Is Hurley Really The Answer? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Is Hurley Really The Answer?

Oats seems like a better fits at UPenn.
 
Last years Rhode Island team was as talented as the 2014 UConn team IMO.

Again, I've followed the URI program very closely for the last few years. We're not talking about Brad Stevens here. At this point, I think he's the guy, I'm just not particularly excited about it.
 
auror said:
This is a very important hire and he's not a perfect candidate. He's a good candidate, but..

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His team's offensive ranks are not exactly jumping off the page. Defense is fine. For perspective, Ollie's best offensive team was Napier and we finished ranked 39th, and Ollie has had essentially 3 seasons either right at or better than Hurley's best offensive season. The unknowable argument is how Hurley would do with Napier-level talent, and hopefully we get to see.

For the record, Nate Oats had Buffalo at 36 this year and Crean had 5 top 30 offenses in his last 6 years at Indiana (and 4 top 30s at Marquette). If there's one thing Crean can do, it's coach offense (Defense... from eh fine to not so good).

In summary, it's worth debating and thinking about other options. If people said "Don't even consider Danny Hurley", that would be one thing. But it's also not appropriate to act like he's a perfect flawless candidate.
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There's a clear upward trend in the offense during the URI tenure at least. Like you said though, there's probably an upper limit to what Hurley can do at URI with the talent he can get there and he's probably already pretty close to that limit. Can't know for sure if/until it happens, but I'm pretty confident that an offense under Hurley at UConn would have the ceiling to rate better than anything he's done so far, same would go for defense.


Main takeaway I've had from the URI games I've seen this year is that the team doesn't seem all that talented, so I'm not sure where else to give credit but to Hurley for getting as far as he has with his team.


Also I do like what I've seen from Oats, just don't think there's enough of a resume and want to see how his team comes back tomorrow. Oats was doing so much chest puffing over the Zona win, I want to see if he just blew his wad or if they can turn around and give Kentucky a game.
 
Olliewood216 said:
Both the offense and defense seems to be trending in the right direction for Hurley. In defense of his offensive #'s, there's a limit to what you can get out of a bunch of 3-star guys mixed with a couple 4-star guys...most likely you won't be top 10 in offensive efficiency without some better recruits. Just my opinion...
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Sorry should have read down. I basically said the same thing.
 
champs99and04 said:
Last years Rhode Island team was as talented as the 2014 UConn team IMO.

Again, I've followed the URI program very closely for the last few years. We're not talking about Brad Stevens here. At this point, I think he's the guy, I'm just not particularly excited about it.
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Wasn’t watching Rhody all that closely last year, but you’re saying they had players at the level of Napier? Boat? Daniels?
 
champs99and04 said:
Last years Rhode Island team was as talented as the 2014 UConn team IMO.

Again, I've followed the URI program very closely for the last few years. We're not talking about Brad Stevens here. At this point, I think he's the guy, I'm just not particularly excited about it.
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No.

Shabazz, Boat, Daniels were all highly rated recruits--and higher level players than URI had/has. Facey was more highly rated than the bulk (if not all) of their players.
 
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champs99and04 said:
Last years Rhode Island team was as talented as the 2014 UConn team IMO.

Again, I've followed the URI program very closely for the last few years. We're not talking about Brad Stevens here. At this point, I think he's the guy, I'm just not particularly excited about it.
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It is ridiculous to think that URI was as talented as UConn was in 2014. How can you possibly think that?

Boat, Bazz, and Deandre would ALL be the best player on that URI team. We had the best guard in the country playing for us. We had players that were taller than 6'9, unlike URI. We also had 3 point shooters, something URI has not been able to produce.

There is no reasonable comparison to make.
 
was very impressed by Buffalo...the intensity level is 2x higher than our players, the team can shoot and score with confidence...they hit the boards well...and they show no fear. Can they sustain that? I don't know, but Oats appears to be getting a lot of the players he has and he runs deep off the bench. He expects performance and obviously has them believing.
 
husky429 said:
Hurley is a known program-builder. Multiple programs.

He has recruiting connections all over the Northeast and the country, and at least one highly qualified assistant in Tom Moore.

Oats could be the next Brad Stevens. Or he could flare out next year.

Hurley has an experienced team. He's also bringing 3* players to national relevance, a long stint in the top 25, and won a game in the NCAAs.

There are bigger names out there. And maybe we should consider going after them. Oats is not one of those bigger names.

What the AD needs to be finding out about Hurley:

How willing is he to adapt to the modern game? (Yesterdays shot charts seemed to indicate they were big on 3s and layups/dunks which is a good indicator. mid-range shots = bad these days.)

What assistants or adaptations will you make to offense? His offense is bad right now. Is that because of limited personnel? Or does he need to bring in an offensively minded coach to take control of that side of the ball?

How are you going to take the steps to grow as an in-game coach? His adjustments late this season have been just-okay.

