Miscalculations by Dan Hurley

[freescooter]

You know what else we are missing this year? An off the bench scorer. Joey California was the guy in 2023. Diarra played that role last year and to some extent in 2023. This team would really benefit from a microwave type off the bench when shots aren’t falling. Who is that guy on this team?

 

[Com'rGordon]

You know what else we are missing this year? An off the bench scorer. Joey California was the guy in 2023. Diarra played that role last year and to some extent in 2023. This team would really benefit from a microwave type off the bench when shots aren’t falling. Who is that guy on this team?

Has to be Stewart

 

[boog204]

You know what else we are missing this year? An off the bench scorer. Joey California was the guy in 2023. Diarra played that role last year and to some extent in 2023. This team would really benefit from a microwave type off the bench when shots aren’t falling. Who is that guy on this team?

For sure... We had Joey C, Naheim, AND DC coming off the bench to give us 5-7 a game each. Last year Hass was good for 6 and Samson would get two dunks a game.

Aside from Tarris (and sometimes even him), our bench generally gives us absolutely nothing offensively or defensively. Crazy how we went from being 10-11 deep in the preseason to really having six players who you could somewhat depend on.

 

[Kolumbo]

BJ Freeman - Guard - 6'6" 200 lbs

Arizona State's leading scorer has been dismissed. Can he transfer today? A few discipline issues, no biggie.

BJ Freeman College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

BJ Freeman - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

BJ Freeman no longer with ASU due to detrimental conduct

BJ Freeman is no longer with the Arizona State men's basketball team due to conduct detrimental to the team, a team spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.

arizonasports.com

 

[husky429]

BJ Freeman - Guard - 6'6" 200 lbs

Arizona State's leading scorer has been dismissed. Can he transfer today? A few discipline issues, no biggie.

BJ Freeman College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

BJ Freeman - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

BJ Freeman no longer with ASU due to detrimental conduct

BJ Freeman is no longer with the Arizona State men's basketball team due to conduct detrimental to the team, a team spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.

arizonasports.com

We are not recruiting a kid who was kicked off our coaches brother's team. No friggen' way.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What guy?
AM or Dan Hurley?
If it's AM, I agree
If it's Dan Hurley - you are so wrong

The first post lights up AM. The guy barely played yesterday.

 

[Agent0]

After the 2nd round of the NCAAs, so the Monday 8 days after Selection Sunday.

But guys are already "in the portal". Trilly Donovan has a list of 70 guys already.

Care to share the list?

 

[PAHusky]

You know what else we are missing this year? An off the bench scorer. Joey California was the guy in 2023. Diarra played that role last year and to some extent in 2023. This team would really benefit from a microwave type off the bench when shots aren’t falling. Who is that guy on this team?

We don’t really even have one in the starting lineup, let alone coming off the bench

 

[Martin84]

Each of the last three years has come with major assumptions going into the year

Could Andre/Hawkins/Sanogo make star leaps in development, with the 4 transfers and 2 freshmen making immediate impacts? Took some time but we ended up hitting on those assumptions

Could Newton make the superstar leap, could those freshmen make a sophomore leap, could Diarra/Samson go from benchwarmer to key pieces, could Cam and Castle adjust immediately to the BE? Less unknowns here but obviously hits on them all

This year, could the sophomore class make a jump, could Karaban make the superstar leap, could Samson make a leap, could the transfers fix their issues under a Hurley system, will McNeeley be ready? Tarris, Solo, Liam hit. Karaban, Samson, Stewart, Ross, Mahaney missed

I’m sure those mistakes won’t be repeated again going into next year

I like everything you said until the last sentence. We could have a few down years to set up a few good years.

 

[Gutter King]

This is chess, not checkers. And we all know - sometimes you make a move and you are boxed in and there isn't anything you can do about it. He missed on roster construction - let's fight like hell the rest of the way and see what happens. I trust they will get it right going forward.

The coach takes the glory and should burden the failures, but the amount of anti-Hurley stuff is rather shocking. This season is just another data point. He didn't have the players he thought he had. Look at Kansas...I haven't watched a minute of KU, but obviously Self is going through something similar over there.

Honestly, we miss a lot of simple plays that previous teams made. A lot. We almost never pull the trigger on anticipatory passes, and when we do we've had a lot of what happened on our first offensive posession yesterday....Diarra anticipating SJ (Senior to Senior even) to continue to the basket but he just stops. TO. That's a dunk to Adama and DC. There are about 4 or 5 examples like that in a game. I never saw Aiden do it once, Ball did it in the last Nova game but really no other time, etc. Accountability needs to be shifted to the players more.

