One Year Ago

[Tenspro2002]

A year ago today we were 5-6 in conference, 16-6 overall, having lost 6 of 8, barely hanging onto a top 25 ranking.

We couldn't win a close game, Andre Jackson was a headcase, and we were wondering if we were going to squander the best start to a season in over a decade and flame out in the Tournament yet again. People were saying Hurley should be on the hot seat next year, if not sooner.

Fast forward to today, and we've won the championship, gotten 3 guys to the League, and have come back even better as #1 in the country. It's kind of unfathomable, actually, to think about where this program and fanbase was not even 365 days ago.

 

[GotNets?]

Those were some dark days…

It was great to see DH mention how hard last January was after one of the recent games.

He said something to effect of we went through the gauntlet last year and we know what a tough January is like and that experience allows us to play free because we bounced back from that. Something along those lines.

 

[AllHusky]

pressure and heat produces a diamond from a lump of coal

 

[LStudfellow]

There is a famous Proverb that states: "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"

After that 2-6 stretch that ended with the home loss to Xavier, our coaching staff realized we had to modify our offensive strategy, specifically addressing our half court ball movement stagnation when Sanogo was down low, and AJax was out top, or on the wing. I still remember the beginning of that game, with Xavier daring Andre to shoot, and Andre mostly embarrassing himself with brick after brick. He ended up 3-12, and 0-3 from the 3 point line. We got down in the game early, and spent the rest of the night fighting an uphill battle. We did tie it several times in the 2nd half, but could not get over the hump and ended up losing 82-79 (our last home loss, by the way).

The Solution: Put Jackson on the baseline while moving Sanogo to the high post re-opened our offense back up and we started looking like the offense that went 14-0 in our pre-conference schedule.

As it turned out, getting back to playing games with refs who were not "shading" (I am trying to be kind here) against us once we hit the Tournament was the final piece to the puzzle of us going on the epic run of 6 double-digit wins to take the title.

Continued excellence from our coaching staff combined with the best collective group of passers I have ever seen on one UConn team and a rising focus on relentless defense and we are on the type of run over the last year that every fan prays for, but few ever get to witness. For those of you who are counting, we are 33-4 since that January 25th, 2023 loss to Xavier...

IF we can stay healthy, and IF we can continue to evolve... well, let's just say that the next 2 months and a week sure are going to be exciting!

 

[Dove]

Joey C was nailed to the bench.

 

[Austin316]

Those were some dark days…

It was great to see DH mention how hard last January was after one of the recent games.

He said something to effect of we went through the gauntlet last year and we know what a tough January is like and that experience allows us to play free because we bounced back from that. Something along those lines.

I’ve seen darker days…

 

[willie99]

I was still optimistic, we just had to adjust and gell. Just like we did many times before

Of course I still had no idea how good we'd be

 

[ctchamps]

A year ago today we were 5-6 in conference, 16-6 overall, having lost 6 of 8, barely hanging onto a top 25 ranking.

We couldn't win a close game, Andre Jackson was a headcase, and we were wondering if we were going to squander the best start to a season in over a decade and flame out in the Tournament yet again. People were saying Hurley should be on the hot seat next year, if not sooner.

Fast forward to today, and we've won the championship, gotten 3 guys to the League, and have come back even better as #1 in the country. It's kind of unfathomable, actually, to think about where this program and fanbase was not even 365 days ago.

The only thing predictable was how we would, and did, react during the roller coaster ride that took place during that interval.

We were very fortunate how things turned out. The critical pivot was figuring out how to limit AJ’s liability on offense. That was pure genius by Hurley and the coaches.

 

[jimva]

Have we ever before been simultaneously:

• Reigning National Champs
• #1 midway through season
• 1st in BE

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's darkest the hour before dawn.

 

[nadavtheman]

I’ve seen darker days…

View attachment 95805

Those were the darkest. Like Nome Alaska in February.

 

[CL82]

 

[my2cents]

There is a famous Proverb that states: "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"

After that 2-6 stretch that ended with the home loss to Xavier, our coaching staff realized we had to modify our offensive strategy, specifically addressing our half court ball movement stagnation when Sanogo was down low, and AJax was out top, or on the wing. I still remember the beginning of that game, with Xavier daring Andre to shoot, and Andre mostly embarrassing himself with brick after brick. He ended up 3-12, and 0-3 from the 3 point line. We got down in the game early, and spent the rest of the night fighting an uphill battle. We did tie it several times in the 2nd half, but could not get over the hump and ended up losing 82-79 (our last home loss, by the way).

The Solution: Put Jackson on the baseline while moving Sanogo to the high post re-opened our offense back up and we started looking like the offense that went 14-0 in our pre-conference schedule.

As it turned out, getting back to playing games with refs who were not "shading" (I am trying to be kind here) against us once we hit the Tournament was the final piece to the puzzle of us going on the epic run of 6 double-digit wins to take the title.

Continued excellence from our coaching staff combined with the best collective group of passers I have ever seen on one UConn team and a rising focus on relentless defense and we are on the type of run over the last year that every fan prays for, but few ever get to witness. For those of you who are counting, we are 33-4 since that January 25th, 2023 loss to Xavier...

IF we can stay healthy, and IF we can continue to evolve... well, let's just say that the next 2 months and a week sure are going to be exciting!

That's exactly what happened.

 

[Inyatkin]

The January swoon has been a UConn staple of even some of our best teams for as long as I've been watching. The fact that we are at the end of the month and avoided it is a little bit remarkable.

 

[tykurez]

Have we ever before been simultaneously:

• Reigning National Champs
• #1 midway through season
• 1st in BE

No, the closest was in ‘99-‘00 we were #2 into January (but lost our first BE game).

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I’ve seen darker days…

View attachment 95805

Yeah…

 

[Kitaman]

I even remember My Man @Scrappy3 being pessimistic.

 

[EZPass]