That was basically awful

[JMick]

Daniel Hamilton was a nice player.

He was. He was really limited athletically but he was good at just about everything.

 

[uconnfan68]

He was. He was really limited athletically but he was good at just about everything.

I miss high IQ players. RJ was our only one.

 

[Waquoit]

Daniel Hamilton was a nice player.

True, his full court soirees were usually more promising than the others.

 

[Waquoit]

I miss high IQ players. RJ was our only one.

Andre isn't one?

 

[Deadrody]

Five different schools.

This generation's John Starks ?

 

[Deadrody]

Calhoun had to get over a hump with a program that had a starting 5 of cow farmers. He also had dominant teams by year 4. These situations are not comparable.

Indeed. I can't argue with any of that, but will add that his teams were regularly beating teams believed to be better than them. BUT, his achilles heal in getting to the next level between 1990 and 1999 was also on offense. Those great teams in the mid 90s would average close to 80 ppg, but when they lost, they averaged more like 70. Ultimately, though, he got there by getting better players.

Exit question: Could Dan Hurley put Rash Jones at power forward against an SU zone to win a BET game ?

 

[Deadrody]

Calhoun started from nothing, but it is far from accurate to say he had dominant teams by year 4 (implying continuously after that).

Years 5-7 were either middling seeds or an NIT bid. The Dream Season looked like a fluke.

We didn't have routinely dominant teams until Year 8 for JC.

Year 5 was one of his best jobs ever, getting to the sweet sixteen as an 11 seed with Steve Pikiell starting at PG

 

[uconnfan68]

Andre isn't one?

Yeah, no. Loads of potential though.

 

[Icehawk]

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Kolumbo]

"Maybe you roll with Martin and Jackson on Allen to start the game and see how the matchup goes. But then you see all these ridiculous shots he’s hitting and have to think of something different to prevent the ball from getting into his hands. Coming out of the second half, you throw double-teams at him, deny him, and do anything to let anyone else beat you but Teddy Buckets.

Instead, it seemed like UConn was expecting its defensive identity to eventually take control of the matchup and a few of those circus shots to eventually clang out.

But you can’t risk a season on an in-game regression to the mean. You have to adapt when things hit the fan. That sort of in-game adjustment has evaded the Dan Hurley era in Storrs. That’s certainly not an indictment on his program-building, the culture he’s created, or his recruiting efforts. However, evidence is mounting that it could be what’s preventing a good program from returning to blue-blood status."

What went wrong in UConn men’s basketball’s loss to New Mexico State

After NMSU’s clunker against Arkansas, questions are being asked about UConn’s game-plan for Teddy Allen

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[AreBee1969]

I was in Michigan Thursday morning and made a bee-line for Buffalo when my plans fell through, so I saw the mess close-up.

With all the things that went wrong Thursday, I wondered why the coaching staff never realized that the big men weren't quick enough to help on a guard. Why didn't Pops Hurley say something to his kid? We've seen it all year. Whaley running like a headless chicken between a guard and his man. I keep thinking back to the senseless fouls Whaley and Sanogo were called for 20+ feet from the basket. The fresh memory is how Kalkbrenner ate us up on wide open dunks and scored what, 12 consecutive points in that late season loss? How many of Gillespie's 10 assists were similar?

We saw both sides of the inadequacy last Thursday. Case #1, Sanogo is standing in the logo 30 feet away when the guard he has doubled passes to his man for a dunk. Case #2 he fouls Allen late in the game on a 25 footer to give him three foul shots that pretty much seal the game.

 

[olehead]

That’s not true at all. Calhoun inherited Cliff Robinson, who is better than anybody who has been at UConn while Hurley was here. Phil Gamble was pretty good too. He or Dom recruited Tate and Pikiell. In Calhoun’s 2nd season, Cliff averaged 17.9 and Phil 15, to lead the team by a big margin. Both Perno’s guys.

Dom recruited Tate and Pikiell.

 

[PNolanFan]

"Maybe you roll with Martin and Jackson on Allen to start the game and see how the matchup goes. But then you see all these ridiculous shots he’s hitting and have to think of something different to prevent the ball from getting into his hands. Coming out of the second half, you throw double-teams at him, deny him, and do anything to let anyone else beat you but Teddy Buckets.

