I’ve defended Hurley thus far

[UC77]

But forbearance time is officially over.

He needs to have his seat turned up to blast furnace levels of hot. I can deal with losses but the sheer number of times his teams are simply unprepared in ALL PHASES is too much to continue to overlook.

If we miss the tournament this season I’d not be opposed to moving on. Because right now the program is going nowhere.

Another thing - he’s shown zero professional growth from his URI days. Zero. Doesn’t seem to understand he’s dealing with a whole other level of talent and competitive drive in the high major ranks.

He's the worst game coach. How can he tell Andre Jackson to pick his moments for acceleration when he's on one speed on the bench all the time instead of watching and adapting like Jay Wright? Villanova came out of a timeout and put up 5 points and buried UConn. This isn't high school and emoting from the bench ain't gonna get it done ...

 

[EnochRoot]

What an absolutely nutty thing to reference. There is no one on this roster in the same stratosphere as Kemba, or even Lamb for that matter. Shabazz as a freshman is probably on Cole’s current level. Roscoe, Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel were great role players as well.

And wasn't Shabazz primarily used as Kemba's backup that year (except for three guard sets)?

 

[CTBballfan243]

But forbearance time is officially over.

He needs to have his seat turned up to blast furnace levels of hot. I can deal with losses but the sheer number of times his teams are simply unprepared in ALL PHASES is too much to continue to overlook.

If we miss the tournament this season I’d not be opposed to moving on. Because right now the program is going nowhere.

Another thing - he’s shown zero professional growth from his URI days. Zero. Doesn’t seem to understand he’s dealing with a whole other level of talent and competitive drive in the high major ranks.

UConn can’t shoot and doesn’t have a consistent outside shooter that can knock down shots at crunch time. It’s really that simple. Villanova knock down shots when they needed to. UConn couldn’t

 

[tentoes4rings]

When we hired Hurley an old friend who is a big URI fan, played for them in the day, told me Hurley wasn’t the guy. If he has better talent he will win but if he needs to get the most out of his guys he will spit the bit every time. I didn’t think so, but now I kinda do.

And it isn’t just losing 2 straight. It is St Johns taking us to OT. Struggling with DePaul, losing to Creighton. Being embarrassed by Villanova

And we were VERY lucky to even push that St John’s game to OT. Needed a defensive rebound and an old fashioned three very late.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I think the further we are removed from players, specifically ones who’ve won championship, the more mystified they become. Meaning we tend to remember them as better than they actually were. I think that happens in all sports. I say this to say, I think cole may have produced similarly bazz’s role. But I don’t believe freshman Bazz would have performed as well as Cole is performing in his role. Concluding that Cole is the better player. Now we both know how this ends. Cole and Bazz shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence in terms of the players the actually became.

Yeah, I mean i’m not trying to come off as a Cole hater at all. He’s far and away our most important and impactful player, which is unfortunate for him. Bazz was just so creative and forceful in his movements, and I think that’s one are where Cole lacks. He hesitates too much when getting past his defender, and often gets caught in two minds. I think that has to do with no one moving to give him a passing lane though. The team is just so static.

 

[August_West]

Being disappointed is understandable and justified, coaching needs to get better right now but putting Hurley on the hot seat is a huge over reaction.

Hurley isn’t and shouldn’t be on a hot seat or even close.

That’s a true statement.

And also a sobering one if you weigh it.

 

[Brochacho]

The thing with Hurley is he crushes the bad teams, but struggles with anything that resembles a tournament team. We win 36% of the time vs Kenpom top 100 teams and 90% vs 101+ Kenpom teams. Record vs top 100 Kenpom by year:

2019: 4-15 (21%)
2020: 5-9 (36%)
2021: 8-8 (50%)
2022: 4-6 (40%)

I was hoping we could continue the upward trend. Plenty of games left, but I hope he continues to improve and recruit better players.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Threads like this are embarrassing to the fan base.

We are not firing our head coach. He’s brought us out of the cellar of darkness so much faster than we could’ve anticipated. He’d be the best available Head coach available if we did.

There’s problems, he needs to solve them. This team is seriously flawed, but also tournament bound. I’m guessing he’s learned that hurt feelings need to be part of the job if he wants to improve the roster. The S16 and E8 expectations start next year, there won’t be any excuses with a roster full of his experienced guys.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Yeah, I mean i’m not trying to come off as a Cole hater at all. He’s far and away our most important and impactful player, which is unfortunate for him. Bazz was just so creative and forceful in his movements, and I think that’s one are where Cole lacks. He hesitates too much when getting past his defender, and often gets caught in two minds. I think that has to do with no one moving to give him a passing lane though. The team is just so static.

RJ Cole is not the problem by any means. He’s not a perfect player but if he had a good PG with him, he’d look even better. He’s a great shooter off the ball, when his feet are set behind the line. Unless Diggins gets developed into a reliable player who can give us 10 plus quality minutes per game, I don’t see this team going very far in March.

 

[jibsey]

It's the Big East. It's a gauntlet. We've won all the games we're supposed to win except for Creighton (and maybe Providence but turns out nobody can beat them so...). One tough loss where we played poorly is what it is and doesn't reflect on the coach much. If the Creighton loss had been stuck in the middle of the 5 game winning streak is anyone calling Hurley's seat hot today?? We're 6-4 and favorites in 6 of the next 8 games. We'll lose more than 2 probably because we're only small favorites in a couple, but it's wild the doomsayers. Kansas lost by 20 at home the other day. Baylor lost 3 of 6. We lost by 11 on the road.