We also do not execute cuts with any sort of tenacity, it really is going through the motions 80% and when something actually pops open....we don't make the play. We are simply way too easy to guard. What made Cam and AK effective is you absolutely had to stop their cut AND the 3pt, and those players knew when the D screwed up to exploit it, and they had the PGs in TNew and Diarra that were a half a step ahead of the D as well. I mean afterall, that is the point of a good offense...to be 1/2 step ahead of the D rather than be a 1/2 step behind.

If we made the plays that were (wide) open we are probably sitting with 4 losses.

 

[auror]

Care to share the list?

It would violate the rules on this site. But they're not definite anyways, I think he says his early portal list has like an 80% accuracy. Guys change their mind sometimes (or their school/collective comes back with a good offer).

 

[3rdbass]

Each of the last three years has come with major assumptions going into the year

Could Andre/Hawkins/Sanogo make star leaps in development, with the 4 transfers and 2 freshmen making immediate impacts? Took some time but we ended up hitting on those assumptions

Could Newton make the superstar leap, could those freshmen make a sophomore leap, could Diarra/Samson go from benchwarmer to key pieces, could Cam and Castle adjust immediately to the BE? Less unknowns here but obviously hits on them all

This year, could the sophomore class make a jump, could Karaban make the superstar leap, could Samson make a leap, could the transfers fix their issues under a Hurley system, will McNeeley be ready? Tarris, Solo, Liam hit. Karaban, Samson, Stewart, Ross, Mahaney missed

I’m sure those mistakes won’t be repeated again going into next year

Samson I wouldn't call a miss. He is what he is and he is acctually a better rebounder this year and he did show some jump hook moves close to the basket which he never showed before. He is still a good change of pace player compared to Tarris. I think he has been pretty good. His defense has actually improved compared to last year. The others I agree have been dissappointing to say the least. Especially a player with obvious Talent in Stewart has been a headcase in consistency. He seems to take more time off then he plays when in which then points a little bit to bad coaching/mentoring.

 

[3rdbass]

Honestly, the only guy who I'm not worried about getting randomly stripped 30 feet from the hoop is Liam. Everyone else on the team is mediocre for their respective positions.

Funny you mentioned that but that is exactly what happened in the game yesterday. LOL!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have a question for the Boneyarders who have been griping about Dan Hurley's preseason threepeat talk:

Do you believe that the reason we are in our current situation is because Dan Hurley said threepeat was the goal?

Do you believe that teams are playing us harder than the would have if Dan Hurley said " We're replacing a lot and we may not be able to make a run like we had the past two years."?

Are you upset because that talk got your hope's up and now you're facing a possibility that you haven't had to deal with in nearly three years?

I'm pretty confident that whatever it is that you're upset about is on you, not Dan Hurley as the team was going to be what it will end up being regardless.

 

[Kolumbo]

We are not recruiting a kid who was kicked off our coaches brother's team. No friggen' way.

It was said mostly in jest, obvie.

That said, that would be the ultimate brotherly move! Turn the kid around and he leads UConn to another championship playing for the Hurley who coaches and wins Natties.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Our success the last two years was do to a large degree because of portal success , development and Incoming freshman , The results on all three are mixed to say the least
The 5 was a concern but we’re getting 16-10 from that position not bad . we went to the portal and although Reed wasn’t the home run transfer going in he has exceeded expectations.
The big problem area we have and it was supposed to be solved by combination of the Portal and a top 30 recruit is ball control with both Newton and Castle moving on it was a huge priority . Instead it’s become a huge hole in both to date as we’re only getting 6 pts in 19 minutes . Thats a huge fail
In player development.we made an effort to retain pretty much the entirety of last years freshman less Castle in the hopes that they would lake huge leaps
Ball has probably exceeded expectations offensively, 14.7 PPG
Getting only a combined 7 PPG from Stewart and Ross in 30 minutes has created a black hole that puts undue pressure on your shooters
As for a pretty highly regarded freshman class
McNeeley has typical been as advertised but Nowell and Abraham not so much
If our weakness are this obvious to this old nearly blind man . Opposition coaches know these weakness and preparation against our other players becomes a lot easier .

 

[djct1999]

I have a question for the Boneyarders who have been griping about Dan Hurley's preseason threepeat talk:

Do you believe that the reason we are in our current situation is because Dan Hurley said threepeat was the goal?

Do you believe that teams are playing us harder than the would have if Dan Hurley said " We're replacing a lot and we may not be able to make a run like we had the past two years."?

Are you upset because that talk got your hope's up and now you're facing a possibility that you haven't had to deal with in nearly three years?

