Let’s not lose sight of….

[bigknight3]

I guess but who plans for massive departures for the NBA? And what team is going to win the NC for 3 consecutive years…..

That would be us…

Yes some things didn’t work out - we were oh so close… but look, that’s true for over 300 Division 1 teams every year.

We were one so very close to beating the best team in the tourney. In fact, the game was in our hands and we lost it.

But again, this was a wonderful season filled with unknowns - I enjoyed the ride. It certainly was one with massive frustrations but then some high points as well.

I’d rather of gone out like we did rather than St. John’s…. That was pitiful and not where they should have exited this tourney….

In the transfer portal you don't have to plan for departures. You re-up and bring in players to build the best team possible year after year. That was evident last year. We lost NBA caliber players and came back with the the freshmen and the addition of Cam, another NBA caliber player.

This year we missed in the transfer portal when it was all said an done. If we had another tough point guard. Mahaney could've focused on being himself and been a pesky combo guard 6th man of the year type scorer. They guy is still there but for some reason Hurley trying to make him as point guard prevented him from unleashing his true talent.

I agree with the comment above. Hurley has to own that.

 

[RuffRuff]

Revisionist history. The only real miss was Mahaney. For much of the year Liam was our bucket getter until he wasn’t. Ahmad was hurt and wasn’t available to be developed most of the year. Alex slumped, Solo slumped at the end. Jaylin had the potential but was inconsistent. We got more out of Tarris than Michigan but he was also inconsistent. Ross was the next MJ in practice. Hass ended up gutting out the year on one knee. I think most of us were pretty confident in our lineup on paper. It just didn’t work out. If Hurley made an error it was the faith in the leap from freshman to sophomore. I would not be surprised if he leans into more veteran players in the portal.

Hurley went all-in on a kid that was a total miss with zero insurance behind him. That was a lot of chips pushed in. It was a move that had no room for error, and it was a total error. Imagine how differently the make up would have been had we had a kid like Wooga Poplar as an option instead? It was have been a confident and reliable option to fill a weakness. There were no other misses, unless Hurley was prepared to move off the sophomore class.

 

[lateralous]

They played fantastic yesterday. Went down like champs and we have to be incredibly proud they showed out the way they did. Many thought we would be blown out and if just one or two moments change, we're prepping for Maryland.

But I can't be overjoyed for the staff this year for doing "all of this with a lineup with serious challenges, including missing a true point guard and a short bench" when the staff built the roster. The staff told anyone who would listen about the culture and UConn system. We had some injuries, for sure, but nothing catastrophic that derailed our season. It was just a poorly constructed team that illustrated its weaknesses in the first 5-6 games of the season. None of those problems were ever really solved.

The staff could not have predicted that Mahaney would struggle in the manner he did. The staff repeatedly said how the sophomore class was going to make this huge jump and be the key, and only Solo developed in a major way. The staff and board were glowing about our depth problem in the offseason. How were we ever going to have enough minutes to go around? It turned to wondering if we could even get quality minutes from our 7th and 8th guys.

I think our use of Tarris this year was maddening. He was, at times, our best offensive player and we literally reduced him to a screener and handoff guy for entire games. He had three post-up opportunities yesterday. Against Seton Hall he legit had none. When announcers are repeatedly stating that he needs to get involved, it is an issue.

34 games into the season we still could not inbound the freaking basketball

We had an okay year for us and what would amount to a great year for others. Hurley and staff are more than entitled to have several more okay years with what they've already done. But I can't say that this was a great coaching year. I'm confident they know where they went wrong and are going to revamp the roster in the next month or so.

Great Post. You articulated a lot of my frustrations with this season way better than I could have. I yelled the exact thing about not being able to inbound the ball this late in the season at my TV multiple times during the 10 o’clock hour Friday night. Absolutely maddening.

I suspect the added time for scouting portal transfers and some humility that comes with the early exit will yield a more focused roster construction this spring. For obvious reasons, last year felt a bit rushed.

 

[ddent68]

Yes.....that's called roster construction. Lot of ifs in your statement there. Lot of things had to work out that required analysis and thought on behalf of the coaching staff. They whiffed on way more than just Mahaney.

There aren’t any ifs in my post. I think we agree Mahaney didn’t work out as planned and it’s fair to say roster construction also didn’t work out as planned. I disagree that it is something that he has to “answer for”. It’s easy to say with the benefit of hindsight that they blew it. I think everyone here was pretty happy with the roster in November. Hurley said his approach has been to have a roster that is made up of talented freshman, improving returning players, and talented older players either home grown or from the portal. We had that. It worked the last two years. I think it’s a winning strategy but you aren’t going to get it right every time. Hurley has nothing to answer for.

