It's the goal when u weren't even in the conversation a few years ago. We were never going to go from trash to #1 in the country overnight. People, in general, are inpatient.
We’ll it starts today then They absolutely cannot lose to St Johns if they want a halfway decent tournament seed.
It's still the goal but we haven't been that UConn in a while. We all want to be but it is obvioisly not a snap your fingers process. We are not entitled to going from losing at Tulane to dominating the Big East in a couple years. We are making progress. It's not like we are Indiana or Georgetown and it's been 20+ years of this. Hurley chose against the quick fix of running guys off and a multitude of yearly transfers. He opted for slower but hopefully more easily sustained process. He now has 3 full years of his own recruits and like most coaches there were a few misses in crucial areas. Now we have to see what he does to fill in those gaps. Let's see what happens. The grass isn't always greener...
As usual, the answer lies somewhere between "Hurley can't coach" and "Hurley is a great coach." But its a results-driven business and patterns have emerged that should concern all of us fans. Are they fixable? Sure. Will they be fixed? Hard to say. I DO think Hurley's recruiting is overrated however. Who cares what recruiting rankings say if it doesn't yield results. For all of the accolades, he still plays 2 transfers and 2 Ollie guys. It appears that there isn't an NBA player on the roster (I get that Book left early, but should the cupboard be that bare in year 5?) and his ability to construct a roster is very much a question mark. I'd really like to see that pattern change as it baffles me a bit to think that DH and staff looked at the roster and saw the pieces fitting together. Or if he did, then maybe the talent evaluation needs some work.
1. The recruiting has yielded results
Or were they last year since they were a 7 seed. Don't know why he included that comment.
Every school hires every coach to win , to get up high in the NCAAs , to hit the final four, and or turn a program around if that fits the scenario. Benedict did not hire DH to achieve perennial mediocrity and aspire to a NIT bid as a the crown jewel of his coaching career. So I not sure what you mean by Benedict hiring DH.
Year 1: Inherited a disaster of an AAC team
this is fair and reasonable. People forget that before he came to UConn, he had exactly one win versus a top 25 team and that was in November against Seton Hall. He's never won anything meaningful...and he apparently hasn't matured as a person or improved much in terms of in-game strategy. IF they finish below .500 in conference, lose in first round of the BE and fail to make NCAAs (all very possible), the non-fanatic fan base will turn on him like many here have. And the returning talent next year is pretty abysmal, so he'll need to then go into the portal...Then let's see how everyone feels about his recruiting when there are no point guards on the roster and he misses out on all the New England talent.
We’ll find out if Hurley is a learner or if he’s just stubborn. If we find out he’s the latter, then we’re in trouble. I’m hopeful that he’s isn’t though. We’ll see
And who is that NBA talent?
Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson
They are human beings, not robots. Happens in sports all the time. You never wonder why an NBA team beats a good team by 20 one night and then loses by 30 to a mediocre team 3 days later. Human nature, especially for college kids to have letdowns after a big win and sometimes be hungrier and more motivated after a loss or two.