I'm pretty confident that whatever it is that you're upset about is on you, not Dan Hurley as the team was going to be what it will end up being regardless.

I think you are dismissing how so many on here actually know more than Dan Hurley and are better coaches. Surely, I can name many posters who apparently would do a better job.

 

[SubbaBub]

We don't have an All-American. This was always going to be a problem.
We don't have enough defenders. We hoped the new rotation would pick it up.
We don't have enough ball handlers. Diara has done well, but he never had to lead the team, can't play 40 minutes picking up fouls defending the other teams best guard, and none of the other PG options have elevated to championship level Big East play.
We are not nearly as versatile as we have been offense. We have two centers, one PF, one SG, one PG, and a couple of tweeners. None scare our opponents and we don't play with the same cohesiveness.

Less talent, less cohesiveness, less defending, more reliance on individual performances means fewer wins.

Still haven't lost a game where we've played well or even played OK. The variance is what makes this season truly aggravating. Instead of one or two WTH performances, we've had over 10 if you include some of the unnecessarily close wins.

 

[uconngb]

There has been a standard set and reestablished by Hurley himself. When it's not met after 26 games the critique from UCONN Nation is more than warranted.

It has nothing to do with doom and gloom or fair weather fans. The current team has underperformed in the aggregate based on their actual talent level.

As the highest paid State employee in the State of Connecticut critique and criticism starts at the top. You can't have it both ways. There is something off about this team and for some reason they haven't taken on the personality of their coach. Hurley has acknowledged this along with Karaban.

As Hurley said himself....sometimes you have to eat ish. That is what we are doing as UCONN Nation right now. There are lessons to be learned by these mistakes and strategic errors. I'm sure Hurley and staff will be looking for some Pit Bulls, real Alpha Dogs this off season. Hurley has the formula and for some reason he deviated from it and they made some bad bets.

Thank you for posting this. The Hurley defenders don’t realize that criticizing him for bad coaching, being stubborn, etc does NOT necessarily mean people want him fired or are running him out of town. We have every right to criticize just as much as we had every right to praise the last two years.

If people don’t want to concede that he’s done a pretty bad job this year, I don’t know what to say. That has no bearing on how good a job he did the previous two years. They can both be true.

 

[superjohn]

I have a question for the Boneyarders who have been griping about Dan Hurley's preseason threepeat talk:

Do you believe that the reason we are in our current situation is because Dan Hurley said threepeat was the goal?

Do you believe that teams are playing us harder than the would have if Dan Hurley said " We're replacing a lot and we may not be able to make a run like we had the past two years."?

Are you upset because that talk got your hope's up and now you're facing a possibility that you haven't had to deal with in nearly three years?

I'm pretty confident that whatever it is that you're upset about is on you, not Dan Hurley as the team was going to be what it will end up being regardless.

I don't care about a season that doesn't look anything like the season Hurley and the national media envisioned for the Huskies. We've had plenty of disappointing seasons after high expectations were thrust upon us in the preseason, it happens.

I think we're in our current situation because coach badly misjudged in the portal on the biggest position of need, I think he either thought too highly of a couple of our sophomores and or was blinded by loyalty, and I think he started the wrong center all season.

My read on it is he was feeling himself too much after the dominant back to back and kind of thought he could turn anyone into serious national championship contenders. This season humbled him and he now must make the necessary changes for the roster we'll have next season....Hurley and the team/program will be better for it next season.

 

[UCTitleTown]

We are not recruiting a kid who was kicked off our coaches brother's team. No friggen' way.

I bet he's a fighter. Reclamation project like Caron Butler?

 

[freescooter]

Has to be Stewart

Yeah, ok. As I said we don’t have a guy

 

[Fan1978]

I think he simply over corrected post the maryland tourney loss. At time he spoke about not having enough offensive players, and changing philosophy to bring in offensive players and try to teach them how to play his D. Problem was, and is, we lost the mix. Also that the offensive players we have, have major flaws (too slow, cant penetrate, no ballhandling)- that was Hurley and staffs miss. We lost defensive identity he yearns for. If you want dogs, dont get a cat. Its fine though, after 2 nattys you can have a just ok season.

However I am genuinely concerned next yrs recruits fit this same mode. I think Dan Hurley is eventually reflective but his knee jerk is always to defend himself, which is natural. When he gets his cringe lip read comment at ref, he initially says I wish the tv would show other coaches in big east bc they are just as bad. Ummm ok. But since then he has calmed down on sideline, so he GOT the point. I think he gets the flaws of this team construction, & while I think he is deflecting in the moment, he sees and will address issue with better mix in future. But it needs to goto portal to bring in qualities our 4 recruits just dont have

He will be hitting the portal hard and there will be some turnover. Otherwise next year will be a repeat of this year.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I don't care about a season that doesn't look anything like the season Hurley and the national media envisioned for the Huskies. We've had plenty of disappointing seasons after high expectations were thrust upon us in the preseason, it happens.

