This season was a failure.

[traitor71]

Aspire to win, don't act like a 4 year old when a team plays a good game and you lose and claim the whole season was a waste.

People should never go overboard, but no one should act like this was some sort of a success. They didn't go any further than they did last year, they don't have any offensive flow, and you have to wonder how that can improve next year. It's not unfair to question if this is as good as it is going to be.

 

[djct1999]

We finished 3rd in the Big East, lost in the BET semis, and lost in the first round in an upset. The program arguably took a step back this year.

Get a grip. This roster has limitations from the start. Was it disappointing? Yep. A failure? Hardly. It was what most should have expected. Nothing better, nothing worse.

 

[AntG168]

Get a grip. This roster has limitations from the start. Was it disappointing? Yep. A failure? Hardly. It was what most should have expected. Nothing better, nothing worse.

We should’ve beaten NMST

 

[GotNets?]

anything short of getting isiah and tyler a dub in the tournament before they left is a failure. I feel terrible for them. Esp to a team that has not won a tournament game since 1993. Something has to change.

Well said!!! Those two worked their tails off and gave us so much. They actually played that first half. And we couldn’t give them anything to celebrate tonight. Is that being a good teammate, a good coach? How much does that hurt for those two? they came back to get a W in March — that’s why it’s a failure!

It’s also the qualitative part of the Loss that counts most. We were FLAT, completely unprepared, against a team that beat us on the boards, and had a one dimensional offense.

 

[Huskygamble19]

Kimani Young was coaching when we beat Nova. That has to say something. I hate to see him go to another program. I had trust in Hurley, but it is waning some right now when I see how the first half of this game was executed.

 

[UCLJ0211]

All that matters is your tournament result. No one cares that we won 24 games, and 10 of them were against garbage opponents.

We won 23 games

 

[UConnJim]

They played like they played most of the year...Fall way behind and fight back to just barely lose. Only getting to the dance is not an improvement. Last year we were a lower seed than this year. How can we believe that there was improvement with that scenario. They really need players that can shoot.

You can have all the great defense (which is the main reason they got this far) but if you can't bury the rock it can take you only so far.

This.

UConn played good D and rebounded well, but we were short guards and shooters. Although I am upset by the loss, the game was essentially how UConn played all season. The biggest disappointments in my mind were the lack of contribution from the freshmen and the up and down season for a number of reasons of Hawkins.

 

[RobbieGee]

Another first round loss does hurt, So disappointed for the seniors on this team that battled hard on defense but came up short again on offense - they deserved better. 12-5 match-ups have in the past proven to be very competitive. St. Peter's as a 15 seed just knocked off No. 2 seed Kentucky. Keep things in perspective.

 

[PNolanFan]

It is frustrating to see our "lack of dept" when early on this season we couldnt find minutes for everyone.... we have like 5 4 star guys on the bench who never play.... Feels like coach K to waste those guys.... I am frustrated, not saying we should fire hurley or anything but i wish we could get more out of the recuits we have on this team

 

[jibsey]

1) We got nothing out of our freshman.
2) Adama was horrendous the last four games.
3) Our lack of fundamentals / low basketball IQ self inflicting wounds is astonishing. Every game we lost (outside of Villanova one) can be summed up by not making routine plays.

The worst thing is after the Villanova W, you could feel the life being breathed into the program in real time which resulted in a genuine feeling that we have built the program back....now we get to wonder if we have the right coach and the right young foundation. Unpleasant to say the least.

Not having Hawkins be a big time 2 guard for us was the killer and yes we got nothing from him as he was injured.

 

[98Uconn]

This is off the rails. After last season, the expectation was a down season this year after losing Bouk and having a roster full of role players. There was improvement pretty much across the board this year. Even coach showed improvement.
Did the season end in disappointment? Of course. Do we aspire to better? Of course.
Teams and players catch fire and that’s the buzz saw we walked in to.. at the same time we had a down game.
Our roster in general lacks guard at depth and a go to scorer…Things you need for a March run.
Heck, we’ve also probably missed more bunnies thank any D1 school this season. Things you need for a March run.
Those of you acting like this team owes us something more or that the coach should be in the hot seat are acting like bratty children that don’t get their way on something.

 

[auror]

Not having Hawkins be a big time 2 guard for us was the killer and yes we got nothing from him as he was injured.

Hawkins should have been an X-factor down the stretch. He was the freshman that WAS playing. Because he was good enough, and by the end of the season he could have been a major contributor. And it seemed to me he was starting to turn the corner on game speed and aggressiveness.

And then he didn't play in the most important two weeks of the season. Nobody's fault, and It's a bummer.

We needed his shooting, and it was a void on the roster during the two tournaments. By the end of the season he was 80% of Jackson's D with 100% more spacing.

 

[Gutter King]

Not having Hawkins be a big time 2 guard for us was the killer and yes we got nothing from him as he was injured.

