Hurley's Achilles heel

[dennismenace]

I think DH's older XnO guy is the HS coach sitting behind the bench

I'm glad someone had the courage to post this. Coaches (and many other successful people) seem to have a hard time letting go. JC for all intents and purposes maneuvered KO into position so it became difficult to go with someone else.

There are enough basketball minds around and in our program to come up with a solution as long as there is enough humility to say "we (I) need help here." Let's hope the powers that be reach a consensus on problems and support options that can help Dan and the team. I don't think there is much of a problem with the talent on that team. And any shortage of talent (ball handling) can be overcome with the depth and coaching they have. And when this team was flat (and "embarrassing') it should not take a whole half and half time to light a fire.

 

[auror]

Sure, but we played mostly 4 out. That was the mistake. Especially once Kalk went out. That was the time to make sure we overloaded the post. They couldn't have stopped it. It would take at least 3 guys to defend both Sanogo and Whaley down low. If we don't want two in the post then we have to constantly cycle Whaley, Martin, Jackson as cutters to the rim when the ball goes in to Sanogo.

They had 4 defenders in the paint. It was difficult to get passes in there as is with 4 out. With 2 bigs downlow it would have been extra clogged. We rebounded well offensively in 2nd half anyways, but didn't finish on said boards.

 

[imno1]

To me Hurley seems to have two major flaws - - (1) his teams play tight. I really hope he hasn’t crushed Hawkins’ confidence. If I am not mistaken this kid was the Maryland high school player of the year. That’s right, the number one kid in an incredibly fertile basketball area, one of the best in the country. And now how does he look? Sure, the competition level is far different but plenty of similar credentialed frosh are contributing. Just think back to how he played in the Auburn game (and the whole team in fact played in the Bahamas and they were under duress there including playing without Whaley against MSU), just seems like this version of Hawk is pretty far from that one. I am focusing on Jordan in my example but the whole team seems tight to me especially when things start to go bad. Not enough joy!

(2) the half court offense is a mess, it just is. Thankfully we are an outrageously good rebounding team but man, our sets! Very hard to watch. Also, Hurley is set on the same substitution pattern. I like the Polley starting suggestion just to flip the script a bit but I really worry about scoring points. We aren’t running enough and we don’t get enough easy buckets.

Taking out the CCSU / LIU type games (6), we are averaging 74 pts/game with 4 of the 14 going to OT and one of those 2OT. We have only broken 80 points 4 times so far, 3 of which required OT and one being the Auburn 2 OT game.

We need to score more and more easily in the half court. Are we breaking 60 tomorrow?

Crushed Hawkins confidence? He plays regularly and has more minutes than our other freshmen. Then we rub his head and pat his back when he comes out. Not that it matters but I’m tired of this narrative.
The team has not preformed well on offense the last couple of games but we are second in the BE in scoring. Even in BE only games we are 3rd. Our issue in close games is other than an undersized Cole we have no one who can go one on one with their defender Except maybe Tyrese. They should clear out for Martin more and let him try although he’s not a great at the rim finisher. In hindsight and I know he’s young but maybe CFjr should have played this year.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

McDermott gave everyone the playbook and going small does help with it. Limit touches by Sanogo and try to make Cole shoot poorly. Make the rest of the team beat you.

I txted to my sister, "He's challenging Whaley to score 30."

Earlier, I've written, "Cole can do anything. Just don't ask him to or make do everything."

I think DH's older XnO guy is the HS coach sitting behind the bench

After the game, I txted to my sister, "I'm picturing a split-screen of Bob Sr. & Greg during their next phone call laughing, and McDermott saying, 'Yeah, he still doesn't get it, but when he does, he'll beat me every time. Hope it isn't anytime soon'."

I save my hottest takes for family.

 

[Huskybass]

Crushed Hawkins confidence? He plays regularly and has more minutes than our other freshmen. Then we rub his head and pat his back when he comes out. Not that it matters but I’m tired of this narrative.
The team has not preformed well on offense the last couple of games but we are second in the BE in scoring. Even in BE only games we are 3rd. Our issue in close games is other than an undersized Cole we have no one who can go one on one with their defender Except maybe Tyrese. They should clear out for Martin more and let him try although he’s not a great at the rim finisher. In hindsight and I know he’s young but maybe CFjr should have played this year.

