Once again, the sum is less than the total of its parts.

[Palatine]

Some guys stepped up yesterday but some guys gave us absolutely nothing, Complete passengers.

Brendan Adams is an example of what's going on. Yesterday he had 9 points and 4 rebounds. But in the three previous games, three games, he had 6 points and 3 rebounds. He put up a donut in the WSU double overtime. You can see this up and down the roster. Players yo-yo between nice game and contributing virtually nothing. If Adams had that result in any of three previous games, we probably win. Yesterday Carlton, Vital and AG all tanked. A good game by any of them and we're happy on Monday. There's always an anchor or two or three.

The only consistent thing about this team is it's inconsistency. Rarely does anyone go off like Polley against Tulane or Bouk against Miami. But we seem to have multiple guys tank every game. I'm not saying that everyone has to play well every game. I am saying much of this team plays well below it's talent level on a regular basis.

Either Hurley or the guys themselves have to figure out how to be a positive even when they're off. Or the season is truly lost.

 

[cohenzone]

Vital did not tank on D. That’s certainly a part of why the game was close. Obviously his jump shot was off, which isn’t the same as tanking and he drained 3 clutch free throws. The 5 position was the big issue on both sides of the ball.

 

[outlaw]

Are we really saying that Adams was the reason we've been losing? Not Vital and Gilbert's awful decision making and poor shooting or Carlton/whaley completely no showing ?

no - he's saying Adams being inconsistent mirrors the story of this years roster to date

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

no - he's saying Adams being inconsistent mirrors the story of this years roster to date

yeah my B,

 

[Excalibur]

True offensively, but not defensively or in terms of effort.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Some guys stepped up yesterday but some guys gave us absolutely nothing, Complete passengers.

Brendan Adams is an example of what's going on. Yesterday he had 9 points and 4 rebounds. But in the three previous games, three games, he had 6 points and 3 rebounds. He put up a donut in the WSU double overtime. You can see this up and down the roster. Players yo-yo between nice game and contributing virtually nothing. If Adams had that result in any of three previous games, we probably win. Yesterday Carlton, Vital and AG all tanked. A good game by any of them and we're happy on Monday. There's always an anchor or two or three.

The only consistent thing about this team is it's inconsistency. Rarely does anyone go off like Polley against Tulane or Bouk against Miami. But we seem to have multiple guys tank every game. I'm not saying that everyone has to play well every game. I am saying much of this team plays well below it's talent level on a regular basis.

Either Hurley or the guys themselves have to figure out how to be a positive even when they're off. Or the season is truly lost.

what puzzles me is that Carlton seems to play better against better competition, Indiana, Villanova etc, and then just completely disappears other games with "lesser" talent. I cant really explain it. We really cant afford to have Whaley and Carlton both give nothing.

 

[GHSWolverines]

what puzzles me is that Carlton seems to play better against better competition, Indiana, Villanova etc, and then just completely disappears other games with "lesser" talent. I cant really explain it. We really cant afford to have Whaley and Carlton both give nothing.

I hope Cliff is paying close attention. He would make a big difference.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Hurley has not demonstrated , as of yet , the ability to build a team
I’m not buying into his guys vs my guys BS
JC won an NIT with a team of Perno guys who never won.
Hurley’s teams gives me Perno dejavu
Perno’s team competed but managed to figure away to lose. We had a standing joke figuring out how would Perno manage to figure a way to lose..
Only one player on the team hasn’t played significantly more minutes under Hurley than Ollie.
That would be Vital whose main fault is trying to accomplish things beyond his pay grade. Kid is a substantial overachiever maybe one of the biggest of all time.
Despite Boneyard logic individuals don’t lose games teams do..
Lets look at these villains of the board.
Wilson never played a game for Ollie due to NCAA .
Gilbert appeared in 9 games and Hurley chose him as his PG
Polley/Carlton were thrown in for significant minutes as 18 year old freshman but they’ve played almost two seasons under Hurley.
Polley was our best 3 pt shooter when he went down
Carlton was the AAC most improved player last year.now h is unplayable!
Carlton regression this year is on Hurley
Hurley’s job was finding the best combination of these guys plus later recruits for maximum results.
Akok is a huge talent whose lack of shooting until Tulsa has hurt our offense
Adams tough kid but a Jekyll & Hyde on offense
Bouknight great potential whose fit In offensively but is still learning defensely
Gaffney good potential but injuries slowed his ability to contribute . I’d give him more minutes
Frankly it’s a nice mix light on shooting w/o Polley but
if Akok could pick it up than offensively we’re almost there .
Its not the most talented bunch but if another guy who will remain unnamed was the Coach anything less than sweet sixteen would be underachieving In some opinions.

 

[Stinger92860]

Maybe use bullets or numbers?????

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Hurley has not demonstrated , as of yet , the ability to build a team
I’m not buying into his guys vs my guys BS
JC won an NIT with a team of Perno guys who never won.
Hurley’s teams gives me Perno dejavu
Perno’s team competed but managed to figure away to lose. We had a standing joke figuring out how would Perno manage to figure a way to lose..
Only one player on the team hasn’t played significantly more minutes under Hurley than Ollie.
That would be Vital whose main fault is trying to accomplish things beyond his pay grade. Kid is a substantial overachiever maybe one of the biggest of all time.
Despite Boneyard logic individuals don’t lose games teams do..
Lets look at these villains of the board.
Wilson never played a game for Ollie due to NCAA .
Gilbert appeared in 9 games and Hurley chose him as his PG
Polley/Carlton were thrown in for significant minutes as 18 year old freshman but they’ve played almost two seasons under Hurley.
Polley was our best 3 pt shooter when he went down
Carlton was the AAC most improved player last year.now h is unplayable!
Carlton regression this year is on Hurley
Hurley’s job was finding the best combination of these guys plus later recruits for maximum results.
Akok is a huge talent whose lack of shooting until Tulsa has hurt our offense
Adams tough kid but a Jekyll & Hyde on offense
Bouknight great potential whose fit In offensively but is still learning defensely
Gaffney good potential but injuries slowed his ability to contribute . I’d give him more minutes
Frankly it’s a nice mix light on shooting w/o Polley but
if Akok could pick it up than offensively we’re almost there .
Its not the most talented bunch but if another guy who will remain unnamed was the Coach anything less than sweet sixteen would be underachieving In some opinions.

