What did Calhoun teach that Hurley isn't teaching (re: fouls)?

[ToolzieFan]

Look, I'm feeling good about today's win and even better about the rest of the season, including the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament. I think we were hurt by questionable calls today. Still, I think we foul a little too much. This team has the potential to reach the Sweet 16, and I'd hate to see us lose a game because a key player commits a dumb foul. Overall, our defense is awesome, though. I can't really complain.

That being said, I went to KenPom.com and looked up our historical FTA/FGA rate. It's not a perfect measure, but ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts (shown as a percent) seems like a great way to compare. The national rank is useful because it takes into account changes in the way the games are called. I'm not focused on our relative struggles of late. I just wanted us all to remember how elite our best teams with Calhoun were. Our ability to defend without sending teams to the line was truly outstanding.

	Offense		Defense
Year	FTA/FGA	Rank	FTA/FGA	Rank
1997	36	201	35.5	94
1998	38	161	32.3	50
1999	41.1	81	28.2	12
2000	34.1	226	29.5	30
2001	40.4	136	34.7	74
2002	39.1	129	30.7	43
2003	35.8	178	32.3	70
2004	34.5	233	24.8	5
2005	41.3	60	25.6	9
2006	41.9	35	24.8	9
2007	45.5	15	31	60
2008	48.1	4	23.5	5
2009	46.4	6	19.5	1
2010	44.1	48	26.6	9
2011	33.8	268	26.8	10
2012	34.6	215	25.3	5
2013	36.9	144	31	62
2014	38.3	233	35.7	79
2015	32.3	295	32.6	79
2016	29.6	332	35.4	135
2017	34.5	199	32	93
2018	32.4	207	33.9	196
2019	32.7	189	39.2	312
2020	34.6	125	34.6	234
2021	29.1	241	38.4	301

On a related note, it will always be a shame that we didn’t have Jerome Dyson in the 2009 Final Four. I’d love that fifth banner.

 

[bendm]

sanogo and carlton are slow, aj is young, whaley tries to block everything

 

[Ts5034]

JC worked the refs like no other. He put the fear of God in any referee that thought about calling a borderline foul against his men. We were spoiled then.
Stop expecting the Hurley era to be the same as the JC era.

This post says a lot, and It's true...Calhoun was a genius with the officials. He was on them from the first second of the game until the last. Hurley works the officials as well, but It may take some time before he gains that reputation and respect from the guys in the stripes.

 

[jkfer98]

Look, I'm feeling good about today's win and even better about the rest of the season, including the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament. I think we were hurt by questionable calls today. Still, I think we foul a little too much. This team has the potential to reach the Sweet 16, and I'd hate to see us lose a game because a key player commits a dumb foul. Overall, our defense is awesome, though. I can't really complain.

That being said, I went to KenPom.com and looked up our historical FTA/FGA rate. It's not a perfect measure, but ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts (shown as a percent) seems like a great way to compare. The national rank is useful because it takes into account changes in the way the games are called. I'm not focused on our relative struggles of late. I just wanted us all to remember how elite our best teams with Calhoun were. Our ability to defend without sending teams to the line was truly outstanding.

	Offense		Defense
Year	FTA/FGA	Rank	FTA/FGA	Rank
1997	36	201	35.5	94
1998	38	161	32.3	50
1999	41.1	81	28.2	12
2000	34.1	226	29.5	30
2001	40.4	136	34.7	74
2002	39.1	129	30.7	43
2003	35.8	178	32.3	70
2004	34.5	233	24.8	5
2005	41.3	60	25.6	9
2006	41.9	35	24.8	9
2007	45.5	15	31	60
2008	48.1	4	23.5	5
2009	46.4	6	19.5	1
2010	44.1	48	26.6	9
2011	33.8	268	26.8	10
2012	34.6	215	25.3	5
2013	36.9	144	31	62
2014	38.3	233	35.7	79
2015	32.3	295	32.6	79
2016	29.6	332	35.4	135
2017	34.5	199	32	93
2018	32.4	207	33.9	196
2019	32.7	189	39.2	312
2020	34.6	125	34.6	234
2021	29.1	241	38.4	301

For more context, URI and Wagner's ranks in defensive free throw rate while Hurley was their coach:
2018 - 308
2017 - 334
2016 - 240
2015 - 323
2014 - 231
2013 - 269
2012 - 333
2011 - 344

Doesn't appear to be random. So it seems like something UConn fans are going to have to live with under Hurley.

