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

[Travelman6]

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.

Ok that makes sense.

 

[HooperScooper]

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?

Part of it is probably because it’s easier to win at UConn than it is at ASU. There’s a reason UConn has won 5 national championships within the last 25 years, under 3 different coaches, with mostly completely different teams (Napier, Giffey and Olander were holdovers for a 2nd one).

 

[UConntLose]

I’m not saying Bobby is on the same level as Danny but compared to other ASU coaches, he is a home run.

I think you have to look at success at ASU differently than how you look at success at UConn. Bobby is not from that part of the country, so he doesn't have those deep ties to the community that Danny has up here. On top of that, it's well known that Dan prefers not to coach against his brother (gotta think Bobby feels the same way), and because of that, Bobby is rather limited in where he could coach from a geographic standpoint and which part of the country he can recruit from (if Dan ever went to the NBA, you're looking at Dan's replacement at UConn).

The way it's set up now they don't face each other and they don't recruit from the same pool of talent. As such, I think Bobby has done an admirable job. Not only has he made the program relevant, but their are a lot of people in the Tri-State area who now root for ASU as their second team (that makes Brett Yormark happy I bet).

 

[Tyler2Rings]

(if Dan ever went to the NBA, you're looking at Dan's replacement at UConn).

 

[Scrutineer]

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.

Two more wouldn't be enough for most on the Boneyard though.

......so I guess we need to be more demanding of him to keep him motivated. No coasting just because his brother and his Dad never won an NCAA Championship!

 

[MilliniumPrince]

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.

Tumescent

 

[DMIL]

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?

ASU isn't UCONN.