Well

[bfs3]

I held out hope that a 3 peat could result in a special Nike Dunk release to add to my collection like Michigan got after winning a forgettable CFB championship. I’ll have to wait a bit before putting the huskies decal on my Porsche so I can match. Life is hard.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Aside from the offense - which is awful - and the defense - which is worse - and the roster construction - which is abysmal - I think we’re doing pretty well.

I am kind of puzzled as to which team Danny Hurley was watching when he got offended that we were not the preseason #1. The team he’s brought to Hawaii was the eighth-best team there and currently looks like an NIT hopeful.

What a debacle. Maybe more complaints about not getting calls at the post-game presser will fix things.

There is a universe where you can read this post as a great omen.

The last Fishy basketball post I remember was him ripping the talent level, roster construction and coaching staff two years ago, right before this team won back to back national championships. If I recall specifically his biggest gripe was that the staff committed malpractice by failing to bring in a point guard, and then the point guard became a first team all-american, NPOY finalist, and MVP of the Final Four. Whoops!!

So if you believe in the whole "past is prologue" thing a third consecutive natty might officially be in play. Although I suspect this time he might be more in the ballpark of correct, rather than comically, almost historically wrong.

 

[pj]

To expand on this thought more,

Hurley made every move this offseason to hedge his bets on the sophomores. These were our offseason moves (and I’m not saying these were the wrong moves).

Offseason Moves
- Brought in Aiden Mahaney as a guy who had a chance to start over and take playing time away from Solo Ball.

- Recruited Liam McNeeley in April as a guy who had a chance to start over and take playing time away from Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross.

- Had Alex Karaban come back after receiving a 2nd round grade when in the year prior he pushed Andre to stay in the draft with the same draft position to start over and take playing time away from Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross.

- Brought in Tarris Reed to take playing time away from Singare.

This is completely different from when he brought in transfers/recruits to compliment Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo in 2023. He did everything to hedge his bets with the sophomore class.

Saying Hurley bet the season on them is just objectively false and not fair to those guys at all. It also speaks to how going into the season, 2023 had clear roles that this group does not have.

Fair enough, but if his self-evaluation was that the returning players needed to be recruited over, why be so aggressive saying we aim to 3-peat, and should be rated #1 preseason?

 

[RuffRuff]

There is a universe where you can read this post as a great omen.

The last Fishy basketball post I remember was him ripping the talent level, roster construction and coaching staff two years ago, right before this team won back to back national championships. If I recall specifically his biggest gripe was that the staff committed malpractice by failing to bring in a point guard, and then the point guard became a first team all-american, NPOY finalist, and MVP of the Final Four. Whoops!!

So if you believe in the whole "past is prologue" thing a third consecutive natty might officially be in play. Although I suspect this time he might be more in the ballpark of correct, rather than comically, almost historically wrong.

Maybe just maybe Fishy understands the power of his intentionally timed posts and the cosmic reverse psychology that it brings. Might it be strategic? The smell of bad fish extends widely with a pungent power that can not be underestimated.

Biggest question right now is whether the clear deficiencies in core players can be corrected. I’ve been putting emphasis on Solo because he seems like a kid that has the physical talents to be a good defender (length and strength). He had a year of practicing with a historic team, which makes you think some osmosis would have kicked in. Liam needs to be better too. We just can’t have multiple guys at 1-3 that are turnstiles and can’t close out as it puts way too much pressure on the front court guys and leads to a confused mess of over-fouling and giving up easy points.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Fair enough, but if his self-evaluation was that the returning players needed to be recruited over, why be so aggressive saying we aim to 3-peat, and should be rated #1 preseason?

I’m honestly not sure. My theory is just that Hurley says a lot of things for marketing purposes. But who really knows.

It’s just objectively false to say he bet his season on guys he actively recruited over during the offseason or had compete for roles.

 

[uconnever]

It’s this. This is what I’m seeing. It’s gotta be Nowell now in Mahaneys spot and take the lumps that will be coming while a frosh PG gets his feet under him. It won’t be perfect in the immediate ( but we suck anyway so take it) but we will be much better off in 2 months. Give Mahaney some off ball rotation time . Let him and Ross fight for minutes, as Ross isn’t there yet either. The other is Reed has to be a starter. Samson Johnson is a change of pace bench guy. Like he’s always been.

This is it. This is exactly what needs to be done it seems. Unless Aidan just needs time to understand what we like to do and how to find his role, I wouldn’t wait for him, but that may be a possibility. These guys have never played together, they all need time. Think about it, how much did Ball,Stewart, Ross play last year and then think about how much anyone on this team has played together. They need time to learn each other and figure out how to play in our system. We definitely will get better no matter what.

 

[lateralous]

Fair enough, but if his self-evaluation was that the returning players needed to be recruited over, why be so aggressive saying we aim to 3-peat, and should be rated #1 preseason?

I can't explain the second part of your post other than it might be ego but the fact that he targeted 2 year transfers suggests to me that he believes in the sophomores but knew they needed time to develop and had a longer term plan.