Everything else he's doing well with. Their pressure D is astounding, he's developing players, almost no transfers, solid recruiting and connections in the area, history of program building etc.
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You're not wrong about any of this. I'd just point out that no coach we get is going to be complete. So, we're going to have to hope he does develop over time in some areas, whatever those may be.
 
husky429 said:
That's also probably why you see a higher Defensive FG% that people on here are worried about including myself. When you close out hard, you leave yourselves open to drive. And URI doesn't have anyone over 6'8, I believe. Their center is like 270lbs. They have no one who can be a presence inside to make up for those kinds of mistakes.
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This is pretty much us too.
 
tzznandrew said:
It might be. Time will tell. But to most objective people, this would be a slam dunk. Some people will put in their nay-saying, and if Hurley is as good as we all hope, forget about it. If he fails here, people will point back to their doubts like it meant something. I'm guilty of that as much as anyone.
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Thing is, there's doubts about every coach. Unless you're getting K, Roy, and the like, it's a risk. Get as much info as you can and bet accordingly.
 
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intlzncster said:
Thing is, there's doubts about every coach. Unless you're getting K, Roy, and the like, it's a risk. Get as much info as you can and bet accordingly.
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That's sort of my point: you're taking a gamble. By any objective measure, Hurley looks like a great bet. But it's still a bet.
 
gtcam said:
I heard an interesting thing about the seniors on URI team - they were recruited by Hurley - Bobby Hurley recruited Matthews and the other 3 seniors not Danny
Heard it on Sirrius XM about the Buffalo coach who was recruited to Buffalo to coach by Bobby Hurley when he left URI - went to wikopedia to see if I could verify and presto - there it is
Bobby was at URI for only 1 year and handled all the recruitment for the team
Just a tidbit I thought I would throw in the mix
Hurley/Oats/Matta = not a very enticing choice but if you put a gun to my head and say pick one - I might roll the dice on the Oats guy, he would come at a better price tag and if you get Chills to stay it would cover recruitment for a while
Just a thought and a little concern about Danny's recruiting acumen
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Giving Hurley no credit for any of his recruits is a bit much. If you think Chillious is the key for Oats, then just give Hurley Chillious and Moore, and you're all set.

And don't forget Hurley handed Oats a good program. Danny built his. Twice.

You won't get Oats to come without ponying up a similar salary. Extremely confident guy who knows he'll get his shot in a few years. He's got a nice team coming back, and some decent recruits. The University showed great commitment to him, and he's apparently a loyal guy. He and his wife love the Buffalo area; she's received her cancer treatments there the past two years and is cancer free fwiw.
 
champs99and04 said:
Last years Rhode Island team was as talented as the 2014 UConn team IMO.

Again, I've followed the URI program very closely for the last few years. We're not talking about Brad Stevens here. At this point, I think he's the guy, I'm just not particularly excited about it.
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Who in College Basketball beside 2 or 3 coaches is Brad Stevens?
 
AntG168 said:
Who in College Basketball beside 2 or 3 coaches is Brad Stevens?
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None of them right now...that we know of. That's the interesting part. I don't know if any of the young guys out there are just savants. I am pretty sure Tom Crean, Frank Martin and Thad Matta aren't, even if they are capable coaches.

So the decision for UConn is an interesting one. Are we trying to get a coach who can restore competence, as we were with Edsall? Or are we aiming higher for a guy with some risk, but more upside to potentially become great? I think clearly the latter. I also expect that any coach we hire isn't done leaning and improving. I believe that's why most of us gravitate to younger coaches who might be a Brad Stevens in waiting.
 
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husky429 said:
Hurley is a known program-builder. Multiple programs.

He has recruiting connections all over the Northeast and the country, and at least one highly qualified assistant in Tom Moore.

Oats could be the next Brad Stevens. Or he could flare out next year.

Hurley has an experienced team. He's also bringing 3* players to national relevance, a long stint in the top 25, and won a game in the NCAAs.

There are bigger names out there. And maybe we should consider going after them. Oats is not one of those bigger names.

What the AD needs to be finding out about Hurley:

How willing is he to adapt to the modern game? (Yesterdays shot charts seemed to indicate they were big on 3s and layups/dunks which is a good indicator. mid-range shots = bad these days.)

What assistants or adaptations will you make to offense? His offense is bad right now. Is that because of limited personnel? Or does he need to bring in an offensively minded coach to take control of that side of the ball?

How are you going to take the steps to grow as an in-game coach? His adjustments late this season have been just-okay.

Everything else he's doing well with. Their pressure D is astounding, he's developing players, almost no transfers, solid recruiting and connections in the area, history of program building etc.
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So his offense is poor, he's not a good in game coach. He can recruit at URI but can he recruit at the level this board will satisfied with? If he doesn't get better offense and doesn't improve in game decisions after 9 years as a head coach how will that change here?