At what point do you hold Carlton responsible for his own failure of improving on his skill set or lack there of?

 

[Excalibur]

I dismiss the "JC won an NIT with . . ."

JC won an NIT. With a guy who retired as one of the top 50 scorers in NBA history.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I dismiss the "JC won an NIT with . . ."

JC won an NIT. With a guy who retired as one of the top 50 scorers in NBA history.

Actually not
Cliff was in foul trouble and played little in the big game it was Phil Gamble stepping up and who was the game MVP.
Cliff was a great player and a rock but so many less talented guys stepped up to make that win possible.
Team ball is a thing of beauty

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Hurley has a team that couldn't win the UConn campus intramural title in the Top 120 of Ken Pom. I don't think people truly appreciate what a spectacular job Hurley has done making UConn almost competitive in a P6 (or 7) conference.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Hurley has a team that couldn't win the UConn campus intramural title in the Top 120 of Ken Pom. I don't think people truly appreciate what a spectacular job Hurley has done making UConn almost competitive in a P6 (or 7) conference.

How many 4* & 5* guys would he need to win the intramural title?

 

[Husky68]

Hurley has a team that couldn't win the UConn campus intramural title in the Top 120 of Ken Pom. I don't think people truly appreciate what a spectacular job Hurley has done making UConn almost competitive in a P6 (or 7) conference.

Now that is funny. Guess a 2nd AAC win by the guys will get Hurley into coaching hall of fame.

 

[BlueDogs]

Hurley has the team competing at substantially elevated level capable of competing with top tier teams. You have to give credit for that. I also hold him responsible for not getting the team to close out and execute down the stretch. He doesn’t suck. He’s yet to establish he’s that good either. Good recruiting covers a lot of sins, but it only carries so far before well coached teams break you down and beat you... aka... JC versus any number of stocked programs.

 

[Excalibur]

Actually not
Cliff was in foul trouble and played little in the big game it was Phil Gamble stepping up and who was the game MVP.
Cliff was a great player and a rock but so many less talented guys stepped up to make that win possible.
Team ball is a thing of beauty

One game. We don't get to the Garden without him. And some other NBA player had 10 assists in that game.
Oh, and Phil Gamble was better than any guard on this roster as of right now.

Good coaches have been all over the spectrum as to how they've fared early on. There's a clear talent deficiency right now, magnified by the loss of our best shooter. If we have similar issues closing games next year, then I'll question whether he's capable of leading us back. Not before. So I don't give a $H!+ about the people who want to declare it now so they can say "I told you so". They don't know anything -- they're just playing the percentages.

 

[QDOG5]

99.9% of the board thought we'd have a better record at this point in the year. We lost some winnable games with poor play at the end of the game. The head coach has to take some heat for that.

 

[mauconnfan]

I dismiss the "JC won an NIT with . . ."

JC won an NIT. With a guy who retired as one of the top 50 scorers in NBA history.

Yeah but JC brought his ability out. Dom P did very little with Cliffy prior so he's right in the sense JC began the successful career of Mr Robinson.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Maybe use bullets or numbers?????

For this board pictures are required.

 

[freescooter]

Hurley has the team competing at substantially elevated level capable of competing with top tier teams.

I love the “everybody gets a trophy“ mindset evident in this statement that shows up here far too often. We didn’t win but we only lost by 2 or 4. Even get it from a Hurley. I half expect to read somebody saying we want to thank our opponent for making us better. I’d feel a lot better if I read that Hurley went all Joe Marrone and shattered a few clipboards or blackboards. Or did what I read some d3 football coach did and told his team no clean practice uniforms until the won A game. He wanted them to smell the stink of losing every day. Or the coach who gave his team shirts that said 2nd place = 1st loser. Never mind giving a trophy for competing. Win som dam games.

 

[Waquoit]

Team ball is a thing of beauty

Too bad we won't see that here until CV and AG are gone.

 

[Waquoit]

Yeah but JC brought his ability out. Dom P did very little with Cliffy prior so he's right in the sense JC began the successful career of Mr Robinson.

Not really. Cliff was a massive underachiever at UConn. He got his ass kicked in his final game by Alan Ogg. That's why he dropped to the 2nd round. I doubt he becomes the player he does without that snub.

 

[Rico444]

Yeah but JC brought his ability out. Dom P did very little with Cliffy prior so he's right in the sense JC began the successful career of Mr Robinson.

The ability's got to be there in the first place. Do you think Alterique Gilbert or Josh Carlton could ever score anything close to 20,000 points in the NBA?

 

[Excalibur]

The ability's got to be there in the first place. Do you think Alterique Gilbert or Josh Carlton could ever score anything close to 20,000 points in the NBA?

That's kind of my point. The top three players on that team (Cliff, Phil, Tate) were better than anyone on the current roster.

Hurley is not immune from criticism at all. There are a number of things that I think he's either mis-managed or just gotten wrong from a game strategy standpoint. I've taken the time to identify those, as opposed to those who can't express a thought other than "we lost, coach bad", and can't recognize that Hurley has a lot to overcome from a talent standpoint.