The next four games are a true test of Hurley"s abilities

[willie99]

The next 4 games are nothing more than the next four games. The competition is tough league wide, teams are well coached (save for one) and those coaches can make adjustments too. Believe it or not, Jay Wright is not a one trick pony.

Sometimes it's about matchups too. In 2014, Louisville killed us three times, UK dispatched Louisville twice, and we beat UK for the national championship

We have to start by preparing for St John's today

PS: Hurley is a very good coach and he's going nowhere

 

[CTBasketball]

Hurley can’t shoot the ball for Polley or Hawkins. He also can’t pass out of the post for Sanogo.

 

[Sonova]

I hate to lose too. Hurley's recruiting has been excellent and continues to trend upward. His won/loss percentage has improved every year. Looks like an NCAA Tournament bid for the second year in a row is on the way. The program was circling the toilet bowl when he got here. I have a hard time trashing Hurley's tenure at this point in time.

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 Dan Hurley and staff looked at the roster and saw the pieces fitting together. Or if he did, then maybe the talent evaluation needs some work.

 

[MTBingNinja]

I like Hurley’s trajectory, just frustrating knowing that the team should be winning more of these close games and beating more ranked teams at this juncture

 

[Ha Who]

My guess is a three game winning streak

 

[navery12]

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 Dan Hurley 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
2. There are multiple NBA talents on the roster
3. We're in year 4, not year 5

Can't argue that this year's pieces just don't fit together, lots of individual talent that can't really play together

 

[jdb50]

Today's pregame article in the Courant. Martin is quoted "We didn't come out with the same energy, especially on the defensive end. I don't know if we got complacent with the last game's performance or something like that. It just wasn't there for us defensively." Is this a failure of the coaches or the players? We were on the road playing in a loud arena in a league game we wanted to win. How does this happen and it is not the first time we have heard this the past couple seasons from our players or coach. I am real tired of the we had low energy excuse from this group. Why do you practice all offseason and during the season to show up with low energy on gameday? WHEN IT COUNTS! Who the heck is the leader on this team?

 

[HooperScooper]

I've been critical of Hurley and want to see some improvement, but UConn is nowhere near the bubble this year.

Or were they last year since they were a 7 seed. Don't know why he included that comment.

 

[F101Voodoo]

We are almost 75% through year 4 of Dan Hurley's tenure
Of course one would give him high marks for recruiting. His last name and the NBE opens doors that some coaches wouldn't/haven't had that luxury but still he has taken advantage of that and brought in some nice players - kudos to him.
What he does with that talent and his in game strategies are very much a growing concern.
He will continue to be the UConn basketball coach but as time goes on and there is no marked improvement in success (beating the top NBE teams, those with winning records, the close games, winning multiple NBE tournaments, advancing beyond the 1st weekend in the NCAAs) I see many fans looking for a change. There are quite a few coaches who will do so at that $2million plus per year price tag.
No more crap about him just starting out as a coach at a high level, etc. He was brought here to win and to quote AD David Benedict at the Rent in April 2018 when he introduced Dan Hurley to the UConn Club and invited contributors, he hired Dan Hurley to turn the program around and return to one of the top programs in the country in the immediate future. Five years is the immediate future. The clock is ticking.

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 Dan Hurley 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 Dan Hurley.

 

[UCfor3]

The reality is that he needs to start winning some tournament games. Just squeeking into the tournament on the bubble and losing in the first round like last year won’t cut it yearly. I have a bad feeling that history might repeat itself next month. Now certainly that’s a major upgrade from the nightly 30 point embarrassments that Kevin Ollie helmed but for me (and for all of you) that just shouldn’t cut it. I’m not sure why the fan base is so accepting of mediocrity. Basically this is what providence is the past decade.

Year 1: Inherited a disaster of an AAC team
Year 2: There was no March Madness(Covid)
Year 3: Made tourney in first year in Big East but lost decisively in a 50/50 first round game.
Year 4: This season-TBD

Can we first achieve tourney mediocrity before we complain about it? We"ve had one crack at it. I get the lack of optimism. This year is setting up a little like last year. With that said. I need more than one game in the books before I start putting labels on things.

