I’ve defended Hurley thus far

[Hans Sprungfeld]

And he's only been out coached by great experience coaches. He'll learn

He's had growing edges every season, and he's responded well to a number of them.

Difficulty in closing our close games has been an identified issue in seasons 2, 3, and 4. And there has been improvement in this area during each season, but there hasn't yet been strong carryover, so that the process has needed repeating in 3 seasons where play and seedings have been unusually impacted by COVID. Such a lack of program development in this realm has taken resources away from other areas that need attention & progress.

I really don't know if he'll learn. I'd really like him to. It's where my attention is concentrated.

There is a strong current of pessimism among the frustrated and disappointed. It may turn out to be warranted and it may not. That's not where my attention is concentrated.

Six losses, 30 total points, to Izzo, Huggins, and 4 more experienced Big East coaches.

Closeout victories (yes, with glitches that resulted in three OT games and four extra periods) over Auburn, VCU, St Bonaventure, Marquette, and St John's.

The product on the court often looks worse than the record says. We are what our record says. It'll tell us more this week

 

[Jbirdp5]

Year 3 into a rebuild yes its an overreaction. But if this team is still playing at this level with Hurley still having his issues at this time next year i think its time to start warming up the seat.

I don’t get the obsession with putting the guy on the hot seat now or in the future. He’s our coach why even think about next years performance when we still have so much left of this season.

 

[sdb1989]

Believe in Dan Hurley! Overall I’d say says he’s done a fantastic job building this program up. One huge miscalculation coming Into this year was not getting an experienced ball handler through the portal. Probably bet on AJ or Geff but that hasn’t worked out thus far. Believe long term AJ could be a secondary ball handler, but not quite now. Love the kid, but Tbh gaff has underperformed thus far. Believe he has the talent but it’s just between his ears. Needs to gain some confidence. He’s more than capable. Just needs to not think and be aggressive

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Polley too. I was a huge Polley 5th year adherent and Hurley was too. It has been a minus I hate to say.

I don’t think Polley is a negative but he should only play when the game situation dictates and really that would be against a perfect matchup for him or when we need a three. Hawkins should have been playing the majority of Polley’s minutes, all year long.

 

[dennismenace]

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 signed a contract extension for $2.9 mil and Uconn is now on the hook through 26-27. That's 5 more years after this at $2.9 million. We aren't moving on and neither is he.

Add to that the school is now on the hook for $11 million to KO. Appeals on KO type of case are rare (perhaps because arbitration is designed to put things to bed instead of endless appeals).

Dan is going to need help and that is going to be a matter of the AD getting some feedback which we can be sure he is already getting and formulating a solution to the problems which have been discussed here and other places higher than the BY.

Good news? Yes! Necessity is the mother of invention. Change isn't nearly as painful as resistance to change. Set the ego's aside, get the minds together, define the problem and the solution, set plans and goals to execute and evaluate results. It is being done every day all over the world. It can certainly be done in Storrs CT if there is willingness to change.

If there is no willingness to change nothing happens. Nothing changes if nothing changes. That's for sure.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Then he needs to recruit over them, plain and simple. Akok will likely never get back to his freshman year potential, and gaff is just flat out not good enough. We need impact players, if you aren’t an impact player, they don’t deserve a spot on this team. It’s nothing personal, this is just how business needs to get done at the level UConn needs to compete at.

Akok has barely played this season. Maybe he’s still injured as his foot speed is slower when defending out by the free throw line. But I wouldn’t write him off right now. Gaffney I agree with. We have two other guards on the bench who hopefully have been developing in practice…. Hopefully they can be a point guard. If there’s a good 6’2 guard out there maybe take a shot. What we need is a true two guard. Someone who can score from three and get to the basket. I think Hawkins can be that guy but right now he seems so scared. The talent is there

 

[UConnSwag11]

I think the roster construction stuff will look different soon with Floyd, Karaban and Castle, not to mention (and I EXPECT this) Diggins growing into a lead guard type role. Our guards not being as good at certain things is probably surprising some people, including Hurley. I imagine he expected Jackson, Hawkins, Gaffney and Akok to all be giving him much more than they are offensively.

