Is this a must win for Hurley?

[husky429]

You didn’t give Danny his two wins in first round at URI.? He isn’t a nothing in the tournament since your comparing.

I didn't give any of the coaches wins except sweet-16s or better. And I didn't count anything at mid-majors, because that's often just a fluke. Shaka has tons of wins in the tourney, including a Final 4 at VCU, but I was only including experience at high-majors.

Danny does not look better if you count entire post-season records. I didn't include this record because taking on a rebuild vs an already established team tends to warp things.

Hurley: (13 years as a HC: 2 Wagner, 6 URI, 5 UConn)

• 2-4 NCAAT record
• 1x conference regular season champion
• 1x conference tournament champion

Oats: (8 seasons as a HC: 4 at Buffalo and 4 at Bama)

• 4-5 NCAAT record
• 4x conference regular season champion
• 5x conference tournament champion

Beard: (8 years as a head coach: 1 at Little Rock, 5 at Tech, 1 at Texas)

• 11-5 NCAAT record
• 2x conference regular season champion
• 3x conference tourney champion

Shaka: (14 years as a head coach: 6 at VCU, 6 Texas, 2 Marquette)

• 6-9 NCAAT record
• 4x conference tournament champion
• 1x conference regular season champion

I think it's fair to say at this point that Oats and Beard are a cut above Hurley. They're also both garbage human beings, so I'm happy they didn't get hired here. Howard, Cronin, Holtmann are some other solid coaches around the same age. I didn't include them because I'm lazy, and because Howard and Cronin are kind of unique circumstances. Holtmann is 7-7 in his career in the NCAAT with one sweet-16 in I believe 12 years as a head coach.

I think it's fair to say that it's time for Hurley to win in the damn post-season or he's going to be pulled off the shortlist of elite young coaches.

 

[HooperScooper]

My answer.

Sweet 16 or bust

I'm sure I'll get both agreement and disagreement on this, but this team needs to get to the Sweet 16 this time as a 4 seed. No ands, ifs or buts. 2021 NCAA Tournament they were a 7 seed and lost to a 10. O.K., it happens. 2022 NCAA Tournament they were a 5 seed and lost to a 12. 2 years in a...

www.the-boneyard.com

 

[Excalibur]

There is no question that Hurley and the team are feeling enormous pressure from the fan base given the postseason failures of the past two years.

He has built up a fair amount of goodwill with most of us, with only the true degenerates jumping ship already. A third straight early exit is going to blow through a lot of that remaining good will. Lose on Friday, and the majority of the fan base is likely against him going into next year.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

YES

 

[Husky25]

I’m seeing so much talk in the national media (and among our fans) that this is a "must-win" for Hurley to get the "he can't coach in the tournament" off his back.

Frankly, I think that talk is ridiculous. Of course we want to advance as far as we can and take a step forward.

But I think this fanbase majorly loses sight of how difficult it is to win in the NCAA tournament because we've been so fortunate. And, more importantly, how a single game in the NCAA tournament is not indicative of the state of an entire college basketball program.

Let's look at what some other coaches around the country have attached to their names...

Coach K- Has lost to a 15-seed and a 14-seed.
Tony Bennett- The only coach to ever lose to a 16 seed. (Can you imagine this board if that happened????????)
Calipari- Hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 2019. In that span, he's had a 9-16 team and has lost to a 15-seeded team from the MAAC.
Cooley- Took 11 seasons to get to his first Sweet 16 (yes, different expectations at PC, but he's still a revered coach in college, and has had the talent to get to multiple sweet 16s)
Self- (Who I think is clearly the best coach in the game right now) Has lost to multiple double digit seeds.

The list goes on and on. And for all of them, they're still revered coaches.

Yes. Iona is a must-win. Hurley's UConn teams have been upset twice by double digit seeds in the 1st round. Next week would be nice, but he has got to get to Sunday at a minimum. There are no ifs, ands, or buts.

All of the aforementioned coaches had capital to burn before their hiccups. Some had very significant capital:
Coach K: 9 Final 4 appearances, 6 title games, and 3 National Championships before losing to #11 VCU. Add another National title before losing to #15 Lehigh in 2012.
Tony Bennett: Sweet 16 and Elite 8
John Calipari: 6 Final 4s, 1 National Championship, 2015 Naismith HoF before 2019.
Ed Cooley: Much lower expectations. Does not belong in the discussion. He's done a nice job at Providence and has a decent reputation in the Northeast (Big East by extension), but I'm not sure who revers him nationally. Be that as it may, he won a Tournament game in his third appearance, by "upsetting" USC as a 9 seed.
Bill Self: Won at least one game in his first six Tournament appearances. Went to back-to-back Elite 8s with Tulsa and Illinois in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Achieved another Elite 8 with Kansas before losing to double digit seeds. Then he returned to the Elite 8 during his "must win" Tournament, followed immediately by a National Championship. He has at least one win, including a second National title, in every Tournament since then.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Talk about bad vibes.

