I’ve defended Hurley thus far

[ColchVEGAS]

Hurley needs to work on in game adjustments and game prep. All other facets of his coaching are above average to great. He is the guy. As frustrating as it is to watch game after game sticking to the "plan" that is not working, he can change this. If we are still having the same conversation about him in 3-5 years then yes maybe he is on the hot seat.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hurley needs to work on in game adjustments and game prep. All other facets of his coaching are above average to great. He is the guy. As frustrating as it is to watch game after game sticking to the "plan" that is not working, he can change this. If we are still having the same conversation about him in 3-5 years then yes maybe he is on the hot seat.

Hopefully, our bench will be better and more reliable next year. It didn't develop as it should've and I believe that's on Hurley but also on the players for not improving

 

[freescooter]

My real worry about Hurley is not that he is a bad coach, but that he is neither really good nor really bad. For the next 5-10 years he is never really good enough to get us back to being a serious national player, but not bad enough that we can justify firing him. A resume something like: 21 wins, 3rd in the NOOB, ranked 20-25 6-8 seed, 0-1 wins in the tourney, as the typical year. Sort of the guy at Seton Hall. Bad years aren’t awful. Good ones aren’t great. Then in 2030, we are Indiana, a program that used to be important.

 

[Huskybass]

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.

The tough thing as a fan is that the flashes happen just often enough that it's easy to see him being a real impact player. I have no doubt that Akok has great focus and works very hard. Perhaps he breaks through next season? He sure seemed like a can't miss prospect as a freshman.

 

[Huskybass]

My real worry about Hurley is not that he is a bad coach, but that he is neither really good nor really bad. For the next 5-10 years he is never really good enough to get us back to being a serious national player, but not bad enough that we can justify firing him. A resume something like: 21 wins, 3rd in the NOOB, ranked 20-25 6-8 seed, 0-1 wins in the tourney, as the typical year. Sort of the guy at Seton Hall. Bad years aren’t awful. Good ones aren’t great. Then in 2030, we are Indiana, a program that used to be important.

This is probably the best post I have read from you.

 

[Improviser]

National championships are rarely typical events for any team in this era of relative parity.

In 2014 led by American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Shabazz Napier, UConn became the first #7 seed to win the NCAA Championship, getting past No. 1 seed Florida, No. 2 seed Villanova.

Yes, nice to have more than 21 wins a year, and a better seeding. Time will tell where we wind up in a ten year window.

 

[tentoes4rings]

The tough thing as a fan is that the flashes happen just often enough that it's easy to see him being a real impact player. I have no doubt that Akok has great focus and works very hard. Perhaps he breaks through next season? He sure seemed like a can't miss prospect as a freshman.

So unless we want to attribute some of his issues to the Achilles injury, he’d appear on the surface to be another recruit the staff was too high on. He barely plays, Gaffney isn’t very good, Diggins doesn’t even see the court, Springs never plays. Until next year’s class and Castle arrive, maybe the recruiting everyone lauds the staff for has been very overrated. Two of our 3 best players are transfers and we needed two 5th year seniors to return. Aside from Sanogo and Bouknight, there’s not a lot to show in 4 years. I’m high on Hawkins and Andre but they both have very incomplete games right now.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

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.

I'll color you 'skeptical.' The patience displayed by your waiting 19 months to make you first post is uncommon and noteworthy. I encourage you to take things one game at a time, during the regular season, the Big East Tournament, and any games played beyond. There's more than enough to keep you engaged for the next 2 months, and we can all revisit the larger themes thereafter.

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 [deficiencies] need to improve.

I appreciate your care in choosing words that reflect the high ambitions that so many have expressed here. It is no slur to observe that DH has not excelled in all 6 of the items on the list you have offered as requirements to be elite. And I think you have accurately identified where he is demonstrating progress and where he isn't. I hope that nobody viewed him as a finished product when he was hired; to do so would be unrealistic then and now.

I'll stick with my phrasing about apparent weaknesses being his "growing edge," and I will remain mindful of the time frame implied by his current contract terms.

I do not expect to hear a post-game interview in which the head coach says, "We definitely have the personnel to beat any team in our conference, but I need to improve in pre-game planning, communicating it to the players, and adjusting within games in order for us to perform better against tougher competition and more experienced coaches than I have ever faced.

We are all tasked with rising to unprecedented challenges, and our return to preeminence will require success in each one of them. We are fully aware of and working on all. These are young men, and we are living in strange times with many shifting variables, but do not doubt that I as head coach bear the overall responsibility for what you see and how we do. Your continued support is crucial to this."

