Taliek Brown Joining Staff

[Mokum]

Glad to see Taliek on board. Great hire.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Only from 30 feet out.

And off glass.

 

[August_West]

Followed by...

I was in Vegas for C.E.S.
Was killing it at craps tables. The only thing that would pull me away from tables was a UConn game. Walked away from a hot streak ( big no no) with more purples than I could carry. Walked into the sports book sent in all my winnings on UConn. And sat down in front of a monitor for one of the most enjoyable non tournament games you could ever imagine. Because that game was over before it started. There was absolutely zero stress. Great day. No other regular season game is burned into my memory like that one.

 

[HuskylnSC]

At least we'll have a committed and capable coach with a well-built staff. And, btw, I question my own use of the "we" pronoun. You don't even need to question it. Just don't.

you are allowed to use 'we' whenever you choose to align yourself with a movement or organization for an extended period of time. On the other side of the coin; I still remember walking the halls of high school after an away game and it was either, "Wow, we won. Great Game" or "I can't believe you guys lost last night." That attitude does not merit the use of 'we'. You must choose to be aligned regardless of outcome.

Lastly, I expect WE will be great again!

 

[Chief00]

I guess he really liked Taliek. He told me during the 2003-2004 season that he thought the team could win the national championship not because of all the elite talent but because Taliek was playing elite defense on the other teams' point guards.

That PG defense was good but the talent on that team was really good.

 

[CL82]

Agree 100%. My gut tells me we are going to be the surprise of the year in college BB. GUESS WHAT UCONN HATERS. WE'RRRRE BACK DOOOOOMED!

FIFY

 

[Huskybass]

Now 14 wins with what a few of you describe as a horrible disgusting coaching job and we can’t expect anything yet? I mean you got the guy you’ve been asking for and he won a lot of games with similar talent where he was so he needs 2-3 years? They basically have everyone back (let’s nit overrate Larrier please) and they’re a year more mature in body and game. Also he’s doing great things to prepare them for the rigors of the college game while adding a couple nice pieces including Sid Wilson. Sorry but for me 18-20 wins is the least we should see if he’s as good of a coach as it would seem. I know you’d prefer to sandbag his expectations so you could say “see what he did with Ollie’s team” when they dance again but I’m not having it.

I think he gets it done, wins a couple big recruiting battles and gets them back to our expectations in 1 year tops. He has enough to work with now, especially “if” Alterique is able to give him a healthy year.

18-20 wins is a very reasonable expectation. All I expect in year one is substantial progress. If they play hard and smart and win 20 games, I will be happy. I do expect bigger and better things in years 2 and 3. I have full confidence in Hurley, I am just willing to be patient for a year or two to see what he can do.

 

[CL82]

18-20 wins is a very reasonable expectation. All I expect in year one is substantial progress. If they play hard and smart and win 20 games, I will be happy. I do expect bigger and better things in years 2 and 3. I have full confidence in Hurley, I am just willing to be patient for a year or two to see what he can do.

Agreed.

Still doomed.

 

[Paesano]

Now 14 wins with what a few of you describe as a horrible disgusting coaching job and we can’t expect anything yet? I mean you got the guy you’ve been asking for and he won a lot of games with similar talent where he was so he needs 2-3 years? They basically have everyone back (let’s nit overrate Larrier please) and they’re a year more mature in body and game. Also he’s doing great things to prepare them for the rigors of the college game while adding a couple nice pieces including Sid Wilson. Sorry but for me 18-20 wins is the least we should see if he’s as good of a coach as it would seem. I know you’d prefer to sandbag his expectations so you could say “see what he did with Ollie’s team” when they dance again but I’m not having it.

I think he gets it done, wins a couple big recruiting battles and gets them back to our expectations in 1 year tops. He has enough to work with now, especially “if” Alterique is able to give him a healthy year.

And you want to set the bar high so you can say it was a mistake to fire Ollie.

By the way, you make the same mistake a lot of people do. Talent is not enough. It has to be the right talent. The kid has to have leadership skills, a great attitude and be coachable in addition to having talent. And the kid has to fit the system. And you need the proper collection of skills. 5 great point guards won't go very far. You can't just say, "I want a top 10 kid, a top 10-20 kid, a top 20-30 kid, a top 30-50 kid, a couple top 50-75 kids and a few top 75-100 kids.". You have to get the RIGHT top 10 kid, the right top 10-20 kid and so on. Emeka Okafor is a great example of the right top 100ish kid. And wasn't Ray Allen top 30-50? He was exceptional for that range. And I think Hamilton turned out to be a great 20-30 kid. And Kemba and Khalid and so on. This is where Calhoun excelled and Ollie failed.

