Open Practice Saturday 10/20

[Ewekon]

From the Amore article last week on Hurley's Middlesex CoC talk:

“I love to work with talents like Sid. He’s got a lot of layers to him, an interesting personality. One day he’s the best player, the next day you wonder if he’s hiding behind Dan [Brocke], the walk-on. Sid, right now, is the type of guy who is going to need a lot of coaching, tough love and standards because he has NBA talent. He’s 6-8, plays way above the rim, can put it on the floor, shoot 3’s, can guard any position. He just oozes talent, but sometimes when you have that type of talent you kind of coast, and with my coaching style that’s not a great fit. … He has as high a ceiling as Jalen."

Meet The UConn Men: Dan Hurley Breaks Down Huskies Roster

Good God. WTF was the former coach doing with him for a whole year?

He will be coached up and be really good imo. Lots of untapped talent.

 

[intlzncster]

- Hurley's offense looks very different than at URI. More NBA-looking. Lots of handoffs, ball screens, and slips.

No surprise here. I was getting annoyed earlier in the offseason when posters were talking about 'how Hurley likes to play', with URI as the reference, as if it was set in stone. Better players = better offensive sets and strategy.

- TONS of movement being trained in the offense. I doubt it looks like that come game day, but it's clear that Hurley is breaking a stand around and watch habit.

Thank !@#$!@# god.

- Expect a TON of ball pressure, but less gambling off the ball. Kind of like a man/packline hybrid? Hurley wants his guards to turn the ball handler 4x and make him pass. But he got on the guards for gambling for steals. And he definitely wants to force ballhandlers to the baseline. I would picture it kind of like a high ball-pressure on the line/slightly off the line style of defense.

This sounds the exact opposite of what we've been doing for years, funneling guys to the middle allowing our shot blockers to clean up the mess. Reflects our lack of rim protection.

- Hurley swore a few times and covered his mouth after when he remembered fans were watching. Hysterical stuff, haha.

The anti JC. haha

Great post 429.

 

[NJHoops]

Hurley talks about Sid like he used to talk about Kuran Iverson. Coaching guys like that is a rewarding challenge. He’s a teacher at heart, and he embraces guys like that.

 

[Chief00]

Full court man, all day, everyday.

Man I missed that the last few years - that has been UConn’s identity!

 

[Chief00]

Brendan adams looks very good

He has since Day 1. Young dude but poised.

 

[Chief00]

I forget. Did going to this make us casual fans?

This is much different than First Night. It’s competition and teaching.

 

[Vancat]

This is much different than First Night. It’s competition and teaching.

Thanks, I feel relieved.

 

[Danzz]

Some general observations from the first row-

- Intensity right from the start at 12:30. Everyone came out to the gym floor and immediately started running, diving for loose ball drills, footwork, etc. High intensity, high positivity from the start.
-Hurley cared more about defense than shot making for the entirety of practice it seemed- pointed out little things like shoulder position on D, footwork, ball screen defending, double team
-Hurley seemed to be on Josh more than anyone- not necessarily in a negative light, but because he realizes the importance of Josh being good
-Cobb looks much more explosive than last year-to be expected with weight loss/conditioning
-Most of the big men seemed to have a nice stroke- Whaley, Cobb, Carlton, Kwintin can stretch the floor a little bit with an elbow jumper. Granted, not even a chair was defending them on that drill.
-Rebounding drills seemed to be the biggest struggle. Not terrible, but clearly a lot of work to do.
-Brendan Adams is going to be an integral part of this program for the next few years. Doesn't look out of place, looks very smooth and like he will be a spark plug off the bench
-Jalen seemed to make some faces (as if, "what is he talking about") at some of the things Hurley was pointing out to the team. Could be nothing, just an observation.
-Polley has a very nice stroke from 3 and is taller than I thought. He and Sid are the X factors.
-Sid is very talented and athletic, but it's going to take a little time for him to develop some pieces of his game. But he has all the makings to be a high end player.
-Also, there were three refs at practice? I didn't realize that was something that happened at practice, but it makes sense. The refs called a lot of travels. Lol. Especially on a "rip" drill.
-Some players were unhappy with a couple of the foul calls, but Kimani was quick to shut up the complaining
-Tom Moore is an intense guy. Definitely an extension of Hurley.
-Hurley was clearly restrained during an open practice. At times it didn't seem like everyone was moving at full speed. But overall, the practice is pretty intense.

"Cobb, Carlton, Kwintin can stretch the floor a little bit with an elbow jumper."
We didn't see much of that last year and I doubt we'll ever see Kwintin become a shooter.

 

[jibsey]

We don’t need those guys to be shooters except from inside 6 feet. Bigs just rebound and put the ball back, up we have guards that can shoot.

 

[Danzz]

We don’t need those guys to be shooters except from inside 6 feet. Bigs just rebound and put the ball back, up we have guards that can shoot.

If we are going be successful we have to get more points front court. Somebody will have to step out and hit some shots or teams will clog the middle. Otherwise we would look a lot like last years team. We seem to have the front court players who can score.

 

[CL82]

If we are going be successful we have to get more points front court. Somebody will have to step out and hit some shots or teams will clog the middle. Otherwise we would look a lot like last years team. We seem to have the front court players who can score.

Ball movement and a more structured scheme will go a long way to helping our percentage from deep. It's tough to hit a three when it's late in the shot clock, your defender is in face and you are moving laterally.

 

[mauconnfan]

I am so damn PO'd I did not know there was an open practice would've loved to be there.

Am I the only one who is afraid Yakwe is suffering from an injury which has been keeping him from consistent floor time for the last 2 years at St Johns?

 

[intlzncster]

I am so damn PO'd I did not know there was an open practice would've loved to be there.

Am I the only one who is afraid Yakwe is suffering from an injury which has been keeping him from consistent floor time for the last 2 years at St Johns?

He's had all sorts of different things. That's what hindered his development. We knew that going in.

 

[Fishy]

I am so damn PO'd I did not know there was an open practice would've loved to be there.

Sub-casual.