I think we're in our current situation because coach badly misjudged in the portal on the biggest position of need, I think he either thought too highly of a couple of our sophomores and or was blinded by loyalty, and I think he started the wrong center all season.

My read on it is he was feeling himself too much after the dominant back to back and kind of thought he could turn anyone into serious national championship contenders. This season humbled him and he now must make the necessary changes for the roster we'll have next season....Hurley and the team/program will be better for it next season.

This is literally what happened. He thought Mahaney would compliment the returners and be that Newton/Spencer hybrid we were missing.

He probably thought all 3 of the sophomore wings would’ve benefited more from practicing against the 2024 team for a full season, but only Solo improved. Nobody blamed him before the season for handing the keys over to those guys.

Now that we’ll be a year removed from any likely post season success, we don’t have to worry about guys cashing in on loyalty to remain in the rotation. 2-3 impact transfers that hopefully will be scouted better than Mahaney will be tremendous next to our returning core and recruiting class.

 

[RuffRuff]

Mostly worried about the fact that when it comes to ballhandliWas ng, Mahaney seems to be the second best handler on the team!

Was at the game Sunday, seats low mid court. While the outcome wasn't great, great environment and good to catch up with this team again. Hurley has a lot of work to do. There are clear deficiencies in the potential returning core & it's nothing freshman can make up. To say they were physically outmatched would be an understatement. It was men versus boys out there (with the exception of Tarris).

A couple recognitions, in thinking ahead to next year:

Solo is a thin kid. He's ripped, but not strong enough to either defend properly or finish at the rim, and doesn't have the quickness (or savvy) to make up for it. It really showed in a game like this. He has to get meaningfully stronger for me to lock him in at the 2 next year, would prefer having an insurance policy combo he can compete with. I'd want flexibility and options there and not put all eggs in, if we really want to compete. There are light bulbs that don't go off as often as you would like.

Stew - I don't know how he overcomes his spacial awareness issues. He gets lost at a level that is hard to fathom, showcased by 4 fouls in 13 minutes. This has become a consistent issue that hasn't developed an ounce since start of season. He can flash some offense at times, but then produces little elsewhere and is an extreme defensive liability. He is chasing his man from behind regularly.

Ahmad - had a couple really nice looks inside, and has an eye for the pass. His handle and general presence on the court as a short PG feels kinda unorthodox as it looks like a running back playing PG. I'm going to hold on any real eval as a seldom played freshman.

AM & Ross - not enough meaningful minutes to assess much, but verdict seems to be out there.

Where my curiosities continue to loom is how significant a talent shift Hurley makes, in recapturing toughness and physicality, especially now that Pitino is back and stealing the BE shine. Pitino's statements around passing on HS recruiting will be an interesting variable, because now that StJ is a legitimate foe, it should be top of Hurley's mind to be able to compete with a Pitino roster. StJ is likely going to have Ruis, Zubi & Wilcher back to start, and he'll be looking to grab his type of players in the open spots.

Furthermore, I have to think Hurley has to be burning being slapped into humility. There is a lot of chatter going on right now about how Pitino is the best ever, blah blah. We have a real rivalry on our hands, which is fun.

Our staff is awesome and will adjust. I personally don't think Hurley is going to be patient trying to get back to the top, especially after having misdialed so badly on this team. It was a heckuva misdial. If anything this had to be a reality check that it's not about the system as much as talent, and sliding scale of shooters/processors has to move back to toughness/physicality/size/athletecism.

This team is a hard watch at times given how physically outmatched they've been, which tends to have a hopeless feel as your only option is outshoot.

 

[djct1999]

After the 2nd round of the NCAAs, so the Monday 8 days after Selection Sunday.

But guys are already "in the portal". Trilly Donovan has a list of 70 guys already.

Street agents work year round. They are sharks. Trust me on this, they are already talking to parents and inner circles and most kids already have a sense of what schools want them and how much they will pay.

Of note, I believe the ncaa is voting in April on giving current seniors a 5th year. This can open up a whole bunch of new options.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Hurley had a multi-year sample size even before the last 2 years that made him fairly confident he could coach up just about any players of decent 3*+ talent to play KenPom 50 or better team D over the course of a season.

