This team has gotten worse

[BuffaloHusky]

I'm reluctant to say this but I just don't think you can play Sanogo and Whaley together until Bouk is back.

 

[uconngb]

The team hasn’t gotten worse, they’ve played better teams. We’re also just not good.

Um, no. Providence is not a better team. That was ATROCIOUS today.

 

[tzznandrew]

These threads kill me. I can't believe anyone thought this team would win without Bouknight. This team hasn't gotten worse. Providence is good. The Big East is good. The Akok injury was brutal. The Jackson injury was brutal. And that's not even mentioning the fact that we've lost a lottery pick.

Saying UConn isn't in the A10 and that going 0-3 in the tournament should put him on the hot seat forgets how bad the last few teams before he showed up were. It also forgets that all our upper-classmen—every one—is best case a good A10 player. None of them have the talent to be a star at our level. Which isn't that big of a problem if your actual talent weren't injured. This team doesn't have talented depth. Our past great teams might have their stars or top recruits be injured or miss games and chug along—Rip, Emeka, AJ, Marcus, Dyson—these dudes missed games and we could still win. We're like two or three years away from that from a talent perspective.

Until we get our All American candidate back—or unless Sanogo, Jackson, and Gaffney all make pretty large leaps—we're probably going to lose to every good team. There's really not much Hurley can do.

It's a shame what happened with Bouknight. It's also a shame they lost that Creighton game because if/when he does come back it would be nice to say we were undefeated with him.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Starting to feel like a Cuse fan. Almost.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Polley 2-12 , I'm guessing the Marquette game was a complete fluke

He had an out of body experience in that game. That’s what that was

 

[zls44]

It's also a shame they lost that Creighton game because if/when he does come back it would be nice to say we were undefeated with him.

But they did lose it. At the line. With a good FT shooter. Who hasn't been the same there since.

 

[polycom]

These threads kill me. I can't believe anyone thought this team would win without Bouknight. This team hasn't gotten worse. Providence is good. The Big East is good. The Akok injury was brutal. The Jackson injury was brutal. And that's not even mentioning the fact that we've lost a lottery pick.

Saying UConn isn't in the A10 and that going 0-3 in the tournament should put him on the hot seat forgets how bad the last few teams before he showed up were. It also forgets that all our upper-classmen—every one—is best case a good A10 player. None of them have the talent to be a star at our level. Which isn't that big of a problem if your actual talent weren't injured. This team doesn't have talented depth. Our past great teams might have their stars or top recruits be injured or miss games and chug along—Rip, Emeka, AJ, Marcus, Dyson—these dudes missed games and we could still win. We're like two or three years away from that from a talent perspective.

Until we get our All American candidate back—or unless Sanogo, Jackson, and Gaffney all make pretty large leaps—we're probably going to lose to every good team. There's really not much Hurley can do.

It's a shame what happened with Bouknight. It's also a shame they lost that Creighton game because if/when he does come back it would be nice to say we were undefeated with him.

A reasonable educated post...shocking oh wait. It's Andrew and you actually watch basketball.

 

[AntG168]

I’m still bullish on Hurley in the long run. We are just the most unlucky team in terms of injuries in CBB history

 

[auror]

These threads kill me. I can't believe anyone thought this team would win without Bouknight. This team hasn't gotten worse. Providence is good. The Big East is good.
...
Until we get our All American candidate back—or unless Sanogo, Jackson, and Gaffney all make pretty large leaps—we're probably going to lose to every good team. There's really not much Hurley can do.

Providence is not good. They lost 7 of 9 coming into tonight. They were down 2 starters including their point guard and their backup PG who now starts is a 300+ recruited SG. who is bad, They have 2 players. We had the next best like 6 guys (Martin, Sanogo, Cole, Whaley, Gaffney, Jackson all are better than Reeves or Horchler). They have 0 bench. Carlton our 11th man is better than their best bench guy.

Cooley outcoached Hurley badly. The team had no aggression for 2/3 of the game. We shot 20% from 3 despite almost entirely wide open looks. We didn't move our feet on defense. We stunk. We should have beaten them by double digits even without Bouk.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Um, no. Providence is not a better team. That was ATROCIOUS today.

You misread my statement. They’re better than the teams UConn has beaten (other than USC)

 

[tzznandrew]

Providence is not good. They lost 7 of 9 coming into tonight. They were down 2 starters including their point guard and their backup PG who now starts is a 300+ recruited SG. who is bad, They have 2 players. We had the next best like 6 guys (Martin, Sanogo, Cole, Whaley, Gaffney, Jackson all are better than Reeves or Horchler). They have 0 bench. Carlton our 11th man is better than their best bench guy.

