Is Hurley Really The Answer?

[intlzncster]

He signed a contract... He didn't resigned. .. Should there be no proof Ollie commited any infractions he will be entitled to his full share.

If it gets that far. Not to mention, the contract he agreed to allowed a whole lot of wiggle room for UCONN.

 

[intlzncster]

we're concerned we might not be getting the Hall of Fame coach we've come to expect. Maybe that's unrealistic with all that's changed in the past few years, but we're fans and it's our right to have outrageous expectations, isn't it? That's why the coaches and AD's get the big paychecks and why there's so much give an take on this site and this subject.

It's the idea that you can just tee up a Hall of Fame coach that most of us find perplexing. It's just not realistic.

I mean, it's hard for even the best schools to figure this out. Why didn't UNC get it right? UK? Indiana? UCLA?

The only program who doesn't seem to screw it up is Kansas. Which means they got lucky.

 

[Scrutineer]

And if buffalo gets blasted by UK, which appears to be happening, who’s the hot new name we need to be looking at?

Every coach who won?

 

[tzznandrew]

People are looking at how he trotted out three guards this year and are basically saying that's how Ollie coached so what's the difference. If you just go back a year he had two forwards contributing more than any big here since Shonn Miller

Wait, do some research? I thought one game was enough to know that Oats was better than Hurley. Oh, wait? Oat's mid-major team got decked by 20+? Let's find someone else to valorize in lieu of Hurley...

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

The only program who doesn't seem to screw it up is Kansas. Which means they got lucky.

Or, maybe KU's just more covert in paying more ...

 

[Scrutineer]

He is an he has the #1 recruiting class coming in among all mid majors. Sadly, like Calhoun, he seems to have a large class that gives him too many seniors and then freshmen, at once. Calhoun did it often. Annoyed me then.

BasketballRecruiting.Rivals.com - Ranking the 10 best mid-major classes of the 2018 early period

Thanks for the update. Didn't know how good his class is.
Did you notice UNLV in third place? They have a good class two years in a row now ...........the two years Andre LaFleur has been there since leaving Providence. Maybe it's a coincidence, but it seems UConn's recruiting tailed off and Providence's improved when he was forced out by Calhoun.

 

[blue93]

I've been a little bit iffy on Hurley since the rumors started swirling, but I think reading this thread has turned me into a supporter. The arguments against him (that conveniently are coming after a loss to a team with multiple lottery picks) are just silly.

I'm skeptical of his in game coaching and offensive scheme, but he gets kids to buy into what he's doing and play hard and he's been successful everywhere he's been. To think that he won't be able to build a better roster at UConn than he could at URI is absurd.

 

[Towney007]

It's college basketball, guys.

We go spoiled with JC. Hard to find that cult of personality combined with a legitimately good X's and O's guy. There's seriously... 4 or 5 coaches in all of college hoops who are that guy in a five year time period.

You get one of two kinds of guys - guys who are masterminds in breaking down the game and can sell their program - but mostly win almost no matter what (think Bo Ryan at Wisconsin)... there are guys who are really middling X's and O's guys who are incredible salesmen and just motivate guys on a different level (Calipari). If Hurley is close to any of those, we're in a good shot. He's just never sucked anywhere he's ever been. And given the school's resources (even if depleted from the past) and reputation - If he's just 'really good' - we should have a lot of fun basketball seasons.

As much as I love KO, upgrading from him isn't a hard thing to do.

 

[ctchamps]

I guess if one does not have the same opinion as the Boneyard’s regular posters you are not allowed to say anything without getting slammed.

I think Hurley is going to be disappointing. And we are settling for him. And it’s not a popular opnion.. But nobody had expressed why they think he can lead us back to dominance or even winning the conference the majority of the time.

Hurley is the most realistic decent candidate who UConn could get to coach.

As much as I share your concerns all you are doing is shattering the hope of several posters.

No one knows the future with certainty. The closest thing to certainty is that several of the posters hitting you hard will be the strogest voices to dump on Hurley and DB if things don’t improve.

 

[The Funster]

People forget (or don't know) that Calhoun didn't always have good big men. We were a donut team until Jake arrived. Who remembers when the Big East instituted the 6 foul rule? We were all happy because we had 18 fouls to give from our centers instead of 15.

 

[Nostical]

You lose any credibility here. By this thought process, UMBC could also beat the 96 Bulls.

That wouldn’t have been that difficult. The Bulls were quite a different team under Coach Tim Cohane than they are now under Nate Oats. Cohane went 17-11 but missed the NCAA Tourney.

 

[Brochacho]

I like Hurley. He seems to want to be an east coast, more specifically northeast coach for life. He's got passion, fire. He's turned around a low major in 2 seasons, and went from 8-21 to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances at URI. He can coach. He gets top 100 guys to URI. Who knows if he will be able to make the leap from being a good/very good coach to a great/elite coach, but at the very least I think he's a guy we can feel good about having for the next couple of decades or so.

 

[Huskybass]

People forget (or don't know) that Calhoun didn't always have good big men. We were a donut team until Jake arrived. Who remembers when the Big East instituted the 6 foul rule? We were all happy because we had 18 fouls to give from our centers instead of 15.

Rod Sellers averaged about 12 and 8 his last 2 years, I think he deserves a mention here.

