by the 11 as a 2 seed) and then got bounced opening weekend last year. Not to mention we ran them out of the gym at PK85.

And great you can cite Musselman.

And again I'd ask you what programs success or trajectory is a fair comparison to ours?
 
What about posting AJax up?

I don’t recall that being thrown out there? Of course effective if he can or is willing to shoot or try to go through contact and draw a foul. I really would like to see him post up 3 times a game. Back to the basket. No way could be worse than the status quo.

Also in low post could theoretically give him the opportunity for nice passes.
 
The 1st season was a wash, picking up KO's trash. The 2nd season was cut short due to COVID and we were turning the corner.

So now let's talk about seasons 3-5. Jackson and Sanogo were there for all 3. Cole, Martin, Whaley, and Polley for 2. Hawkins for 2. Bouknight for the first one.

How many different "mixes" of players have we really been able to assess? It's uncomfortable to say, but maybe these guys just don't have the mental toughness to get it done. Hawkins and Jackson don't exactly scream "cool under pressure".

Let's see how the Castle class performs (imagine him in Jackson's place, goodness), with guys like Karaban and Clingan as lineup anchors.
Jalen Adams, Alterique, Vital, Carlton, Whaley, Polley...

Bouknight, Gaffney, Akok added to those guys...

RJ, Tyrese, Sanogo, Jackson...

Hawkins added to those guys, other freshman were busts or haven't produced yet

Clingan, Karaban, RJ, Joey, Diarra added

We've had three different cores of players who were our best players and all of them have been awful in close games.

Every team in the country had to deal with Covid.
 
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.
 
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I think its a timing management thing with Andre. Like he needs to be leashed at certain critical times. The 2nd half of the 2nd half yesterday in a tight game. The 6th and 7th miss in the first few minutes of the Xavier game. All those times you find yourself screaming, "No, Andre, not again, not right now!" Are usually the times he shouldn't be experimenting with shooting or shot-putting.

Now when Adama was doubled and Andre snuck along the baseline for a pass and dunk. That was a thing of beauty. Thats the offense we need from him.
 
Well he tried that yesterday with his god awful floaters from 12 ft out. I hate that shot so much. It comes out of his hand extremely flat and he leaves it short 80% of the time.
I find myself thinking he Hass to be incredibly coordinated to actually sink those mechanically flawed shots.
 
No? Being unranked I figured the baseline was making the tournament.

Oates is one of your examples? He's made 1 sweet 16 (in which he got bounced by the 11 as a 2 seed) and then got bounced opening weekend last year. Not to mention we ran them out of the gym at PK85.

And great you can cite Musselman.

And again I'd ask you what programs success or trajectory is a fair comparison to ours?
Hurley was the one constantly talking about final fours and championships by season 4. He was the one letting everyone know they better get us now because it's coming...

What exactly is coming? Those teams are all still routinely beating us, we haven't won a Big East regular season. It's season 5 and we still haven't even made a Big East tournament final, haven't won a single NCAA tournament game, and are going to have our worst Big East regular season finish since Hurley has been here.
 
The Andre dilemma has been discussed quite thoroughly, but aside from giving him fewer minutes there really has been no constructive solution offered.

Most posters are saying Hurley should give some combination of Allyene, Diarra or Clingan more minutes at the expense of Jackson.

This approach, of course, comes with pros and cons and many variables.

But even if his minutes were reduced, Jackson will play significant minutes going forward. Rebounding, defense, energy against his lack of offense is the dilemma.

My question is, what should be done when Ajax has the ball at the three point line and his defender is sagging way off and disrupting the offense?

Seriously, what can be done? Jackson can shoot, and probably needs to take the shot at least a few times a game, but that has most often not helped the team.

Instead, what sort of play or action can free sanogo or Hawkins? What is newton’s role in that situation? is there a way for Hurley to counter that defensive strategy? What are the Xs and Os here to result in a quality shot?

We haven’t seen a consistent answer yet in the games or on this board so I’m throwing it out there.
As soon as Andre gets the ball they sag off him. Either park under the basket or drive to it.
 
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