Well

[Hi-Low]

Diarra is fine. It’s the rest of the team that’s not fine.

Diarra is not a 30 min starting PG....he's a 15-20 min 6th man

 

[Stinger92860]

Lot’s of problems right now, but in my mind #1 is building a starting 5 and a rotation that will look much better than they do now. For example, Nowell gets to run the offense, Reed starts in the middle, and Diarra and Sampson come off the bench. An additional tweak may be needed (Ball?) but I’d start here.

#2 in my mind is the defense. It’s horrible and the numbers could be ugly if we don’t improve in this area. It’s not going to get fixed, but improvement is mandatory.

#3 rebounding has to be better. When Samson is in the game the guards have to drop and help out. Hoping we don’t get run out of the gym in this scheme. It may make sense to play more up-tempo with SJ in the game.

 

[Husky Alien]

It starts at the point guard. Well, for those who that thought Mahaney was the all mighty, he sure has a lot to prove here. (and there many of you duruing the off-season) He seems a step or too slow on D. He does not facilitate the ball very well at this time. For him to be effective he needs to guard his man better, pass 1st mentality and get into the flow of the game. He can certainly shoot the ball. He was one of the focal points at St Mary's so the offense went to him 1st, not here.

 

[KingAG]

I don’t think it’s “are” problem. But it is probably one of “our” problems. Nice grammar.

So one of OUR problems is we had Stephon Castle? Nice deflection. You’re point is still incredibly idiotic

 

[RuffRuff]

Lot’s of problems right now, but in my mind #1 is building a starting 5 and a rotation that will look much better than they do now. For example, Nowell gets to run the offense, Reed starts in the middle, and Diarra and Sampson come off the bench. An additional tweak may be needed (Ball?) but I’d start here.

#2 in my mind is the defense. It’s horrible and the numbers could be ugly if we don’t improve in this area. It’s not going to get fixed, but improvement is mandatory.

#3 rebounding has to be better. When Samson is in the game the guards have to drop and help out. Hoping we don’t get run out of the gym in this scheme. It may make sense to play more up-tempo with SJ in the game.

This plan was talked out plenty prior to game 3 and then Hurley rolled out Samson again and he played 26 minutes. There is clearly some emotional decision making going on as it’s plain as day that Samson is not a guy you can win with as a starting 5, for too many reasons to relist. He makes this team incredibly soft. I’ve seen better backup 5s on other teams.

Beyond some of the talent imbalances on this roster, many of the players Hurley is seemingly relying on don’t have the intangibles it takes to run his offense or play smart headsy basketball. It’s a hard team to watch. They do one thing well - shoot 3s. Not sure there is one other facet of basketball they do well, and just soft as butter.

 

[Zissou]

You could probably poach Neptune from Nova.

 

[Palatine]

Nowell is the most important, if he can run the offense AND provide the boat/bazz level of D, cutting off the opposing point guard - then the team will look much better. If not, it is going to be a long year - Mahaney is a shooting guard and Hass ( who I will always love) is a 6th man.

Sorry but if you are pinning your hopes on Nowell we are truly doomed. I don't know what you are watching.

I was hoping to see some adjustments in this one and a plan forming, instead Dan decided Samson was his guy again. If there is one thing I feel good about, it’s that Samson is not a starting 5 on any aspiring college hoops team. I am as confused with the staff at this point as I am discouraged by the play. This is going to be a long season.

Moving into a state of preservation rather than aspiration, concerns being:

- getting AK drafted in the first round. The quality around him is so poor I just hope it doesn’t impact his draft status.

-this not being so miserable a season that some of our talented young kids don’t bolt for the portal. Hurley is going to have to manage that. I was told multiple parents of kids not playing left the game early yesterday. When you’re winning you can validate your rotation decisions, when you suck parents will be asking why their kid isn’t getting run.

- making sure the recruits hold. I’m sure they joined to be part of the systematic machine of an offense and now it looks like a group of drunk people in a conga line. Top that with a coach that is blowing his top. Shouldn’t be a worry but who knows.

- Danny keeps some positivity in the national spotlight this season. He went out of his way to take every interview possible this offseason and with a lot of “confidence”. Now that the kryptonite has been unleashed and he kicked off the season with cartoon like demonstrations, you are seeing how much opposing fanbases detest the guy. Really needs to find his zen.

Such a sharp fall from grace can be tough to swallow and it presents different types of challenges. If this is in fact a bridge year you have to manage it differently as you’re not “bulletproof” in your decision making.

The portal strategy has been mystifying, maybe the delay in getting to it did impact given the glaring mismatch.

Samson was one of the few players who played well versus Dayton.

 

[RuffRuff]

Sorry but if you are pinning your hopes on Nowell we are truly doomed. I don't know what you are watching.