It will take 3-4 years before we know how good Hurley is at finding the diamonds. You can't expect great results until the class of 2019 (his recruits) are juniors. He was handed Ollie's kids, which may not have been his choices. And the culture was a train wreck. Ollie was handed Calhoun's recruits and a winning culture. Hurley's building job is closer to Calhoun's than Ollie's. I hope for a similar early UConn career trajectory to Calhoun's, which you seem to imply would be a failure.

 

[David 76]

He said 18-20 wins. That's about right. Certainly in the area.
It's not like he said 25 wins.

 

[HawkHusky]

you are allowed to use 'we' whenever you choose to align yourself with a movement or organization for an extended period of time. On the other side of the coin; I still remember walking the halls of high school after an away game and it was either, "Wow, we won. Great Game" or "I can't believe you guys lost last night." That attitude does not merit the use of 'we'. You must choose to be aligned regardless of outcome.

Lastly, I expect WE will be great again!

Make UCONN MBB Great Again!

 

[CL82]

Make UCONN MBB Great Again!

MUCMBGA?

 

[UConnNick]

And you want to set the bar high so you can say it was a mistake to fire Ollie.

By the way, you make the same mistake a lot of people do. Talent is not enough. It has to be the right talent. The kid has to have leadership skills, a great attitude and be coachable in addition to having talent. And the kid has to fit the system. And you need the proper collection of skills. 5 great point guards won't go very far. You can't just say, "I want a top 10 kid, a top 10-20 kid, a top 20-30 kid, a top 30-50 kid, a couple top 50-75 kids and a few top 75-100 kids.". You have to get the RIGHT top 10 kid, the right top 10-20 kid and so on. Emeka Okafor is a great example of the right top 100ish kid. And wasn't Ray Allen top 30-50? He was exceptional for that range. And I think Hamilton turned out to be a great 20-30 kid. And Kemba and Khalid and so on. This is where Calhoun excelled and Ollie failed.

It will take 3-4 years before we know how good Hurley is at finding the diamonds. You can't expect great results until the class of 2019 (his recruits) are juniors. He was handed Ollie's kids, which may not have been his choices. And the culture was a train wreck. Ollie was handed Calhoun's recruits and a winning culture. Hurley's building job is closer to Calhoun's than Ollie's. I hope for a similar early UConn career trajectory to Calhoun's, which you seem to imply would be a failure.

Hurley is also inheriting a senior guard who could become one of the best players in the country, given great coaching and a halfway decent supporting cast. I don't think Calhoun was handed anybody like that in his first season. He did get a couple of guys who eventually developed into great players. Hurley already has one great player, with a lot of experience. In BB that can sometimes be all that you need to be successful.

 

[ctchamps]

He said 18-20 wins. That's about right. Certainly in the area.
It's not like he said 25 wins.

@8893 and I have copyrighted that prediction but I remember mau agreed with us.

And contrary to the accusations that we are setting up Hurley for failure that is the opposite of our history on The Boneyard. Certainly there is a danger that someone reading that prediction can use it as fodder if the prediction fails. And certainly some of the accusers who have made this assertion have been guilty of the process and believe everyone must be guilty of that behavior.

I believe that KO would have achieved that minimum win total even without a fan base support. So I’m quite optimistic about this season under this new direction and believe my chances of saying I told people I was right is greater than me having to admit I was wrong.

 

[mauconnfan]

And you want to set the bar high so you can say it was a mistake to fire Ollie.

By the way, you make the same mistake a lot of people do. Talent is not enough. It has to be the right talent. The kid has to have leadership skills, a great attitude and be coachable in addition to having talent. And the kid has to fit the system. And you need the proper collection of skills. 5 great point guards won't go very far. You can't just say, "I want a top 10 kid, a top 10-20 kid, a top 20-30 kid, a top 30-50 kid, a couple top 50-75 kids and a few top 75-100 kids.". You have to get the RIGHT top 10 kid, the right top 10-20 kid and so on. Emeka Okafor is a great example of the right top 100ish kid. And wasn't Ray Allen top 30-50? He was exceptional for that range. And I think Hamilton turned out to be a great 20-30 kid. And Kemba and Khalid and so on. This is where Calhoun excelled and Ollie failed.