 

[jayfromfla]

Has anyone thought the added calls is because there is no crowd. The impact of 10000 screaming fans can influence later calls

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I would have been fine with a Hurley tech in the second half.

Obviously when Brian O’Connell - the single worst official in the history of sports - is doing your game there are going to be some tough calls. But the refs are the only thing that kept that game as close as it was.

 

[willie99]

Calhoun worked the refs like none other. Hence he was on the other side of the calls

 

[bmayuc]

They play different defensive styles. Calhoun's teams would play very solid, go under screens most of the time, and funnel the ball to bigs rather than hand check too much. There was a run there where we would typically make more than our opponents attempted every year.

Hurleys teams play manic, scrambling, physical defense that emphasizes hard hedging, bumps and rotations - meaning lots of nickel dimers and challenges drives to the rim. Recipes for fouls and free throws.

Here is an area as Hurleyatures and gets physically dominant players, where he can grow as a coach IMHO. Know your players, and if they are physical but slower, maybe mix in some soft hedge and go under some screens.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Has anyone thought the added calls is because there is no crowd. The impact of 10000 screaming fans can influence later calls

I remember reading research indicating that the home team definitely got the advantage for subjective calls in the NBA. In other words, away teams didn’t lose the ball out of bounds more often, but they called called for charges more often. I’m actually very curious if there is a home court advantage in terms of both foul calls and overall performance this year. Weren’t home teams almost exactly 0.500 in the NFL this year?

 

[Kenny11]

JC worked the refs like no other. He put the fear of God in any referee that thought about calling a borderline foul against his men. We were spoiled then.
Stop expecting the Hurley era to be the same as the JC era.

Refs were scared by Calhoun, they are annoyed by Hurley. Lol

 

[Icehawk]

I remember reading research indicating that the home team definitely got the advantage for subjective calls in the NBA. In other words, away teams didn’t lose the ball out of bounds more often, but they called called for charges more often. I’m actually very curious if there is a home court advantage in terms of both foul calls and overall performance this year. Weren’t home teams almost exactly 0.500 in the NFL this year?

This was linked in another thread:
Causal effects of an absent crowd on performances and refereeing decisions during Covid-19 - ScienceDirect

 

[freshler40]

Yeah Sanogo will often wall well, but then he leaves the ball handler to return to his man before the primary defender has returned, so the guy can throw a pass to his man, which while our D has rotated in position usually and Sanogo is coming to double, is still a mismatch (think Jackson on their center).

We seems to run this top of the key double team a lot and sometimes like with Gillespie get caught with a Cole switch and backed down. We were slow to change this and paid heavily. Apparently backing down a player is OK. It was done against yesterday but was less success as we sometimes double team or faked one. Seems that the defense is always called a foul. In yesterdays women's game, Liv was triple teamed. The opposite happened when she was called for a technical for complaining? It is still unclear why this technical was called. This is a muddy area in basketball, much like Duke style faking being hit. What is the answer?

 

[dennismenace]

Calhoun taught fear. Fear that you would be benched if you didn’t do what he told you to do.

I would venture that he frequently told them this. He clearly communicated to them that he meant exactly what he said. Therefore, there was no confusion when it happened. He reinforced this to what some thought was extreme by calling timeouts sometimes in the first minute and hooking someone. I have noticed that this is an excellent way to manage almost any type of organization when the leadership is:
a) Highly organized
b) clearly communicates plans
c) follows up immediately when the plan isn't being followed

This isn't being "mean". It is meant as a reminder that this is a team (or other organization) and goals are to be respected by all because teamwork requires cooperation by all for all to succeed.

He allowed a lot of latitude in situations where creative players needed to improvise if required to say get a shot off.

Most of his players loved him because he wanted the best for them personally as well as the team. He was teaching life lessons as well as the sport. The older players used to reassure the younger players that when he was screaming at them it was because he wanted them to succeed and win.

He was a one of a kind. Always kind of fascinated by his understudy days with Red Auerbach who did not seem to have the same demeanor but whose teams were highly disciplined and team oriented. Wish there was more written about that relationship.