Memphis Post Game Thread

[superjohn]

He needs to be exactly who he is. You’re only mad at the pouty face and the tech because we lost.

This is silly. Coaches around college basketball don't get technicals at the very end of games, Hurley does.

We steamrolled everyone the past two seasons and did something never done in college basketball. We know he's awesome and he has the best program in the country. He still obviously shouldn't be doing this.

Also Reed needs to be starting. Hurley is the best coach in the country but it's still okay to point out the obvious.

 

[sdglast]

I think we got Memphis’ A+++ game today, but we are the champs and should expect that every game.

I think you are correct in that you got an A game from Memphis and like a C+/B- UConn game, and UConn still nearly won. That's the good news. You have to trust this coaching staff moving forward to make the right adjustments. Look, everyone jumped off the cliff last year when they got blown out by Seton Hall or the year before when the lost to Providence, Xavier, Marquette, etc., and yet the won the title both years. Not saying they will 3Peat, but I care more how they look in February than how they look in November.

 

[Hunt for 7]

My takeaways:

• Cmon Danny. Team fought back & you make a silly mental lapse with the technical. Absolutely gutted us.
• Cant start Sampson. He's got no offensive upside & didnt do much defensively. Switch Reed & Sampson roles.
• Need to decide on the PG position. it killed us both offensively & defensively. Cant let a team shoot over 50% from the field from 3. Perimeter defense is probably the biggest concern right now. It went from a strength last 2 years, to a potential problem.

I would definitely start Reed and hope he can stay on the court for 30 minutes a game especially against big teams. Not sure what that was with Johnson but it did look a little like some regression.

Mahaney was not even good against the cupcakes. He is an off the bench shooter 10-15 minutes a game. We have some serious guard issues. Solo showed up so that was a good sign but we are ok with Diarra in the game. He should never of taken that second three so quickly when we stopped them and were up 3 in OT. No reason for that quick shot. But just OK and Memphis just like ETAM switched everything and that is when you need guards that can effectively go to the hoop.

There are so many little things we did not do right and it was disappointing to lose that game in OT after showing the guts to come back. Have to win that game after that effort and their best or second best player on the bench.

 

[TheHorde]

His wrist was noticeably wrapped up pretty much.

Not good.

 

[mauconnfan]

The loss is on Danny, but not for the T. Everyone in the world could see that Mahaney and Samson weren’t working, but Danny played them way too much to start the second half.

Diarra wasn’t any better in the first half actually worse than Mahaney. And like it or not can’t play Reed for 40 minutes he will foul out as well.

Samsons T and Danny’s T are inexcusable period there’s your loss!

 

[FreeKlaiber]

there was a feed showing the Uconn sideline when Ball hit the three. It looks like to me, that Luke stands up, onto the court after the hoop is made and is taunting/yelling at the official right in front of him. Then it looked like Danny was yelling "yeaa"or whatever at him too in the next shot. I dont have the tape to rewind but I'd be curious if I am correct, if anyone can confirm or deny. Your mental focus as a coach can't be at taunting the official as your team ties it. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Let's hold off on these pronouncements.

This board was loaded with this stuff into late January when it came to Tristen Newton.

Mahaney just lacks aggression right now and the ball is dying with him. He's going to pick things up eventually, he has to.

They are different situations.

Newton struggled because we couldn’t decide if he was going to run the offense or Andre. Once we put things mostly in Newton’s hands we were fine.

We are putting everything into Mahaney’s hands and this is just not what he does. He’s a scoring 2G. It’s not fair to him to try and make him a PG when that’s not his strength.

 

[KingAG]

Even the best have to adjust sometimes. He isn’t perfect.

We agree there. No one is. You just have to be careful sometime when asking someone to change what makes them great. Sometimes you have to live with the imperfections to experience the greatness

 

[Woodson]

Hurley loss. On to the next one. He should apologiz to the entire fan base for this on. Refs killed us and we would have overcome it without the “bench T” in the first half and his in the second,

Hurley apologizing to the fan base after dropping a game in Maui is laugh out loud funny, thank you

 

[HailUConn]

Lots of Husky fans have a memory like gold fish.
Remember Nova loss and how Hurley and Huskies responded?

Remember when 23 team went thru a bad stretch of 5-6 games, and what came out of it?

You don’t learn much from playing cupcake games but can learn a lot from the losses.

Trust Hurley will already plan the work to do, coming home.

 

[Excalibur]

Two thoughts --

It looks like we may have whiffed on Mahaney. It happens. Nobody bats 1.000.

If the officials were going to T Hurley up, then they should have done it earlier. Not on the initial reaction to an objectively atrocious call.

 

[KingAG]

So we only have 1 more game in Maui correct?

 

[uconntoatl]

Need a guard who can penetrate the defense—-a lot of these guards just want to shoot threes. Can’t be afraid to drive the ball

 

[Deleted at users request]

Danny normally hits on transfers but he might of missed a lot if he though Mahaney was anything more than a shooter. I guess he really thought he was good enough to play PG but so far even against lower competition Mahaney has had trouble with speed. He can't even get his own shot off which is what he does best.

Trying to run an offense and decide when to get guys shots or look for your own is COMPLETELY different than being able to constantly be in attack mode looking for your own shot.

It’s not fair to him. If Hurley thought we needed a PG we should’ve got an actual PG.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

This is silly. Coaches around college basketball don't get technicals at the very end of games, Hurley does.

