Well

[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.

 

[RuffRuff]

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

Good to have your snarky @ss back, this place is like a rave without the strobe lights without you.

 

[nomar]

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.

Fans believed a 3-peat was possible because (a) we did the impossible last year and (b) they're fans, short for fanatics. We're either the best team since '96 Kentucky or we're not gonna make the NIT. You think Danny Hurley holding up 3 fingers made people that way?

This strikes me as you picking Hurley as the target for your frustration not because of coaching (which would be fine) but b because he's good at PR.

 

[CTBasketball]

Good to have your snarky @ss back, this place is like a rave without the strobe lights without you.

We need more throat punches to bandwagon fans.

 

[superjohn]

Fans believed a 3-peat was possible because (a) we did the impossible last year and (b) they're fans, short for fanatics. We're either the best team since '96 Kentucky or we're not gonna make the NIT. You think Danny Hurley holding up 3 fingers made people that way?

This strikes me as you picking Hurley as the target for your frustration not because of coaching (which would be fine) but b because he's good at PR.

Picking Hurley as the target for my frustration?

What a strange post. Yes, I really believe Hurley thinks the team has a chance at three-peating or at least did before Maui. You think he was trolling the fanbase or was just saying it for PR purposes even though he doesn't think they have a chance in hell of accomplishing it?

You think he expected to lose to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton or you think maybe the team is wildly underperfoming his expectations so far?

 

[Captbluefin]

I never read anyone commenting on how experienced the last years backcourt was
Tristen and Cam 5 year guys, extremely battle tested before they got here.

 

[nomar]

Picking Hurley as the target for my frustration?

What a strange post. Yes, I really believe Hurley thinks the team has a chance at three-peating or at leats did before Maui. You think he was trolling the fanbase or was just saying it for PR purposes even though he doesn't think they have a chance in hell of accomplishing it?

You think he expected to lose to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton or you think maybe the team is wildly underperfoming his expectations so far?

It probably seems strange because your reading comprehension is lacking. What you wrote is pretty much non-responsive to what I wrote. Case in point, your last sentence: What kind of ridiculous straw man is that?

We all have eyes and experience watching college basketball. My expectations for the season had very little to do with how much Hurley was talking about 3-peating. Were yours?

Hurley has a great deal of confidence and probably thought they had a chance at winning if everything clicked. But I also think he pumps up the team any chance he gets for PR/recruiting purposes, so I take it all with a grain of salt. I consider the team on the court, not the team on paper.

 

[superjohn]

It probably seems strange because your reading comprehension is lacking. What you wrote is pretty much non-responsive to what I wrote. Case in point, your last sentence: What kind of ridiculous straw man is that?

We all have eyes and experience watching college basketball. My expectations for the season had very little to do with how much Hurley was talking about 3-peating. Were yours?

Hurley has a great deal of confidence and probably thought they had a chance at winning if everything clicked. But I also think he pumps up the team any chance he gets for PR/recruiting purposes, so I take it all with a grain of salt. I consider the team on the court, not the team on paper.

Of course my expectations were high based on roster and based on everything Hurley said heading into the season.

Of course we can't consider the team on the court in preseason because we hadn't seen them play yet.

I think Hurley is shocked by what he's seen so far on the court once the ball was tipped and I don't think his off-season three-peat talk was a PR stunt.

 

[ucp990411]

Also, competing for playing time sounds good in theory. But believe it or not, guys actually improve a lot more when they have a clear role and know what the expectations are.

You prepare a lot differently for a season when you know you’re the guy compared to when you’re trying to be the guy.

You can’t prepare to be the guy if you don’t know if you’re going to be the guy.

I often disagree with you but I agree with you here. Players need to know their role. We have too many players who don’t or didn’t know their roles. And what happens next year?

 

[bfs3]

It probably seems strange because your reading comprehension is lacking. What you wrote is pretty much non-responsive to what I wrote. Case in point, your last sentence: What kind of ridiculous straw man is that?

We all have eyes and experience watching college basketball. My expectations for the season had very little to do with how much Hurley was talking about 3-peating. Were yours?

Hurley has a great deal of confidence and probably thought they had a chance at winning if everything clicked. But I also think he pumps up the team any chance he gets for PR/recruiting purposes, so I take it all with a grain of salt. I consider the team on the court, not the team on paper.