 

[aburks41]

The tough thing as a fan is that the flashes happen just often enough that it's easy to see him being a real impact player. I have no doubt that Akok has great focus and works very hard. Perhaps he breaks through next season? He sure seemed like a can't miss prospect as a freshman.

We can’t afford to depend on Akok and Gaff finally breaking out next season. Time to recruit over them in the transfer portal.

 

[jibsey]

Most schools don’t sniff a title, we’ve been spoiled tremendously and that’s what makes what happened yesterday so painful. The only cure is a better roster.

 

[polycom]

J wright beats his nova team with our roster.

 

[jayteeman]

So wait....we get rid of DH and no one has to play defense anymore because everyone never misses a shot, and we are ranked #1 every week , and there is never an injury and the covid goes away, and we start getting all the best recruits, and all the games are free to go to....quick, take his badge away.......

 

[huskiesNhoos]

My real worry about Hurley is not that he is a bad coach, but that he is neither really good nor really bad. For the next 5-10 years he is never really good enough to get us back to being a serious national player, but not bad enough that we can justify firing him. A resume something like: 21 wins, 3rd in the NOOB, ranked 20-25 6-8 seed, 0-1 wins in the tourney, as the typical year. Sort of the guy at Seton Hall. Bad years aren’t awful. Good ones aren’t great. Then in 2030, we are Indiana, a program that used to be important.

So basically you're worried Hurley will become Cooley?

 

[Tenspro2002]

My real worry about Hurley is not that he is a bad coach, but that he is neither really good nor really bad. For the next 5-10 years he is never really good enough to get us back to being a serious national player, but not bad enough that we can justify firing him. A resume something like: 21 wins, 3rd in the NOOB, ranked 20-25 6-8 seed, 0-1 wins in the tourney, as the typical year. Sort of the guy at Seton Hall. Bad years aren’t awful. Good ones aren’t great. Then in 2030, we are Indiana, a program that used to be important.

I think he has a higher ceiling than that, but I acknowledge this is a valid concern.

Hurley has done really well to get the guys he wants into the program and staying in the program.

Has he hit on all of those guys? Mixed bag. Bouknight way over-performed (though more so individual success than team success). Cole and Martin have given him everything he could have expected. Sanogo a major hit as the rare big who can play right away.

Akok was a major get, but has largely underwhelmed on the court -- partially due to injury, partially due to the fact that this sort of player is almost always less than the sum of their parts at the college level.

He kept Whaley and Polley for 4 years when he could have run them off after zero. Whaley has been a major success in development, Polley has been OK, probably should have been recruited over, but Hurley prioritized continuity.

Jackson, so-so. Gaffney and this year's freshmen, I think he expected more, whether that's poor recruiting evaluation or poor development here I'm not sure.

It just happens that our biggest misses are all in the same area (ball-handling) and there was a conscientious decision to avoid the portal unless absolutely necessary, which I think will be reevaluated after this year.

This team with a Jalen Adams-type (before Ollie's coaching ruined him) would make Hurley's roster-construction and program-building look pretty damn good.

We need a Tournament win to feel like momentum is heading in the right direction, and then the expectation should be Sweet 16 almost every year.

 

[freescooter]

So basically you're worried Hurley will become Cooley?

Or Kevin Willard. But yes. I realize winning a national championship is hard and some great coaches have never done it. But you can be a “national” program without doing it, if you are regularly in contention. Elite 8s. Final Fours. Regular going to the Sweet 16.

FWIW, I actually think Cooley is a very good coach who would have a chance to be elite if he was at a real program. Providence isn’t ever going to be it.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This is probably the best post I have read from you.

I'd quibble with his claiming that it's a "worry" for him, let alone that it's his "real" one. It's a decently-argued scenario, and gave rise to him invoking Willard without naming him (until just above), whereas someone else suggested Cooley. Both are plausible takes for 2 coaches a step ahead of DH in BE experience and who defeated him this season.

It's by no means a "worry" for me, but I do wonder if for Freescooter he's laid out his case for 'job security' here.

I don't know or predict how things will play out, but I do agree with the overall point contained in your comment, and do not reject the plausibility of what you were responding to.

 

[8893]

This is probably the best post I have read from you.

It’s only like the 20th time he’s floated this. Just like he did with Ollie when he was named head coach and feared his ceiling was Herb Sendek.

Not saying he’s necessarily wrong here, but he’s been Johnny One-Note for this exact sentiment for almost a decade, stretching back to the prior coach.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

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.