Game wasn't that close actually.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

RJ Cole is not the problem by any means. He’s not a perfect player but if he had a good PG with him, he’d look even better. He’s a great shooter off the ball, when his feet are set behind the line. Unless Diggins gets developed into a reliable player who can give us 10 plus quality minutes per game, I don’t see this team going very far in March.

Well we know for a fact Diggins will sniff no where near 10 mins. He may not play again this year honestly, we have a knack for close games.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Things working against DH. He's constructed an abysmal group of guards. As bad as we've had. It may not be much better next year. It's almost as bad as the forwards and centers at the end of KOs tenure.

Things that hurt KO that has yet to be a problem for DH. Transfers. Very few under DH's watch.

I actually think it was the annual transfers that got KO fired. Until that starts to happen to DH, I don't think there should be serious concerns of DH getting let go.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Well we know for a fact Diggins will sniff no where near 10 mins. He may not play again this year honestly, we have a knack for close games.

So what does that say about his recruitment? That’s effectively two PGs on the roster who collectively bring very little to the table. We already know what we have in Gaffney and it’s not great.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Things working against DH. He's constructed an abysmal group of guards. As bad as we've had. It may not be much better next year. It's almost as bad as the forwards and centers at the end of KOs tenure.

Things that hurt KO that has yet to be a problem for DH. Transfers. Very few under DH's watch.

I actually think it was the annual transfers that got KO fired. Until that starts to happen to DH, I don't think there should be serious concerns of DH getting let go.

We need to recruit more day 1, ready to go players. Apparently Diggins and Samson aren’t that. But DH does laude Samson Johnson. Maybe he’ll turn out really good. Gotta develop him though. Can’t play him 4 mins then say that’s all you get.

 

[navery12]

Things working against DH. He's constructed an abysmal group of guards. As bad as we've had. It may not be much better next year. It's almost as bad as the forwards and centers at the end of KOs tenure.

Things that hurt KO that has yet to be a problem for DH. Transfers. Very few under DH's watch.

I actually think it was the annual transfers that got KO fired. Until that starts to happen to DH, I don't think there should be serious concerns of DH getting let go.

It's definitely abysmal this year but I think it's too early to judge next year's group of guards when we have at least 2 open scholarships next year, both of which seem very likely to go to guards in the transfer portal to contribute

 

[MexicoHusky]

We need to recruit more day 1, ready to go players. Apparently Diggins and Samson aren’t that. But DH does laude Samson Johnson. Maybe he’ll turn out really good. Gotta develop him though. Can’t play him 4 mins then say that’s all you get.

Id be curious to hear DHs unfiltered thoughts on Hawkins and Diggins. I gotta assume he thought they'd be contributing more at this point.

 

[Hoophound]

We need some guards/wings that can penetrate and shoot. Floyd, Karaban and Castle are great additions and they should help over the next couple of seasons.

There definitely seems to be a lack of discipline on offense with sloppy screens and some bad decisions. However, you really only need to look at our players to see the true limitations. Cole is great but too small to really do much near the rim. AJ can’t shoot or even take a conventional layup if there is a defender near him and our best shooter (whether you think it is Polley or Hawkins) can’t make open shots consistently. This team has a lot of talent, but not the right talent in the right places to beat really good teams. The only way we are solving this is if suddenly guys start making a lot more open shots. It’s happened to teams before. We’ll see.

 

[ucp990411]

There are just so many little things that could make a big difference. Talking more! No reason for Hawkins to be stripped from behind. Don’t throw lazy passes crosscourt. Make layups! These aren’t things that you need exceptional talent for.

Can't blame the strip on Hawkins. He had no idea the guy was coming behind him. Gaffney was 10 ft away watching the play and did not tell him. He immediately came out and I do not think he ever went back in.

 

[Hoophound]

Id be curious to hear DHs unfiltered thoughts on Hawkins and Diggins. I gotta assume he thought they'd be contributing more at this point.

I think he’s afraid to leave his comfort zone with the lineup. It is resulting in undeveloped young players and tired older ones.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Can't blame the strip on Hawkins. He had no idea the guy was coming behind him. Gaffney was 10 ft away watching the play and did not tell him. He immediately came out and I do not think he ever went back in.

Of course he did, he hit 2 or 3 threes after that.

 

[willie99]

He's seemingly on the wrong end of coaching matchups

Izzo, McDermott, Wright, Willard gave gotten the best of him

Kids never play when guys playing do NOTHING

I'm disappointed too

 

[AntG168]

He's seemingly on the wrong end of coaching matchups

Izzo, McDermott, Wright, Willard gave gotten the best of him

Kids never play when guys playing do NOTHING

I'm disappointed too

Izzo and wright are to be expected. And I’m not sure McDermott and Willard “out coached” him. They may have, but if they did it wasn’t by some wide margin

 

[Umami Zen]

Its a marathon-Not a sprint.--Lets talk at the end of the season .OK?

 

[willie99]

Anyone else tired of Hurley saying we're good after losses?

Win games, you won't need to say a word

 

[UconnFanDC]

We're not missing the tournament, Hurley is not a bad coach although he's been out coached at times. Sometimes, we're just out played. But he's been out coached by all.more experience and talented coaches.

I am sure we all thought Polley returning would have been a sure double digit scorer. Many of "you" were high on Jackson, he's not going to give us consistent offense. Lets just hope this team grows from their first double digit loss.