Post game news conference Hurley and Whaley

[UCfor3]

Hurley can't make the layups for them, but all season long we've known that Whaley and especially Martin don't have soft hands at the rim. Could Hurley have coached them on how to get more bunnies to drop by using more finesse? I don't think that's a ridiculous assumption.

Hard to coach guys to have a soft touch. Especially when getting challenged by other defenders. Some guys have great hands and a feather touch in traffic. Its what seperates good players from ham and eggers.

 

[UConniki]

They got dominated by a team that dictated tempo and style of play. The advantages that UConn had going into this game were not even marginally exploited. Acting like it’s some sort of fluke that they lost because they missed a bunch of layups is wild.

It wasn't a fluke as to why they lost. They lost because they made less than 50% of their free throws, missed around 30 layups and put backs , Martin shot 1/10 and ( martin and cole were 4 for 24). Its really not all that complicated and it's not Hurleys fault some of them choked in a meaningful game against a quality game team. It happens, they're kids who haven't played on this kind of stage at Uconn recently unfortunately. They were down 5 when Bouknight missed the front end of a 1 and 1 to make it a 3 point game. After how bad they played to still be in the game at that point speaks to how hard Hurley gets them to play ( remember the Arkansas game under KO, 40 point loss). As disappointing as this game was I'll take it over what we were forced to see game after game. Give Hurley a chance. Some of you guys are embarrassing to listen to. Texas with Shaka Smart won the Big 12 tournament and the lost to Abilene Christian tonight ( Abilene shot 28 % and still won) 53-52. I'm done. Stay warm and be safe.

 

[Brandon86]

Our top 3 offensive threats came out these last two games and funded it up. Ain’t no other way to put it. If Bouknight, Cole, and Martin all have and off game it was gonna be hard for us to win any game.

 

[SeattleHoop]

I don’t understand what people here expect. He took a dumpster fire of a program that was recruiting kids off YouTube and put that program back into the national spotlight to be respected again. We had a successful season. It’s going to get better

 

[DMIL]

I don’t understand what people here expect. He took a dumpster fire of a program that was recruiting kids off YouTube and put that program back into the national spotlight to be respected again. We had a successful season. It’s going to get better

People expect the team to not have a historically bad offensive game against a solid 10 seed or any seed in the NCAA tournament. UCONN’s C game wins this. Unfortunately they brought their D game.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I can't believe he said the quiet part out loud.

He knew our defensive system didn't match up with them and he did... nothing. He just rolled the ball out. I'm just kinda speechless.

You had over a week and 6 days since the pairings. How about a zone? How about any changes at all outside of personnel?

You want to play a zone against a team that plays 5 out and is shooting the lights out of the ball? Is this serious?

 

[Hi-Low]

Let this press conference be the last time DH mentions what a disaster, shambles, catastrophe, etc the program was when he started in 2018. Love you Dan but any remnant of that is now gone as you enter your 4th season....it's all you now so let's get going. Glad we have you but let's move on to better things.

 

[BigEastCT]

This board is odd. Is it split 50/50 ollie/ Hurley still? Who was the other northeast recruiting head coach option for us? I’m not being a jerk. I was into musselman and Oates and no too into Hurley but realized the Tristate recruiting he could bring. Add in Kimani and the staff. Who was your choice if not Dan nosweetsixteen Hurley? FYI- he has until this contract to get there.

I am still with Hurley, he needs to bring his A game, offense game sets stink. This team had talent and did not play even close to its potential. Needs to step it up or we are NIT bound next year

 

[storrsroars]

You want to play a zone against a team that plays 5 out and is shooting the lights out of the ball? Is this serious?

I wouldn't vote for zone either, but at least a zone might've prevented those three massive dunks from MD with no one in the lane. So there's that.