We steamrolled everyone the past two seasons and did something never done in college basketball. We know he's awesome and he has the best program in the country. He still obviously shouldn't be doing this.

Also Reed needs to be starting. Hurley is the best coach in the country but it's still okay to point out the obvious.

If any opposition coach was acting like Hurley we would’ve been begging for a tech/ejection.

 

[husky8273]

I'm too lazy to google. Are Anfernee and Penny the same person?

yes

 

[WrenchFan69]

So we only have 1 more game in Maui correct?

2

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Two thoughts --

It looks like we may have whiffed on Mahaney. It happens. Nobody bats 1.000.

If the officials were going to T Hurley up, then they should have done it earlier. Not on the initial reaction to an objectively atrocious call.

I’m curious about the choice in hindsight. Hurley has preached about going after big versatile guards. Aidan is simply not that.

 

[Excalibur]

I mean that. Look online. Not a good look for us. Any time your coach loses a game for you it's a problem.

It's over and done with. But he's gotta be smarter than that. Catch the T at the under-8. Don't give them the win from the sideline.

I like his attitude. I like the Ts... but time and place matter

His behavior earlier in the game probably warranted a T. His reaction to the call at the end did not.

That is all.

 

[JesusAllen11]

everything to do with fouls , techs , and refs sucked this game.
-i was a Sam Johnson believer. I am still , i just believe he belongs on the bench.
- Reed looks like an all American.
-Captain Karaban Mr consistent.
-Stewart looked like our 6th starter today.
-Ahmad should be getting Mahaney minutes soon

• no foul trouble we win easily.
• Memphis played a hell of game.

-this loss will be good for the team and Danny lol. This team is good. Not ready for this high a ranking tho.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Solo probably isn’t going to figure this out over the season, but for the love of everything that’s good can we please teach him to do something other than shoot 3s next year. He’s a great shooter but so much talent is being wasted by him not being able to use his gifts to do anything else.

 

[3rdbass]

Diarra wasn’t any better in the first half actually worse than Mahaney. And like it or not can’t play Reed for 40 minutes he will foul out as well.

Samsons T and Danny’s T are inexcusable period there’s your loss!

Maybe not on offense but he was a lot better on defense and espcially at the end of the 2nd half and OT. He deserves to play over Mahaney. I have high hope for Nowell being the eventual starter at PG but until then we need to put the best player who can give us a chance at PG. Mahaney is backup shooter and not a PG.

 

[Excalibur]

The referees did not start biased against UConn, but they got there by the end of the game. Showering officials with abuse for 45 minutes is going to have consequences in some games.

I don’t get the Hardaway hate on this board. His team plays decisive and with urgency on offense, and aggressive and fearless defense. He was trapping off the top of his zone in the first half, which you don’t see much. I really like the way Memphis plays. Hardaway coached an almost perfect game to win. Congrats to Memphis.

Kevin Ollie let officials walk all over us for 7 years and they were more than happy to sodomize us on a regular basis.

Hurley needs to pick his spots better but pressuring officials gets results.

 

[Karmacop]

I think you are correct in that you got an A game from Memphis and like a C+/B- UConn game.

What I'm concerned about is that this might actually be UConn's A-/B+ game, and we shouldn't expect too much more given the personnel we've got here (Mahaney and SJ, looking at you). I don't think we can just assume that some of the players that are hurting us are going to significantly improve.

The fact that improvement happened in the past (Newton, Cam, Castle, etc.) is a good sign that it can happen. But it also depends on the player. I'd argue that SJ in particular is beyond improvement, and that doesn't bode well for our long-term chances this year.

 

[NJHusky]

The whistle favored Memphis the entire game, which happens. Then the officials decided to pick a side.

Total screw job. UConn showed tons of fight.

Isn’t the name program supposed to get any benefit?

 

[3rdbass]

Solo probably isn’t going to figure this out over the season, but for the love of everything that’s good can we please teach him to do something other than shoot 3s next year. He’s a great shooter but so much talent is being wasted by him not being able to use his gifts to do anything else.

Yeah he has to drive more for sure. I was yelling at the TV for him to do that more. He did once but then passed the ball out.

 

[uconn_jack]

The refs blessed us by giving out a double technical on the Samson push and Hurley rewards them by ripping into them for a 50/50 over the back call on McNeeley.

People can only take so much and he argues EVERY call. This game was not on the refs.

Not an excuse for Samson, but I would like to know what his guy said to him, it was clearly a reaction to something he said to him in his ear while they were walking back after being tangled.

 

[ARIDE]

Ok 330 tomorrow take your anger out the right way. A lot of guys gotta redeem themselves especially Samson Johnson and Dan Hurley.

1030

Memphis is really good. This is a quality loss

Time will tell

 

[Drame]

Hurley needs to schedule a tougher game earlier on. Too much pressure built up and his head exploded.

 

[housekeys]

Memphis deserved to win they were impressive, let's move on and get better from this.

Exactly. It remains to be seen, but I doubt Memphis will ever play another game this complete and impressive. If they do, they will be among the favorites to win it all.

As we all know UConn will get EVERY teams best effort. In some case it will result in career games by the opponents and UConn will likely lose. But UConn can only control its end of the deal. Get better and smarter and always compete. We should have a good shot for another championship if we do.