 

[Blue Idiaco]

We are almost 75% through year 4 of Dan Hurley's tenure
Of course one would give him high marks for recruiting. His last name and the NBE opens doors that some coaches wouldn't/haven't had that luxury but still he has taken advantage of that and brought in some nice players - kudos to him.
What he does with that talent and his in game strategies are very much a growing concern.
He will continue to be the UConn basketball coach but as time goes on and there is no marked improvement in success (beating the top NBE teams, those with winning records, the close games, winning multiple NBE tournaments, advancing beyond the 1st weekend in the NCAAs) I see many fans looking for a change. There are quite a few coaches who will do so at that $2million plus per year price tag.
No more crap about him just starting out as a coach at a high level, etc. He was brought here to win and to quote AD David Benedict at the Rent in April 2018 when he introduced Dan Hurley to the UConn Club and invited contributors, he hired Dan Hurley to turn the program around and return to one of the top programs in the country in the immediate future. Five years is the immediate future. The clock is ticking.

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.

the set-up for success for Hurley is not good right now

 

[KingAG]

This year is whatever at this point. The roster construction is terrible and if we win a game or two in the tournament then that’s great. Next year is the real test for Hurley. He needs to hit the portal hard and get 2 impact guards. Gaffney cannot be trusted to lead this team if Cole is gone, and we don’t even know what we have in Diggins or CFjr.

He sees the holes this year, he has to go fix them this offseason or else the entire fanbase will start running out of patience.

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

 

[KingAG]

Let’s just say Danny is a stepping stone to another coach who will take us to the next level. He’s still accomplished what he was brought here to do. Restore the brand. I believe he can be more than that. But we are lucky to have him here in storrs. Who knows where we’d be if we had to hire someone like Frank freaking Martin.

 

[Sonova]

1. The recruiting has yielded results
2. There are multiple NBA talents on the roster
3. We're in year 4, not year 5

Can't argue that this year's pieces just don't fit together, lots of individual talent that can't really play together

And who is that NBA talent?

 

[KingAG]

And who is that NBA talent?

Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson



Like draft express is literally tweeting about Hawkins and Jackson at this very moment

 

[UCfor3]

Today's pregame article in the Courant. Martin is quoted "We didn't come out with the same energy, especially on the defensive end. I don't know if we got complacent with the last game's performance or something like that. It just wasn't there for us defensively." Is this a failure of the coaches or the players? We were on the road playing in a loud arena in a league game we wanted to win. How does this happen and it is not the first time we have heard this the past couple seasons from our players or coach. I am real tired of the we had low energy excuse from this group. Why do you practice all offseason and during the season to show up with low energy on gameday? WHEN IT COUNTS! Who the heck is the leader on this team?

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.

 

[businesslawyer]

We’ll it starts today then They absolutely cannot lose to St Johns if they want a halfway decent tournament seed.

There are only two possible conclusions for someone stating that a game in mid-February is one they absolutely cannot lose or it shows the programs isn't acceptable. One is that you're dumb. Two is that you just say ridiculous things all the time so that, every game we lose, you'can convince yourself that you're a genuis for knowing we need to change coaches.

I wish I knew how to set up a poll so we could ask the Boneyard if they think it's #1 or #2.

 

[Hoophound]

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.

the set-up for success for Hurley is not good right now

Unfortunately, I kind of agree with this take. We have more talent coming but we need to change the roster pretty significantly to play with the elite. Castle looks like the kind of talent we need, but he’s 2023. For now, we need a dynamic transfer PG , an experienced SG that can shoot and Cory Floyd Jr and Alex Karaban to play meaningful minutes. Lost in all of that, we will lose Whaley and I’m not sure who makes up for what he brings.

 

[UncleSpliff]

There are only two possible conclusions for someone stating that a game in mid-February is one they absolutely cannot lose or it shows the programs isn't acceptable. One is that you're dumb. Two is that you just say ridiculous things all the time so that, every game we lose, you'can convince yourself that you're a genuis for knowing we need to change coaches.

I wish I knew how to set up a poll so we could ask the Boneyard if they think it's #1 or #2.

“I say dumb shi*?” You’re the clown that was defending Ollie for using the race card. Piss off loser.

 

[SoFla Steve]

1 game won, three to go.

