Some really thoughtful self reflection and comments by Hurley.

[Mr. French]

Me either. Dan is in rarified air, finding his way. Neither JC, Izzo and his old man have ever reached his peak. They can advise but they're not talking from experience.

To me, it wasn’t about them not being in a position to critique - I guarantee Danny would still be heeding advice from the big boys.

It was more the tone to me seems like “some people gave me advice on realizing this team is different” versus “I was being a huge jerk and had to be put in my place.”

 

[Waquoit]

That's an incredibly stupid, beyond laughable standard.

I have to ask: who defines blue blood better, Calhoun or Hurley.

Hurley. He's the standard of a modern college basketball coach. He has taken the belt from K. Best in class. JC in his day was lumped in with Olson and Izzo.

And Boeheim.

 

[ctchamps]

That's an incredibly stupid, beyond laughable standard.

I have to ask: who defines blue blood better, Calhoun or Hurley.

In spite of all JCs accomplishments it took back to back NCs by Hurley to break down the barrier of blue blood status. The program has never received the hype that UConn is currently getting under Hurley.

Living out of state wearing UConn gear out of staters would come up to me and say UConn has a great women's bb program. Since the back to back they come up to me and talk about how great the mens program is. And I am in Duke and North Carolina territory.

This is not a comparison or a competition of resumes. It can never reduce the resume of JC. Winning one national championship puts coaches in rarified air. Winning multiple even more so. Winning back to back is historic. The focus on UConn has never been greater. Now UConn has won NCs under three head coaches and two of them have multiple championships.

So Hurley has built upon the legacy of JC and he's done something JC didn't. These two things have elevated the program well beyond where it was at the end of JCs tenure. With that elevation of status comes an increase of pressure to sustain it. The magnifying glass and the pressure it creates is greater on Hurley than that which JC had to deal with. I would say that the only coaches who could relate to Hurley's pressure would be Geno or Mike Krzyzewski.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I'm not sure she would have been that polite,


I know for a fact he wouldn't have been that polite,


I have no doubt he wouldn't have been that polite,

Maybe the greatest closer of all-time, Andrew Hurley, also gave him some team feedback.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

2004-2006 was a pretty epic run too.

National Championship
Round of 32
Elite 8

2 top 5 draft picks
4 top 10
7 first roundsrs

If it wasn’t for Bynum he would’ve brought in a 5* in 3 straight recruiting classes as well.

Crazy to say Calhoun hasn’t been there and done that.

 

[temery]

In spite of all JCs accomplishments it took back to back NCs by Hurley to break down the barrier of blue blood status. The program has never received the hype that UConn is currently getting under Hurley.

Living out of state wearing UConn gear out of staters would come up to me and say UConn has a great women's bb program. Since the back to back they come up to me and talk about how great the mens program is. And I am in Duke and North Carolina territory.

This is not a comparison or a competition of resumes. It can never reduce the resume of JC. Winning one national championship puts coaches in rarified air. Winning multiple even more so. Winning back to back is historic. The focus on UConn has never been greater. Now UConn has won NCs under three head coaches and two of them have multiple championships.

So Hurley has built upon the legacy of JC and he's done something JC didn't. These two things have elevated the program well beyond where it was at the end of JCs tenure. With that elevation of status comes an increase of pressure to sustain it. The magnifying glass and the pressure it creates is greater on Hurley than that which JC had to deal with. I would say that the only coaches who could relate to Hurley's pressure would be Geno or Mike Krzyzewski.

So having a below average career, then taking over a team with a history of dominance, have a crap record for two years, lose twice in the first round, then win two championships, and you're the GOAT on par with Jim Calhoun?

My god your bar is so low I'd need a shovel to find it.

Im on record: Hurley is the coach in the future, and he's off to a great start. But we all need to stop this bullshit that he is already the greatest of all freakin' time.

It's not fair to him; It's not fair to the team; It's not fair to the school, and makes everyone look foolish who believes he is on par with Calhoun, Coach K, and any number of successful longtime coaches.

I highly doubt even Hurley disagrees with me. It's a dangerous, counterproductive fantasy.

 

[metsfan2323]

I assume you're joking. If not, you are out of your freakin' mind. Hurley needs at a minimum ten consecutive years of dominance, with at least eight deep runs in the dance, to be considered a peer of JC, Izzo, and the old man.

His accomplishments at 3 stops already give him that 10 years. He is a peer with those men.

BTW Calhoun never had "10 consecutive years of dominance", it was usually 2-3 years of dominance followed by a rebuilding year. Also, the 2011/2012 UConn team featured 3 NBA players and a HOF coach and got bounced in the first round.