 

[HuskyHawk]

People forget (or don't know) that Calhoun didn't always have good big men. We were a donut team until Jake arrived. Who remembers when the Big East instituted the 6 foul rule? We were all happy because we had 18 fouls to give from our centers instead of 15.

Travis Knight was a very good big, before Jake. First round draft pick by the Bulls.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He signed a contract... He didn't resigned. .. Should there be no proof Ollie commited any infractions he will be entitled to his full share.

Perform on the terms of contract, or breach the contract and pay damages.
Calculate which choice makes most sense and act accordingly.
Initiate or defend any suit that that may arise from such calculation.
Negotiate settlement, taking into consideration transaction costs and odds of prevailing.
The contract ensures that each side has access to the court and mechanisms to enforce the terms of any settlement or judgment.

What else?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Very well said. Great summary of where lots of us are. We all want to get back to where UConn was from 1990 to 2014 and we're concerned we might not be getting the Hall of Fame coach we've come to expect. Maybe that's unrealistic with all that's changed in the past few years, but we're fans and it's our right to have outrageous expectations, isn't it? That's why the coaches and AD's get the big paychecks and why there's so much give an take on this site and this subject.

This morning I'm scrolling up from the bottom of the page and therefore reading longer posts without immediately knowing who has written them. This is my favorite contribution of yours to this discussion. Thanks.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

This thread. Wow.

A coaching hire at a blue blood (yes, like UConn) is still a roll of the dice. There are several very solid candidates for the job. Right now it's anyone's guess who would really be the best choice. Is it Hurley? Is it Oats? Is there someone we haven't mentioned who would be a dynamite selection? Yes, yes, and yes. I wrote in another thread that there are a half-dozen good candidates for the job, and I don't think it has to be a "top 10-15" guy just because of who we are.

It does need to be a guy who is 100% committed to the job, given the history of UConn basketball. It also has to be a guy who can X&O his pants off, making adjustments and playing to the opponent's weaknesses, at which Calhoun was outstanding. And the guy has to be able to motivate the kids to play with intensity and confidence. The recruiting I'm less worried about. Even Ollie, with turmoil and disappointment here, was able to get time in the living rooms of top HS players. Winning would reduce those misses.

But don't just anoint the new hire, make calls and interview the guys who are interested and in whom we are interested. Then roll the dice. I'm fine with Hurley, Oats, or one of the others.

 

[Uconnfanatic]

Wait, do some research? I thought one game was enough to know that Oats was better than Hurley. Oh, wait? Oat's mid-major team got decked by 20+? Let's find someone else to valorize in lieu of Hurley...

I like Hurley and I like Oats and neither's loss yesterday changes that for me. My point throughout my posts have been that we should take a good hard look at Oats before deciding that Hurley is the guy. Upon close examination, DB might find he likes Oats even better. Experience certainly favor Hurley but there may be some intangibles that favor Oats. None of us know. There isn't one definitive answer as some of you seem to think there is.

 

[tzznandrew]

None of us know. There isn't one definitive answer as some of you seem to think there is.

Immo! Pretty much everyone here has said there's no obvious answer here. Me among them.

But I will say hiring someone like Oats would make me no more happy and much more nervous, for the various reasons laid out already in this thread.

 

[Hi-Low]

Which ever direction they go it needs to happen as soon as possible.....unless they are targeting a coach still leading a team in the Tourney we need to strike this week. The players that are currently on the roster worth hanging on to need to be reassured & the available recruits need to know UConn is in win now mode. With the right coach & couple new players there is no reason Uconn can't be a 23+ win team & near the top of AAC.

 

[whaler11]

Leaving aside the fact that I have no idea what impact his divorce had on his work.

Rightly or wrongly, a big time college coach doesn't have the luxury to fall back on that as an excuse. He's paid many millions to rise above that. It is what it is.

Nobody does.

I can’t listen to this divorce nonsense anymore.

Millions of people get divorced. Most of them aren’t lucky enough to have negotiated guaranteed money from SuzieLax and David the Oaf. They get up and they do their jobs or they starve to death.

You don’t get to run a huge enterprise into an iceberg and have people say aw.. poor baby got divorced. It’s the most pathetic excuse bandied about here.

If getting divorced kept him from doing his job he should have quit.

Otherwise shut the everliving hell up about it. It’s not a gd excuse.

 

[UConnSwag11]

To answer the question, yes.

 

[selles]

To answer the question, yes.

I really enjoyed watching him lose his mind after that rebounding foul call yesterday. I've missed that.

 

[BlueDogs]

I hope we pick a guy soon because we are down to rehashing the thoroughly rehashed.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Nobody does.

I can’t listen to this divorce nonsense anymore.

Millions of people get divorced. Most of them aren’t lucky enough to have negotiated guaranteed money from SuzieLax and David the Oaf. They get up and they do their jobs or they starve to death.

You don’t get to run a huge enterprise into an iceberg and have people say aw.. poor baby got divorced. It’s the most pathetic excuse bandied about here.

If getting divorced kept him from doing his job he should have quit.

Otherwise shut the everliving hell up about it. It’s not a gd excuse.

You're right, it's not an excuse. But it's not being offered as one. And he's been terminated.

Speculative explanation and excuse are not the same thing. As it is, you sound like a guy in a high rise yelling at the people down the hall to get off your lawn.