It will take 3-4 years before we know how good Hurley is at finding the diamonds. You can't expect great results until the class of 2019 (his recruits) are juniors. He was handed Ollie's kids, which may not have been his choices. And the culture was a train wreck. Ollie was handed Calhoun's recruits and a winning culture. Hurley's building job is closer to Calhoun's than Ollie's. I hope for a similar early UConn career trajectory to Calhoun's, which you seem to imply would be a failure.

You’re wrong I just want UConn to win but nice post anyway.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

MUCMBGA?

Perhaps, MUHGA? Make UConn Hoops Great Again!

 

[Huskybass]

@8893 and I have copyrighted that prediction but I remember mau agreed with us.

And contrary to the accusations that we are setting up Hurley for failure that is the opposite of our history on The Boneyard. Certainly there is a danger that someone reading that prediction can use it as fodder if the prediction fails. And certainly some of the accusers who have made this assertion have been guilty of the process and believe everyone must be guilty of that behavior.

I believe that KO would have achieved that minimum win total even without a fan base support. So I’m quite optimistic about this season under this new direction and believe my chances of saying I told people I was right is greater than me having to admit I was wrong.

Kevin Ollie was not going to win 18-20 games next year. It would have been more of the same, with some likely transfers (both out and in) and another losing record most likely. I have no idea how you could have watched this past season and believe he would have turned things around next season. The team was dysfunctional in nearly every aspect.

 

[DMIL]

And you want to set the bar high so you can say it was a mistake to fire Ollie.

By the way, you make the same mistake a lot of people do. Talent is not enough. It has to be the right talent. The kid has to have leadership skills, a great attitude and be coachable in addition to having talent. And the kid has to fit the system. And you need the proper collection of skills. 5 great point guards won't go very far. You can't just say, "I want a top 10 kid, a top 10-20 kid, a top 20-30 kid, a top 30-50 kid, a couple top 50-75 kids and a few top 75-100 kids.". You have to get the RIGHT top 10 kid, the right top 10-20 kid and so on. Emeka Okafor is a great example of the right top 100ish kid. And wasn't Ray Allen top 30-50? He was exceptional for that range. And I think Hamilton turned out to be a great 20-30 kid. And Kemba and Khalid and so on. This is where Calhoun excelled and Ollie failed.

It will take 3-4 years before we know how good Hurley is at finding the diamonds. You can't expect great results until the class of 2019 (his recruits) are juniors. He was handed Ollie's kids, which may not have been his choices. And the culture was a train wreck. Ollie was handed Calhoun's recruits and a winning culture. Hurley's building job is closer to Calhoun's than Ollie's. I hope for a similar early UConn career trajectory to Calhoun's, which you seem to imply would be a failure.

I don’t think that’s a high bar being set. The team last year underperformed for a lot of different reasons. In other words there is a thought that the team could not perform any worse which was a far under performing unit. The record was not reflective of their collective talent.

There were at least 5 games if not more last year that should have been won. Adding the technical skill set of Hurley, coaching staff, stabilized environment, addition of Gilbert, motivated Adams, Sid Wilson, experienced sophomores that I expect will exponentially be better just on effort alone in a down year for the conference you are looking at a floor of 18 to 20 wins.

To your point when Hurley’s 2019 and 2020 classes mature that is when you can expect UCONN to return back to a perinial top 10 Power and the beginning of regular deep NCAA tournament runs.

20 win seasons are expected at UCONN even in our down years so the 18 to 20 win floor is just a standard UCONN down year more specifically in the AAC. The key to the 2018 team is going to be Jalen Adams. Not necessarily his production but more about his leadership. Can he make that transition? It will be the biggest x-factor with the team. We saw this with Kemba and Shabazz. Really night and day when you think about them before and after their transitions.

Despite Ollie’s short comings he recruited pretty well but not consistently up to expectations coming off of the 2014 title. The injuries and defections set back the team minimum 3 years. These were at least 4 top 100 kids that would be Juniors right now.