 

[REB1094]

Is it a must win in that he'll be fired if we lose? No

Is it a must win in that he needs to finally show he can win in March? Yes

The last 2 years are understandable losses in the NCAA tournament, this year there's no excuses

Spot on

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He hasnt "won" anything in his 5 years here...No BE/BET titles, no Tourney wins...This is all about results. Sorry, thats the way it is if you want the school to be a big "player". If he loses to Iona, then yes, he deserves the hot seat and implications it may have to his coaching rope, coaching strategy, recruiting, etc.

Sounds like it's a must win for @wingsfan055.

It's nothing personal that I could write this same obnoxious post quoting many others in this thread, and then the next one, and the next one.

The question will continue to be asked.

 

[Palatine]

100%. Hurley has 0 big wins. 0 conf tourney wins past first round and 0 NCAA tourney wins.

Hurley won the Phil Knight Invitational and a couple of NCAA games.

 

[Connecticut13]

It's a must win for my own sanity. I'm not sure if I could take another disappointing March...

 

[cohenzone]

I doubt it’s a “must win” except for some fans. Unless we are totally outclassed, he could coach a great game and the players could shoot for crap. Teams always look good when the ball goes through the hoop. They lost to Marquette by a bucket with 3 of 5 starters not playing all that well, even if one nitpicks or second guesses some coaching decisions.

 

[metsfan2323]

Calling it a must win implies we move in another direction with a loss, therefore it is not a must win, not even close. We have a great team coming back next year and starting over with a new coach would be beyond stupid.

I really hate this fanbase sometimes.

Remember when Virginia lost in the first round as a one seed? They kept their coach and won the whole thing the next year.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I feel safe with the assumption Hurley himself would agree this is a must win.

My hope is that he's done a good job of convincing Newton of that as well.

 

[Fishy]

100%. Hurley has 0 big wins. 0 conf tourney wins past first round and 0 NCAA tourney wins.

Were you born after the PK85 tournament last fall?

 

[Fishy]

Calling it a must win implies we move in another direction with a loss, therefore it is not a must win, not even close. We have a great team coming back next year and starting over with a new coach would be beyond stupid.

I really hate this fanbase sometimes.

Remember when Virginia lost in the first round as a one seed? They kept their coach and won the whole thing the next year.

Unless there’s a firing squad after the game, nothing is truly a must-win.

But a lot of bad crap will happen if we lose - mostly reputational - so in that sense, it is a must-win.

 

[Kolumbo]

It is a must win because any other outcome would be excruciatingly painful. And Dan Hurley is well aware of this. Preparation, focus, strategy, execution. I think there would be something very wrong if the coaches and players couldn't come out on a mission and put Iona away early. Definitely a must win game.

 

[metsfan2323]

Unless there’s a firing squad after the game, nothing is truly a must-win.

But a lot of bad crap will happen if we lose - mostly reputational - so in that sense, it is a must-win.

Nonsense, nothing will happen. The tournament has big upsets every year and that is exactly why people love it.

Even coach K lost as a 2 seed to 15 seed Lehigh for crying out loud. Did that make him a lousy coach?

Remember when 2 seed UCONN lost to 11 seed George Mason?

 

[Husky25]

Remember when Virginia lost in the first round as a one seed? They kept their coach and won the whole thing the next year.

Bennett had Tournament capital that Hurley does not. He shouldn't be fired necessarily, but why wouldn't his seat warm up a bit?

 

[Kathy]

You guys are delirious.

Go ride off into the off-season with three consecutive losses to double digit seeds, all upsets, and say you’re happy.

Took out the sentence I can't like

 

[Fishy]

Nonsense, nothing will happen. The tournament has big upsets every year and that is exactly why people love it.

Even coach K lost as a 2 seed to 15 seed Lehigh for crying out loud. Did that make him a lousy coach?

You just compared Coach K to Danny Hurley.

Stop. It’s stupid.

You’re trying to explain away a loss before it happens.

Also, stop. That’s stupid, too.

 

[Husky25]

Nonsense, nothing will happen. The tournament has big upsets every year and that is exactly why people love it.

Even coach K lost as a 2 seed to 15 seed Lehigh for crying out loud. Did that make him a lousy coach?

Coach K is mentioned above too. Do we really have to rehash his Tournament capital prior to that loss as well?

 

[nomar]

Nonsense, nothing will happen. The tournament has big upsets every year and that is exactly why people love it.

Even coach K lost as a 2 seed to 15 seed Lehigh for crying out loud. Did that make him a lousy coach?

Remember when 2 seed UCONN lost to 11 seed George Mason?

Had Coach K won any tournament games at Duke prior to the Lehigh game?

There is a large cohort on this board that does not believe Hurley is a championship coach and that cohort will grow in size if we don't beat Iona.

 

[metsfan2323]

You just compared Coach K to Danny Hurley.

Stop. It’s stupid.

You’re trying to explain away a loss before it happens.

Also, stop. That’s stupid, too.

No, you saying "a lot of bad crap will happen" is stupid. We're talking competitive sports here, Grow up!

 

[jdb50]

2 years ago Bouknight pulled stinkers in our BET semi and in the game against Maryland. Last year many of the veterans played poorly in the BET semis and against New Mexico St. We need our best players to have big games when it counts. But be that as it may the Iona game is a must win. Period.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

the cesspool will become the dominant forum if we lose to Iona