Did you ever get the feeling he was going to impact the team this year, healthy or not? I didn't and that's what I'm implying there.

We just needed the Freshman to take partial load off the loss of Bouk. Essentially we ended up with a net zero, and a similar flameout in the tourney as last year. Sadly, no momentum going into next year either.

 

[UncleSpliff]

This season was trash. Can’t beat the good teams for the most part. Lose early in the tournament again. We really need to examine the coaching situation if this happens again next year. I’m sure we can find someone else for 2.5+ Per year than can win us a tournament game.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

We had a starting lineup with too little offensive ability, and once Hawkins became unavailable only 1 guy off the bench that Hurley was willing to use. You have alleged talented freshmen sitting on the pine all year, and a long lean forward with shooting ability who somehow found himself unable to contribute.

You’re only deep if you use it.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

All the FTs, but the rest of the team went 7-10 from 3.

He shot 4-7 from 3 and 13-13 from the line. Let’s be real here, the rest of NM ST didn’t beat us.

 

[djct1999]

We should’ve beaten NMST

We should have. But a great season would have been playing into the second weekend. A failure would have been missing the tournament entirely. This was neither. A bad game tonight? 100%. But let’s keep perspective.

 

[Icehawk]

I'd say we just limped over the threshold of failure which ain't great. I'm disappointed, but I also knew that our team has major flaws and based on statistics we realistically weren't going to win more than 1 or maybe 2 - or O is just too weak. I love our guys and I am just going to try and look forwards to next year.

Another year like this though and it will be a failure IMO, we absolutely must recruit\portal talent because D only takes you to the dance, it doesn't win it.

 

[AntG168]

We should have. But a great season would have been playing into the second weekend. A failure would have been missing the tournament entirely. This was neither. A bad game tonight? 100%. But let’s keep perspective.

I guess. Maybe a better word than disappointing is “troubling”. Losing to a lower seed in the first round again, who by most opinions and metrics should’ve been a 13 seed is troubling

 

[buddy]

This season was an absolute failure. I'm sure Hurley would be the first to say that as well.

If you want to hang your hat on a bloated win total compiled against the dregs of D1 and beating who we should have in the BE, by all means.

Nova 1-2, Creighton 0-2, PC 0-1, and choke in the tourney against NM State.

In addition, the two St. John's wins were luck and the Nova win at home as well.

 

[djct1999]

I guess. Maybe a better word than disappointing is “troubling”. Losing to a lower seed in the first round again, who by most opinions and metrics should’ve been a 13 seed is troubling

What could Hurley truly have done better? At some point you have to assume the guys on the court should do what they are capable of. Can we blame Hurley foe Sanogo fouling Allen late for a three. Did Hurley cause Cole to force a horrific turnover? No. It was the players. THey didn’t execute tonight. That’s on them, not the coach.

 

[auror]

He shot 4-7 from 3 and 13-13 from the line. Let’s be real here, the rest of NM ST didn’t beat us.

That wasn't the argument. The argument was that the NMSU team played well. They did, unequivocally.

The thing is they didn’t play that well lol.

I saw Sir'Jabari Rice shoot 3/6 from 3 on tough shots coming around elevator screens. Same with Henry. And McCants made his open 3, unlike Whaley who went 1/4, so we had to guard him to keep him honest.

Again, the guys aside from Allen went 14/26 overall and 7/10 from 3. If you don't call that playing well, I guess we just disagree.

 

[3rdbass]

We finished 3rd in the Big East, lost in the BET semis, and lost in the first round in an upset. The program arguably took a step back this year.

Not sure step back but we definitely didn't push forward and announce we are back yet. Kind of just treading water now.

 

[djct1999]

I'd say we just limped over the threshold of failure which ain't great. I'm disappointed, but I also knew that our team has major flaws and based on statistics we realistically weren't going to win more than 1 or maybe 2 - or O is just too weak. I love our guys and I am just going to try and look forwards to next year.

Another year like this though and it will be a failure IMO, we absolutely must recruit\portal talent because D only takes you to the dance, it doesn't win it.

Without question, Hurley must embrace the portal. We need backcourt depth.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

That wasn't the argument. The argument was that the NMSU team played well. They did, unequivocally.

I saw Sir'Jabari Rice shoot 3/6 from 3 on tough shots coming around elevator screens. Same with Henry. And McCants made his open 3, unlike Whaley who went 1/4, so we had to guard him to keep him honest.

Again, the guys aside from Allen went 14/26 overall and 7/10 from 3. If you don't call that playing well, I guess we just disagree.

7 players scored 33 points. 1 player scored 37. We did nothing to take Allen away. I can count on 1 hand the amount of times we doubled. Our hard hedge rarely works. This is coaching. Teddy Allen is not an AA. He could have been disrupted way more than he was.