Freshman year Akok showed a lot of upside before the injury. He has not looked the same since, unfortunately.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

So wait....we get rid of DH and no one has to play defense anymore because everyone never misses a shot, and we are ranked #1 every week , and there is never an injury and the covid goes away, and we start getting all the best recruits, and all the games are free to go to....quick, take his badge away.......

Nice straw man you knocked over. I doubt your summary is close to what anyone believes.

 

[UConnSwag11]

So unless we want to attribute some of his issues to the Achilles injury, he’d appear on the surface to be another recruit the staff was too high on. He barely plays, Gaffney isn’t very good, Diggins doesn’t even see the court, Springs never plays. Until next year’s class and Castle arrive, maybe the recruiting everyone lauds the staff for has been very overrated. Two of our 3 best players are transfers and we needed two 5th year seniors to return. Aside from Sanogo and Bouknight, there’s not a lot to show in 4 years. I’m high on Hawkins and Andre but they both have very incomplete games right now.

Can't judge Akok, Johnson, and Diggins as they don't play. Sanogo is arguably the best player in the conference. Jackson and Hawkins have bright futures. But the lack of development from our upperclassmen (minus Cole) has hurt us. They haven't improved at all. I'm assuming the reason we didn't bring in any transfers was because he expected Gaffney, Polley, and to an extent Whaley to add something to the team but they haven't.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Hurley will be fine. Everyone needs to calm down. We couldn’t hit the backside of a barn for the final 10+mins of the first half (aside from Coles heave). Turned up the intensity/scoring in the second, but too little too late.

I liked his move to press, go zone & feed Adama to start the second. I think one of this teams biggest hurdles is nerves. They played much freer & shot much better once the game looked to be out of reach. Need to remain calm & have confidence. Hopefully this improves heading into the final stretch of the season.

Also figuring out Polley, Jackson and Gaffney lack of offense.

 

[gsmooth]

My real worry about Hurley is not that he is a bad coach, but that he is neither really good nor really bad. For the next 5-10 years he is never really good enough to get us back to being a serious national player, but not bad enough that we can justify firing him. A resume something like: 21 wins, 3rd in the NOOB, ranked 20-25 6-8 seed, 0-1 wins in the tourney, as the typical year. Sort of the guy at Seton Hall. Bad years aren’t awful. Good ones aren’t great. Then in 2030, we are Indiana, a program that used to be important.

I think this is a valid concern. All the posts about Hurley should be fired are ridiculous, IMO. It seems like this year's team has plateaued but I hope I am wrong on that. I have never bought into the narrative that this is a a great defensive team, a good one, sure, but far from great. A lot of times during games I am finding myself relieved that the opposition is missing wide open 3s or other shots as opposed to feeling like UConn's defense had something to do with the missed shot.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Also figuring out Polley, Jackson and Gaffney lack of offense.

True but people need to be used correctly too. Jackson is an immense physical talent who I fear isn’t ever going to have a profound impact offensively if he isn’t set up for success. Him camped out behind the line completely negates his talent. With Sanogo drawing double and triple teams, Andre should be able to excel cutting to the hole. Also, posting him up would be good. I’d like to see some smaller lineups of Cole, Hawkins, Martin and Jackson at the 4. I don’t think he’ll ever be a good shooter, continuing to let teams sag off him and magnify his weakness seems pretty foolish.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

Why do people think we'll miss the tournament because we lost on the road AT freaking Villanova.

Os it because we lost 2 games in a row?

Here's a list of teams in the Big East that have not lost 2 games in a row this season:
Providence.

End of list.

Here's a list of teams that have had 5-game winning streaks in conference play this season:
Providence
Villanova
UConn

Does that make you feel better?

Thank you for shedding light on some great points. We are fine. People need to relax…

 

[Huskybass]

It’s only like the 20th time he’s floated this. Just like he did with Ollie when he was named head coach and feared his ceiling was Herb Sendek.

Not saying he’s necessarily wrong here, but he’s been Johnny One-Note for this exact sentiment for almost a decade, stretching back to the prior coach.

I think if you are being honest here you have the same concerns that I do regarding ever having a deep tourney run under Hurley. Yes, he is passionate and comes from a great basketball family. However, we seem to squeeze out less than we should with the talent on the roster. For example, we should have never had to go to OT against a very mediocre St. John's team on campus. Gaffney and Akok have contributed next to nothing this season and Diggins, Johnson, and Springs have played so little that it's inconsequential.

Fortunately, the talent upgrade continues next season. Talent often makes coaches look good.