Seton HeII Post Game Thread

[nelsonmuntz]

Maybe it's just me but I'm not seeing anything close to what you're seeing with these guys. Abraham hasn't played outside of games against the cupcakes so I'll exclude him, but nothing I've seen from Nowell or Singare makes me think they're ready.

The NIL argument doesn't hold much weight when Mahaney is basically out of the rotation entirely. We're playing 15-20 minutes a game with no PG and Nowell is still not seeing the floor, that should answer the question about how ready he is.

This is not directed solely at you, but it's just bizarre how many posters here think Dan Hurley is just actively running a worse team out there to spite his freshman recruits. If any of them could help they'd be playing

I think people are looking at freshmen through the lens of 10 or 20 or even 30 years ago, when at least some freshmen were expected to contribute immediately. In the Transfer Portal/NIL era, only the top freshmen will be able to meaningfully contribute for major conference teams. These players in the power leagues are professional athletes now, with really sophisticated skills. The upperclassmen on average work a lot harder than they did 20 years ago, and are better skilled players. A team may get lucky occasionally, but it is not reasonable to think a freshmen like Nowell is going to contribute in Year 1 for a Big East team.

If you want to see lots of Frosh contributing on day one, go watch some A10 or better yet MAAC basketball. Those frosh are playing for major conference roster spots for next year.

I would add that a game like yesterday shows that even a top frosh like McNeeley can get lost out there with how sophisticated the game has become.

 

[Hunt for 7]

If Nowell is so bad he can't get in this year with an injured Diarra and Mahaney, why should we expect an enormous jump in year 2 for a guy that is virtually getting 0 playing time?

Understand he was injured a decent amount but let him play more than 5 minutes and through mistakes to at least give him experience. Next year he'll have gone from maybe playing a total of 60 game minutes all season to having to play whatever, 20 or so a game unless Hurley finds another PG starter.

Maybe the plan now is to redshirt him…..could be.

 

[RuffRuff]

So Trilly said something about this earlier this season, huh?

A lot of question marks heading into next season but it seems we have one answer.

As for the rest of the roster. The biggest questions seem to be does that desperately needed large proven point guard become available in the portal? We'll be the best destination for that player.

Does AK come back for his senior season? It's his best option IMO.

Does Hurley think the two wing sophomores who didn't make the necessary jump in play this season will make the necessary jump next season?

Will Hurley upgrade the athleticism of the team through the portal bringing in athletic players who can play off the bounce?

Something I never considered until recently. Will Hurley be satisfied with a two headed big rotation of Tarris and Reibe? I get the sense Hurley isn't too happy with Reed's play and Karaban's comments after the loss yesterday have me questioning the entire roster.

Been saying it for awhile but this will be the most interesting portal season under Hurley. It’s gonna be telling, and some of his very vocal philosophies will be challenged. It’s really hard to foresee what he’s gonna do. Dependent on what’s out there, what he’s willing to move off. Over/Under 2, my guess is 3.

 

[superjohn]

Been saying it for awhile but this will be the most interesting portal season under Hurley. It’s gonna be telling, and some of his very vocal philosophies will be challenged. It’s really hard to foresee what he’s gonna do. Dependent on what’s out there, what he’s willing to move off. Over/Under 2, my guess is 3.

I think we'll have more than 3 departures. I think there's going to be a major shake up of the team like we had before we won the first championship under Hurley. I was leaning that way before yesterday. AK's comments solidified it for me.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

This is a wild take, man. Explain Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson Jr, or Adams Sanogo. Explain Isaiah Whaley. Or Donovan Clingan.

Jordan Hawkins went to the NBA without being able to dribble or finish at the rim. Andre Jackson went to the NBA without any scoring ability.

The bigs were great. I actually think our staff is a great developer of bigs.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Newton wasn't already ready. He was more of a score first PG in East Carolina and didn't play good d. He learned to run a real offense and play some decent D. Spencer I agree was more of a finished product.

He averaged 17 5 and 5 at ECU. He came here and averaged 15 6 and 6 in his last season. We have to stop touting that when the finished product is the second to last pick in the NBA draft as some remarkable development story.

 

[Kolumbo]

Those (non) calls were terrible, but we should not have been in a 1 possession game against Seton Hall to begin with.

Whether or not we should have been in a one possession game is irrelevant. It was a one possession game so you play it out. What do you want them to do? "Sorry, we sucked today and we shouldn't be in this situation and we don't want to take the chance of getting bent over by the refs. We forfeit."

 

[RuffRuff]

I think we'll have more than 3 departures. I think there's going to be a major shake up of the team like we had before we won the first championship under Hurley. I was leaning that way before yesterday. AK's comments solidified it for me.

Same here - been thinking it for awhile also. I’m sure the staff has already root caused whatever is plaguing this team at the core, and it’s not going to be a single player that changes that. And in no way is Hurley going to want anything close to a repeat of this.

If they have frosh trying to preserve eligibility by not playing, that is a pretty bad sore in the locker room.

