Opinion: Hurley Is Rebuilding For 27-28 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Opinion: Hurley Is Rebuilding For 27-28

I'm not even certain that a team of UConn's stature can plan 2 years down the line in the new landscape.

Amazing if it can do this and has with players buying in from the start.
 
ColchVEGAS said:
26/27 is not a rebuild. It is a team both built on winning now and also set up to retain key pieces to win the following year. Hurley and staff have been doing a fantastic job of roster construction over the past 5 years. There is a nice mixture of veterans, underclassmen ready to play, rotational and development pieces to keep continuity and culture. Still more work to be done. Let "The Carpenter" apply his trade.
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caenter GIF

If all plays out right, we win this NC and then roll back a lineup of:

County
Ball
Landrew
Khamenia
Hines

Not a bad place to be.
 
ddent68 said:
Respectfully I couldn’t disagree more. In the portal era there is no need to take a year off and build for the future. Not to mention what we all know about Hurley, you think he takes a minute off never mind a year? You think Dan would half ass compete at anything? A lot of people on here are doubting some of the moves the staff is making. That’s fine but if you think any of them aren’t what they think they need to do to win and win now you have lost me.
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Couldn’t agree with this enough.
 
I think he is just going after great players, and if he can get a great player who might stay for more than one year, even better.
 
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I'm sorry, there is no way Mullins and / or Silas are coming back to rebuild, just not plausible

Hurley has a plan, we just don't know what it is yet. Roster additions will be announced soon
 
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Goose91 said:
The only thing that confuses me is why give Mullins such a big bag if we aren’t realistically trying to win a natty this year?
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Good god. Two things can be true at once. You can be trying to put the best team that you can on the floor for next year, and still have a team that may be short of being a true championship contender.
 
businesslawyer said:
Good god. Two things can be true at once. You can be trying to put the best team that you can on the floor for next year, and still have a team that may be short of being a true championship contender.
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Anyone can have views of what the team’s ceiling is, but the question was whether this is a rebuilding year and the implication was whether Hurley was even trying to win a championship this year. That’s why it was a ridiculous question that is getting deservedly ridiculed. What you’re describing is neither of those things.
 
RuffRuff said:
Did Hurley actually state the 20-50?

This is the formula - frosh/soph transfers are huge.

I do wonder if anyone other than Mullins goes into the draft next year, as weak as it is. The following should be equally weak.

There is no rebuilding going on. It’s a win every year kinda landscape with the portal.
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Nah it's probably 0-50.
 
That’s like saying you’re actively downplaying your current relationship to prepare for your next marriage.

If Dan Hurley was a 23 year old girl with a vsco I’d agree with you. However you’re way off base.
 
I spend a good amount of time reading posts on this board. Starting to think some of these threads have no reason even being allowed to be started.

Yeah Mullins decided to come back as did Demary so they could be part of a middle of the pack first weekend at best ncaa tourney team. If that happens Mullins should have left.

Although I am concerned about the front court situation I am confident whatever Hurley ends up doing will put us in a position to be a highly competitive team.

I equate Hurley to Sean McVay as long as the Rams have him as their head coach they will always pick in the 20’s because no matter what he will find a way to field a playoff team. As long as we have Hurley we will be a top 25 team every year imo.

So we should just enjoy the ride……maybe just maybe it is like a Bob Ross painting looks like a bunch of nothing then ends up looking like a masterpiece by the time he is done.
 
businesslawyer said:
Good god. Two things can be true at once. You can be trying to put the best team that you can on the floor for next year, and still have a team that may be short of being a true championship contender.
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Rebuild implies we’re not trying to be a contender. So no, both those things cannot be true at once. We are obviously trying to acquire young talent in the hopes of having some continuity in future years, but we wouldn’t have thrown money at a guy who will be gone after next year if we didn’t think we could contend. It’d be a waste.
 
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ec33 said:
Btw -- UConn will be able to add Ross and Demary to that 2027/28 team. Running it back minus Mullins plus Ball and whatever 5-star Hurley can convince to join UConn that year.
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That whole 5-year thing will create some interesting wrinkles, for sure.

I'd guess that if Demary has the year we hope he has, that he could end up being a mid/late 1st round projected pick.

