Way too early UConn 2018-2029 poll.

[Mokum]

In his first season, I would say making the tournament should be the goal.

20 wins and putting UConn back on the national scene should be the expectation.

I agree with this.

 

[8893]

He has most of the same roster that was terrible last year, and which was blown out at a pace never previously experienced by any UConn team. If he does make the tournament, it's a pretty big indictment of Ollie. I do think it's possible, but any time you project as a bubble team, your margin for error is a couple of games. Injuries, the number of other bubble teams, RPI of opponents, lots of factors put you on one side of the line or the other.

Yeah, I disagree. If Alterique is healthy I expect him and Sid to be better than any players on last year's team not named Adams, and the front court guys have a season--granted a disastrous one--under their belts and a very motivated coach with a plan for their improvement.

Ollie has already been indicted, and deservedly so based on last season's performance. Once Gilbert went down I didn't expect much (before then I expected us to be a bubble team), but I at least expected a team that looked like it cared. As I've said numerous times, Arkansas and Auburn were inexcusable for a UConn team.

 

[Mokum]

I been watching some of our games in youtube from the days of JC. It really makes you realize how bad we have stunk the last couple of years. I expect we will be a decent team next year, blow out the Columbias and Monmouths, and compete well with the good teams. I think Hurley can accomplish that and a tournament bid is a real possibility not a pipe dream.

 

[evmore]

It's easy to say i just want them to play harder and fight from tip to buzzer, and I do, but really i want to beat Cinnci at least once, win 1 non-conference top 20 game, win all mid-major games and run table vs the ECU, Tulsa, etc.. All said and done, that would mean around 18-20 wins. I do not believe this team is void of talent. With a little luck (avoiding injuries) and Hurley getting Jalen to play like the player he should be, and playing that aggressive style of UConn defense we all fell in love with, there is no doubt we can achieve this.

 

[StepbackCity]

Let’s take one year at a time.
These are the givens.
(Let’s accept the fact that KO was M.I. A.. or for whatever personal reasons was going through the motions and his coaches were all yes men going along for the ride as a given and that staff has been replaced by a hard working experienced group)
2018-19 .
With only the loss of TL , who because of injury and style never seemed to be the right complement to our other players.
I expected a 20 +win season just based on personal without a coaching change.
Why.
A guard duo of Jaylen Adams , Christian Vital who are playing their third season together.
The addition of the A10 sixth man of the year plus Adams II and Gilbert Give us not only one of ,if not the best back courts in the AAC but if Hurley sorts them out in the entire country.
With UConn that’s always the cornerstone of success.
The rest of the team last year was a mess but we saw some potential as the year went on. Finding the right combination was a huge problem with 8 first year players .
Emerging from that mess we saw what could be blended in Time into a formible unit
Carlton emeges as one of the better offensive bigs whose lack of experience on D prevented him from further development by increased playing time.
Polley in a similar fashion emerged as that potential third option whether it be at the 3 or the stretch 4. (Think DD .) Wilson replaces the atletism of TL And I suspect by us backing away from Mathews , Hurley believes he can shoot well enough to play the 3 or 4 .
Or we will see more three guard than I like.
Whaley who to this point has been an offensive liability if he developed a shot has excellent defensive potential.
Diarra is a versatile guy who can give you back up minutes at the 4 or 5 and like Whaley
his shooting will determine his minutes.
Williams and Cobb frankly are redundant especially the latter with the addition of the St John’s guy. The post grad is intriguing because unless he is injured he has the capibility of much greater contribution than last years numbers indicate especially as a shot blocker.
Shooting is key . Frankly it was KO ‘s preoccupation with what turned out to be a futile attempt at team D that doomed last years team. When his focus should have been on offensive chemistry.Trying to get continued defenive intensity from kids that can’t score may work in spurts but it’s certainly not sustainable.
If you put three decent shooters plus Carlton on the floor with JA , with an experienced coaching staff who seems to get it and are willing to work and next year will be a very good year. Frankly I worry more abou 2019-2020
With so much experience why would anyone predict less?



.

This is the hardest thing you'll ever try to read

 

[CL82]

Lotsa excuses for Hurley's first season already and it hasn't even started. Very disconcerting. Guess these guys are okay to be a mid-major as long as Ollie is not the face of the program.

Trolling?

I think we can wait until he loses a game before we burn him in effigy.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah, I disagree. If Alterique is healthy I expect him and Sid to be better than any players on last year's team not named Adams, and the front court guys have a season--granted a disastrous one--under their belts and a very motivated coach with a plan for their improvement.

Ollie has already been indicted, and deservedly so based on last season's performance. Once Gilbert went down I didn't expect much (before then I expected us to be a bubble team), but I at least expected a team that looked like it cared. As I've said numerous times, Arkansas and Auburn were inexcusable for a UConn team.