 

[Mr. French]

When I see people who seem to be insiders write off players because they lack skills that are teachable, like dribbling, then yeah I assume the staff may not know how to develop that developable skill.

Lamb improved his handle after one summer. Yet we knew Solo’s problem last year and it’s still a problem this year.

Buddy, if your magic trick of dribbling and juggling tennis balls simultaneously was as elite as you make It sound, everyone in America would be Pistol Pete.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Buddy, if your magic trick of dribbling and juggling tennis balls simultaneously was as elite as you make It sound, everyone in America would be Pistol Pete.

It just depends on what skills guys want to focus on. There’s plenty examples of guys who were terrible dribblers who have pretty good handle now. Jaylen Brown being a prime example.

I also know how effective the drill is from first hand experience. It’s why I get confused when people talk as if dribbling isn’t a very fixable skill.

In Solo’s case it’s clear all he does is work on his 3 point shooting. Or at least that’s the big priority for him. Same as Andre, Hawkins, etc.

 

[AntG168]

It just depends on what skills guys want to focus on. There’s plenty examples of guys who were terrible dribblers who have pretty good handle now. Jaylen Brown being a prime example.

I also know how effective the drill is from first hand experience. It’s why I get confused when people talk as if dribbling isn’t a very fixable skill.

In Solo’s case it’s clear all he does is work on his 3 point shooting. Or at least that’s the big priority for him. Same as Andre, Hawkins, etc.

You are oversimplifying the process of developing a skill enough to use at a high major level. You have no idea if they've had him working on it

 

[Deepster]

There is a universe where you can read this post as a great omen.

The last Fishy basketball post I remember was him ripping the talent level, roster construction and coaching staff two years ago, right before this team won back to back national championships. If I recall specifically his biggest gripe was that the staff committed malpractice by failing to bring in a point guard, and then the point guard became a first team all-american, NPOY finalist, and MVP of the Final Four. Whoops!!

So if you believe in the whole "past is prologue" thing a third consecutive natty might officially be in play. Although I suspect this time he might be more in the ballpark of correct, rather than comically, almost historically wrong.

You're reading way too much into Fishy's posting. He probably got upset that some bicyclist finished 3rd in some Tour De' EuroTrash or a relative asked him if the stuffing was gluten free Thursday.

 

[Inyatkin]

Do you really think fishy hadn‘t posted in 2 years?

He was all over the place when we were down. He's been extremely quiet since. Now he's back with an "I told you so" post. In the interim, we won two titles. If you can't see the pattern, that's on you.

 

[nomar]

I'm oddly at ease about this team, despite the three game skid. Hurley and his staff are top notch and there is real talent on the roster. I expect the team to be considerably better by mid January. There's plenty of cause for optimism. A team with Karaban, Reed, Ball, Stewart, McNeeley, Diarra, Nowell and Mahaney should be good, there's just too much talent to continue to suck. It'll get better, much better.

I think the people who thought Hurley was literally a magician who could conjure a 3-peat through bravado and plays from the Turkish league are the ones crying the loudest right now.

This team has a lot of depth and I think the staff can and will figure out how to maximize the players' skills but you can't lose Clingan, Castle, Cam and Newton and expect no drop-off because "we're UConn."

The 2022-23 team hit the skids and the staff righted the ship. There's a lot of time between now and March. Then again, we can't dig a hole too deep, so the improvement needs to start sooner rather than later.

But we have too much talent to crash out.

As for Danny's antics, you have to take the bad with the good. His passion makes him great. It also leads to bad Ts. Old dogs, new tricks, etc.

 

[AntG168]

I think the people who thought Hurley was literally a magician who could conjure a 3-peat through bravado and plays from the Turkish league are the ones crying the loudest right now.

This team has a lot of depth and I think the staff can and will figure out how to maximize the players' skills but you can't lose Clingan, Castle, Cam and Newton and expect no drop-off because "we're UConn."

The 2022-23 team hit the skids and the staff righted the ship. There's a lot of time between now and March. Then again, we can't dig a hole too deep, so the improvement needs to start sooner rather than later.

But we have too much talent to crash out.

As for Danny's antics, you have to take the bad with the good. His passion makes him great. It also leads to bad Ts. Old dogs, new tricks, etc.

This and we overestimated some players abilities from the jump(Mahaney, Ball, Ross, Hass, Johnson). We expected that group to be significantly better. Maybe not 3 peat better. But better. After a back 2 back I think a second weekend is an acceptable expectation.

 

[superjohn]

I think the people who thought Hurley was literally a magician who could conjure a 3-peat through bravado and plays from the Turkish league are the ones crying the loudest right now.

You just described Hurley.

 

[JerseyAlum]

I honestly want the starters to be:

Nowell and Stewart at guard
Reed, Jr. at center
Karaban and McNeeley at wings

Why?