Same thing goes for Ross...if he takes another incremental step in his play, he definitely could be a late 1st-round guy.

Question will be...is that any better than getting paid essentially the same while being a major-minutes player for a perennial F4/National Championship contender with world-class coaches in front of sell-out crowds for ~35-40 games?
 
Unpopular opinion: we will not be a top 3 pre-season national title favorite any time soon. Not that it matters.

Florida is dropping 8 million on a guy who wouldn’t even be top 10 in the draft.

We’ve been consistently in that second tier of NIL spending for the last few years. And that’s great! But it’s going to lead to these kinds of attitudes.

Without power 4 money this isn’t changing anytime soon. And if heaven forbid Hurley left we are in a precarious position.
 
I'm so excited to test out all these different boneyard theories and narratives with the roster this year.
 
JustbrewitMan said:
That whole 5-year thing will create some interesting wrinkles, for sure.

I'd guess that if Demary has the year we hope he has, that he could end up being a mid/late 1st round projected pick.

Same thing goes for Ross...if he takes another incremental step in his play, he definitely could be a late 1st-round guy.

Question will be...is that any better than getting paid essentially the same while being a major-minutes player for a perennial F4/National Championship contender with world-class coaches in front of sell-out crowds for ~35-40 games?
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I still remember some talking head quoting an NBA GM or coach about prospective late 1st or even second round prospects that are thinking about forgoing the draft and staying another year, "The more we watch these players the less we like them."

Translation, if a player doesn't improve much by returning, the less upside they perceive, especially with the older players which would obviously be the 5th year ones. These older players, such as Demary and Ross run the risk of not getting drafted or slipping down a round.

So, for some 5th year players that really need a jump in improvement who believe they have it in them, returning might be a good option.

My thought for someone like Demary, whose started a lot of games and logged a lot of minutes, is if he's projected as at least a second rounder next spring he should enter the draft.

As for Ross, who seems to be growing into his body, not logged a ton of minutes who could make a big leap this season and during a 5th, might benefit by sticking around longer.

And for those that are unlikely to get drafted at all, returning is probably a no-brainer if they're offered a nice bag of money to maximize their earning potential during this very short window.

As for the quote above applying to Mullins, he came in as a projected lottery pick whose stock has dropped, and is still very young, can play himself back into the lottery if he improves and lives up to his incoming reputation.

So returning for another year, especially a 5th if the NCAA approves it, is a case by case situation.
 
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I think people are triggered by connotation of word "rebuilding", but in a way I think DC is reconfiguring the cultural continuity with both the recruiting class and his portals, while still being favorite to go all the way. With no AK, who are the torchbearers for next group and beyond. I think his foresight in getting portal guys with 2 or more years always insures this. Having Solo as a functioning Ferrari to bring that continuity a year from now is especially crucial.

Other types are reloading every year with mercenaries that never mesh or buy in, while Danny's cultural continuity from season to season is unrivaled.
 
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OP takes it too far. Next year's team is easily top 10. It's arguably better than last year's team on paper.

What I do think Hurley is doing is looking to 27-28 and beyond with his portal moves and roster construction. He does not want Pitino's "let's find a whole team every year" model. The system is too complex and continuity is hugely important. So he finds a Sophomore center and another Sophomore center. He finds a Sophomore PF who will likely be in the draft, but if not will be an amazing junior. He reloads with Mullins, he shifts Solo to 27-28 to make space on the roster. He creates opportunity for Senior Ross at SF while providing enough minutes for Landrew to develop and become an force for 27-28 (or by March). He creates space for County to learn as a big PG behind Silas and to be ready for 27-28 or to show Hurley he needs a PG.

Really shrewd roster construction. Win now. Win later.
 
I guarantee Hurley is not using this as a rebuilding year, not when you have Mullins coming back. When you have a guy like that, you go for it. Also you simply can’t bank on players returning for another year in this day and age. Hurley has shown he’s great at picking the right cultural fits which shows in our ability to retain players, but if you start losing games, suddenly players become unhappy and the culture starts unraveling.
 
Calhoun always had a rebuilding year every three or four years that ended with an NIT appearance, which always drove me crazy.
 
we are top 3 next season, but quite a lot of rerating events to go even higher in the future. the new baseline is final 4.
 
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