I’m sure he felt we could get enough out of all of the current sophomores & vets plus the transfers that we’d have a similar or better “serviceable” D thst would suffice with an anticipated Top 5-10 offense.

While some of our offensive issues have already been covered in this thread, it’s the poor defense (still stuck at 97 and visually horrible most games) that has killed us in at least half of our losses.

 

[djct1999]

For sure... We had Joey C, Naheim, AND DC coming off the bench to give us 5-7 a game each. Last year Hass was good for 6 and Samson would get two dunks a game.

Aside from Tarris (and sometimes even him), our bench generally gives us absolutely nothing offensively or defensively. Crazy how we went from being 10-11 deep in the preseason to really having six players who you could somewhat depend on.

And people continuously want to point out AM. But the staff swung and missed on far more than just him. Players aside, the most shocking thing to me starts with the team defense. It was an absolute mess from the start and derailed the entire season. We are to slow on the perimeter, we are to late to offer help side defense, and we are either out of position or just lack the interior presence we had the last two years. We used to score a ton in transition and moved the ball quickly. We saw none of that this year. We had no true pg, no true center, no depth, and when things mattered most, we turned to a freshman. I do agree ego played a part and this staff believed they created the perfect system. They learned quickly personnel matters and the system only works w the right kids. Our lack of depth and propensity to foul limited the staffs rotations. Tarris and Samson both probably would have better playing alongside each other but we rarely could do that because of foul trouble and no one behind them.We just didn’t have the right kids. The staff will adjust and my guess is this team will look completely different next year, including a surprise or two.

 

[RuffRuff]

And people continuously want to point out AM. But the staff swung and missed on far more than just him. Players aside, the most shocking thing to me starts with the team defense. It was an absolute mess from the start and derailed the entire season. We are to slow on the perimeter, we are to late to offer help side defense, and we are either out of position or just lack the interior presence we had the last two years. We used to score a ton in transition and moved the ball quickly. We saw none of that this year. We had no true pg, no true center, no depth, and when things mattered most, we turned to a freshman. I do agree ego played a part and this staff believed they created the perfect system. They learned quickly personnel matters and the system only works w the right kids. Our lack of depth and propensity to foul limited the staffs rotations. Tarris and Samson both probably would have better playing alongside each other but we rarely could do that because of foul trouble and no one behind them.We just didn’t have the right kids. The staff will adjust and my guess is this team will look completely different next year, including a surprise or two.

Feels like there was a covergence of multiple colliding variables:

1) Emphasis on development & continuity as part of culture (Hurley was outspoken on this) - sophomore class
2) Indexing heavily on shooters/culture fits/good processing (also outspoken) - Mahaney
3) Loyalty to program guys - AK/Samson

Samson isn't a starting 5 on any NC caliber team, and it's not debatable. I remain convinced this was a shortened and distracted roster build, which I cannot totally blame the coaches on and it's unlikely to happen again. It's also pretty clear there was some overconfidence in the system being the driver, not the amazingly high level of talent.

I'm simply curious how they'll adjust, confident they will. I do think it's going to take a lot of work and will test recently stated philosophies.

Key in today's world is being Kenny Roger's and knowing when to hold em and when to fold em.

 

[djct1999]

Feels like there was a covergence of multiple colliding variables:

1) Emphasis on development & continuity as part of culture (Hurley was outspoken on this) - sophomore class
2) Indexing heavily on shooters/culture fits/good processing (also outspoken) - Mahaney
3) Loyalty to program guys - AK/Samson

Samson isn't a starting 5 on any NC caliber team, and it's not debatable. I remain convinced this was a shortened and distracted roster build, which I cannot totally blame the coaches on and it's unlikely to happen again. It's also pretty clear there was some overconfidence in the system being the driver, not the amazingly high level of talent.

I'm simply curious how they'll adjust, confident they will. I do think it's going to take a lot of work and will test recently stated philosophies.

Key in today's world is being Kenny Roger's and knowing when to hold em and when to fold em.

Well said. Part of it is human nature. What this program and this staff not only achieved the past two years but also how they achieved it was beyond amazing. Danny became the face of college basketball. Celebrity status/ego certainly interfered and I think not only did they feel invincible they felt a pressure to run it back a certain way. They drank their own koolaid but who honestly wouldn’t? I mean he had Kentucky and the Lakers both offer everything to him. He was on top of the world. But one thing I know, is Danny has a tough jaw. When he gets punched in the face, he fights harder. This season was that sort of punch that knocked him back. He proved the last few years his ability to adapt and adjust. It was the catalyst for his success. This offseason will be fascinating.