You raise lots of good points. This is Cole's team. He needs to pick his spots to drive, and know when to drive and dish. A few of those resulting in a Hawkins 3 and a Polley 3 changes the whole feel of the game and potentially helps open up things down low. FWIW, I am also eager to see what CF Jr can do. Karaban too.

 

[nycscooby]

Crushed Hawkins confidence? He plays regularly and has more minutes than our other freshmen. Then we rub his head and pat his back when he comes out. Not that it matters but I’m tired of this narrative.
The team has not preformed well on offense the last couple of games but we are second in the BE in scoring. Even in BE only games we are 3rd. Our issue in close games is other than an undersized Cole we have no one who can go one on one with their defender Except maybe Tyrese. They should clear out for Martin more and let him try although he’s not a great at the rim finisher. In hindsight and I know he’s young but maybe CFjr should have played this year.

Yes I think his confidence is way down. Just watch his body language. And how his teammates react to his mistakes. He is a border line rotation player at the moment. I wish it wasn’t the case but it is what it is… for now.

 

[tower1]

Hurley is a great coach, and I firmly believe he's THE RIGHT GUY for our program long-term. Having said that, it's fair to discuss areas for improvement.
For me, Hurley's biggest weakness, his "Achilles heel", is when the other team goes to a small line-up, as he ALWAYS feels compelled to match an opponent small-for-small.

Hurley appears to prioritize the team's defense, assuming he needs to match a small lineup defensively with our own small line-up to avoid mismatches against our bigs. However, by matching small-for-small, he ignores any offensive advantage we'd have with a big (like Sanogo) dominating the opponent's smaller lineup down low.

Our team's strength is the front court depth and offensive rebounding. Going small negates these strengths and hurts the team... it eliminates any rebounding advantage, puts our forwards out of position, and puts more pressure on our guards to break down defenders (which is a weakness for the team, outside of Cole). Hurley is essentially playing RIGHT into the opponents hands by matching-up small and letting them dictate OUR lineup and offense.

When opponents go small, Hurley should be punishing opponents by playing Sanogo... have him post up EVERY OFFENSIVE possession and feed him. Sanogo's shooting percentages are good enough to make them pay over time. He should force our opponent to adjust to us instead of the other way around.

Instead, Hurley continues to match small-for-small line-ups, and the team struggles. This is nothing new. Last night was yet another example in a long series of Hurley matching small-for-small lineups. Sanogo didn't shoot well last night (3-10) and didn't assert himself to get better position closer to the hoop, but he was missing for large stretches late in the second half last night with Creighton not playing a true center (injured). It's a simple fact that this team is better when Sanogo is playing.

Let's look back at some of the other recent instances last year where this occurred...

• L vs St. Johns (1/18/21): St. Johns did not have a true center, Hurley only played Sanogo 18 mins, absent most of the second half, despite dominating when in the game (12pts, 4 reb, 6-11 shooting). This resulted in a home LOSS in Gampel.
• 3x L vs Creighton ('21): Creighton rotated Mahoney (6'5"), and Ballock (6'5"), and Jefferson (6'5") at the 4 spot with Bishop (6'7") at center a lot. Kalkbrenner did come in for some minutes at center, but they played small most of the year in games against us. In 3 games vs Creighton, a freshman Sanogo only played 12 mins (5 pts, 4 reb, 2-4 shooting), 20 mins (13 pts, 5 reb, 5-9 shooting), and 21 mins (13 pts, 5 reb, 6-9 shooting). That's an average of <18 mins per game despite shooting ~60% from the field and grabbing ~5 rebounds. Obviously we got swept by Creighton last year, 3 LOSSES including the BET.
• L vs Villanova (2/20/21): Nova did not have anyone taller than 6'9" in their lineup this game. Sanogo only saw 20 mins (8 pts, 2 reb, 4-6 shooting). Loss vs Nova.
• L vs Maryland (3/20/21): Early first round exit from NCAA due to a bad match-up because Maryland EXCLUSIVELY played SMALL. Their tallest guys were 6'7" (Donta Scott) and 6'8" (Jarius Hamilton). Sanogo only played 16 minutes (!?!) despite the fact he had 2-3 inches on Maryland's tallest player. Granted, he didn't shoot great (2-7, 4 pts, 4 reb), but he needed more than 16 mins. He sat on the bench for long stretches in the second half as our season ended.