You take Kemba off of the 2011 team and what does that season look like? You take Shabazz off of the 2014 team and what does that look like? We know the answer to that. This stuff isn’t rocket science. Talent, depth and chemistry is what is needed to consistently contend.

I’m actually looking for Hurley to exceed expectations meaning I expect he will. I’m a buyer. Getting back to UCONN basketball means 20 win down years, consistent tournament runs, toughness, grit and 30 plus win National Title final 4 runs. This starts in 2018.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

And off glass.

Nah, all net. Taliek swished it from about 35'

 

[Huskybass]

I've got a great to Taliek Brown story from the summer of 2004 right after they had won the national championship. My son was just shy of his 4th birthday and I wanted to show him around the campus. We wandered into Gampel and sat down while Taliek worked on his outside shot with a grad assistant or team manager rebounding for him. I guess my son was vocal enough that they could tell that he wanted to be out there, and I thought that they might be getting annoyed by his desire to be out there playing with them. When Taliek had finished his work out he called us down to the court. He handed my son the ball lifted him up to the rim and my son dunked for his first basket ever.

I had forgotten about that until reading this thread. I'm thrilled to have Taliek back as a husky.

 

[CL82]

Perhaps, MUHGA? Make UConn Hoops Great Again!

Think you need the C in there, but it works.
MUCHGA

 

[Stainmaster]

I've got a great to Taliek Brown story from the summer of 2004 right after they had won the national championship. My son was just shy of his 4th birthday and I wanted to show him around the campus. We wandered into Gampel and sat down while Taliek worked on his outside shot with a grad assistant or team manager rebounding for him. I guess my son was vocal enough that they could tell that he wanted to be out there, and I thought that they might be getting annoyed by his desire to be out there playing with them. When Taliek had finished his work out he called us down to the court. He handed my son the ball lifted him up to the rim and my son dunked for his first basket ever.

I had forgotten about that until reading this thread. I'm thrilled to have Taliek back as a husky.

This is fantastic.

 

[ctchamps]

Kevin Ollie was not going to win 18-20 games next year. It would have been more of the same, with some likely transfers (both out and in) and another losing record most likely. I have no idea how you could have watched this past season and believe he would have turned things around next season. The team was dysfunctional in nearly every aspect.

I’m an eternal optimist. Plus schedule is easier this year. Plus there was a Blaze strategy.

But rather than debating if KO could reach twenty, why, if your assertions are that this is all on KO, are you minimizing (relative to my prediction) next years wins considering there were no defections and having Hurley at the helm.

I understand his past history of turning programs around took two or three years but I don’t believe he’s starting at the same low level as was his situation in the past.

And great story about Taliek and your son.

 

[Huskybass]

I’m an eternal optimist. Plus schedule is easier this year. Plus there was a Blaze strategy.

But rather than debating if KO could reach twenty, why, if your assertions are that this is all on KO, are you minimizing (relative to my prediction) next years wins considering there were no defections and having Hurley at the helm.

I understand his past history of turning programs around took two or three years but I don’t believe he’s starting at the same low level as was his situation in the past.

And great story about Taliek and your son.

Everything was "off" last year. Look at the national ranking on assists. Roster construction was an absolute mess as well with only 3 healthy guards (who inexplicably often all started) and in one game 3 of our five starters didnt score a single point. Therefore, I have a hard time believing KO would have turned things around and won 20 or more games next season.

Nevertheless, I am thrilled to have Hurley as our Head Coach. I just dont expect huge things in year one, but I would love to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[mauconnfan]

Even I have a good Taliek Brown story I do. I was at the Electrik Blue after a game (I was much younger, like mid 40's and still occasionally did stupid things.

Anyway myself and my buddies are near the stage, okay we were AT it. Nonetheless 2 of my fav's and Tony Robertson walk in, that would be Taliek and Johnnie Time. Anyway I walked by them and went to the mens room and on the way back just wanted to say great game guys etc etc and who reaches out to shake hands and say thanks of the 3? Yeah you guessed it and you know I didn't introduce myself as "Mauconnfan" thats for sure LOL. Anyway he did win me over a bit as a good kid, not that the others not doing the same turned me off or anything, it just shows something obviously to acknowledge and do what he did when he could easily have ignored me and quite honestly probably should have.

Glad he's back I really am he's a Husky who fought in the trenches and he's around the kids "coaching" or not.