What Do We Do In Practice?

[husky429]

He's still not there yet.It remains his growing edge.

I'm not going to look it up, but I am wondering what are his best true road wins against opposing fans up until now, particularly since he's come to UConn. Did he beat Sampson in Houston once?

During the last 7 minutes, I had a sense that a victory would have been his best such win ever. He's new to this, and not very good at it yet.

I was amazed by how much leash he gave to the frenetic play, and how much variety we saw. I'd have liked some additional Johnson, and even a chance to see if Diggins could have brought some calm.

McClure & Sherman made at least 3 well-defended shots during the first half. The refs missed a goal-tending and a clean block. Cole had a shot bounce up to the top of the backboard in addition to the wedged ball. Jackson ran out of shot clock, the second time he took forever agonizing on a 3-point look. The first went in.

Huggins got bailouts, though Whaley definitely made plays that covered for others and made them look good.

Could have been a double digit win, but also could have been a fall-apart road loss. Whether there's visible growth from this is the pending question. MANY games this year could be like this.

Again, the excruciating loss syndrome. 28 points & 14 rebounds in street clothing. We have the pieces, and the pipeline is building.

He isn't new though. He's a decade into his career and pushing 50. I think he is what he is... and what he is is a hell of a recruiter, talent manager, a hard worker, but not a game day coach. It is what it is.

 

[MTBingNinja]

The Gaffney air ball followed by the Cole 3 where the ball got stuck in the 1st half....all I could do was smile, shake my head, and grab 2 more beers from the fridge

Had to go for the Fireball, beer wasn’t going to do it for me last night

 

[MTBingNinja]

I agree. He can recruit and motivate. He’s terrible at X’s and O’s. I basically expect it by now. Biggest play of the game, out of a timeout, and we can’t even get a look.

I thought Murray would help out with this

 

[MTBingNinja]

Amazing how many turn on Hurley. The team was missing 2 starters playing at a tough WV home court with young players that will continue to improve. They lost by 3.

We win the game if Sanogo and Martin are on the court, but we had enough depth where we should’ve won the game. This one is on the players more, lousy shooting percentage.

 

[nycscooby]

Nope, I just don’t act like Chicken Little everytime they lose. There have been two losses by a combined 7 points, both down starters for against 1 loss teams. Frankly the ramblings and finger pointing in these circumstances come off far more like the ramblings of a drunk than my fair and accurate assessments.

For these two losses, there were two impressive wins over Auburn and VCU, but I’m sure you’d have some critique as to how those games could have went better too, bc again, some people are just simply negative about life.

Check back after our coming losses.

Every team can have a bad shooting night but it goes
deeper than this.

Up 5 or 6 I believe midway through second half, our half court D is suffocating them. Momentum clearly on our side, finally a couple of shots fall in consecutive possessions. We get two turnovers that result in a missed practically half court alley-oop to AJ that goes through his hands and then a long ill timed pass to Hawkins I believe. We make those two scores and it’s a 9 or 10 point lead and perhaps we close out? Instead we fumble the opportunities and it becomes a tied or one point game. Just poor decision making at critical times.

And the ball handling is really atrocious like shocking for a high D1 program.

Expect every opponent to extend pressure out to the perimeter, overplay the wings and double RJ to try and keep the ball out of his hands. Seems very effective.

Yes, this loss on the players for sure.

But, when we have Whaley, Jackson and Akok on the floor at the same time we are going to really struggle to score.

 

[navery12]

But the whole nobody wanting to shoot is coaching and practicing plays to pihtnwhere players are comfortable shooting the ball in the right spots.
Too often isnthe wrong player with the ball in the wrong spot as shot clock winds down. That is all coaching from play designs, to practicing to identifying which players are successful in which spots. Last night was a constant square peg and round hole.

To a point it is, but I think that's over simplifying it. It's the plays like Samson Johnson passing up an open 3 to dribble the ball into 3 defenders and lose it. Or the multiple times players passed up a good shot with 3 on the shot clock to force up a bad shot from someone else. The offense looked good for the first 25-30 minutes or so in the way you're talking about, shots just weren't falling

 

[HuskyFich]

we can say Hurley struggles late in games. But it’s also because we don’t have an alpha to slow the other team down. It’s not the final 4 minutes that are killing us, it’s the adjustments coaches are making to Cole at halftime.

We literally have no one we can be confident in to bring the ball up, create their own shot, or facilitate the offense through ball movement except Cole, and he’s 6’0 in shoes on a good day.

Really need improvement from Hawkins and AJax. Going into the season we were expecting strong minutes from 6 players we are not getting right now.(AJax, Hawkins, Diggins, gaffney, akok, polley)

Let’s be honest, they’re all VASTLY under performing compared to BY expectations. I believe things will change, but this team may not truly hit its stride until February

 

[husky429]

we can say Hurley struggles late in games. But it’s also because we don’t have an alpha to slow the other team down.

We had an alpha last year and had the same problems. It was probably worse.

 

[GetTheFacts]

I don't really buy the excuse that we should give a pass to Hurley just because we're missing two key players. Nearly every player on this roster was a former top 100 recruit, the talent is there. He needs to find a way to win games where we are clearly the better team. It's even MORE puzzling because all we heard in the off-season was "45:07", yet we're just as bad this season at closing out games in big spots.

 

[Chin Diesel]

To a point it is, but I think that's over simplifying it. It's the plays like Samson Johnson passing up an open 3 to dribble the ball into 3 defenders and lose it. Or the multiple times players passed up a good shot with 3 on the shot clock to force up a bad shot from someone else. The offense looked good for the first 25-30 minutes or so in the way you're talking about, shots just weren't falling

Those are exactly the plays I'm talking about. In practice it should be made clear that Johnson shouldn't be trying to dribble from the corner to the baseline to try and get to the basket. He's playing against high level D1 defenders who know how to use end lines and side lines as extra defenders and put you in a bad spot. I'm not real keen on Johnson trying the dribble from the 3 point line to the hoop right now at all.