I largely agree with this. But Gilbert hasn't played in over 2 years. I think he'll be healthy, but may be rusty. Sid is still a freshman, and while a 4 star good recruit (credit to Ollie) he's not one of those players who walks in an starts anywhere. I suspect he starts here because his competition at that spot is mediocre. I do expect Carlton and Diarra to be better, maybe Cobb and Williams too.

The Memphis losses were equally inexcusable, as were the two OT wins against bad teams.

In any event, I'm excited to see UConn basketball. That's what matters.

 

[ctchamps]

Anyone voting for the first three categories are Hurley apologists and excuse makers.

Schedule and conference is much easier than last season which should easily give 4-5 more wins.

I’ll take Sid over Terry any day. DO is gone and if everyone was pointing to him as a major factor for how last season played out than I’m surprised with people not being more excited.

Plus you have Hurley and that should be worth an additional four or five wins.

Instead of most everyone being new to the team the majority of the team will have at least one year under their belt. Should give an additional 3-4 wins.

AG will play an entire season. KO and bad dharma are gone. An additional 6-8 wins.

My prediction is an undefeated season and NC # 5!

 

[Danzz]

So we pretty much know our team for next year. CV didn't get an invite, so I'll assume he is coming back.

What do you think of our chances? What do you want to see from Hurley and the staff?

We really don't know our team because there will be a huge difference with or without Gilbert and that hasn't been decided.

 

[8893]

Trolling?

I think we can wait until he loses a game before we burn him in effigy.

Who is burning him in effigy? These guys want to throw him a parade for not making the tournament. They’re just happy the other guy is gone.

Hurley has carte blanche for at least several seasons. Anything we do well will be an indictment of the other guy because Hurley will have shown how much better he can coach the same guys; anything we do poorly will be the other guy’s fault because they’re not really Hurley’s guys, and the other guy screwed them up so badly.

 

[CL82]

Who is burning him in effigy? These guys want to throw him a parade for not making the tournament. They’re just happy the other guy is gone.

Hurley has carte blanche for at least several seasons. Anything we do well will be an indictment of the other guy because Hurley will have shown how much better he can coach the same guys; anything we do poorly will be the other guy’s fault because they’re not really Hurley’s guys, and the other guy screwed them up so badly.

Who has said they want to give him a parade just for making the tournament?

Agree regarding the rest, but it’s just the way things are.

 

[JMick]

Who is burning him in effigy? These guys want to throw him a parade for not making the tournament. They’re just happy the other guy is gone.

Hurley has carte blanche for at least several seasons. Anything we do well will be an indictment of the other guy because Hurley will have shown how much better he can coach the same guys; anything we do poorly will be the other guy’s fault because they’re not really Hurley’s guys, and the other guy screwed them up so badly.

It's year 1 after a complete multi-year disaster. You don't know how players are going to react to being coached hard and being held accountable. All we can ask for is improvement every year until we get a couple classes in. You clearly never played or grew up around competitive sports.

 

[Jaker]

top 3 in the American

 

[8893]

You clearly never played or grew up around competitive sports.

I wasn’t sure if I had won when you rolled over with the sweet burn of “hippie lawyer.” Now I know. Lol.

Thanks for confirming. You millennial snowflakes are so easy.

Can u show us pix of ur trophies?

 

[Jaker]

I wasn’t sure if I had won when you rolled over with the sweet burn of “hippie lawyer.” Now I know. Lol.

Thanks for confirming. You millennial snowflakes are so easy.

Can u show us pix of ur trophies?

lmao

 

[JMick]

I wasn’t sure if I had won when you rolled over with the sweet burn of “hippie lawyer.” Now I know. Lol.

Thanks for confirming. You millennial snowflakes are so easy.

Can u show us pix of ur trophies?

hippie lawyer was a joke. don't take yourself so seriously.

 

[jleves]

Not quite sure why everyone wants to argue that anything less than the NCAA tourney or sweet 16 is the expectation vs not reaching those goals are an indictment of Hurley.

We have had 2 straight losing seasons and the new coach had about three weeks to throw together what could be made of an 18/19 lineup with most of the core being made up of players that were on those losing seasons.

This is a process that will take several years to determine if Hurley is the answer or the next best possibility that won't work out.

There is a lot of things to fix and a long way to go with the next couple recruiting classes to have any answers.

If we make the NCAA tourney, it's a significant advancement from where we have been and a good indicator that things may be better going forward. If we don't make the tourney, it's simply a matter of waiting to see how things shake out in 19 and 20. If we're not making the tournament in 2020, then we have a significant problem.

Anyone hoping or even expecting Hurley to fail needs to go to another board asap. I said the same thing when Ollie was hired. We need Hurley to be the answer just like we needed Ollie to be the answer.

Let's hope we have the answer - anything else is a ridiculous emotional reaction that shouldn't be tolerated.

 

[8893]

Who has said they want to give him a parade just for making the tournament?

No, it’s a parade for NOT making the tournament. @JMick says making the tournament is the equivalent of landing on Mars. If we make the tournament next year Hurley is clearly HOF bound.

 

[Jaker]

More than likely we won't make the tourney, so fans should temper their expectations.