 

[Ha Who]

My guess is a three game winning streak

Two to go

 

[Ha Who]

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.

the set-up for success for Hurley is not good right now

Back to the other board

 

[Hugo]

Hurley can’t shoot the ball for Polley or Hawkins. He also can’t pass out of the post for Sanogo.

Over the last two games Polley and Hawkins have shot a combined 4 for 25. That is 16 % from the floor and yet we have a number of fans here blaming Hurley for team recent performances. Hurley's not the one shooting at an abysmal clip. Polley is not and never will never be a consistent scorer and I'm beginning to have strong doubts about Hawkins. He has no handle and has trouble just holding on to the ball. Basically his only strength seems to be the ability to hit wide open shots and unfortunately he has not proven he can do that consistently.

We have a dire need for outside shooting other than Cole and Martin. They can't be expected to play 35 plus minutes a game.

 

[Sonova]

Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson



Like draft express is literally tweeting about Hawkins and Jackson at this very moment

Not one of them would get drafted rn. Andre doesn’t have basketball skills, Hawkins hasn’t been good enough to start for a team that desperately needs shooters. And Johnson is a big prospect who has struggled to break into meaningful minutes. They might turn into NBA prospects but that’s a huge leap from where all three are rn.

 

[KingAG]

Not one of them would get drafted rn. Andre doesn’t have basketball skills, Hawkins hasn’t been good enough to start for a team that desperately needs shooters. And Johnson is a big prospect who has struggled to break into meaningful minutes. They might turn into NBA prospects but that’s a huge leap from where all three are rn.

He said NBA talent. Not NBA ready

 

[Sonova]

He said NBA talent. Not NBA ready

OK. Same answer. What makes anyone think that any of them has NBA talent?

 

[navery12]

OK. Same answer. What makes anyone think that any of them has NBA talent?

For one thing the fact they've both been showing up on 2023 mock drafts. For another, the post you responded to about how NBA scouts who are much smarter than me were at today's game to watch them

 

[UConnSwag11]

Over the last two games Polley and Hawkins have shot a combined 4 for 25. That is 16 % from the floor and yet we have a number of fans here blaming Hurley for team recent performances. Hurley's not the one shooting at an abysmal clip. Polley is not and never will never be a consistent scorer and I'm beginning to have strong doubts about Hawkins. He has no handle and has trouble just holding on to the ball. Basically his only strength seems to be the ability to hit wide open shots and unfortunately he has not proven he can do that consistently.

We have a dire need for outside shooting other than Cole and Martin. They can't be expected to play 35 plus minutes a game.

If you can't see the potential in Hawkins, then there's no hope for you. He's a freshman who shouldn't have the same level of scrutiny as Polley should. Come back to him at this point next year and we can see if he's improved or not. Sanogo and Jackson have improved dramatically in two years. No reason Hawkins won't

 

[UConnSwag11]

Not one of them would get drafted rn. Andre doesn’t have basketball skills, Hawkins hasn’t been good enough to start for a team that desperately needs shooters. And Johnson is a big prospect who has struggled to break into meaningful minutes. They might turn into NBA prospects but that’s a huge leap from where all three are rn.

NBA talent is different than NBA ready. Maybe it should be NBA potential so there isn't any confusion

Good observation. You're agreeing with a majority of the board

 

[businesslawyer]

Over the last two games Polley and Hawkins have shot a combined 4 for 25. That is 16 % from the floor and yet we have a number of fans here blaming Hurley for team recent performances. Hurley's not the one shooting at an abysmal clip. Polley is not and never will never be a consistent scorer and I'm beginning to have strong doubts about Hawkins. He has no handle and has trouble just holding on to the ball. Basically his only strength seems to be the ability to hit wide open shots and unfortunately he has not proven he can do that consistently.

We have a dire need for outside shooting other than Cole and Martin. They can't be expected to play 35 plus minutes a game.

Combine that with the fact that Sanogo has been awful, and the truly amazing thing is we easily could have won both games, just as easily as we could have lost them both.

If no one off the bench can hit shots, and two of our starters aren't going to score, there is only so good this team can be. Credit IW with chipping in much needed points today. But am I the only one who wanted to drive to MSG and punch Jackson in the throat when he passed up a wide open layup to kick the ball to the corner?