Cooley outcoached Hurley badly. The team had no aggression for 2/3 of the game. We shot 20% from 3. We didn't move our feet on defense. We stunk. We should have beaten them by double digits even without Bouk.

So you're saying they had the two best players on the court? Isn't the team that has the two best players on the court usually the team that wins a basketball game? Asking for Lebron James and Anthony Davis. (Obviously on one level a hyperbole, but on another...)

Butler is the one vaguely shameful loss in that time. We're not going to beat Villanova, Xavier or Georgetown without Bouknight.

They also won at Creighton in that time, who we lost to even with Bouknight. Their other losses were to St. John's (check), Seton Hall (check), and Marquette (we needed Polley to play out of his mind to win).

 

[UconnFanDC]

I missed the entire game due to the start time but...... based on the stats, I am absolutely glad I did. Polley was fine coming off the bench and Cole should have never been removed from the starting lineup

 

[superjohn]

These threads kill me. I can't believe anyone thought this team would win without Bouknight. This team hasn't gotten worse. Providence is good. The Big East is good. The Akok injury was brutal. The Jackson injury was brutal. And that's not even mentioning the fact that we've lost a lottery pick.

Saying UConn isn't in the A10 and that going 0-3 in the tournament should put him on the hot seat forgets how bad the last few teams before he showed up were. It also forgets that all our upper-classmen—every one—is best case a good A10 player. None of them have the talent to be a star at our level. Which isn't that big of a problem if your actual talent weren't injured. This team doesn't have talented depth. Our past great teams might have their stars or top recruits be injured or miss games and chug along—Rip, Emeka, AJ, Marcus, Dyson—these dudes missed games and we could still win. We're like two or three years away from that from a talent perspective.

Until we get our All American candidate back—or unless Sanogo, Jackson, and Gaffney all make pretty large leaps—we're probably going to lose to every good team. There's really not much Hurley can do.

It's a shame what happened with Bouknight. It's also a shame they lost that Creighton game because if/when he does come back it would be nice to say we were undefeated with him.

The idea you're okay with us scoring 59 points and think we aren't capable of beating Providence is a joke. They just gave up 92 points to St. John's their last game. They just ran a really weak press against us since the opening tip and Hurley never got them to adjust to it and attack it. Polley and Carlton are weak no doubt, Whaley is a good player. The rest of the team is all Hurley's recruits, if he can't be expected to win against Big East teams just because his star player is out we have major problems.

The BIg East is a very good conference but this is a weak year for the conference and Providence isn't good.

 

[auror]

So you're saying they had the two best players on the court? Isn't the team that has the two best players on the court usually the team that wins a basketball game? Asking for Lebron James and Anthony Davis. (Obviously on one level a hyperbole, but on another...)

Butler is the one vaguely shameful loss in that time. We're not going to beat Villanova, Xavier or Georgetown without Bouknight.

They also won at Creighton in that time, who we lost to even with Bouknight. Their other losses were to St. John's (check), Seton Hall (check), and Marquette (we needed Polley to play out of his mind to win).

When the 2 best players are unstoppable NBA Hall of Famers and the best players in the world, that holds. When they're 2nd/3rd team Big East guys, no, that's not enough to overcome this much of a talent differential. This version of their team is very much not good. Duke was 5/14 with 2x more turnovers than assists.

The 2nd starter they lost was only the last few games, so they're a worse team than the one that beat Creighton. Especially since their bench is so bad and thin, losing another starter is s big deal. They lost to 5-10 Georgetown, and then St. Johns and Seton Hall by double figures in their last 3 without him.

 

[uconngb]

These threads kill me. I can't believe anyone thought this team would win without Bouknight. This team hasn't gotten worse. Providence is good. The Big East is good. The Akok injury was brutal. The Jackson injury was brutal. And that's not even mentioning the fact that we've lost a lottery pick.

Saying UConn isn't in the A10 and that going 0-3 in the tournament should put him on the hot seat forgets how bad the last few teams before he showed up were. It also forgets that all our upper-classmen—every one—is best case a good A10 player. None of them have the talent to be a star at our level. Which isn't that big of a problem if your actual talent weren't injured. This team doesn't have talented depth. Our past great teams might have their stars or top recruits be injured or miss games and chug along—Rip, Emeka, AJ, Marcus, Dyson—these dudes missed games and we could still win. We're like two or three years away from that from a talent perspective.