 

[JMick]

No, it’s a parade for NOT making the tournament. @JMick says making the tournament is the equivalent of landing on Mars. If we make the tournament next year Hurley is clearly HOF bound.

We were the equivalent of the Wright Flyer the last two years. Making it to the tournament would be a huge jump. A welcome one, but a huge jump nonetheless.

 

[David 76]

Lotta butt hurt goin on here.

Same people complaining about Ollie's name still being mentioned on the boneyard last week are going out of their way to keep the feud alive this week.

 

[cohenzone]

In all seriousness I just want the games to be enjoyable this season. Play some real basketball, don't lie down when we're down 10 and end up losing by 25. Win the games we should and steal a couple that we shouldn't.

20 wins next year
At least 20 wins in 2019
Top 25 in 2020

Yes. Watchable would be a major jump forward. And would probably include some more winning.

 

[8893]

We were the equivalent of the Wright Flyer the last two years. Making it to the tournament would be a huge jump. A welcome one, but a huge jump nonetheless.

We were also missing the guy expected to be the second best player on the team (insert Yale and Wagner retort here), and the expectation is that he will be healthy, that Sid Wilson will be an improvement at wing over Larrier, and that the front court as a whole should improve.

You sound more like the URI fans arguing that Hurley should have stayed there because this is merely a lateral move and they are on a much better trajectory given their recent NCAA appearances versus ours.

Do you think he came here expecting not to make the tournament? If so, we got the wrong guy.

 

[EricSD]

I'd LIKE to see us do really well. That's my fantasy. But honestly at this point I have no idea what to expect. Watching games the last 2 seasons felt like nails on a chalk board - impossible to experience without cringing.

Realistically I'd like to see an improvement from last season. I think a 20+ win season would exceed pretty much all reasonable expectations. I'd like to see us win the games we should, and even win a few that come down to the last second, or games we probably shouldn't have won. Lord knows there was precious little of that the past few seasons.

I just want this team to be fun to watch. I want the kids to have fun playing (while busting their asses at the same time). I'd like to see some sort of coherent offense run, and some sort of stable defense to be played. I'd love to see Hurley chew the ass off of some of the players and then see them respond. If you compare what we do to what we did the past 2 seasons, the bar is really low, and we should be able to achieve improvement easily. But we are UCONN. I want more (within reason)...

 

[JMick]

We were also missing the guy expected to be the second best player on the team (insert Yale and Wagner retort here), and the expectation is that he will be healthy, that Sid Wilson will be an improvement at wing over TL, and that the front court as a whole should improve.

You sound more like the URI fans arguing that Hurley should have stayed there because this is merely a lateral move and they are on a much better trajectory given their recent NCAA appearances versus ours.

Do you think he came here expecting not to make the tournament? If so, we got the wrong guy.

You sound like strawmaster. 20 regular season wins next year would be a monumental improvement over last year and the year before. It's the difference between being a laughingstock and a team that gets respect during the season.

 

[buddy]

Lotsa excuses for Hurley's first season already and it hasn't even started. Very disconcerting. Guess these guys are okay to be a mid-major as long as Ollie is not the face of the program.

I believe by definition one is midmajor if one is not P5. So, UConn is and has been midmajor with or without Ollie as long as the AAC is G5 and UConn is not a member of the P5. However, 0ne can be midmajor and advance in the NCAA basketball tournament, so there is a bright side.

 

[superjohn]

Lotta butt hurt goin on here.

Same people complaining about Ollie's name still being mentioned on the boneyard last week are going out of their way to keep the feud alive this week.

Yep, that's totally how it went down...

Lotsa excuses for Hurley's first season already and it hasn't even started. Very disconcerting. Guess these guys are okay to be a mid-major as long as Ollie is not the face of the program.

 

[August_West]

We were also missing the guy expected to be the second best player on the team (insert Yale and Wagner retort here), and the expectation is that he will be healthy, that Sid Wilson will be an improvement at wing over TL, and that the front court as a whole should improve.

You sound more like the URI fans arguing that Hurley should have stayed there because this is merely a lateral move and they are on a much better trajectory given their recent NCAA appearances versus ours.

Do you think he came here expecting not to make the tournament? If so, we got the wrong guy.

Bottom line the talent level on this team is light years ahead of what he put on the floor at URI.

I expect us to be a tournament team.

We don’t accept mediocrity at UConn.

 

[CL82]

No, it’s a parade for NOT making the tournament. @JMick says making the tournament is the equivalent of landing on Mars. If we make the tournament next year Hurley is clearly HOF bound.

Yeah, not seeing it. We're in the honeymoon period. The moves he’s made for staffing look intelligent and he’s firmed up the lineup with good additions. The BY will be tough enough on him soon enough.

 

[JMick]

Bottom line the talent level on this team is light years ahead of what he put on the floor at URI.

I expect us to be a tournament team.

We don’t accept mediocrity at UConn.

you accepted mediocrity for two years and actively rooted for it