Yet despite all this there are many on this board who won't even entertain the thought of someone else. This hire is a crap shoot. I think all options should be explored including Oats.
 
I hate to be a wet blanket, but if it's between us and Pitt, and he goes anywhere, he'll end up at Pitt.

And that's gonna suck. Because it's going to confirm a lot of things we fear about the state of UConn sports. But I think it's gonna happen so I'm getting both my cups ready. One for booze, the other in anticipation of the kick in the nads
 
Kathy said:
So his offense is poor, he's not a good in game coach. He can recruit at URI but can he recruit at the level this board will satisfied with? If he doesn't get better offense and doesn't improve in game decisions after 9 years as a head coach how will that change here?
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What are you talking about? His offense is poor? He's got 3* recruits! His offense looked just fine against Oklahoma, scoring more than we did most games.

Where do you get the idea he's not a good game coach?

This is one of the worst takes on the board...I'd say in a while, but then we had someone yesterday talk about firing KO after winning a title.
 
amory said:
I hate to be a wet blanket, but if it's between us and Pitt, and he goes anywhere, he'll end up at Pitt.

And that's gonna suck. Because it's going to confirm a lot of things we fear about the state of UConn sports. But I think it's gonna happen so I'm getting both my cups ready. One for booze, the other in anticipation of the kick in the nads
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I laughed. But it hurt.
 
amory said:
I hate to be a wet blanket, but if it's between us and Pitt, and he goes anywhere, he'll end up at Pitt.

And that's gonna suck. Because it's going to confirm a lot of things we fear about the state of UConn sports. But I think it's gonna happen so I'm getting both my cups ready. One for booze, the other in anticipation of the kick in the nads
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Why? Because they're in the ACC?

I don't get this take.
 
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tzznandrew said:
What are you talking about? His offense is poor? He's got 3* recruits! His offense looked just fine against Oklahoma, scoring more than we did most games.

Where do you get the idea he's not a good game coach?

This is one of the worst takes on the board...I'd say in a while, but then we had someone yesterday talk about firing KO after winning a title.
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I was responding to a post by someone else who made those statements. They were not the only ones. Even Hurley supporters have said those things.
 
Kathy said:
So his offense is poor, he's not a good in game coach. He can recruit at URI but can he recruit at the level this board will satisfied with? If he doesn't get better offense and doesn't improve in game decisions after 9 years as a head coach how will that change here?

Yet despite all this there are many on this board who won't even entertain the thought of someone else. This hire is a crap shoot. I think all options should be explored including Oats.
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They've got a limited team inside. URI and lesser teams are often limited by personnel. Reality is, every coach has flaws. Everybody has questions. For instance, we don't know how somebody like Oats can build a program. Yet, we know Hurley can, as he's done it at 3 levels.

Hurley's got the best track record. Over any other up and comer. I don't know about being 'hyped' about him. Just that the other options aren't as good on paper.

If you told me we could get a healthy Matta, I'd be on board. But he won't coach next year, because I don't think he's up to it physically.

One thing I've seen is that Hurley is willing to learn and change. Learned a lot from coach Moore this year. I think he'd pick up a lot from JC at UCONN. He's sought his help at URI even.

As you say, it's a crapshoot. So you place your bet on the option with the best odds. Right now, based on track record, it's Hurley.
 
tzznandrew said:
Why? Because they're in the ACC?

I don't get this take.
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100% yes, because of the ACC. High profile opponents and $$ matter.

And Pitt isn't like, Georgia Tech or BC. It's a program with some decent history.

I think he'll look at both programs and ask himself where there's the fewest hurdles in the path towards a rebuild. And objectively, that's Pitt.
 
Kathy said:
I was responding to a post by someone else who made those statements. They were not the only ones. Even Hurley supporters have said those things.
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Funny, I've never heard a Hurley supporter say he can't coach in game. Nor have I heard people complain much about his offense.

This guy has turned around a HS team, and two college teams. You don't do that if you don't do things well.

His offense was second in the A10! That's not a bad offense!

Offense in conference (KenPom) for Hurley:

URI

2018: 2
2017: 2
2016: 7
2015: 9
2014: 13
2013: 14

WAGNER

2012: 3
2011: 6
 
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amory said:
I hate to be a wet blanket, but if it's between us and Pitt, and he goes anywhere, he'll end up at Pitt.

And that's gonna suck. Because it's going to confirm a lot of things we fear about the state of UConn sports. But I think it's gonna happen so I'm getting both my cups ready. One for booze, the other in anticipation of the kick in the nads
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Honestly, I think the opposite. From all that I've read, he's a huge family guy, and is loving the RI area, which is near enough to CT to make it work. He's turned down Pitt before because it was too far from Jersey (and family) for his tastes.

His recruiting ties are further east than even Pittsburgh.

jmo tho
 
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