 

[ddent68]

Hurley went all-in on a kid that was a total miss with zero insurance behind him. That was a lot of chips pushed in. It was a move that had no room for error, and it was a total error. Imagine how differently the make up would have been had we had a kid like Wooga Poplar as an option instead? It was have been a confident and reliable option to fill a weakness. There were no other misses, unless Hurley was prepared to move off the sophomore class.

Ahmad wasn’t insurance in November?

 

[UCan3]

In the transfer portal you don't have to plan for departures. You re-up and bring in players to build the best team possible year after year. That was evident last year. We lost NBA caliber players and came back with the the freshmen and the addition of Cam, another NBA caliber player.

This year we missed in the transfer portal when it was all said an done. If we had another tough point guard. Mahaney could've focused on being himself and been a pesky combo guard 6th man of the year type scorer. They guy is still there but for some reason Hurley trying to make him as point guard prevented him from unleashing his true talent.

I agree with the comment above. Hurley has to own that.

I think if we think about it some more, Liam went through and extended slump too… His shooting was atrocious the last 4-5 games… So you’ve got Mahaney not performing, Liam throwing up bricks, Solo turning the ball over time and time again and yet, Alex with a huge and length shooting slump AND Still we should have beat the best team in the country.

And we beat a very good OK team on the way.

I don’t know why but I’m willing to say “well done” we made some mistakes but again only 1 Div 1 team wins it all… We must appreciate the unpredictability this season brought - no game was boring and it was a wild ride.

Can’t wait until next year! Let’s keep our heads up and maybe a little less finger pointing… This season threw the coaching staff some curveballs. I’ll admit they whiffed on some but ultimately nothing to be ashamed of in what happpened Sunday.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

I think our use of Tarris this year was maddening. He was, at times, our best offensive player and we literally reduced him to a screener and handoff guy for entire games. He had three post-up opportunities yesterday. Against Seton Hall he legit had none. When announcers are repeatedly stating that he needs to get involved, it is an issue.

34 games into the season we still could not inbound the freaking basketball

We had an okay year for us and what would amount to a great year for others. Hurley and staff are more than entitled to have several more okay years with what they've already done. But I can't say that this was a great coaching year. I'm confident they know where they went wrong and are going to revamp the roster in the next month or so.

Spot on. He did a real nice job with the team in a lot of ways, but to claim that this years as a whole was a coaching masterclass is something I can't get behind. Not his best year coaching when compared to what he has done in past, PT/roster managment alone IMHO. Looking forward to next year.

 

[jibsey]

We had a point guard and a great shooting #2 guard but we didn’t have a player who could almost always get their own shot on a pull-up or going to the rim. Trust me I believe that will not happen next year and I bet he gets 2 players who can do that.

 

[RuffRuff]

You have to give the Hurley system a lot of credit in that Florida game. It took a group of players, none of which were playing great basketball individually, and almost won. Meanwhile you watched St John's and the pure disaster of what they displayed and realized Pitino needs perfect pieces to have any chance in March. It offers a lot of confidence to the fact that if Hurley can get some plus athletes/bodies out there, we'll be right back.

 

[NHUConnfan]

This season will be remembered as one of "what-ifs?".

What if....

Maui goes differently
Karaban hits late Nova FTs
Liam doesn't get hurt mid-season
Seton Hall doesn't win late
Hassan is 100% all year
Mahaney finds his footing/confidence
The last 2 min of the FLA game bounces our way

I'm thankful for the effort from Diarra and Samson. I'll miss them. But very very excited for the injection of talent that's coming through the door next season. Let's hope we can keep the staff together, gain some perspective, and make another run for 2026.

Idk man, this season isn't even that high up on the all time list of "what if" teams UConn has had.

Sure, we can ask these, but realistically a three-peat was a long shot from Day 1. You never say never with a coach like Danny, but it was always an uphill battle. This team is not a "what if" team like 06, 08 or 09.

 

[uconngb]

Ahmad wasn’t insurance in November?

No. I think it's clear that they missed on him as well. That guy is not a high-major point guard. He can barely dribble. And it has nothing to do with his injury. Anyone with eyes could see that when he came in he was overmatched at this level. That is not revisionist as you say. it's just a fact. They really missed the boat BAD with the point guard position.

 

[ddent68]

No. I think it's clear that they missed on him as well. That guy is not a high-major point guard. He can barely dribble. And it has nothing to do with his injury. Anyone with eyes could see that when he came in he was overmatched at this level. That is not revisionist as you say. it's just a fact. They really missed the boat BAD with the point guard position.

