I’ve defended Hurley thus far

[Mr. French]

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.

I agree. I think he’s doing that, or trying.

 

[UconnFanDC]

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

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

He's won games. He just hasn't won every game. And he's only been out coached by great experience coaches. He'll learn

 

[Incursio007]

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.

 

[gtcam]

You all remember that year we finished 8th in the BE and went .500 down the stretch? Calm down.

Yeah
But two different years and two different teams
Not even comparable

 

[giddyup]

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.

He’s not going to be fine without taking the time to work on himself. The guy is a frenetic mess and his team is reflection of his mindset. He can recruit his way to a top 20 team but that’s it. Too much talent and good coaching exists to recruit your way to the top.

 

[NJHusky]

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?

Have prov or nova played the bottom 4 teams in 5 consecutive games?

its not that we r loosing. It’s how non competitive we r

 

[gtcam]

He's won games. He just hasn't won every game. And he's only been out coached by great experience coaches. He'll learn

Stop with this crazy crap about getting beat and out coached by experienced coaches
Is the Hurley's first HC job?
Is he getting paid inexperienced coach's pay?
Does he sound like he considers himself to be overwhelmed by coaching against any team UConn has faced?
Excuses, excuses Tommy Lloyd is a 1st year head coach and has his team in the top 10
I'd love to hear about any CEO in America who got a job to pay him $2 plus million dollars to lead a company in a business he has been affiliated with his entire career (having been the leader of other companies) and the BoD that selected said to each other, he'll learn how to do his job

 

[bendm]

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

we'll definitely need a guard but after losing whaley, martin, and polley we'll also need someone who can start at the 4 since akok aint it.

 

[uconnfan68]

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.

Low BB IQ for too many guys. Sometimes you can’t teach it. I was hoping AJ would be another Dr J this year. Physically he’s close, mentally not. Not sure who’s working with him, but he’s got to be project #1.

 

[tentoes4rings]

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.

As one of AJ’s biggest supporters, I’ll admit I’m disappointed as well. If he had a jumper, teams would have to play up on him and he could use his athleticism taking them to the hole and abuse them. With that said, he has great size and unreal jumping ability, Hurley should be posting him up, throwing alley oops on back door screens etc to maximize his strengths. Having him camp out behind the 3 point line only magnifies his weakness and does nothing to capitalize on his strengths.

 

[Ronobro]

Let me preface this by saying I’ve not given up on Hurley yet. but…

From the day Hurley got here he hasn’t missed a chance to talk about what a mess this program was when he inherited it, and how it would take time to build it back up. Fair enough. Four years in, our roster is exclusively compromised of his recruits, barring two holdovers whose fifth year he approved. This is evidently the team he wanted. Ya’ll know where we stand: 0-6 against Creighton and Villanova since lasts season and Harley’s been out-coached in all six of those games. I don’t know how long rebuilding takes but shouldn’t we be better by now?

What really makes me mad is that Shaka Smart hasn’t even been “rebuilding” for a year yet and he’s already notched two victories against Villanova. Fully healthy Villanova I might add.

 

[ucp990411]

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

I meant Gaffney

 

[XLCenterFan]

Yeah
But two different years and two different teams
Not even comparable

Anything is comparable. And it must be mentioned. I’m sure UConn fans were all bent out of shape then, as they are now.

 

[AdamaNation]

Of

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.

fense has been an issue forever at UConn. Aside from historical teams like 94-96, 98-99,04-06. Every other year was weaves, pounding ball, and my favorite trope “hero ball”. Defense is what we are with one alpha scorer. One alpha shot blocker. That has been our dynamic. The other main feature was multiple ball handlers. But this is Danny’s vision now. But yes. If we make shots we will win. We shot great from the one today! And showed a zone (oddly at aGreat outside shooting team.). This where akok breaks my heart. A 2/3 or 3/2 or box and one with aa tm aj as rj is retry impressive. … And regarding RJ height. Our last pgs were alterique boat bazz Kemba aj etc with Anderson and jalen the only ones over 6’1”(ish). We have been plagued and blessed with small guards. Castle will be intriguing. I can’t wait to see him and Aj on the court together.

