Rat Poison

[willie99]

It's what Nick Saban calls it

Also known as media hype, has adversely impacted our coaches and players. I think Dan Hurley's achilles heel may be his infatuation with media hype. He's often complained about the lack of respect in the media as well as our chasing a 3peat

Well, now they've been punched in the mouth. It's time to get back to work, let's see how they respond. I trust they'll be fine, and the worst is behind us.

I also like the argument one yarder has been making. There was no time to practice and implement changes when you play 3 games in 60 hours. Now they have time to regroup before Baylor at home next week.

Stop with the rat poison, it's back to practice, working and winning

Can't wait

 

[Hoophound]

It's what Lou Saban calls it

Also known as media hype, has adversely impacted our coaches and players. I think Dan Hurley's achilles heel may be his infatuation with media hype. He's often complained about the lack of respect in the media as well as our chasing a 3peat

Well, now they've been punched in the mouth. It's time to get back to work, let's see how they respond. I trust they'll be fine, and the worst is behind us.

I also like the argument one yarder has been making. There was no time to practice and implement changes when you play 3 games in 60 hours. Now they have time to regroup before Baylor at home next week.

Stop with the rat poison, it's back to practice, working and winning

Can't wait

It’s a positive spin on things but I’m still concerned that our whole defensive identity needs to change. There’s no more monsters in the middle and our perimeter D went from suffocating to a cool mountain breeze. I’m not sure how you change that with a week of practice, but I sure hope we can.

 

[Horatio]

Entire tournament was a job interview. I honestly think that the combination of subpar competition before the tournament and having so many new kids, created these results. That roster and the rotations weren’t established. I think we honestly have the talent but the coaching staff is going to have to change some things and some players hearts are gonna get broken. They tried to implement a press and crowbar Nowell into the rotation, within a few hours with no practice.

 

[Hunt for 7]

FWIW it was Nick Saban who coined the phrase rat poison. But I agree with your premise.

 

[Kitaman]

Not sure it's hype or that his current players are slower to catch on. Also no Coach is 100% accurate when recruiting players.

This year will be a fun ride, Hurley may fail, but failing to win your 3rd Straight Championship is a legacy we can live with.

 

[bazzdog]

It’s a positive spin on things but I’m still concerned that our whole defensive identity needs to change. There’s no more monsters in the middle and our perimeter D went from suffocating to a cool mountain breeze. I’m not sure how you change that with a week of practice, but I sure hope we can.

I would love to see Danny start pressing more with our depth
Get the old 2-2-1 tapes out from Calhoun
Throw in some half court trapping
If we’re going to foul 20 times a game then let’s make it count.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It is not the media's fault or scheduling or whatever that caused the team to play like that. 2-3 years ago, these kids were playing 2-3 games a day in AAU tournaments.

They just blew it. Now they have to get better.

 

[HooperScooper]

I also think the pressure Hurley has put on the team about 3 peating isn't always healthy. There's a fine line between having that attitude that they are a great team and the weight being too great. It's a tough balancing act and you just never know how a team will react to it.

“This UConn team that has lost three in a row out here is not the UConn team that we’ve been. It’s the UConn team that we are right now that I think is going to get a lot better,” Hurley said. “We’re relying on a lot of young players. The burden of wearing the uniform after back-to-backs right now looks like it’s weighing heavy on the group. I think right now we’ve just got to try to focus on becoming a good team and becoming a tougher team."

 

[dogpause]

Our coaches are very pragmatic, so I'm confident they'll adjust to the strength of our personnel. For one thing, we need more acceptance of help defense. Running and pressing also plays to our strength. The punch in the gut that Memphis gave us was tough to recover from for a team who was expecting to win. We not only lost the game, but lost confidence too.

 

[ec33]

Do you honestly believe that Hurley doesn't give them a healthy dose of humility every day is practice? Hurley is well aware of the mind games. Looking for every slight to pump up his team come tournament time.

It is just November. Hurley is currently trying to build the team he will play mind games with come March.

I should also add that if you think there aren't negative voices in Hurley's head telling him that is a fraud then you haven't been paying attention.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

I also think the pressure Hurley has put on the team about 3 peating isn't always healthy. There's a fine line between having that attitude that they are a great team and the weight being too great. It's a tough balancing act and you just never know how a team will react to it.

“This UConn team that has lost three in a row out here is not the UConn team that we’ve been. It’s the UConn team that we are right now that I think is going to get a lot better,” Hurley said. “We’re relying on a lot of young players. The burden of wearing the uniform after back-to-backs right now looks like it’s weighing heavy on the group. I think right now we’ve just got to try to focus on becoming a good team and becoming a tougher team."

Listen to AK after the East Texas or Memphis game. To me it seems he was/is putting too much pressure on himself

 

[AllHusky]

FWIW it was Nick Saban who coined the phrase rat poison. But I agree with your premise.

I think Willie99 said it was Saban if you read his post

 

[Dove]

We're really churning for angles now...

 

[AllHusky]

Listen to AK after the East Texas or Memphis game. To me it seems he was/is putting too much pressure on himself

Yes, it was after Memphis. I was horrified that Hurley sat there and let Alex do that to himself. You could tell he believed what he was saying that everything is on him he can fix everything and so on. Athletes win, Coaches lose. Dan needs to stop swallowing rat poison and start driving this bus

 

[Hunt for 7]

I think Willie99 said it was Saban if you read his post

He changed it after I pointed out it was Nick not Lou. No big deal. I could have DM him but I was not making a huge deal out of it. I get the two names confused myself.

 

[RuffRuff]

 

[gars44]

Do you honestly believe that Hurley doesn't give them a healthy dose of humility every day is practice? Hurley is well aware of the mind games. Looking for every slight to pump up his team come tournament time.

It is just November. Hurley is currently trying to build the team he will play mind games with come March.

I should also add that if you think there aren't negative voices in Hurley's head telling him that is a fraud then you haven't been paying attention.

Like "It is just November"

 

[Stinger92860]

I was thinking this was a thread about coach K before I opened it.

 

[ucp990411]

I would love to see Danny start pressing more with our depth
Get the old 2-2-1 tapes out from Calhoun
Throw in some half court trapping
If we’re going to foul 20 times a game then let’s make it count.

Good point about making the fouls count. Our fouls are soft fouls, if any UConn team needed Jeff Adrien, Rod Sellers or Lyman DePriest it is this one. Foul the so they don't want to go near you!

 

[UCTitleTown]

Imagine if we'd gotten Cliff Omoruyi in the portal. We wouldn't be talking about center being a weakness.

 

[HooperScooper]

Imagine if we'd gotten Cliff Omoruyi in the portal. We wouldn't be talking about center being a weakness.

Who knows? He's not exactly ripping it up at Alabama. He's started all 7 games and is averaging 7.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game. Does he have an injury that has been slowing him down? Figured he'd be contributing more.

 

[bendm]

Imagine if we'd gotten Cliff Omoruyi in the portal. We wouldn't be talking about center being a weakness.

I think UK got the 3 guys we needed:
Lamont Butler- best defensive PG in the country?
Koby Brea- best 3 pt shooter in the country?
Amari Williams- best defensive C in the country?