A fact? The kid barely played. I thought that was because of injury or was it because he wasn’t good enough? I don’t know but neither do you. On paper the kid was a stud.

 

[Travelman6]

This was a really tough loss but far from the toughest to cope with. 1. Gmason was a lot harder to swallow, as was 2. San Diego, 3. NC State, 4. New Mexico St and 5. 1994 Florida round out my top 5 most difficult to deal with.

This was more of a "one year away" type of loss like 1998 UNC or 2003 Texas, which is the vibe I'm getting here. If the core of this team comes back with another year under their belt and the new recruits are well developed by next March (likely), WATCH OUT!

 

[uconngb]

A fact? The kid barely played. I thought that was because of injury or was it because he wasn’t good enough? I don’t know but neither do you. On paper the kid was a stud.

So was Rasool DIggins. The "on paper" is based on recruiting rankings. My eyes don't lye when it comes to Nowell. He was given opportunities and when he got them he was completely overmatched.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

So was Rasool DIggins. The "on paper" is based on recruiting rankings. My eyes don't lye when it comes to Nowell. He was given opportunities and when he got them he was completely overmatched.

nah, youre jumping the gun saying its a "fact". Yes he looked a bit overmatched but he saw very little run. Not trying to debate you, but I disagree with it being a "fact" that Nowell isn't a high major PG. I'm still hopeful to be honest. We should be going after bigger guards but I cant write the kid off yet. Our offensive system isnt easy, and he went by his guy a couple of times. Agree that his overall handle seems to need some work.

 

[Deepster]

So was Rasool DIggins. The "on paper" is based on recruiting rankings. My eyes don't lye when it comes to Nowell. He was given opportunities and when he got them he was completely overmatched.

I'm not saying I was impressed by Nowell this season, but you could have said the same thing about Solo at this time last year. Last season, he averaged 3.3 ppg and in the last 16 games of the season, he had more than 3 pts once.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This was a really tough loss but far from the toughest to cope with. 1. Gmason was a lot harder to swallow, as was 2. San Diego, 3. NC State, 4. New Mexico St and 5. 1994 Florida round out my top 5 most difficult to deal with.

This was more of a "one year away" type of loss like 1998 UNC or 2003 Texas, which is the vibe I'm getting here. If the core of this team comes back with another year under their belt and the new recruits are well developed by next March (likely), WATCH OUT!

I don't think that "one year away" phenomenon exists anymore. It's a new era. You're always one year away.

 

[ddent68]

So was Rasool DIggins. The "on paper" is based on recruiting rankings. My eyes don't lye when it comes to Nowell. He was given opportunities and when he got them he was completely overmatched.

I’m not arguing about any specific players my whole point was that you wanna sit here and act like all this was knowable before the season started. If you ask me back in November, we looked pretty stout. Just sit here and blame Hurley that he should’ve somehow known better and constructed the roster differently is ridiculous. It was a frustrating season for everyone no doubt, if you wanna play the what if game what if they had played defense throughout the season like they did it against Florida? What if the defense had gelled and played that well a month ago? It’s just an easy and weak criticism to say that we were all wrong from the start when nobody thought that not even you.

 

[RuffRuff]

I'm not saying I was impressed by Nowell this season, but you could have said the same thing about Solo at this time last year. Last season, he averaged 3.3 ppg and in the last 16 games of the season, he had more than 3 pts once.

Solo got a lot more run early in the year to assess. I don’t know what to think about Nowell - he’s certainly not a PG Picasso, as stylistically left a lot to be desired. We just didn’t see enough of him. Have to leave this one up to the coaches making the best decision. Not even worth chiming in on. He was a 35thish PG for a reason and they did offer him, so there has to be something there.

 

[GHSWolverines]

After explaining the differences between a PG and CG above I’m surprised youre saying we need the latter when we clearly need the former. Of the 6 guys that are definitely returning 4 of them can play SG: Ball is locked in as the starter with Mullins probably as his backup. Adams is a CG and Furphy is a SG/SF. but we don’t have a single experienced PG returning

CG can be PG

 

[bendm]

CG can be PG

It unnecessarily limits our targets if you’re saying we can only take a “CG”

But i would 100% agree with saying we need either a CG or a PG. Getting someone with PG skills to run the offense is the primary requirement for us so we’d take a pure PG. We’d also take a CG like you said, but we don’t necessarily need someone that can run the offense AND play off ball. We’ve already got a bunch of off ball Gs.