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Really good Q&A w/ Hurley here: My First Year: Dan Hurley on the challenges of returning...
Really good Q&A w/ Hurley here: My First Year: Dan Hurley on the challenges of returning...
Really like the third point about the defense. I was really disappointed by the defense last year and glad to hear it wasn't by design but just not having the right defenders and skills. Looking forward to the improvement this upcoming season.
Really like the third point about the defense. I was really disappointed by the defense last year and glad to hear it wasn't by design but just not having the right defenders and skills. Looking forward to the improvement this upcoming season.
Jalen wasn't a Hurley type defender as good as he was offensively. He was okay, but not a real dog pressuring the ball like Hurley needs.
Gilbert may have the quickness and aggressiveness, but he's not an ideal defender in Hurley's system either. Hurley wants to blitz the ball handler on screens and use big guards to disrupt their passing angles to the cutting big men. Get the ball handler moving backwards and make the pass to the rolling player difficult. When the ball handler can see over the top of the defender it makes that strategy more difficult.
Hurleys ideal guard is definitely bigger and a knockdown shooter
Having a system that works, getting the players to run that system, teaching that system and implementing it are positives.
However recruiting is not a given and coaches often have to settle with players that don’t fit their systems. Injuries or foul trouble are inevitable exacerbating the situation.
The upshot for me is that a good coach has a great system. A great coach has a great system but is astute enough to recognize quickly when his system isn’t working and why. A great coach is flexible and will make modifications to his schemes working with the conditions he is dealt.
For me the jury is still out with Dan Hurley. I felt last season the team under performed. The team was better with Ken Pom numbers than the previous season but six points worse than two years ago (98-92) when KO was in full implosion mode. Comparing those two seasons Dan Hurley had a much better roster as well as players who were more experienced. He did not have any where near the amount of impactful injuries.
Cool to see UConn popping up frequently on the major news outlets. Obviously lots of big east move coverage. But UConn is also next in the chasing ghost series thing on ESPN. Believe it will come out next week at some point.
Last year's roster was not better nor more experienced than 2016-17, and to the extent that it may have been better it was because of player development under Hurley (i.e. Carlton's emergence).
Hurley did try to change the defensive scheme last year -- several times, in fact. He went away from the hard hedge about 12-15 games in when he realized we couldn't pull it off, and modified it again at the end of the season.
Jim had a blind spot about Jerome until very late in his senior season.Having a system that works, getting the players to run that system, teaching that system and implementing it are positives.
However recruiting is not a given and coaches often have to settle with players that don’t fit their systems. Injuries or foul trouble are inevitable exacerbating the situation.
The upshot for me is that a good coach has a great system. A great coach has a great system but is astute enough to recognize quickly when his system isn’t working and why. A great coach is flexible and will make modifications to his schemes working with the conditions he is dealt.
That great coach (one of the greatest of all time imo) was Jim Calhoun.
For me the jury is still out with Dan Hurley. I felt last season the team under performed. The team was better with Ken Pom numbers than the previous season but six points worse than two years ago (98-92) when KO was in full implosion mode. Comparing those two seasons Dan Hurley had a much better roster as well as players who were more experienced. He did not have any where near the amount of impactful injuries.
That admission by Dan Hurley regarding his failure is a critical first step in the assessment of last seasons problems if he defines it better and after defining it can make adjustments.
In all the years JC coached UConn I felt he only had two bad seasons related to his stubbornness. The first was Kevin Freeman’s senior season where he moved Kevin from the four to the three in order to improve Kevin’s chances for a professional career. (Loved JC for this). The second was Dyson’s senior season where he moved Jerome to running the team because Kemba was struggling. The switch did not bother me as much as that JC did not take accountability for that years problems.
Every other season JC made adjustments to accommodate and maximize his team’s performance based on the players he had.
sounds like niels lane
The upshot for me is that a good coach has a great system. A great coach has a great system but is astute enough to recognize quickly when his system isn’t working and why. A great coach is flexible and will make modifications to his schemes working with the conditions he is dealt.
compounded by JA and AG injuries
They need discipline. Too much one on one playground basketball. Too many gunners .To be fair, the 16-17 team had major injuries as well. But they started 3 seniors and expectations were high going in.
Any noteworthy quotes for those of us without a subscription?
Any noteworthy quotes for those of us without a subscription?