Feel for AK a bit, as he’s been used to running with a collection of guys all-in. I’m sure it’s been frustrating for him.

The “culture continuity” part is the philosophy that I’m curious to see challenged, as great in theory but when the players just aren’t that good, tough decision to make.

Also wonder if some of his antics this year were in part to try to press buttons to try and motivate this group. It’s been so beyond weird.

 

[navery12]

If they have frosh trying to preserve eligibility by not playing, that is a pretty bad sore in the locker room.

There's no preserving eligibility in college basketball. Everyone has gotten minutes this year so this year counts

 

[RuffRuff]

There's no preserving eligibility in college basketball. Everyone has gotten minutes this year so this year counts

Maybe then it’s just not investing in someone who has one foot out the door.

 

[Palatine]

Nowell is always hurt and he showed very little in the time he was gifted. He is 6-0, if that. He is not quick, he is strong. His handle does not look exception. There might be times when he is the right match up. I think Hurley loved his attitude and toughness. But he really needs to up his game

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Who? Your post was illegible.

I said this is a bad sign because that performance is on Hurley and AK as a captain is putting it all on himself and his teammates and giving his coaches a free pass. I don't like hearing AK who has put way too much pressure on himself all season saying what he said.

AK was saying it was the players lack of urgency. This is far from thre first time this season they've played down to the competition. Somehow in your eyes the players are robots who perform exactly as they are coached and it's always on the coach when this happens.

I wish that were the case as we would have won it all in 2006 if things worked that way. This team doesn't always fight, doesn't always seem to care (they took about twelve minutes off during the first half yesterday) and has had a few too many similar incidents throughout the year. It may be a good idea if you considered that it is possible that this may not be on Hurley, but rather on a handful of players.

 

[TyroneShoo]

Yea, you know everything. My post acknowledged the poor play. But you seem to think that officiating had nothing to do with an overtime, 1 point game.

Losers are people who get the shaft and are afraid to stand up against it. The losers are people who ignore ALL of what they see, point fingers and pontificate a holier than everyone else attitude.

thank You for acknowledging my knowledge.
But still …loser mentality.

sometimes stuff just goes wrong And ya choke.

Trust Me you will be fine starting on Tues. I will be there watching you guys drive a final nail in the coffin of the Neptune experiment. As a Nova dude, I will be Hating it while it happens but appreciating the end of season result it will help bring.

it will be fun watching neither Team guard anyone Off the dribble. uggg.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think people are looking at freshmen through the lens of 10 or 20 or even 30 years ago, when at least some freshmen were expected to contribute immediately. In the Transfer Portal/NIL era, only the top freshmen will be able to meaningfully contribute for major conference teams. These players in the power leagues are professional athletes now, with really sophisticated skills. The upperclassmen on average work a lot harder than they did 20 years ago, and are better skilled players. A team may get lucky occasionally, but it is not reasonable to think a freshmen like Nowell is going to contribute in Year 1 for a Big East team.

If you want to see lots of Frosh contributing on day one, go watch some A10 or better yet MAAC basketball. Those frosh are playing for major conference roster spots for next year.

I would add that a game like yesterday shows that even a top frosh like McNeeley can get lost out there with how sophisticated the game has become.

100%. It’s why thinking this upcoming freshman class turning next year into a NC contender is fools gold.

The only types of frosh that become drivers to championships are complimentary (Castle) or truly out of this world (Flagg).

Take a look at what the current mocked top 2-4 are doing - Rutgers and Baylor aren’t going to sniff a post season run.

 

[Scrutineer]

Hurley spending the offseason talking 3 peat did his players no favors. He likes to get in peoples faces with his past success but it was in the past. He is finding that out. Pumping up players preseason that have done nothing was a mistake. We made mistakes today that he should be embarrassed by. There are no easy games left and wins are essential. No more excuses.

It may not have been all that noticeable because of the euphoria over the 23 title, but from 23 to 24 Dan Hurley was a great ambassador for the Big East, pumping up what a tough league it is, but then shifted his emphasis to the three peat talk after the 24 title. He seemed to go from confident to cocky and somewhat arrogant, culminating in the now infamous "don't turn your back on me, etc." quote.

That probably did put extra pressure on the players and JR sure didn't deliver on what Dan Hurley was selling about him from the summer workouts.

Giving Dan Hurley the benefit of the doubt, he may have been trying to find out who had the "warrior" mindset and I guess he found out for sure yesterday. LM has shown that mindset in spades this year, especially against Creighton, but in the handshake line yesterday he pulled his shirt up over his face for a few seconds and seemed deflated.

 

[Bonamassa]

I don't think yesterday was an NCAA Tournament game. Not sure but we may still be in it. That said, I was really, really pissed yesterday.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Perno had his limitations but one of the biggest was how poorly equipped UConn was regarding recruiting in that era.

Read what JC said it was like trying to recruit at UConn when he got here. No academic counselling program, poor facilities, and no basic support for recruiting and retaining players.

