I’ve defended Hurley thus far | Page 4 | The Boneyard

I’ve defended Hurley thus far

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
 
Rich said:
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.
Expand ...
I think youre a year early.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
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.
Expand ...
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.
 
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.
 
Hurley recruits well, not going anywhere. Not a guy who makes adjustments well in games. Our best hope is getting a lot more talent.
 
Brochacho said:
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.
Expand ...

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
 
.-.
tentoes4rings said:
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.
Expand ...
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?
 
gtcam said:
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
Expand ...
Yeah you missed my point by a mile. Lol. I am far from making excuses for Hurley or his players. I hate excuses "winks"
 
tentoes4rings said:
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.
Expand ...
I absolutely agree.
 
gtcam said:
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
Expand ...
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.
 
UconnFanDC said:
And he's only been out coached by great experience coaches. He'll learn
Expand ...
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
 
TheChamps990411 said:
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.
Expand ...
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.
 
.-.
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
 
August_West said:
Polley too. I was a huge Polley 5th year adherent and Hurley was too. It has been a minus I hate to say.
Expand ...
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.
 
Rich said:
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.
Expand ...
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.
 
aburks41 said:
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.
Expand ...
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
 
Mr. French said:
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.
Expand ...
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
 
Hurley isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Rich said:
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.
Expand ...
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
 
.-.
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.
 
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,
 
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.
 
.-.
UConnSwag11 said:
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
Expand ...
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
 
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.
 
djct1999 said:
The legend of Akok is one of the better takes yet. If this is mind boggling, you must not be really watching the team.
Expand ...
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
jim102864 said:
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!!
Expand ...

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.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,318
Messages
4,563,031
Members
10,460
Latest member
SeanElAmin


Top Bottom