Samson was one of the few players who played well versus Dayton.

It doesn’t take much than the eyeball test and reviewing the full body of work to realize what Samson is. And he has zero upside, he is a fixed talent. Please. I get standing up for him because he’s a good kid, but any reliable evaluation can see he ain’t it.

 

[bluestreak]

Reminder to self, never post immediately after a game. Some of the takes on here are god awful.

It just hurts so much more because we have been spoiled and arrogant.

 

[bendm]

I will never complain about potentially recruiting over returning players again.

 

[RuffRuff]

I will never complain about potentially recruiting over returning players again.

Really interesting topic and something I’m gonna be curious to watch. To keep this train going off the two NCs, if Hurley wants to keep the talent levels high, he can’t be over-loyal when it’s clear as day some kids don’t have it. If anything these three games are an eye opener to the fact talent wins over system every day of the week.

There is a big difference in talent between a top 20 kid and an 80th kid. Sometimes there are outliers but law of averages is that the top 20 yield better results.

 

[Dooch]

19-21 vs top 100 teams in our Big East era without Clingan on the roster. 45-11 with Clingan on roster. Hurley getting back to his roots but I have confidence he can figure it out.

Everyone keeps saying Clingan is the reason we won, but he played 13 MPG his freshman year.........I'm giving the staff that just won B2B in record fashion the benefit of the doubt that they'll be able to fix this by Jan/Feb.

 

[cohenzone]

Glad we cleared that up. Sitting here drinking coffee hungover watching the parade and I as well was confused about his grammar. Thankfully you being the smartest guy in the room saved us.

Glad to be of service, hangovers being what they are. And that you missed the main point. Happy TDay.

So one of OUR problems is we had Stephon Castle? Nice deflection. You’re point is still incredibly idiotic

Okay, sport. You think the program is better with a string of one or two and dones and I think THAT is idiotic. Which is why I decided to make fun of your post since I knew exactly what you meant. And you have plenty of company who are whining about this year’s team. I think we are better with winning with experienced top talent. I think that attracts at least as much talent as does kids seeing that kids can go pro quickly from here. You are entitled to your opinion. Having a very experienced Newton was a big part of both championships and even he needed part of his first year here to get up to speed. If McNeeley goes pro after one season and we fall short, explain to me how that did anything to help the program as opposed to his sticking around. I am open to considering your point.

 

[FlockOfLambs]

Take a step back and realize this is just a transition year. Nothing wrong with it after winning back to back National Championships and sending 7 guys to the NBA. Let the guys who committed to being role players for those championship runs have their swan song this year without being ripped apart for not being NBA caliper players. Allow the sophomores, who had played a combined 200 minutes of competitive game time under their belt coming into the season, time to develop into seasoned players that can lead a championship run as upperclassmen.

There isn’t a fan base in the country that wouldn’t trade a down season (like this one might end up being) for the pair of seasons we just had. We also are likely to be very very good next year with the guys we will return and the talent that’s coming in so just take a step back, reset expectations for this year and enjoy the ride.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Everyone keeps saying Clingan is the reason we won, but he played 13 MPG his freshman year.........I'm giving the staff that just won B2B in record fashion the benefit of the doubt that they'll be able to fix this by Jan/Feb.

And every time he came in for one of his 5-8 min stretches we always went on runs instantly.

He was so good his freshman year that we made Sanogo enter the draft prematurely because we rightly knew we had to free up time for Clingan the next year.

 

[cohenzone]

Everyone keeps saying Clingan is the reason we won, but he played 13 MPG his freshman year.........I'm giving the staff that just won B2B in record fashion the benefit of the doubt that they'll be able to fix this by Jan/Feb.

Clingan made us totally different and Sanogo was a highly skilled 3rd year player. No team in the country had anyone like Clingan to bring off the bench. The question is really do we win that year without him. We have no idea. Last year, is there any real question. By the way, I think Reed is a fine college player, but he just does not come close to Clingan’s impact.

 

[Palatine]

It doesn’t take much than the eyeball test and reviewing the full body of work to realize what Samson is. And he has zero upside, he is a fixed talent. Please. I get standing up for him because he’s a good kid, but any reliable evaluation can see he ain’t it.

All I said is that he was one of the better players on the floor versus Dayton. Watch the game.

And he is the only rim protection we have. Whether you like it or not he is the best option for defense we have. Our bully, Reed, was bullied in Maui.

 

[Mr. French]

95% of this board is so funny, but also embarrassing.

 

[bendm]

Take a step back and realize this is just a transition year. Nothing wrong with it after winning back to back National Championships

Sure You May have already accepted this is a transition year but according to Hurley we were supposed to be good enough to 3peat so the rest of us are still wrestling with the first and second steps of grief- denial and anger

 

[Orc]

SJ is gonna end up at 10-15 min a game. Dude still doesn’t know he can raise both hands at the same time for the ball, watching guys jump over him for boards.

