Reminds me of January 2023

[tjhusky]

I didn't know what your talking about. This is exactly the same as the losing steak two years ago.

Both teams had flaws that were exposed and need time to address the flaws and overcome them as a team.

The added issue is that the games were back to back 3 straight days. There was no time to work on their issues.

Trust me Hurley and the team don't need your post to realize soul searching and work as a team in practice will be be needed.

This

 

[Gurleyman]

Or perhaps 3 games in 3 days. We won't see this format again until the Big East tournament. Hopefully, we play 3 games in the BET.

and the thing about that tournament is that you play someone you’ve already played twice. So you know personnel, scouting reports, etc., and a walkthrough for a reminder is all you need. In these tournaments, you can’t have a practice to prepare for an opponent. You just have to play. It’s the same format for both teams - but it’s different than any other game the rest of the year.

Ironically, during our swoon in January of 2023, I felt like the Alabama and Iowa State wins lost their luster a little bit for that reason - feeling like we just took advantage of an unusual format and maybe got wins we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. But we got things straightened out and looked more like that team again. This time, we have to try to not look like that team again.

 

[uconnfan68]

Is it conditioning at this point? Jet Lag, Time Zone? McNeeley 0-9 in 30 minutes?

They’re being forced to settle for contested shots because they really can’t create on their own, and the passing has been abysmal. I’m certain lots of coaches watched lots of film on us, and found ways to exploit our plans. Now we need changes.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Our offense is complex and we will get better and better every week. However, it seems right now we are far too reliant on Diarra and Samson. Diarra is going to need to play 25-30 mins/game, but he’s not capable of getting a bucket at will. It seems like our season is going to hinge on how quickly McNeeley can become consistent on both ends and how long Reed will be able to stay on the floor. I’m fully expecting the defense to improve which hopefully leads to some more uptempo play. If we’re gonna be playing 10 guys we need to run and get out in transition to wear teams down when we can (this also is a strength of Samson who isn’t as good in the half court sets). We will improve, the question is can we do it quick enough to get a couple decent OOC wins to avoid a complete disaster of a season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Doesn’t remind me of that at all. That team dominated the out of conference then ran into Big East teams that adjusted. This team still hasn’t shown it beat anything but the worst teams in the country. Doesn’t mean the staff and players can’t figure things, out, but it’s nothing like it was then.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Take a breath. We did not look “lost” our first four games.

Sure. We played Jr. High level teams. And yes, Hurley said we played terribly.

 

[willie99]

Doesn’t remind me of that at all. That team dominated the out of conference then ran into Big East teams that adjusted. This team still hasn’t shown it beat anything but the worst teams in the country. Doesn’t mean the staff and players can’t figure things, out, but it’s nothing like it was then.

Again, it's about the board and the arguments naysayers were making. And the naysayers can't say they knew a turn around was coming in 2023, because they crucified the team (despite that amazing start, go figure)

The biggest difference between now and then is nobody is still saying HURLEY CAN'T WIN A TOURNAMENT GAME. Never mind January of 2023, naysayers were saying this in March of 2023. It's like Seth Davis is posting on this board

 

[HuskyHawk]

Again, it's about the board and the arguments naysayers were making. And the naysayers can't say they knew a turn around was coming, because they crucified the team (despite that amazing start, go figure)

Don’t know about those people but I think my take on it was correct. We had issues covering the rim when hedging. The 3-4 weren’t doing that job well enough. Teams exploited it. We had issues with teams doubling Adama and ignoring Jackson. It was a learning experience that won us a NC. We moved Adama out of the post and let him get the ball facing the basket. That enabled him to feed a wide open Ajax for baseline dunks. eventually they couldn’t double him. Alex and Ajax cleaned up the defensive rim coverage. Guards improved at keeping the man in front of them.