 

[AdamaNation]

Stop with this crazy crap about getting beat and out coached by experienced coaches
Is the Hurley's first HC job?
Is he getting paid inexperienced coach's pay?
Does he sound like he considers himself to be overwhelmed by coaching against any team UConn has faced?
Excuses, excuses Tommy Lloyd is a 1st year head coach and has his team in the top 10
I'd love to hear about any CEO in America who got a job to pay him $2 plus million dollars to lead a company in a business he has been affiliated with his entire career (having been the leader of other companies) and the BoD that selected said to each other, he'll learn how to do his job

But was it Tommy Lloyd’s team and players …. Or the coach before him? (Heard that one before I’m sure)

 

[LIuconn]

I didn’t read a single post here so maybe it’s already been said. I think Hurley is a grinder, hustle and floor burn type of guy. That’s fine at mid majors but he has keys to high level talent and playing against tacticians like Jay Wright. The margins become the need and I don’t think Hurley is even in the margins yet

 

[TheChamps990411]

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 think youre a year early.

 

[TheChamps990411]

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.

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.

 

[polycom]

Until hurley learns he can sit on the bench during a game and have an ounce of control this style of hope basketball will be our style. Hurley needs to calm down because his teams feed of his energy. He comes off as erratic and his team plays as such… like I said previously he’ll learn and mature into his role he’s never dealt with this level of pressure and expectations.

 

[jibsey]

Hurley recruits well, not going anywhere. Not a guy who makes adjustments well in games. Our best hope is getting a lot more talent.

 

[husky429]

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.

Those records are sobering. If we can end up 1 or 2 games above .500 vs top 100 teams it would give me a lot of confidence in our future

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Which raises the question why Benedict keeps giving out these extensions. Ollie got his first extension from Warde Manuel after the championship season, but his 2nd extension was a head scratcher, especially when signs were there that he couldn’t run the program. Hurley was just given his extension, despite not showing any ability to win big games. We’re back in The Big East and we’re UConn. We shouldn’t keep giving out extensions, as if we can’t attract a great coach anymore.

I'm not really strongly leaning one way or the other on the whole should he stay or should he go, but let's not forget who gave #1 ranked Auburn their only loss...

I think a lot of people here also need to be realistic about what the alternatives were if Hurley didn't take this job, or if he were to leave/be told to leave. Obviously most here think this is a top 10 job, but thats not a prevalent opinion outside this board...we may be a top 10 all time program, but there's not a line to be successor like their was before JC queued up Ollie.

There are few, if any, coaches out there right now who could come in and turn this program around immediately (shaka isn't helping this argument...but outlier aside..) and it's really not killing the program. We all lose patience because we show some signs of improvement then crap the bed and walk it all back. In the end though, there's been clear improvement every single year Hurley has been here, just not immediate AAC afterthought to NC like too many here seem to expect/feel entitled to?

 

[UconnFanDC]

Stop with this crazy crap about getting beat and out coached by experienced coaches
Is the Hurley's first HC job?
Is he getting paid inexperienced coach's pay?
Does he sound like he considers himself to be overwhelmed by coaching against any team UConn has faced?
Excuses, excuses Tommy Lloyd is a 1st year head coach and has his team in the top 10
I'd love to hear about any CEO in America who got a job to pay him $2 plus million dollars to lead a company in a business he has been affiliated with his entire career (having been the leader of other companies) and the BoD that selected said to each other, he'll learn how to do his job

Yeah you missed my point by a mile. Lol. I am far from making excuses for Hurley or his players. I hate excuses "winks"

 

[UconnFanDC]

As one of AJ’s biggest supporters, I’ll admit I’m disappointed as well. If he had a jumper, teams would have to play up on him and he could use his athleticism taking them to the hole and abuse them. With that said, he has great size and unreal jumping ability, Hurley should be posting him up, throwing alley oops on back door screens etc to maximize his strengths. Having him camp out behind the 3 point line only magnifies his weakness and does nothing to capitalize on his strengths.

I absolutely agree.

 

[polycom]

Stop with this crazy crap about getting beat and out coached by experienced coaches
Is the Hurley's first HC job?
Is he getting paid inexperienced coach's pay?
Does he sound like he considers himself to be overwhelmed by coaching against any team UConn has faced?
Excuses, excuses Tommy Lloyd is a 1st year head coach and has his team in the top 10
I'd love to hear about any CEO in America who got a job to pay him $2 plus million dollars to lead a company in a business he has been affiliated with his entire career (having been the leader of other companies) and the BoD that selected said to each other, he'll learn how to do his job

You are dense. That’s literally how it works. Ceos come from different industries and lead companies that they don’t know about but they have to adjust to the industry. High major d1 basketball is completely different than coaching/ running a program like Wagner and URI how do you not understand this.