Some Hurley quotes from Coaches Road Show

[Chief00]

I have said before, of course he wants to play hard and win as many games as possible this year - but the critical program focus needs to be on recruiting talent for 2019/2020.

 

[jibsey]

I have said before of course he wants to play hard and win as many games as possible this year - but the critical program focus needs to be on recruiting talent for 2019/2020.

And early success this season could kickstart that, because media will be focused in on Hurley and UCONN and give us a lot of airtime if good things are happening.

 

[6xChamps]

You over estimate the top 25. That’s certainly within reach . I believe we were preseason top 25 two years ago . Last year with only two returning players we were unimpressive but unfeated battling MSU until Gilbert went down .
Change that one result and as imperfect as last years team was at that moment in time a ranking was in our grasp. Sustaining that against the schedule we had was overly optimistic but rankings are a snapshot.
We certainly have missing pieces as of now but we have 10 returning players . Almost all have experience against the best teams in the country That’s unheard of in today’s game
One of those players is a top pick for conference player of the year.
Every team has questions. Who in this basketball era goes into any season with a pat hand?
I really can’t understand the lack of optimism on this years board for a team that on paper should be darn good.

I don't expect to be top 25 next season, but if UConn somehow wins the 2K Sports Classic and takes care of business in the games before that then they will probably be top 25.

 

[Hoophound]

One thing I am counting on is a visible change in strength and endurance. Most of these guys are very young and can make significant physical gains in 3-4 months. I remember going from out of shape to ripped over summer breaks at that age. In high school, I raised my athletic ability by about 50% in one offseason by getting serious. These guys can be meaningfully better by getting in the gym with the new strength coach for the next 4 months. No they can’t add 20lbs of muscle in that time but they can make enough progress to be better defenders and rebounders and to have a lot more gas in the tank. Raising the physical ability of a kid like Polly by a small amount will be very noticeable on the court.

 

[jibsey]

One thing I am counting on is a visible change in strength and endurance. Most of these guys are very young and can make significant physical gains in 3-4 months. I remember going from out of shape to ripped over summer breaks at that age. In high school, I raised my athletic ability by about 50% in one offseason by getting serious. These guys can be meaningfully better by getting in the gym with the new strength coach for the next 4 months. No they can’t add 20lbs of muscle in that time but they can make enough progress to be better defenders and rebounders and to have a lot more gas in the tank. Raising the physical ability of a kid like Polly by a small amount will be very noticeable on the court.

I have to admit I'm not a workout expert but haven't these guys always had a strength and conditioning coach with perfect facilities and individual programs for each one of them?

 

[Hoophound]

Yes, but frankly, most of them look fit but not muscular. We were a very lean, stringy team. We didn’t look like a team with a ferocious strength coach. Someone needs to destroy their muscles in the gym then supervise their meals. I’m not sure KO’s staff was doing it, but back in the 90’s, guys like Travis Knight were pretty much force fed 6 eggs and 6 pancakes for breakfast with milk, sausage, fruit and cheese to wash them down.

 

[Chief00]

I think Hurley is pretty realistic about the tools he has this year. He's committed to make the most of them and I do think that we will all be happier with the product but this isn't the prototype team he wants and it will take time to get Hurley guys on the roster.

I am interested in seeing what Coach Hurley can do with our existing squad, but I've tempered my optimism about their upside will look like. We will be more fit, better organized and make more sensible personnel decisions. I'm not sure that that will be enough to get us back to the NCAA tournament.

I think that’s fair - be optimistic about improvement both in culture and on floor but also be realistic about talent level.

My only watchout is in this day and age, can you successfully recruit the 5 and high 4 star players willing to make the sacrifice that Hurley and Sal are going to require? Will some prefer an easier route?
Thus far, Danny’s been able to get that sacrifice out of 3 and low 4 star type players. The chip on the shoulder types.

 

[huskymedic]