 

[JakeTheDog]

Let this press conference be the last time DH mentions what a disaster, shambles, catastrophe, etc the program when he started in 2018. Love you Dan but any remnant of that is now gone as you enter your 4th season....it's all you now so let's get going. Glad we have you but let's move on to better things.

Yes this. I do think Dan is the right guy here at UConn but I really don't like how he points out how low we were when he took over the program. Every. Single. Presser. Stop passing the buck and take some ownership.

"The buck stops here."
-Harry Truman's desk

 

[Doctor Hoop]

And the place to do this is with off ball screens

This has been an offensive deficiency all through this building process, along with shooting (which can be improved for every player). Screens away from the ball change the defensive focus from the area of the ball and make knowing the right switch much more difficult.

Or, if you’re going to stick to iso and ball screens you’d better create space for those to work, so the D can’t stay compact and cut off the lanes. You’d also better have players who can find the open man.

 

[hart2hart]

Does Hurley use double-screens?
Just curious? He should have re-grouped and added in double-screens, especially for Book.
Looking forward to next year and a year hopefully of basketball normalcy!

 

[tzznandrew]

Yes this. I do think Dan is the right guy here at UConn but I really don't like how he points out how low we were when he took over the program. Every. Single. Presser. Stop passing the buck and take some ownership.

"The buck stops here."
-Harry Truman's desk

He had a couple of years where he could make this argument.

Now any players in the program he either initially recruited or re-recruited not as courtesy or culture.

I like Hurley. This team had a ton of injuries over the last two years that lowered the ceiling both in terms of development and adaptability. Gaffney, Akok, Polley, Bouknight, and Jackson all have missed a ton of time and for Jackson this year and Gaff last, it really hurt them in multiple ways.

As a whole, Hurley had a few conflicting problems: he could run off the entire team and try to start from scratch, or he can build from within. In building from within he had talented players like Adams and Gilbert and CV and then a bunch of A10 players. He took that route, and he got the most out of those A10 players, by and large, but the team lacked athleticism. He had to solve that and we're almost there. But still, he had to recruit in some transfers who could paper over some other problems (namely PG), and he had to over-recruit bigs a bit because we had no interior depth.

We also had no real shooting. But Akok, Bouk, and Gaffney, we hoped, could provide enough. That was part of what Cole was going to bring as well.

This team should have had a higher seed (without the Bouknight injury, 3-4), but would have still had the problem of not playing a lot of good teams and not having big game experience.

All those excuses are gone, though.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

watching Whaley hurt my heart. I love that kid's attitude so much... I think it's fair to say that he has improved Freshman to Senior year more than any player in recent memory and he put his everything into it. His eyes seemed red still from what had to be tears... that just rips me up, man.

I would love to see him come back for another year (if possible due to the COVID rules and what not.... i'll admit I haven't paid enough attention to know if this is truly a possibility). But there is an argument to be made for it.. went from riding pine all freshman year to BE DPOY. He could play his way into the second round if he had another year.

But whatever he chooses. I hope he has success, whether it's here for another go at it, G league, or overseas. Just wish he didn't have to go out like this.

 

[auror]

You want to play a zone against a team that plays 5 out and is shooting the lights out of the ball? Is this serious?

Yes. They were getting wide open 3's and dunks already.

A zone would have broken their rhythm, made them think, prevented Ayala from getting our players on an island in the paint with no help.

They would've still taken 3s, but hopefully contested instead of wide open. Maryland struggled against zones this year. Maybe it wouldn't have worked. But he didn't try... anything else schematically.

 

[98Uconn]

I don't know that

I am still with Hurley, he needs to bring his A game, offense game sets stink. This team had talent and did not play even close to its potential. Needs to step it up or we are NIT bound next year

I agree with the first part... but honestly, with Bouk not being right since the injury and no Akok, I think the team played just about to their potential. We have some nice players, but everything needed to click to beat a solid B1G team and last night nothing clicked. A first round exit is not our expectation year to year, but honestly, with this roster, I don't think it's fair to say we didn't play even close to our potential.

