The Athletic - Intensity, alter egos and ‘Benjamin Button’: Dan Hurley’s quest to become king of two in a row at UConn | The Boneyard

The Athletic - Intensity, alter egos and ‘Benjamin Button’: Dan Hurley’s quest to become king of two in a row at UConn

So many mistakes in that article, it's hard to read
 
Great read!

Asked if Hurley is more intense this year, pursuing a second championship, or last year aiming for his first, neither Clingan nor Alex Karaban allow the question to be completed before answering. “Oh, this is way worse,’’ Karaban says. “He’s way harder on us this year. The intensity in practice, it’s just through the roof every day.’’

It is hard to gauge the difference, since a Hurley-run practice is never a picnic. There have never been scheduled water breaks or even opportunities to sit down. The Huskies, in fact, are not permitted to bend over at the waist when they’re tired. Hurley offers up some physiological reasoning, about expanded chests improving breathing, but then he gets to the heart of it. “Weakness,’’ he says. “That’s just a sign of weakness.’’ When Clingan, returning after nearly a month off, begins to bend over, Gavin Roberts, the team’s director of sports performance, rushes to his side. “No, no, no,’’ he says. “Don’t do that.’’

Minor infractions merit banishment to stair runs, the punishment so indoctrinated in the Huskies that when Hurley lays into Youssouf Singare for bad defense, Singare just turns and runs the steps without even being told. And despite buzzwords plastered in the practice facility declaring one of UConn’s tenets as “mindful communication,” there is little mind to how things are communicated. Were the Huskies to position a swear jar in the building, they’d likely not need a collective to fund their NIL.

Elsewhere there might be wiggle room gifted to veteran players who helped you win a title a year ago. Here, there is less tolerance for even the smallest of transgressions. Hurley pounces on Clingan for failing to cover a shooter in transition. “I know you’re mad at me,’’ he yells. “Don’t be mad at me for being honest.’’ After a bad entry pass from Karaban, Hurley covers his eyes for an entire minute, too pained to watch as practice continues. Stephon Castle, the consensus ninth-best freshman, is chastised for a bad pass, lazy defense, poor decision-making and shot selection. After a bad defensive possession, associate head coach Kimani Young laments, “We never make plays on defense. Never. When are we going to?” The Huskies, it should be noted, are 18th in KenPom defensive rankings.

What’s notable is how the Huskies respond to him. Sit in enough college basketball practices and it becomes easy to read body language. Slumped shoulders, eyes cast to the floor and backs turned are the universal signs that the coach might still be yelling, but the accused no longer hears what he’s saying.

The Huskies take Hurley’s heat without so much as a grimace. They either beat him to the punch and own the mistake before he points it out, or stare him dead in the eye as he delivers his withering evaluation. They run up and down the stairs and jump back into work. Over and over again.

The Huskies don’t merely put up with Hurley’s intensity; they crave it.
 
The Athletic is the best sports periodical going these days. Its well worth the sub. I think Dana O'Neil is the best in the business. Was thrilled to see her name on this and it didn't disappoint. I particularly loved how she tee'd up Pitino for saying it was hard to build culture in the modern era before saying look no further than UConn as the current torch barer. She colored in that UConn is a cult of personality without saying as much and that is what it takes to attract and retain talent and culture to boot.
 
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The mistake about the number of transfers and players leaving early to go pro isn't great. I expect that Dana would do better than that. It's such an easy thing to fact check.

With that being said, it was otherwise an absolutely phenomenal article. Really enjoyed it. It speaks perfectly to how great our coach is, and how we have not only extremely talented basketball players, but great young men that have ridiculously bright futures.
 
This article being centered around Hurley calling himself the king of two in a row after hitting a halfcourt shot and then always missing the second shot is a horrible omen
 
Getting the players to buy-inband "accept" accountability is great. All these kids at this level quickly learn what the coaches expect. It's usually the coaches failing to hold players to the standards the coaches say they want that leads to sloppy play.
And yes, the rest of the team knows when a player screws up in practice and coaches let it slip.
 
