Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Virtual Luncheon featuring Dan Hurley, UConn Men's Head Basketball Coach (10/14/20 @ Noon)

[Umami Zen]

It is what it is..Yes

 

[jdb50]

I liked Whaley from the get go. Excellent hops, quick off the floor, good mobility his freshman year. Offensive game was what could be expected from a freshman front court player. I was surprised he was nailed to the pine soph. year till the very end when he played well. Last year he could not be ignored. Played good D, rebounded well and made positive steps on offense. Outside of shooting 3's he was really solid last year.

 

[bmayuc]

Damn Isaiah Whaley is just a hell of a story. If you said you saw this coming you are lying.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[bmayuc]

Damn Isaiah Whaley is just a hell of a story. If you said you saw this coming you are lying.

and this one is fun becuz @Fishy absolutely crushing the analysis

 

[HooperScooper]

Well if Hurley doesn't say that he alienates half the players on the team by saying they're worse

I think you're right. And it cheapens the efforts of his assistant coaches who recruited those guys. Hurley coming around though. See the last sentence.

Oh, and don’t tell Hurley that the Big East has led to his program’s improvement in recruiting.

“I think Bouknight, Akok Akok and Gaffney would all beg to differ. We recruited those three guys — two potential draft picks, and Gaffney, who’s a top-level player ... and R.J. Cole, before we even changed leagues. I see that (written), and to me it cheapens the efforts of my assistant coaches, Kimani and Tom recruited those guys. It’s kind of a lazy hot take. But, look, the league has helped us recently.”

Dan Hurley breaks down 2020-21 UConn men’s basketball roster

 

[Fishy]

If anyone thinks Whaley was anything other than awful in 2019, they’re bad at watching basketball.

 

[HooperScooper]

If anyone thinks Whaley was anything other than awful in 2019, they’re bad at watching basketball.

Granted you didn't say he would never be good. We'll just chalk it up as a hot take that didn't age well.

 

[Chief00]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

View attachment 59890

Thanks for participating in the popular Chief’s Briefs and contributing to that very successful series.

 

[huskyfan224]

Nope. Now I understand why you would think that, because it’s both logical and factually accurate, but he didn’t give a quote to a reporter saying that was a reason, so it can’t be a reason. Everyone knows that only things 17 year olds say in response to questions asked by reporters count as real reasons, come on superjohn.

I remember back in the day I would get the ESPN magazines and there was an interview with BG. I believe it was one of his first years in the league and was asking about his time at UConn and winning the title. Duke got brought up and he ended with “I just hate Duke.”

 

[jkfer98]

Could Hurley go from admittedly undervaluing Whaley to overvaluing him now?

I think what Hurley is doing here is important. We won't know whether or not Whaley was playing over his head to end last season until this season gets rolling. Regardless, he was extremely productive when we got hot at the end of the season, especially over those last six games. And obviously, he brings energy both in game and in practice.

This is a message to everyone on the team that if you put in the work and put up results, you will be rewarded. You can go from someone who averaged, what, 3 minutes per game to a starter on a borderline top 25 team. I think putting Whaley on a pedestal like that shows the guys who probably won't be seeing too many minutes to start the season (Springs, Brown, maybe even Sanogo) that in the long run their personal goals will be attainable in this program.

Maybe Whaley will regress out of the gate, who knows. But with the depth this team has, overvaluing him to start the season doesn't hurt. I don't foresee Hurley having to force things this year - if a player doesn't have it that game, he has plenty of guys to go to off the bench.

 

[bmayuc]

If anyone thinks Whaley was anything other than awful in 2019, they’re bad at watching basketball.

well he played like 100 mop-up minutes all season in 23 games and the coach later offered a mea culpa for burying him on the bench incorrectly and then once he got regular minutes in the rotation he became a beast while maintaining essentially the same statistical profile(Reb+, BL+, TS+)

but ok ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Umami Zen]

He sure is and it's a pretty sad indictment of Hurley and his staff to not see every day in practice what us fans can see from pregame warmups and sources within the program.

Hurley has said in the past..and did say in virtual conf call this week..That Springs is a "talented" player.. There is a ton of competition at the 4/5 for minutes.. He will certainly benefit from the daily development in practice vs this stable of talented Bigs ... KFree..his positional coach..will have a major impact on him as well.....Once the dust settles after this season is over and some of our roster makes their plans for the future..and/or graduates..IMO.. Yarders will be happy to have Springs on the roster going into the 2021 season.. Let's enjoy the 2020 version of the Good Guys for now..

 

[navery12]

At this point I can't even tell who is making actual analysis on Springs and who is just making mattress jokes

 

[August_West]

Thanks for participating in the popular Chief’s Briefs and contributing to that very successful series.

Im really a fan of your twitter

 

[mussels]

This is a message to everyone on the team that if you put in the work and put up results, you will be rewarded. You can go from someone who averaged, what, 3 minutes per game to a starter on a borderline top 25 team. I think putting Whaley on a pedestal like that shows the guys who probably won't be seeing too many minutes to start the season (Springs, Brown, maybe even Sanogo) that in the long run their personal goals will be attainable in this program.

Whaley has the opportunity to make some real off the court contributions to the team, and individuals involved by delivering that same message one-on-one when egos are getting bruised. It will mean a lot comming from a starting senior who has been there.

 

[Storrs South]

They have a YouTube channel and have posted the recordings of these coach's events in the past. I will keep an eye out if they do so again.

Here's the recording:

 

[Fatroony5]

Here's the recording:

Thanks @Storrs South

Few takeaways I had. He said Whaley was most productive in the 5 man small ball line up they played last year. He said Whaley can play big as a 4 but I think it’s safe to assume most of his minutes will be at the 5. His advanced stats back that up in terms of that being his best position.

Still no live action for BA, but did mention he’ll have a chance to start this year or will at least be getting starters minute.Interesting to hear him say that he thinks Brendan could get up to 40% from 3.

He said Polleys best position is stretch 4 and wants him to focus on that for the season.

Mentions how he thinks AJ will be competing for a starting position this season. Hurley raves about Sanogo and talked about how he will lead UConn to lots of victories and championships. Still think he will have a major immediate impact for this team.

Lastly, I found it interesting that he stated he thinks UConn would either be #1 or #2 in preseason rankings in the American. Not disagreeing one bit, just interesting to hear him say that. Always appreciate how candid Hurley is and how intentional he is when he speaks.

 

[Psolo12]

Here's the recording:

Thank you!!