10 years of consecutive dominance is an absurd bar to set for anyone, but the Boneyard is often absurd.

 

[Waquoit]

So having a below average career, then taking over a team with a history of dominance, have a crap record for two years, lose twice in the first round, then win two championships, and you're the GOAT on par with Jim Calhoun?

I used to think no way Kemba was better than KEA. I wised up. And if he had a "below average career", how the hell did he get the job at a blue blood?

 

[temery]

I used to think no way Kemba was better than KEA. I wised up. And if he had a "below average career", how the hell did he get the job at a blue blood?

What?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

So having a below average career, then taking over a team with a history of dominance, have a crap record for two years, lose twice in the first round, then win two championships, and you're the GOAT on par with Jim Calhoun?

My god your bar is so low I'd need a shovel to find it.

Im on record: Hurley is the coach in the future, and he's off to a great start. But we all need to stop this bullshit that he is already the greatest of all freakin' time.

It's not fair to him; It's not fair to the team; It's not fair to the school, and makes everyone look foolish who believes he is on par with Calhoun, Coach K, and any number of successful longtime coaches.

I highly doubt even Hurley disagrees with me. It's a dangerous, counterproductive fantasy.

Jesus what is going on here?

 

[temery]

His accomplishments at 3 stops already give him that 10 years. He is a peer with those men.

BTW Calhoun never had "10 consecutive years of dominance", it was usually 2-3 years of dominance followed by a rebuilding year. Also, the 2011/2012 UConn team featured 3 NBA players and a HOF coach and got bounced in the first round.

10 years of consecutive dominance is an absurd bar to set for anyone, but the Boneyard is often absurd.

Holy crap, that's exactly what I've been saying, now you repeat what I've been saying as proof that I'm wrong.

This is awesome! Even those who try to prove I'm wrong, use my own words to prove I'm right.

Do do seriously thing Hurley has been as successful as Calhoun? I'd bet even Hurley knows this is a stupid argument.


Calhoun passed the test of time, Hurley is just getting started.

My money is on Hurley, above all others, to join Calhoun. But those who think b-2-b championship is enough, are delusional pseudo fans who wouldn't pass the preschool marshmallow test.

 

[metsfan2323]

Holy , that's exactly what I've been saying, now you repeat what I've been saying as proof that I'm wrong.

This is awesome! Even those who try to prove I'm wrong, use my own words to prove I'm right.

Do do seriously thing Hurley has been as successful as Calhoun? I'd bet even Hurley knows this is a stupid argume

at age 51 Hurley is on a trajectory that surpasses Calhoun, time will tell if he can maintain it.

Can you point out Calhoun's 10 consecutive years of dominance? I can't find it on the resume. Please point out 5 consecutive years if you can.

 

[Waquoit]

What?

You said Hurley had a "below average career" before coming to UConn. That is such bad-faith nonsense it undercuts any other point you try to make. He's still a hero at his two previous stops. He got the blue-blood UConn job because of his previous excellence. Performance you call below average.

 

[temery]

You said Hurley had a "below average career" before coming to UConn. That is such bad-faith nonsense it undercuts any other point you try to make. He's still a hero at his two previous stops. He got the blue-blood UConn job because of his previous excellence. Performance you call below average.

Below average when it comes to any GOAT conversation. Do you agree?

 

[metsfan2323]

You said Hurley had a "below average career" before coming to UConn. That is such bad-faith nonsense it undercuts any other point you try to make. He's still a hero at his two previous stops. He got the blue-blood UConn job because of his previous excellence. Performance you call below average.

Agreed, and Hurley's two best early UConn recruits were Akok and Bouknight and their injuries very much limited Hurley's early success.

 

[Waquoit]

Below average when it comes to any GOAT conversation. Do you agree?

 

[AntG168]

I assume you're joking. If not, you are out of your freakin' mind. Hurley needs at a minimum ten consecutive years of dominance, with at least eight deep runs in the dance, to be considered a peer of JC, Izzo, and the old man.

Izzo? Lmfao.

 

[Jbirdp5]

This is an odd statement by Hurley given how much he touted these guys earlier. He came into this season knowing he only had 1 returning starter and a bunch of developing sophomores and freshmen. He could have saved himself and the alumni/fan base a lot of angst if he pumped the brakes on a 3 peat before the season started.

I don’t think he’s talking about anything other than having to use a slightly different coaching style with his team. You can’t coach all of your teams the same and he’s figuring out that a different approach is better for this group of players. It would be odd if he thought he could coach this group exactly the same as a different group and to not adjust

 

[TheHorde]

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/houston-texans/texans-hc-facing-heavy-backlash-insensitive-comments-trevor-lawrence-injury

Good to see Hurley pivoting. And this article is another reminder that no coach is perfect, even when they have the benefit of time and the ability to sleep on the events of a game. Some of y’all really buried Hurley, but there are many examples of head coaches not covering themselves in glory lately.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Below average when it comes to any GOAT conversation. Do you agree?