Despite this evidence of poor play and losing when going small, Hurley is as stubborn as they come and continually sitting Sanogo in those scenarios.

Opposing teams will start to scout this and take advantage, regardless of their depth at center. It's already hurt us repeatedly with no adjustment. Will that change moving forward, or will we blame another early NCAA exit on a bad match-up?

REALLY ??

 

[donyell34]

We tend to forget Hurley has never coached at this level. He is facing coaches who have coached in major conferences for decades. He's still growing and learning. Isn't this why we have JC hanging around the program?

I believe that DH would benefit from having an older X & O guy, his version of Blaney, on the bench.

I agree Pal and I'm all in with Hurley but I see many posts saying he's still growing and learning which should always be important no matter how long you've been coaching but he’s had ample experience, 2 years at Wagner, 6 at Rhody and now in his 4th year at Uconn plus years grinding in the high school ranks just saying he's got experience .

 

[husky429]

We tend to forget Hurley has never coached at this level. He is facing coaches who have coached in major conferences for decades. He's still growing and learning. Isn't this why we have JC hanging around the program?

I believe that DH would benefit from having an older X & O guy, his version of Blaney, on the bench.

That guy is already on the bench.

 

[mauconnfan]

That guy is already on the bench.

I saw the OT and thought DH was injured and we were seeing Kamani run it tomorrow

I’m scared of this matchup but hope we see the real Huskies and I have some crow with cold ones to wash it down by 2:30.

 

[gtcam]

We tend to forget Hurley has never coached at this level. He is facing coaches who have coached in major conferences for decades. He's still growing and learning. Isn't this why we have JC hanging around the program?

I believe that DH would benefit from having an older X & O guy, his version of Blaney, on the bench.

I have said for 3 years that DH needs a mentor. It is very risky to bring any coach into this level that has little experience at the level but even more so is having a guy who is so unwilling to change or seek consultation from an experienced person who worked this level. His father is not the answer at all. Regardless what the OP said, DH is far far away from being an excellent coach. He has the potential if he decides to throw out the ego and do the things he needs to do to make himself an effective game coach. He can recruit because of the inherent advantages the NBE and his family name lends him. It’s fantastic to bring in big name recruits but it’s what you do with them when they get here that counts. There’s time to find the right rotations, work on set pieces and work on those late game yips but it starts now. This team in my eyes, is too good to lose the way that they have yet at times it’s the not the talent that loses the game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I have said for 3 years that DH needs a mentor. It is very risky to bring any coach into this level that has little experience at the level but even more so is having a guy who is so unwilling to change or seek consultation from an experienced person who worked this level. His father is not the answer at all. Regardless what the OP said, DH is far far away from being an excellent coach. He has the potential if he decides to throw out the ego and do the things he needs to do to make himself an effective game coach. He can recruit because of the inherent advantages the NBE and his family name lends him. It’s fantastic to bring in big name recruits but it’s what you do with them when they get here that counts. There’s time to find the right rotations, work on set pieces and work on those late game yips but it starts now. This team in my eyes, is too good to lose the way that they have yet at times it’s the not the talent that loses the game.

I don’t know about all this. Calhoun went from Dedham high to Northeatern to UConn. What I agree with is the ego. The hubris. Being a Hurley is something Calhoun never had. Dan needs to check that at the door. He hasn’t and a range of people have coached circles around him as a result. Some humility would serve him well. He’s not maximizing his roster.

 

[Watchdog]

We tend to forget Hurley has never coached at this level. He is facing coaches who have coached in major conferences for decades. He's still growing and learning. Isn't this why we have JC hanging around the program?

I believe that DH would benefit from having an older X & O guy, his version of Blaney, on the bench.

So you want to make DH the UConn equivalent of Hardaway and Howard?

If he was embarrassed by the performance against Creighton, imagine how he'd feel if we had to put training wheels on him and put our version of a Brown or Martelli on the bench.

It was my impression we hired a solid, well prepared coach to lead the resurrection of the program, ALTHOUGH any coach should have enough self confidence and awareness to listen to others at times.