Agreed. Hawkins I’d give a pass as he’s a freshmen. Next year will be telling. Jackson has improved drastically and is fun to watch. Akok no clue if he’s injured or Hurley just doesn’t want to play him. Gaffney is where I think us and Hurley expected him to be the replacement for Cole which hasn’t turned out to be so

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hurley isn’t going anywhere just yet.

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.

I’d like to see what he can do with the talent coming in next year plus Jackson Hawkins and Sanogo. Guard play will be the question mark has Diggins and Floyd haven’t played any meaningful minutes this year or at all

 

[jim102864]

I couldn't agree more. He's had four years to turn this mess around. This is now entirely his team. He recruited them. He sold us on how deep and dangerous they would be. We all know why expectations are high in Storrs and they should be. Turn up the heat on this guy? Hell yeah!! Much as I wish I didn't feel this way, I can't help but think that the ineptitude of the athletic department is on full display once again. Millions have been wasted on poor coaching hires. I'm starting to think they've failed yet again.

 

[djct1999]

Thank god AD DB isn't as impulsive and insufferable as some of you after a loss. Its indisputable that the last 5 halves of basketball have been brutal. Our offense seems out of sorts, particularly our leader Cole, and shots aren't falling. It happens over the course of a season. But newsflash, this team isn't good enough to go undefeated. Losses were bound to happen. They probably stole one in DePaul, got one stolen from them in Creighton, and I think most of us here if being objective arent that surprised by yesterday. You can criticize Hurley, you can criticize the kids, or both. The fact remains this rebuild is a work in progress. I dare anyone to name a better hire for this program than Dan Hurley. That still remains. As for the kids, like most teams, they will have ups and downs. The entire offense runs through Cole. Whether he is gassed, mentally fatigued, or slightly injured, who knows. What I know is this team doesn't have a player, outside of maybe Martin, who can take over for a sustained period of time with Cole less than 100%. Sure this last week wasn't great. Nothing else has changed. This team is decent. They can compete. They will go to the tourney. They may win a game or three. And its a work in progess, short term and long. Pricing this team to perfection is as silly as many of the reactions I have read lately,

 

[djct1999]

The legend of Akok is one of the better takes yet. If this is mind boggling, you must not be really watching the team.

 

[polycom]

Polley too. I was a huge Polley 5th year adherent and Hurley was too. It has been a minus I hate to say.

Ha.

 

[jibsey]

Hurley’s after game quote, “I still think we’re one of the best teams in this league.” If Gillespie was in the last 7 minutes and Moore was playing we would have lost that game by 25 is my bet so the idea that we were competitive as the best teams in the league would be against Nova makes no sense.

 

[aburks41]

Hurley isn’t going anywhere just yet.

I’d like to see what he can do with the talent coming in next year plus Jackson Hawkins and Sanogo. Guard play will be the question mark has Diggins and Floyd haven’t played any meaningful minutes this year or at all

If guard play is still a question mark next season then that is inexcusable on hurleys part and his seat deserves to be warm. He saw what happens this season with questionable guard play. If he makes zero attempts to fix it with an impact transfer (we likely need 2) then he needs to answer for that. Its year 4, no more excuses

 

[Doctor Hoop]

There are 6 things a coach has to excel at to be elite. They are:

• Recruiting
• Player development
• Offense and defense schemes
• Game preparation and planning in relation to the opponent
• In-game adjustments/game management
• Motivation and culture

Hurley does the first fairly well. But with the lack of production from Akok, Hawkins and Gaffney (for example) development seems to be lacking.

We have offense and defense schemes, but they do not adjust in relation to the opposition, attacking weaknesses. Once the game starts none of us have seen many adjustments in personnel or scheme

Props for the culture and motivation. The effort is good, and all oars seem to be pulling together. But that’s not enough. He will be here a while - those deficienvies need to improve.

 

[nychuskyfan]

The legend of Akok is one of the better takes yet. If this is mind boggling, you must not be really watching the team.

And what about the legend of Polley as a good shooter despite a now massive sample size saying he’s average at best? He’s also a worse rebounder than our 5-11 PG yet nobody is supposed to wonder if Akok can clear that very low bar.

