My podcast with Coach Hurley

[gwhuskyfan]

Hi all,

Been trying for a bit to get Coach Hurley on The Connecticut Scoreboard Podcast and finally got it done! Had a great chat with him. We talk everything from what his first 3 years on the job have been like, next year's roster, new staff additions, Bouknight and the NBA, and my personal favorite topic - does he like the carpenter nickname. Check it out below or wherever else you listen to your podcasts! Be sure to share and subscribe!

 

[Umami Zen]

Great interview.. Was encouraged to hear he wants to play 94 feet and use his bench strength ..Speed things up.. Use our athletes..

 

[Fatroony5]

Hi all,

Been trying for a bit to get Coach Hurley on The Connecticut Scoreboard Podcast and finally got it done! Had a great chat with him. We talk everything from what his first 3 years on the job have been like, next year's roster, new staff additions, Bouknight and the NBA, and my personal favorite topic - does he like the carpenter nickname. Check it out below or wherever else you listen to your podcasts! Be sure to share and subscribe!

Nice work Jared! Great stuff here.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Good stuff, I was listening to this while working and maybe you asked (maybe you didnt), but be interested to know what type of relationship he has with Jim Calhoun?

 

[husky429]

I really hope Hurley sticks with his point about trying to play faster, especially using the press he talked about. He has talked about playing fast every season but has never coached a single team that DOES play fast. He had one year at URI that was around 50th percentile I believe. Every other year has been towards the bottom of D1 in pace. He wants to--the type of player we recruit shows it... but come gameday hasn't put his money where his mouth is.

 

[UCFan1513]

I really hope Hurley sticks with his point about trying to play faster, especially using the press he talked about. He has talked about playing fast every season but has never coached a single team that DOES play fast. He had one year at URI that was around 50th percentile I believe. Every other year has been towards the bottom of D1 in pace. He wants to--the type of player we recruit shows it... but come gameday hasn't put his money where his mouth is.

Ollie used to sell the same thing while the teams pace was like sub-300. Not making a comparison, just find it funny they both have said that

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I really hope Hurley sticks with his point about trying to play faster, especially using the press he talked about. He has talked about playing fast every season but has never coached a single team that DOES play fast. He had one year at URI that was around 50th percentile I believe. Every other year has been towards the bottom of D1 in pace. He wants to--the type of player we recruit shows it... but come gameday hasn't put his money where his mouth is.

Fans like hearing it.

 

[husky429]

Other thoughts... he downplayed the impact Samson will have. Might wanna temper our expectations for now.

Sounds like Hawkins in particular is primed to take on a bigger scoring load. Wants to replace Bouk.

Really loves Sanogo. He's dominant and relentless in practice. Says he totally earned his spot over carlton. Thinks he could be one of the top players in the conference or one of the best bigs in d1. Needs to learn how to pass better because the doubles are coming. Coach thinks he will play in the NBA.

Not much word on Andre except he needs to get better this summer.

Says Luke is a talented coach that understands the game. Head coach caliber. Very competitive. Says how the assistant coaches compete with each other with recruiting and on the court. Worked with the frontcourt players at URI.

New strength coach is great. Comes from a great SnC program at Purdue. Has jersey roots. Hired him hoping he would stay a few years at least.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Other thoughts... he downplayed the impact Samson will have. Might wanna temper our expectations for now.

Sounds like Hawkins in particular is primed to take on a bigger scoring load. Wants to replace Bouk.

Really loves Sanogo. He's dominant and relentless in practice. Says he totally earned his spot over carlton. Thinks he could be one of the top players in the conference or one of the best bigs in d1. Needs to learn how to pass better because the doubles are coming. Coach thinks he will play in the NBA.

Not much word on Andre except he needs to get better this summer.

Says Luke is a talented coach that understands the game. Head coach caliber. Very competitive. Says how the assistant coaches compete with each other with recruiting and on the court. Worked with the frontcourt players at URI.

New strength coach is great. Comes from a great SnC program at Purdue. Has jersey roots. Hired him hoping he would stay a few years at least.

Another interesting point was how he said all the coaches on staff are potential head coaches. Thought it was interesting, specifically with Tom. Curious if that’s something he has genuine interest in doing again.

thanks as always for these Jared

 

[husky429]

Another interesting point was how he said all the coaches on staff are potential head coaches. Thought it was interesting, specifically with Tom. Curious if that’s something he has genuine interest in doing again.

thanks as always for these Jared

I think he's 56 years old and I doubt he'd leave the northeast. Not sure anyone would hire him if he WAS serious about it, which I'm not sure about.