Instead, it seemed like UConn was expecting its defensive identity to eventually take control of the matchup and a few of those circus shots to eventually clang out.

But you can’t risk a season on an in-game regression to the mean. You have to adapt when things hit the fan. That sort of in-game adjustment has evaded the Dan Hurley era in Storrs. That’s certainly not an indictment on his program-building, the culture he’s created, or his recruiting efforts. However, evidence is mounting that it could be what’s preventing a good program from returning to blue-blood status."

What went wrong in UConn men’s basketball’s loss to New Mexico State

After NMSU’s clunker against Arkansas, questions are being asked about UConn’s game-plan for Teddy Allen

www.theuconnblog.com

One issue though is the rest of the team was also on fire so it wasnt like we could leave them open, the other players on the team combined for 7-10 from 3 point range which is just outrageous

 

[UConnSwag11]

With RJ declaring no development at all from start to finish of this past year from Hurley down to the players, it doesn’t look good.

 

[navery12]

With RJ declaring no development at all from start to finish of this past year from Hurley down to the players, it doesn’t look good.

Are you suggesting not a single player developed this season?

 

[uconngb]

Andre isn't one?

Most definitely no. High athleticism?? Yes. But his bbiq is actually below average.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Are you suggesting not a single player developed this season?

Rj, Sanogo, Jackson. We’ve mentioned those players. Who else?

Do you think Hurley improved his in game coaching from the beginning of the year to the end? Or from the time he got her to this year?

 

[navery12]

Rj, Sanogo, Jackson. We’ve mentioned those players. Who else?

Do you think Hurley improved in game from the beginning of the year to the end? Or from the time he got her to this year?

Those 3 and Hawkins all clearly improved, which is a far cry from nobody like you said.

I think Hurley has very clearly improved in game since he got here, from early in the year to now no.

 

[jibsey]

We had flashes this year starting with the Auburn win that gave Hurley the idea that he could compete for a national title. That was reinforced with the Nova win late in season. Never that realistic. I’ve always had an issue with KO and Hurley of putting the experienced mediocre talent while the promising new player sits on the bench. Saw it big time with Carlton in his first 2 years. Even Sanogo was left to languish freshman year. I have no idea though if Diggins had what it takes to excel at this level.
Unfortunately our program is not in the state where we have studs ready to pop into games. As a freshman Gaffney showed he could make perimeter shots but he never really got better but with Cole gone I don’t understand why he is leaving with all of the PT available now. Wouldn’t he have started?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

We had flashes this year starting with the Auburn win that gave Hurley the idea that he could compete for a national title. That was reinforced with the Nova win late in season. Never that realistic. I’ve always had an issue with KO and Hurley of putting the experienced mediocre talent while the promising new player sits on the bench. Saw it big time with Carlton in his first 2 years. Even Sanogo was left to languish freshman year. I have no idea though if Diggins had what it takes to excel at this level.
Unfortunately our program is not in the state where we have studs ready to pop into games. As a freshman Gaffney showed he could make perimeter shots but he never really got better but with Cole gone I don’t understand why he is leaving with all of the PT available now. Wouldn’t he have started?

Gaffney would not have started according to most on this board and we were going to bring a transfer in over him.

 

[Pudge]

That was garbage.

This season really was just a black hole. For some reason, we went “win now” on a group of players who weren’t good enough to win now. Hawkins and especially Diggins and Samson were basically set back because we somehow thought the super seniors were good enough to do more than this. We did not advance the program much this season…for example, who’s the point guard next season? I dunno.

Guys like Polley and Whaley deserve our eternal thanks for being the bridge to get us from the abyss of Kevin Ollie to the present day..that said, we relied too much on older players who just had very hard ceilings.

Hurley has to start doing more than watching the games. How many times did NMSU score out of a time out? How many times did we? How many times did we look completely out of sync and call a time out to reorganize? Nothing was working and the answer was, “let’s do more of it.” When Whaley started thinking he was Stephon Curry, Hurley should have thrown himself on the floor to stop it. Love the heart, but you’re open for a reason, kiddo.