Until we get our All American candidate back—or unless Sanogo, Jackson, and Gaffney all make pretty large leaps—we're probably going to lose to every good team. There's really not much Hurley can do.

It's a shame what happened with Bouknight. It's also a shame they lost that Creighton game because if/when he does come back it would be nice to say we were undefeated with him.

I don't know what you've been watching, but Providence is NOT a good team. They were 9-10 coming into today, 2-7 in their last 9 games. That was a must win game and we played like a bunch of frightened deer. Providence is no better than Marquette or Butler, who we beat without Bouknight. Tired of these excuses when our team comes out and lays a big, fat egg. Give me a break.

 

[tzznandrew]

The idea you're okay with us scoring 59 points and think we aren't capable of beating Providence is a joke. They just gave up 92 points to St. John's their last game. They just ran a really weak press against us since the opening tip and Hurley never got them to adjust to it and attack it. Polley and Carlton are weak no doubt, Whaley is a good player. The rest of the team is all Hurley's recruits, if he can't be expected to win against Big East teams just because his star player is out we have major problems.

The BIg East is a very good conference but this is a weak year for the conference and Providence isn't good.

St. John's plays fast. We play slow. They're obviously going to give up more points to St. John's.

St. John's is healthy. We are not. St. John's also beat us.

Whaley is fine. He's never been as bad or as good as people here seem to think.

Adams was a Hurley recruit, but...I mean, given the situation I'm not holding him against him.

Your real Hurley recruits giving the circumstances (not trying to plug holes) are:

• Bouknight (star, injured)
• Akok (looked like he had a great future, injured)
• Jackson (looks like a star, mostly injured)
• Sanogo (looks like a star)
• Gaffney (shows flashes; I never expect too much out of non Top 10 PGs up to JR year)
• Springs (a bit of a reach, who knows what we're getting, but was always going to be a project)
• Brown (gone)

Martin and Cole were solutions to problems he inherited. I like that we took them and think they are both good and valuable, but they aren't recruits in the same way, and you can't really have the size of the class that we did in, say 2006 anymore and expect that to work.

 

[tzznandrew]

2-7 in their last 9 games.

Enumerate the teams they beat and lost to, and then tell me how we did against those teams, or how you think we will do against those teams without Bouk.

Context matters.

 

[superjohn]

St. John's plays fast. We play slow. They're obviously going to give up more points to St. John's.

You just said it all right there and you don't even realize that's a problem with the coaching we are getting at the moment.

 

[tzznandrew]

You just said it all right there and you don't even realize that's a problem with the coaching we are getting at the moment.

That a team whose seniors and 2/3 juniors is wildly unathletic doesn't play fast?

This team doesn't so much have A10 talent as A10 athleticism in all but 1 of its non-Juniors and Seniors.

 

[uconngb]

Enumerate the teams they beat and lost to, and then tell me how we did against those teams, or how you think we will do against those teams without Bouk.

Context matters.

They lost to SH by 17
They split w Marquette
They split w Creighton
They lost to St John's by 11
They lost to three other opponents we haven't played (Gtown, Nova, Xavier)

OOC they got smoked by Indiana and Alabama. Their best OOC win is TCU.

Wow, that sounds like a powerhouse to me......

 

[superjohn]

That a team whose seniors and 2/3 juniors is wildly unathletic doesn't play fast?

This team doesn't so much have A10 talent as A10 athleticism in all but 1 of its non-Juniors and Seniors.

You're clueless.

 

[RF79]

After the first half I texted my good buddy who also bleeds blue like myself and I asked him what was his thoughts on the first half. We both came to the agreement that the first half was “eh”. Nothing to cheer about, but we were up 1 at the half. So what I’m getting to is that if/when our defense starts to get torched our offense isn’t good enough to help us comeback. We had the one game when Polley went insane but that was it. We have regressed. We looked lost out there for much of the game. Today we lost to depleted Providence team.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I don't think the team is worse. Some players don't seem to be playing as well and some are playing better, but I think the key is Polley is no longer shooting with the ridiculous efficiency he had for a few games. It helped hide our deficiencies.

 

[tcf15]

Man, if this is the Boneyard after a loss in the Big East, I can’t imagine what it’d look like after a loss in the AAC.