 

[UCbcm]

You need to have excellent guard play to be a top competitor in college basketball. That is especially true in the Big East. Right now, our lineup of guards is playing no where near good enough to win consistently (at all) against these teams. RJ is doing as much as anyone could expect from him, but no one else is stepping up to fill the remaining massive void.

 

[jibsey]

The discussion about moving on from Hurley is insane. He recruits very well, we have players in his pipeline. Let’s just hope he learns and adapts, gets the coaching help he needs. His brother beat #3 UCLA last night. Let’s not forget that Jay Wright wasn’t always a world beater coach. Maybe it’s a 10 year project.

 

[mrl2016]

He sold us on how deep and dangerous they would be. We all know why expectations are high in Storrs and they should be. Turn up the heat on this guy? Hell yeah!!

He hypes the program to sell tickets and build noise which both help to elevate us into the national conversation.

That buzz helps with AP poll rankings, which helps with recruiting, which helps with winning. Instead of helping with that, the fans constantly try to tear him, the team, and the program down halfway through a season that we’ve been ranked for much of the year.

 

[jibsey]

He hypes the program to sell tickets and build noise which both help to elevate us into the national conversation.

That buzz helps with AP poll rankings, which helps with recruiting, which helps with winning. Instead of helping with that, the fans constantly try to tear him, the team, and the program down halfway through a season that we’ve been ranked for much of the year.

Top 25 this week?

 

[JB75]

I kno akok was hurt yesterday but I still don’t get why he doesn’t play more. Every time he comes in he does something positive , rarely makes mistakes. Always gets a momentum changing block , hits a 3 here and there. Maybe I’m seeing something different. Weird

 

[tentoes4rings]

He hypes the program to sell tickets and build noise which both help to elevate us into the national conversation.

That buzz helps with AP poll rankings, which helps with recruiting, which helps with winning. Instead of helping with that, the fans constantly try to tear him, the team, and the program down halfway through a season that we’ve been ranked for much of the year.

Such nonsense. He doesn’t say the team can “be a monster” when healthy to sell tickets, he believes it. Then his team gets smacked against good competition. Based on the recruits we’ve been getting and his forecasts of how good we’ll be, the fanbase is justified in being critical after we just got blown out by a team without one of its top 2 players.

 

[aburks41]

I kno akok was hurt yesterday but I still don’t get why he doesn’t play more. Every time he comes in he does something positive , rarely makes mistakes. Always gets a momentum changing block , hits a 3 here and there. Maybe I’m seeing something different. Weird

He’s too slow on defense and gets beat a lot. His length can help cover it but he is always getting beat on the first dribble or move.

Also, he’s basically non existent on offense besides taking a 3 from the corner. He just doesn’t do anything else. He could be such a big mismatch if he had DeAndre Daniels type of skills but he just doesn’t have it.

 

[tentoes4rings]

He signed a contract extension for $2.9 mil and Uconn is now on the hook through 26-27. That's 5 more years after this at $2.9 million. We aren't moving on and neither is he.

Add to that the school is now on the hook for $11 million to KO. Appeals on KO type of case are rare (perhaps because arbitration is designed to put things to bed instead of endless appeals).

Dan is going to need help and that is going to be a matter of the AD getting some feedback which we can be sure he is already getting and formulating a solution to the problems which have been discussed here and other places higher than the BY.

Good news? Yes! Necessity is the mother of invention. Change isn't nearly as painful as resistance to change. Set the ego's aside, get the minds together, define the problem and the solution, set plans and goals to execute and evaluate results. It is being done every day all over the world. It can certainly be done in Storrs CT if there is willingness to change.

If there is no willingness to change nothing happens. Nothing changes if nothing changes. That's for sure.

But my question is why does Benedict keep giving out these long extensions? He did with KO on his second extension when he certainly didn’t deserve it and he’s done it again now with Hurley, despite no proof Hurley can win big games. It’s so frustrating to stuck for 4 or 5 years because our AD gives out extensions the school can’t afford to move on from. I’m by no means giving up on Hurley, especially with the recruits coming in. But, if the results don’t change over the next two years, we’ll have to start fresh again in 27-28. That’s a long time to wait.