Luke and Kimani will both be gone in 3 years give or take if we're performing like the fans hope for

 

[Umami Zen]

Would have liked to hear comments about AA's current status/progress.. Maybe just wants to stay away from that topic for now? No news is good news.

 

[Storrs South]

Would have liked to hear comments about AA's current status/progress.. Maybe just wants to stay away from that topic for now? No news is good news.

The subject has kinda been beaten to death. He's said a couple times that it really takes 18 months to come back from the kind of injury he suffered (it took Kevin Durant 552 days before he made his return which is almost 18 months exactly). They also don't get practice going again until June so I can't imagine there is much to report on anyway. I would assume no news is good news.

 

[Umami Zen]

The subject has kinda been beaten to death. He's said a couple times that it really takes 18 months to come back from the kind of injury he suffered (it took Kevin Durant 552 days before he made his return which is almost 18 months exactly). They also don't get practice going again until June so I can't imagine there is much to report on anyway. I would assume no news is good news.

Get the timeline and agree on beating it to death. Light at the end of the tunnel.. Is a freight-train or better days ahead??Sunshine and trending towards good news?

 

[Chief00]

Chief had said from the beginning Akok was a year 2 thing, but it’s a fair observation why the total abscence of his name?
The other thing Chief would have probed is the Bouknight “warts” comment from Hurley. Is that Hurley’s warts identification view or did he feel that teams weren’t being fully transparent in their questioning?
Hurley’s Sanogo comments seem right on target to Chief. There’s a reason why Chief does not see Sanogo out socializing with the rest of the team - he’s putting in the extra time. The concern in his case is that Adama doesn’t become too singularly focused - a little off court bonding is sometimes good. But, big picture, I love his approach even though I miss seeing him.

 

[rollskies]

Fantastic listen! Thanks for sharing. @gwhuskyfan

 

[Chief00]

I really hope Hurley sticks with his point about trying to play faster, especially using the press he talked about. He has talked about playing fast every season but has never coached a single team that DOES play fast. He had one year at URI that was around 50th percentile I believe. Every other year has been towards the bottom of D1 in pace. He wants to--the type of player we recruit shows it... but come gameday hasn't put his money where his mouth is.

Chief is all for playing faster but I don’t think it needs to be press dependent. Against good teams the press is a high risk preposition and should only be applied with the element of surprise for short periods. Coach Calhoun came to that conclusion after being reliant on it during the Henefeld years.
Having said that Chief is in favor of half court pressure and at times picking up the dribbler when the ball passes half court. Running though is really the concept of running off turnovers or missed shots. Most importantly it’s a mindset that quite frankly I haven’t seen with Danny’s teams. It’s a rebounder immediately thinking outlet pass and the guards knowing to get to the hash marks or reading the defense and breaking down court. Guys have to fill the lanes and get to the rim or their 3 sweet spots.
Chief is also in favor of probing to run off of made shots. You want to keep trying to wear down your opponent mentally by constantly putting them back on their heals.
#ChiefCertified

 

[HooperScooper]

Great job on the interview. That was a good listen.

 

[Marat]

Great job on the interview. That was a good listen.

Getting coach for the podcast made it the most interesting for me.

 

[MyDorona]

Great job! But you wasted a golden opportunity to ask him whether he visits the BY!

 

[MDHuskFan]

@gwhuskyfan just curious, does he give you any topics that are off limits? No need to say what they were if the answer is yes, just curious if that’s a part of pre-production with these

 

[gwhuskyfan]

@gwhuskyfan just curious, does he give you any topics that are off limits? No need to say what they were if the answer is yes, just curious if that’s a part of pre-production with these

Nope! He didn't give me anything as off limits. For me, it's just finding the balance of what to get into and being cognizant of his time. There are so many topics we could've gotten into so tried my best to narrow it down to keep it to about a half hour.

 

[Psolo12]

Great listen, thanks for sharing!

 

[UofCT]

Nope! He didn't give me anything as off limits. For me, it's just finding the balance of what to get into and being cognizant of his time. There are so many topics we could've gotten into so tried my best to narrow it down to keep it to about a half hour.

Another curious question, what is the process like to schedule an interview with Hurley? Is it as simple as sliding into his DMs and requesting? I imagine there might be an internal approval process but I could be wrong.