I agreed with all your posts until you used the term “straw man “. I hate this term as it implies that the person being called a straw man is intentionally diverting attention. More often than not, they’re just bad at arguing. It annoys me almost as much as one person claiming another person is “gas lighting “ them when they genuinely have two different takes or memories on an event that transpired. Both are often used to shut the other person down with an over confident punctuation. Unfortunately these terms have been ruined by wrongful or overuse. But yeah you’re right.

 

[ucp990411]

Something I have not seen mentioned and I think is killing us is that we are a weak team physically

 

[RuffRuff]

Want to throw you goons in a steel cage match and go at it. I got SuperJohn in the 5th round, he has a mean streak. Hooper can call the card.

 

[pj]

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.

I am guessing/speculating that is more Hurley promised guys he would maximize their development and get them to the NBA, and Samson is a senior so if Hurley is to fulfill his promise he needs to develop Samson now.

It's both a desire to fulfill his promises to Samson and his desire to build his recruiting resume -- see, I got this guy and that guy to the NBA, I can get you there.

Reed has another year, Samson doesn't, so Hurley will bend over backward to make this year work for Samson. But I think if March rolls around and the team needs Reed to play big minutes, Reed will be out there.

 

[pj]

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.

Did you get any experience with your second hand?

 

[Deleted at users request]

I am guessing/speculating that is more Hurley promised guys he would maximize their development and get them to the NBA, and Samson is a senior so if Hurley is to fulfill his promise he needs to develop Samson now.

It's both a desire to fulfill his promises to Samson and his desire to build his recruiting resume -- see, I got this guy and that guy to the NBA, I can get you there.

Reed has another year, Samson doesn't, so Hurley will bend over backward to make this year work for Samson. But I think if March rolls around and the team needs Reed to play big minutes, Reed will be out there.

What’s wrong with good ole meritocracy?

If Johnson wants to be an NBA player then he should play better. If Hurley is that committed to trying to make him one he should’ve had a better plan to develop him into one.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

Dan Hurley is still upset about Maui: 'I'm not doing another 3-game MTE again'

UConn head men's basketball coach Dan Hurley made clear in a recent press conference that his team will not play in three-game MTEs.

awfulannouncing.com

Not sure if this was posted in another thread earlier today, but saw it on reddit.

Major oof. Again, we are getting rinsed online. Danny’s really gotta chill.

 

[KingAG]

Dan Hurley is still upset about Maui: 'I'm not doing another 3-game MTE again'

UConn head men's basketball coach Dan Hurley made clear in a recent press conference that his team will not play in three-game MTEs.

awfulannouncing.com

Not sure if this was posted in another thread earlier today, but saw it on reddit.

Major oof. Again, we are getting rinsed online. Danny’s really gotta chill.

Him not wanting to do Maui again has nothing to do with losing. He said he didn’t want to do it again before the tournament started. This is click bait.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

Him not wanting to do Maui again has nothing to do with losing. He said he didn’t want to do it again before the tournament started. This is click bait.

I saw the news prior to Maui. Seems like a weak stance regardless, no?

Fans love these early season tournaments so would be a bummer. Especially PK invitationals, Maui, and Atlantis. Bummer if this becomes reality.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I often disagree with you but I agree with you here. Players need to know their role. We have too many players who don’t or didn’t know their roles. And what happens next year?

Broken clock is right twice a day.

23 Hawkins, Andre, and Sanogo were unquestionably the guys and core of the team going into the year and offseason.

24 the starting lineup was pretty much settled. The only guy “competing” for a starting spot was Castle. And he had a very specific role because everyone else was very engrained in theirs.

Having clear and defined roles are very important. Competition does not help that.

 

[KingAG]

I saw the news prior to Maui. Seems like a weak stance regardless, no?

Fans love these early season tournaments so would be a bummer. Especially PK invitationals, Maui, and Atlantis. Bummer if this becomes reality.

No. How is it weak? He’s not shying from the competition. Just the format and travel cost. A lot of teams aren’t doing 3 game MTEs anymore. Did you see the Maui field next year? They’re just making it a big deal with Hurley because his name gets the clicks.

 

[Deleted at users request]

No. How is it weak? He’s not shying from the competition. Just the format and travel cost. A lot of teams aren’t doing 3 game MTEs anymore. Did you see the Maui field next year? They’re just making it a big deal with Hurley because his name gets the clicks.

Just because we’re fanatics don’t mean we have to be stupid.

If you’re a back to back national championship winning head coach and you spend all summer talking about how you’re going for a three peat and how you have a championship culture.

Just to lose the first 3 games against real competition and then talk about how you won’t do said tournament again (I’m not sure if he talked about the money situation in context) how do you expect unbiased, rationale people to react?