Because he was a new hire he got things changed and improved significantly but one example he gave was how the Athletic Department couldn't accept collect calls from recruits who might be calling to accept a scholarship because the state didn't allow collect calls to be accepted. If I recall correctly, he got the Alumni Association to fund a phone line for that purpose.

Please don't try to defend Perno.

Coaching games alone I cannot think of anything worse than the opening round loss to St John's in the 1982 Big East tournament (anyone who followed the team then knows what happened. I watched that debacle live at the Civic Center.

Perno spent nearly a year trying to convince Rod Foster to change his mind about UCon when Foster told him upfront that he was only heading somewhere a lot bigger than UConn. In that time he completely ignored John Bagley. Mike McKay begged Perno to offer him but Perno wasn't interested (the line about academics was damage control. Look at where Bagley ended up and who Perno brought overr the next few years.). Then, in a knee jerk reaction to Bagley's freshman year, he brought in a pair of undersized guards (Hobbs & Giscombe) who weren't bad players, but made it impossible to go after Michael Adams the following year.

 

[Palatine]

We have the look of a team that needs a huge BET.

 

[RuffRuff]

Didn’t think the JUCO route was even a thing anymore for high majors. Pearl getting creative in keeping his team 24 years old.

 

[djct1999]

Someone had mentioned that Marquette and Creighton are no good this year, so our wins mean nothing. Now they are good, but we were lucky. Can you guys get together and get your arguments aligned?

It took a Seton Hall player who shoots 25% from the line, a brick that bounced 2 feet in the air before rimming through the net, on the first of a 1 and 1. The same player fires a bank shot from the foul line on his second attempt of the 1 and 1. But yea, UConn was lucky when they beat M and C.

I will make it simple…..according to the board; All our wins were luck and all our losses are on the coaches and the fact nowell isn’t playing.

 

[UCan3]

It's not lack of discipline so much as lack of competency. You've got to be able to inbound the ball. That's a core competency issue.

While I agree, there is something more than just being competent IMO.

They lacked drive, will, and mental clarity at a key moment of the game.

There is something deeply wrong with the team psyche.

A rec league team an inbound the ball better than they did.

My point is that this memory of the game should never be forgotten and a reminder that just because we’re UConn… Just because we won 2 championships, other teams don’t care. We’re just a team that must go out and win by outhustling the other team. This game and the way we lost it, still has me in schock!

 

[superjohn]

AK was saying it was the players lack of urgency. This is far from thre first time this season they've played down to the competition. Somehow in your eyes the players are robots who perform exactly as they are coached and it's always on the coach when this happens.

I wish that were the case as we would have won it all in 2006 if things worked that way. This team doesn't always fight, doesn't always seem to care (they took about twelve minutes off during the first half yesterday) and has had a few too many similar incidents throughout the year. It may be a good idea if you considered that it is possible that this may not be on Hurley, but rather on a handful of players.

We were up 7 points with 36 seconds left in regulation and then up 5 points with 1 minute left in overtime to a Seton Hall team that was 1-12 in the Big East and we couldn't get the ball inbounds once out of five tries to end the game. Seton Hall has one little "big" guy 6'9 214 lbs who plays and averages 2 points and 2 rebounds on the season. Hurley barely played our 6'10 260 lb big guy who can score and rebound. The little "big" guy for Seton Hall had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Yes, I put that on coaching.

 

[RuffRuff]

We were up 7 points with 36 seconds left in regulation and then up 5 points with 1 minute left in overtime to a Seton Hall team that was 1-12 in the Big East and we couldn't get the ball inbounds once out of five tries to end the game. Seton Hall has one little "big" guy 6'9 214 lbs who plays and averages 2 points and 2 rebounds on the season. Hurley barely played our 6'10 260 lb big guy who can score and rebound. The little "big" guy for Seton Hall had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Yes, I put that on coaching.

Our use of a clear physical advantage on offense when nothing else is working blows my mind, but it’s been a thing all year.

Maybe AK will come out with a memoir at some point disclosing what the h@ll the locker room is like this year. Something feels way off kilter.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We were up 7 points with 36 seconds left in regulation and then up 5 points with 1 minute left in overtime to a Seton Hall team that was 1-12 in the Big East and we couldn't get the ball inbounds once out of five tries to end the game. Seton Hall has one little "big" guy 6'9 214 lbs who plays and averages 2 points and 2 rebounds on the season. Hurley barely played our 6'10 260 lb big guy who can score and rebound. The little "big" guy for Seton Hall had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Yes, I put that on coaching.

If you want to put yesterday's loss on coaching, fine. It's a valid argument.

This back and forth however is on your claim that AK stating the players aren't always taking the opponents as seriously as they should is on Dan Hurley is an entirely different argument. Tell me this wasn't your post:

 

[superjohn]

If you want to put yesterday's loss on coaching, fine. It's a valid argument.

This back and forth however is on your claim that AK stating the players aren't always taking the opponents as seriously as they should is on Dan Hurley is an entirely different argument. Tell me this wasn't your post:
View attachment 107042

Yes it's my post and it makes me a feel a whole lot worse about this team. Hurley should be the one owning the loss.