You really think this is a good argument? Comparing what Calhoun did in his late 50s and 60s to what Hurley did before he got the UConn job? And you're arguing that a below average coach gets the UConn job?

Calhoun was 57 when he went to the Final Four for the first time. Hurley won't be 57 for another 6 years and he's got two rings. What are you doing?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You really think this is a good argument? Comparing what Calhoun did in his late 50s and 60s to what Hurley did before he got the UConn job? And you're arguing that a below average coach gets the UConn job?

Calhoun was 57 when he went to the Final Four for the first time. Hurley won't be 57 for another 6 years and he's got two rings. What are you doing?

The interesting thing about Hurley’s career/success is that it happened so fast.

Before UConn he never produced an NBA player or made a Sweet 16. Up until two years ago he still hadn’t made that sweet 16. Now he’s a B2B champion. But does that all of a sudden catapult him there off two years when Calhoun had a lot of success, just never the coveted Final Four before?

Do we consider Billy Donovan one of the greats because of his B2B at a young age?

 

[AntG168]

The interesting thing about Hurley’s career/success is that it happened so fast.

Before UConn he never produced an NBA player or made a Sweet 16. Up until two years ago he still hadn’t made that sweet 16. Now he’s a B2B champion. But does that all of a sudden catapult him there off two years when Calhoun had a lot of success, just never the coveted Final Four before?

Do we consider Billy Donovan one of the greats because of his B2B at a young age?

Yes

 

[ctchamps]

So having a below average career, then taking over a team with a history of dominance, have a crap record for two years, lose twice in the first round, then win two championships, and you're the GOAT on par with Jim Calhoun?

My god your bar is so low I'd need a shovel to find it.

Im on record: Hurley is the coach in the future, and he's off to a great start. But we all need to stop this bullshit that he is already the greatest of all freakin' time.

It's not fair to him; It's not fair to the team; It's not fair to the school, and makes everyone look foolish who believes he is on par with Calhoun, Coach K, and any number of successful longtime coaches.

I highly doubt even Hurley disagrees with me. It's a dangerous, counterproductive fantasy.

Never said he was on par with JC. Said the pressure on him is greater than it was on JC because of the combination of JC's success, the 6 NCs and the back to back. The program has been a blue blood for a while but it only recently being universally considered a blue blood. All of it leads to more scrutiny of the program hence the pressure. This is a thread about Hurley's "bad" start and how he's going to change. Someone postulated people have talked to him including JC. Waquoit felt JC couldn't relate to Hurley. I wasn't talking about resumes. I was talking about pressure the program is under currently. Whole different level than when JC was here. And yes the pressure on JC was a lot. It got incrementally more so as a result of all the success. Not many programs get that type of scrutiny.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I wish I could like this more than once. Anyone fixating on a three-peat and living and dying with how every game affects that goal is going to have a miserable year (which some of you seem to be into).

This is not last year's team. The goal is to get better all season long. Given the new pieces growing into new roles and the track record of this coaching staff it would seem to be a reasonable expectation that this will happen. At the end of the year there are going to be a handful of teams that will probably feel like they underperformed if they don't make the Final Four. I think we already have a general idea of who those teams are and this UConn team is probably not in that group.

But they're in another group that's going to become as good a team as possible and see where they stack up at the end of the season. And there are plenty of teams from this second group that end up doing great things. For God's sake, NC State was a 10th seed in the ACC tournament. They lost their last 4 regular season games, went 17-14 and needed a buzzer beater not to get bounced in their own conference tournament and they ended up in the Final Four. It's the journey that's supposed to be the fun part.

The journey is the fun part. I don't get lasting enjoyment from "hey we won a national championship". Maybe the first one, or even the 2nd. I enjoy the games against good teams. I like seeing the players get better. It's the experience of the season that's fun.

So I want a deep run in the Big East tournament because that's more good games. Then I always want to make the NCAA tournament and go as far as possible because that's more good games. I don't have a banner on my wall at home for our league or NCAA championships, I didn't win them.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Never said he was on par with JC. Said the pressure on him is greater than it was on JC because of the combination of JC's success, the 6 NCs and the back to back. The program has been a blue blood for a while but it only recently being universally considered a blue blood. All of it leads to more scrutiny of the program hence the pressure.

I think the difference is Calhoun never really cared what other people thought while Hurley tries to be aware and influence all those things.