Best players to start, Stewart as most athletic player and has some drive and pull up shots. Reed > Johnson in almost every aspect per minute. Nowell is a point guard who will get better as the season flows.

Bench is Diarra, Ball, Ross, Johnson, Mahaney.

I also think collectively this can be the best defensive group long term.

 

[nomar]

You just described Hurley.

A) I don't take Hurley's comments at face value. Do you?
B) I have zero doubt that Hurley and the rest of the staff are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out how to turn this around. He's not just whining. He's working.
C) You were pretty confident in this group and staff. You jumping ship?

 

[Scottobot]

Mahaney looks like he could be the most important miss of Hurley’s tenure because he was so integral to our vision of success and he is simply unplayable on defense. I hope he proves me wrong but it’s hard to be optimistic right now.

I think you are too quick to write him off. He hasn’t played up to expectations but I don’t think his play has been that bad. I also think that Nowell looks very talented and could potentially solve the PG problem.
I think the big miss was expecting SJ to be starting center. He couldn’t rebound last year and constantly fouled. The team, which was one of the best in history when Clingan played, struggled when Clingan was injured. Fortunately Hurley recruited Reed who looks solid.

 

[JerseyAlum]

I think you are too quick to write him off. He hasn’t played up to expectations but I don’t think his play has been that bad. I also think that Nowell looks very talented and could potentially solve the PG problem.
I think the big miss was expecting Samson Johnson to be starting center. He couldn’t rebound last year and constantly fouled. The team, which was one of the best in history when Clingan played, struggled when Clingan was injured. Fortunately Hurley recruited Reed who looks solid.

Yet Reed, Jr. is not starting and I think people beyond the 'yard are even questioning why not.

 

[gsmooth]

I think you are too quick to write him off. He hasn’t played up to expectations but I don’t think his play has been that bad. I also think that Nowell looks very talented and could potentially solve the PG problem.
I think the big miss was expecting Samson Johnson to be starting center. He couldn’t rebound last year and constantly fouled. The team, which was one of the best in history when Clingan played, struggled when Clingan was injured. Fortunately Hurley recruited Reed who looks solid.

That might be a case of loyalty and heart overriding Hurley's brain. UConn won 5 games with Samson starting and without Clingan last year, and Samson deserves a lot of credit for that, but it was also the other players that were a big part of that and that were good at getting the ball to Samson in spots that were useful (i.e. lobs for dunks).

I am guessing, again only speculating and guessing, that Hurley is rewarding Samson for sticking and staying with UConn when he could have chosen to bounce.

 

[Marat]

This and we overestimated some players abilities from the jump(Mahaney, Ball, Ross, Hass, Johnson). We expected that group to be significantly better. Maybe not 3 peat better. But better. After a back 2 back I think a second weekend is an acceptable expectation.

I think we'll need some major mojo this season to help. Muppet Maker ?

 

[Scottobot]

That might be a case of loyalty and heart overriding the Hurley's brain. UConn won 5 games with Samson starting and without Clingan last year, and Samson deserves a lot of credit for that, but it was also the other players that were a big part of that and that were good at getting the ball to Samson in spots that were useful (i.e. lobs for dunks).

I am guessing, again only speculating and guessing, that Hurley is rewarding Samson for sticking and staying with UConn when he could have chosen to bounce.

I suspect you are correct. I think it is good for Hurley to be loyal. In addition to winning Hurley wants to get his players into the pros. He is certainly giving SJ the benefit of the doubt and giving him an opportunity.

 

[RuffRuff]

Pretty balanced view by this trio - I really like TO. Dauster with a good take on Solo.

 

[superjohn]

A) I don't take Hurley's comments at face value. Do you?
B) I have zero doubt that Hurley and the rest of the staff are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out how to turn this around. He's not just whining. He's working.
C) You were pretty confident in this group and staff. You jumping ship?

Hurley was the one talking three-peat every single chance he got. He was the one saying this is his deepest team ever and he was hyping up the sophomores.

Your description of the fans sounds like a description of Dan Hurley's hype for this team. Fans believing a three-peat is possible is because Hurley was hyping it up like crazy.

I have no doubt Hurley and staff are working their butts off but I've seriously adjusted my expectations based off of what I saw. If it was just a couple of bad shooting nights I would still be bullish on the team but the defense has been shockingly bad. That's going to take some time and we don't have much time. I would like for this team to make the tournament.

 

[Fishy]

There is a universe where you can read this post as a great omen.

The last Fishy basketball post I remember was him ripping the talent level, roster construction and coaching staff two years ago, right before this team won back to back national championships. If I recall specifically his biggest gripe was that the staff committed malpractice by failing to bring in a point guard, and then the point guard became a first team all-american, NPOY finalist, and MVP of the Final Four. Whoops!!

So if you believe in the whole "past is prologue" thing a third consecutive natty might officially be in play. Although I suspect this time he might be more in the ballpark of correct, rather than comically, almost historically wrong.

Odd - I don’t remember anything you’ve ever written. Or, to be honest, that you existed.