On that…more than halfway through the second half, we had one layup. Sanogo did not make one, Martin did not make one, Whaley did not make one….only the smallest guy on the floor had one. The bigs were busy showing off their jumpshot. NMSU is in the bonus after like eight minutes and our bigs are still firing from a distance…why?

All in all, this was pure crap. Bad effort, bad coaching, bad execution. Zero upside.

We advanced nothing this year outside of Sanogo. Next year, Hurley is going to have to a) get more out of players like Jackson, b) develop freshmen, and c) establish a bench and then use it. We’ll see.

Disagree

You cannot look at a first round loss - the way it happened - and get to this take. I agree with much of what Fishy's take was. But, you just painted it into black and white. When on November One, we knew that answer was probably NOT a 2022 National Championship. It is grey. WE maximized development - imho - on Tyler Polley? on Isaiah Whaley? on RJ Cole? on Tyrese Martin? I think that discussion nearly unanimous on a "college" player. AJ Jackson? I think you come away with awe-inspiring possibility set - IF? The contra to any negativity any of you throw out? It is obvious that kid is a workhorse ... a gymrat? He can have an enormous development because to that aspect alone. You simply don't know what you are going to find?

My disappointment in the Diggins, Samson, Gaffney ugly takes ... is "we weren't at practice". You saw enough in games to say: they were underwhelming. You can say look what Creighton did this year with FR or some other program. Development of college talent, early on, is their taking practice to the court. And ya know ... I don't want to hear about Rankings prior to November 2021 anymore.

My names for 2022-2023 are Hurley having a strong bench of assistants. Murray, Moore, Young. Transfer Portal and fit into a conceptual vision of a program. Getting Karaban and Floyd to campus early was crucial to our future. Springs? Samson Johnson? If these guys look at the arc of Polley and to Whaley? How can they not see that this Staff develops you to your highest basketball earning potential. Cole & Martin too.

I do not think I am automatically a "Blue Skie" guy. My darkest criticism of Hurley is the inability to make instant change on Gamedays. But he is still a relatively not-fully-developed coach himself: Both Calhoun Jay Wright were works in process when we see them make great leaps in genius. (a longer discussion)

 

[jdb50]

Fishy's post was spot on. Hurley has to stop watching the games and we did not advance the program much this season. Time to start figuring things out in the Werth center.

 

[Pudge]

Fishy's post was spot on. Hurley has to stop watching the games and we did not advance the program much this season. Time to start figuring things out in the Werth center.

is this Group think?

Do you have any objection to me saying that Polley & Whaley since Ollie left have improved dramatically and found roles that enhance UCONN play? In their last year at our University, both Martin & Cole played better than the previous year? Sanogo played far better. Andre Jackson has begun to play roles and find way to play fundamental components of what's good at UCONN this year.

And we have this mess of you all whining about Diggins. I thought what we saw on tv was very underwhelming; and suspect knowledgeable basketball observers would say this about practice. I'll accept Bob Hurley Sr for $200. Samson Johnson? We have had kids not jump in the starting lineup despite skill level and good height. Who else? Hilton Armstrong & Isiah Whaley? Gaffney was a disappointment. AS I pointed out to folks from BY on UCONN twitter, his family was very unhappy about comments from our fanbase. His confidence drifted as this year goes on and it was partly he didn't feel supported. They didn't ever complain about Hurley. That I saw from tweets.

If para A is correct ... and para B has any value ... (and I think they do have good counter points to the OP of this thread) ... why would you say "spot on". It isn't that simple in championship basketball.

Hurley has to get better. I agree with much of the in-game criticism. But immediately after a monster miracle enhanced game by our New Mexico State Teddy, we post like someone killed our pet turtle. Hurley failed to solve that huge variable - which he knew before game and saw 10 feet away for minute after minute. And 2 nights later Musselman showed exactly how to do it. Why? I saw Musselman's father coach Phil Jackson and Scotty Brooks in Albany and I know Musselman's father was better prepared as well. To be a better coach, this is one big difference ... and guys like the Musselman guys and Hurley's will spend extraordinary amount of time hyper focused on this topic - until they feel they have this locked up. HE HAS TO ... figure it out. *(and their makeup - far more than any of us - know this is the point). This is beyond words. We just drink Rolling Rock. (it really is that simple. We drink crap beer & hope. For some, it's existential)