Is this a must win for Hurley? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Is this a must win for Hurley?

Candyman said:
This is just a bad statement. Its not easy to make it to the Elite 8 thats next level. Hurley has never been to the sweet 16. If we lose in round of 32 he won't be on the hot seat but the chatter from all the haters will be louder as we would lose to a lower seeded team 3 years in a row. Sweet 16 and he gets a contract extension.
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Imagine they make the Sweet 16 and then lose to #8 Arkansas? It'll be like the first weekend never happened. My favorite Boneyard myth is the idea of a "good loss."
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
It was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in the NCAAs. You can make the excuses you want. How about the year after that? And then Hawkins and Andre’s no shows against Marquette?

We have to come to play this weekend. I hope Hurley has the guys prepared to do that.
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I'm more a believer in "Jimmys and Joes" here, yes, even across a few (though not a large sample) of groups of guys.

If Hawkins and Jackson spit the bit again, they may just be headcases. Like Bouknight. In such a scenario, Hurley's deficiency, if anything, is failing to identify leaders with the right intangibles.

But hopefully this is all moot come Monday.
 
Cincinnati fans used to complain all the time about how Cronin couldn’t win games in the tournament. All he did was get them to tournament every year. To have success in the tournament you need great players to win some close games for you. Also you need some luck. Now look at Cincinnati without him.

Regardless of what happens in the tournament I think Hurley has done a good job rebuilding the program, which has lead to getting better recruits. Next year he brings in his first top 25 player in Castle. This year we got Karaban and Clingan, who are a cut above the talent we had previously. Before that his success allowed him to get Jackson, Sanogo, and Hawkins, who were a cut above players he inherited from Ollie. Regardless oh what happens, this team is better than last year’s team.

If UConn loses this game I think it’s on the players not the coach. In particular I think it’s on the team captains to lead them to victory. I think Jackson, Sanogo, and Hawkins will lead us to victory.

UConn doesn’t need a brilliant coaching strategy to win this game. They just need their players to play loose and to do what they do. If we make to play Kansas, that’s where we need some killer strategy.
 
We had the people who cover the sport for a living calling us the best team in the country earlier in the season and now many of them have us in the final 4. A sweet 16 is all that's needed to get the monkey off Hurley's back and it's certainly not too much to expect. He's obviously not getting fired if he loses right away again but it will make for a miserable offseason and all that will matter is what he does this time next year. I'm not sure what you call this weekend but it will have a huge bearing on his coaching reputation nationally and at home. All of this stuff builds on itself, it's why we have threads like this. Just get it done.
 
navery12 said:
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
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Couldnt have put it any better.
 
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NJHusky said:
It’s like if your kid fails a test…that’s on your kid. If every kid in the class fails a test, that’s on the teacher
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Disagree with that. I live in a city with some troubled areas that have great teachers working with large groups of kids who still can’t read in 4th or 5h grade. That’s not on the teacher.
 
What Hurley and this team are lacking is luck. Last 4 losses are by total of 9 points. A couple lucky bounces here or there and we win 2-3 of those. If that 40 point 3 pointer that Marquette doesn’t go in, we win that game. Never under estimate importance of some luck. We are due for it, and sooner or later we’ll get it.

In 2014, We we’re lucky to win first game on Brimah putback, 2011 Arizona missed wide open 3 at end of game.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
I'm more a believer in "Jimmys and Joes" here, yes, even across a few (though not a large sample) of groups of guys.

If Hawkins and Jackson spit the bit again, they may just be headcases. Like Bouknight. In such a scenario, Hurley's deficiency, if anything, is failing to identify leaders with the right intangibles.

But hopefully this is all moot come Monday.
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I feel like our fan base should know better than anyone how a coach can impact a player’s performance.

Caron, by all means, was a head case coming in. But we saw what the proper leadership and guidance did for him.
 
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jdb50 said:
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.
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The kid was totally dehydrated and unable to walk. To call those stinkers is to ignore the fact he was physically unable to perform.

This was a strange year where Whaley also had a issue with dehydration. The university failed to take care of the kids. For some reason they got a pass and the kids were blamed. But something was terrible wrong.
 
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The worst thing about losing to Iona is that it takes all the fun out of our regular season next year. No matter how well we do, no matter what our ranking, no matter how exciting the freshmen are, there will be this great elephant in the room -- the dread that we'll implode in March -- and the more we dominate in the regular season, the greater will loom the impending disaster. We simply must defeat Iona.
 
Yes. The first two games are now that Bilas picked us to win it all and a bunch of others picked us in the FF. It would be embarrassing to lose in the first weekend.
 
minimum respectability is 16. dropping 2nd round to vcu/marys is unacceptable. I can live with losing to blockhead & the jayhawks or arkansas in a close game but still disappointed.
 
Bonamassa said:
I may be wrong but I sense that the fan base is nervous.
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nervous of what?

B75A13DE-8778-4CA9-AA81-C1485151EF2B.gif
 
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To beat this to death, yes, we must beat Iona. If we don't, then a #4 KenPom doesn't mean anything, a #10 AP doesn't mean anything. respectable pundits predicting a Final Four doesn't mean anything, and if all that doesn't mean anything, then nothing that happens in the 23-24 regular season means anything. There will be no joy in it, nothing to give hope. It will just be a slow, agonizing "long walk" to the post-season and the hangman.
 
Go play the game- UConn is one of the most talent laden team in the country. Win or lose it's not a must win ......end of program game
 
Must win - obviously yes

But Hurley has this program ranked #10 in the country in March. His seat is not even remotely hot with a loss to Iona.
 
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Sphinx said:
To beat this to death, yes, we must beat Iona. If we don't, then a #4 KenPom doesn't mean anything, a #10 AP doesn't mean anything. respectable pundits predicting a Final Four doesn't mean anything, and if all that doesn't mean anything, then nothing that happens in the 23-24 regular season means anything. There will be no joy in it, nothing to give hope. It will just be a slow, agonizing "long walk" to the post-season and the hangman.
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I can't imagine how some of you summon the courage to leave the house in the morning.
 
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