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HuskyInfinity said:
Cam Spencer is also not our starting point guard. Fun article but how hard is it to mess up things like that, clearly just looked at the shortest guy in the starting lineup.
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Then we get this:
Clingan is, by nature, a giver, and the attention he received as the returning key cog to a national championship team in his home state (he’s from Bristol) did not always fit snugly. “He’s the most unselfish person I’ve ever met,” says Karaban, his roommate. “He’s always looking to help you, with rides, getting you food, buying you stuff. He hates receiving stuff.”
 
MexicoHusky said:
The drive of Dan Hurley makes makes some sense. Two championships and you are basically untouchable. You gotta be average to bad for about a decade then strangle a kid before you get canned. Two in a row and you probably can strangle a few kids.
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His drive is more likely the result of family dynamics. He’s still trying to prove something to himself and the one NC hasn’t done it yet. Not sure getting two in a row will satisfy the need to demonstrate he’s as good as his dad or brother. Might need two more.
 
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Mike Honcho said:
"Two of UConn’s players turned pro after last season, and another transferred out." I mean, come on Dana.
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It's fixed. Dana may have confused "drafted" with "turned pro". But the Athletic does have editors who are paid to catch such things.
 
Karaban likes math and is chasing what UConn calls an ‘individualized major,’’ wherein he has combined three majors – computer science, sports management and statistics – into one hellacious, numbers-focused pursuit.
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You just know he's gonna get a law degree after he finishes this one.
 
NJHusky said:
Maybe he's waiting to hit the second shot sometime in early April?
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Exactly. He's trying to do something hard. And it doesn't happen till it happens. Untill then you keep pushing.
 
ctchamps said:
His drive is more likely the result of family dynamics. He’s still trying to prove something to himself and the one NC hasn’t done it yet. Not sure getting two in a row will satisfy the need to demonstrate he’s as good as his dad or brother. Might need two more.
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His dad I get but Bobby? Dan is easily superior to his bro as a coach. Bob hasn't done much at ASU. I'm actually kind of surprised, why hasn't he been the homerun hire Dan has been at UConn?
 
ctchamps said:
His drive is more likely the result of family dynamics. He’s still trying to prove something to himself and the one NC hasn’t done it yet. Not sure getting two in a row will satisfy the need to demonstrate he’s as good as his dad or brother. Might need two more.
Expand ...
Travelman32 said:
His dad I get but Bobby? Dan is easily superior to his bro as a coach. Bob hasn't done much at ASU. I'm actually kind of surprised, why hasn't he been the homerun hire Dan has been at UConn?
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I’m not saying Bobby is on the same level as Danny but compared to other ASU coaches, he is a home run.
 
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Castle is the consensus 9th best freshman? Thats pretty specific for general agreement on the matter.
 
Travelman32 said:
His dad I get but Bobby? Dan is easily superior to his bro as a coach. Bob hasn't done much at ASU. I'm actually kind of surprised, why hasn't he been the homerun hire Dan has been at UConn?
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People are comparing Danny's coaching accomplishments to Bobby's college playing career.
 
Rico444 said:
People are comparing Danny's coaching accomplishments to Bobby's college playing career.
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Right. Bobby has two 'chips as a player.
 
storrsroars said:
You just know he's gonna get a law degree after he finishes this one.
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Doubt it. Loves sports too much.

I picture him being a better version of Ken Pomeroy (after his NBA career is finished).
 
Travelman32 said:
His dad I get but Bobby? Dan is easily superior to his bro as a coach. Bob hasn't done much at ASU. I'm actually kind of surprised, why hasn't he been the homerun hire Dan has been at UConn?
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Bobby was the better player. Helped Duke win back to back NCs. Danny had a lot of pressure to succeed at Seton Hall. He failed miserably relative to Bobby and relative to the goals he set for himself. He’s still competing with the ghosts of his past imo.
 
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