 

[Jaybo]

Make those shots at the rim and free throws and they could easily be playing Monday.

 

[willie99]

In his third season with UConn, Jim Calhoun lost in the first round of the NIT in the Field House to UAB

Hurley has recruited exactly two classes. Bouknight, a sophomore, was part of his first class.. Nobody on this planet thought he inherited a talent laden team.

I swear, I don't understand what's going on in some minds. Is there a minimum age requirement for this forum? Maybe that's the problem.

 

[SubbaBub]

Whaley has a lot to be proud of. He will be well remembered at UConn.

 

[tzznandrew]

Yes. They were getting wide open 3's and dunks already.

A zone would have broken their rhythm, made them think, prevented Ayala from getting our players on an island in the paint with no help.

They would've still taken 3s, but hopefully contested instead of wide open. Maryland struggled against zones this year. Maybe it wouldn't have worked. But he didn't try... anything else schematically.

I don't know if there were a ton of open 3s (though there were dunks), but at some point you gotta mix things up.

Turgeon is a bad enough coach that he put the game on ice too soon and if Bouk could have made a FT or 4 we may have had enough to win in the end despite that.

But there are better ways to adapt to an opposition than neutering your one strength. Now, Maryland really packed it in the paint to stop Bouk from doing much and their length clearly affected Cole. Not sure what we can do about that when no one else can really shoot 3s aside from Polley.

They desperately need a few shooters just to mix up the offense.

 

[auror]

there are better ways to adapt to an opposition than neutering your one strength. Now, Maryland really packed it in the paint to stop Bouk from doing much and their length clearly affected Cole. Not sure what we can do about that when no one else can really shoot 3s aside from Polley.

They desperately need a few shooters just to mix up the offense.

I made note of it in my preview and was hollering in the chat, but we needed to collapse the D (either with Cole or Bouk penetration or dump downs to bigs) and then kick out for 3s. It worked every time we did it that I saw. Adama foul trouble hurt this in the first half, but there were other ways.

We also needed to use more skip/diagonal passes. Since their defenders cheat into the paint the maximum amount, this would force a hard closeout which we can then shoot over or attack off dribble. Too often we passed it along the perimeter, giving their defenders time to do normal positioning.

 

[EASTFLA]

Calhoun lost in the first round in 2012 with a team far more talented than our current team.

Fans quickly forget that the reason Championships are so very enjoyable is because they are so freaking difficult to achieve. We are on the right track with Hurley and we will be better next year.

Onward and upward and we'll even take the spoiled cry baby fans with us.

I'm not sure I agree with that. The 2012 team was 20-14. I would consider that team not to be far more talented than this team, but a team that became more talented. Remember the top 7 players in that rotation were made up of 6 freshman and sophomores, the other a junior. They were green and growing, but that season, still way too green.

 

[BlueDogs]

I can't believe he said the quiet part out loud.

He knew our defensive system didn't match up with them and he did... nothing. He just rolled the ball out. I'm just kinda speechless.

You had over a week and 6 days since the pairings. How about a zone? How about any changes at all outside of personnel?

Refuses to use a zone. He thinks it’s high school basketball where effort is the only key. He needs to mature as a coach and start use intelligent basketball management.

 

[Jimdish255]

I am still with Hurley, he needs to bring his A game, offense game sets stink. This team had talent and did not play even close to its potential. Needs to step it up or we are NIT bound next year

The sets need a revamp. The focus needs a revamp. The team clearly needs more perimeter threats. But I think the greatest upside involves unlocking the potential of Sanogo and Jackson and whether Hurley has a plan to do that.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Not sure what we can do about that when no one else can really shoot 3s aside from Polley.

And yet, needing some three point shooting no plays were ever run for Polley coming off screens, or pick & pop, and no drivers ever looked to kick it to him. His one second half 3 came off his own initiative.