Diarra is having to do WAY too much right now, and Mahaney hasn’t shown anything, but we haven’t given him an opportunity to show anything.

In all honesty, the ball penetration is atrocious. We move it a ton, and can’t get an inch inside the 3 point line.

I don’t envy these guys during practice the next week.

Limit SJ minutes to garbage time only.

 

[BlueandOG]

Ahhh, it’s an easy, lazy take to dump on them right now.

For me, this just makes our maniac obsessive coach stop talking about how great the last two years have been and hit the lab to figure it out harder now. Not worried in the least.

I’m beginning to think you may be Dan Hurley

 

[Gurleyman]

All I said is that he was one of the better players on the floor versus Dayton. Watch the game.

And he is the only rim protection we have. Whether you like it or not he is the best option for defense we have. Our bully, Reed, was bullied in Maui.

Samson also was playing post D straight up, while we were running double teams all the time with Reed defending on the low block and giving up open threes. Reed honestly should be able to play straight up. He was burned a few times in Maui with routine post moves, but he has the size and strength to be tough to score on if his technique improves. But if we are running doubles it means that we don’t currently have any faith in him to guard the post alone at this point. That has to improve.

 

[Rico444]

Glad to be of service, hangovers being what they are. And that you missed the main point. Happy TDay.

Okay, sport. You think the program is better with a string of one or two and dones and I think THAT is idiotic. Which is why I decided to make fun of your post since I knew exactly what you meant. And you have plenty of company who are whining about this year’s team. I think we are better with winning with experienced top talent. I think that attracts at least as much talent as does kids seeing that kids can go pro quickly from here. You are entitled to your opinion. Having a very experienced Newton was a big part of both championships and even he needed part of his first year here to get up to speed. If McNeeley goes pro after one season and we fall short, explain to me how that did anything to help the program as opposed to his sticking around. I am open to considering your point.

You keep whining about one and two and dones while simultaneously talking about how critical Clingan was to our team. Do you know how many years he played?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Well they brought in people to start over Diarra and SJ, it's just that the replacements started slow in practice (and one of them is also on that list).

There is no indication they brought Reed in to start over SJ. He has outplayed SJ from the start and Hurley continues to run SJ out as the starter.

Diarra at a minimum was being relied on to handle much more of the PG duties this year. That’s looking like a mistake as well (but yes, highly compounded by Mahaney also being a flop in that respect so far).

 

[Rico444]

I’m beginning to think you may be Dan Hurley

It's not about being worried, it's about readjusting expectations. This team isn't winning anational title, but I think they can vastly improve the defense and make the tournament, and hopefully win a game or two.

 

[Orc]

I will never complain about potentially recruiting over returning players again.

This has to happen in the portal next year if we want to get back on top.

Soph class not getting it done. Danny can get anyone he wants from the portal.

 

[Marat]

Well, there is always next season !

Just kidding. We may not be good right now, but I have faith things will get better gradually.

 

[RuffRuff]

It's not about being worried, it's about readjusting expectations. This team isn't winning anational title, but I think they can vastly improve the defense and make the tournament, and hopefully win a game or two.

Think your take is great. As dreamy as it would be to make a run at a third, the ebbs and flows of how this sport works makes it really d@mn hard. A lot of people hung their hat on DHs genius but the reality is that he’s a great coach but no renaissance savant. You need the right groceries to make the casserole and he doesn’t have that this year.

After an off-season of low humility it’ll be interesting to see how Dan Hurley responds to a bottom out so quickly, as it must be a real kick in the nuts. If we reframe this season it can still be entertaining. Seeing this as more of an exhibition for next year because there is no way this collection is coming back in its entirety. It would be great to make the tourney just to have a chance but this team has so many holes there is zero chance they are NC capable. The biggest disappointment right now in a season of rare opportunity is how poorly the staff diagnosed the shortages during portal recruitment as there were plenty of options.

 

[UCan3]

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.

I agree. What irritated me the most was all Danny’s constant 3-Peat comments. It’s almost like we were set up to have this fall.

We have some soul searching to do - that might be an unexpected positive of this debacle.

 

[uconnfan68]

I don’t know how you go from being a good enough staff to construct and coach two rosters that win national championships, to putting together a team that gets smoked by a bubble team and loses to an NIT squad. Like it’s a bit baffling at this point how badly they fudged this up after seemingly having their pick of the litter in the portal

I know they lost a lot of talent, but in the portal era you can at least replace enough to beat Colorado and Dayton…

Well, that's just not true... the portal opened during the 2nd weekend of the tournament, and because they were still playing they couldn't do anything. It's the NCAA version of parity.