I didn't mind his top of the key 3 as a trail man on a fast break. Do I wish he would have set his feet and taken a better shot? Sure. But if he is going to be a stretch 4, it's now normal for that player to take a 3 at that point in a possession.

 

[Get a Job]

I was amazed by how much leash he gave to the frenetic play, and how much variety we saw. I'd have liked some additional Johnson, and even a chance to see if Diggins could have brought some calm.

You and me both, brother. You and me both.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Couple of typos. New cell phone and still getting used to keyboard.

Good for the mojo:
"Pihtnwhere isnthe" is
the new "Fort the ead."

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Those are exactly the plays I'm talking about. In practice it should be made clear that Johnson shouldn't be trying to dribble from the corner to the baseline to try and get to the basket. He's playing against high level D1 defenders who know how to use end lines and side lines as extra defenders and put you in a bad spot. I'm not real keen on Johnson trying the dribble from the 3 point line to the hoop right now at all.

I didn't mind his top of the key 3 as a trail man on a fast break. Do I wish he would have set his feet and taken a better shot? Sure. But if he is going to be a stretch 4, it's now normal for that player to take a 3 at that point in a possession.

Those are not the plays to worried about imo. He is a freshman playing his first minutes against higher level competition and he made a dumb mistake, it is going to happen. If these things keep continuing with more and more minutes then I would be concerned, but pinpointing one Samson mistake at this point in time is just nitpicking.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

We should have won.

Team was playing way faster than it felt comfortable playing. Alot of the threes were open but rushed, not set. Need to get used to playing fast but under control and take time where they can, especially when shooting wide open shots. That will come with playing at this pace. I didn't like the rebounding one bit.

Very winnable.

I don't share the opinion of your final sentence, but it's worth at least noting that Hawkins, Polley, and Akok who shot 2 of 18 and put up a collective donut from 3, grabbed 19 of the team's 35 rebounds.

It would have and could have been a terrific, high-learning, creative, and joyous win. It wasn't.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Those are not the plays to worried about imo. He is a freshman playing his first minutes against higher level competition and he made a dumb mistake, it is going to happen. If these things keep continuing with more and more minutes then I would be concerned, but pinpointing one Samson mistake at this point in time is just nitpicking.

I was just using Samson's play as an example.

As to the points I've highlighted we've seen more than one player making the same types of mistakes whether it be passes, dribbling, not catching the ball, etc. That is the bigger concern to me. It doesn't seem like the players are being coached to recognize their low probability plays.

 

[Milo65]

Boxing out on the free throws. Total lack of basic basketball skills. We needed those rebounds and gave WV the ball. Without Sanogo and Martin, we knew scoring would be tough, doing the little things: playing tough D, no fouls, limit turnovers, boxing out, working for good shots. They didn't do enough of the little things.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He isn't new though. He's a decade into his career and pushing 50. I think he is what he is... and what he is is a hell of a recruiter, talent manager, a hard worker, but not a game day coach. It is what it is.

He's now at a new level and higher level than ever before, and will be from here on out. I'll keep referring to this as his biggest challenge and his "growing edge," in a hopeful stance that I don't harden into seeing him like the many coaches I've hung with that tag over the years.

We see the same things, we want the same things. Coach sees them and wants them as well.

I don't really buy the excuse that we should give a pass to Hurley just because we're missing two key players. Nearly every player on this roster was a former top 100 recruit, the talent is there. He needs to find a way to win games where we are clearly the better team. It's even MORE puzzling because all we heard in the off-season was "45:07", yet we're just as bad this season at closing out games in big spots.

Yeah, the 45:07 has felt compromised. Coaches, players, and fans all have adjustments to make in order to be ever better as the season progresses. #Meliora!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

we can say Hurley struggles late in games. But it’s also because we don’t have an alpha to slow the other team down. It’s not the final 4 minutes that are killing us, it’s the adjustments coaches are making to Cole at halftime.

We literally have no one we can be confident in to bring the ball up, create their own shot, or facilitate the offense through ball movement except Cole, and he’s 6’0 in shoes on a good day.

Really need improvement from Hawkins and AJax. Going into the season we were expecting strong minutes from 6 players we are not getting right now.(AJax, Hawkins, Diggins, gaffney, akok, polley)

Let's be honest, they're all VASTLY under performing compared to BY expectations. I believe things will change, but this team may not truly hit its stride until February

BY expectations and reality don't sync up much.

When they do come close, we are among the most joyous fans in sports.

This is a crucial time, in a season when all time will feel crucial. It was the first game this year that my sister sat down and watched w/full attention. I was watching on cable, not streaming, so I could txt back-and-forth without time lag. Watching through my own eyes, getting her fresh eyes POV, and 'brothersplaining' things in the context of having seen 8 prior games offered me too much to just say, "Same old, same old." Our job is to build a season one game at a time.

 

[superjohn]

The only thing nobody can seem to answer is, how Hurleys coaching could've forced the shots to go in? It's not like the shots weren't open? What was he supposed to do? The defense was great, isn't that mostly coaching? Do yall even realize Andre was second on the team in made 3s today? Seems like coaching only gets brought up when things go wrong. Jim Calhoun didn't have some magic voo doo that made his players shots go in, the players did their part in executing open looks. Blame Hurley for not recruiting a transfer shooter if you need to blame him for that disaster. Even if his rotations are head scratching, not one player was making anything, so why does that matter in this case? Better sets and rotations weren't gonna solve our problems tonight.

39% FG, 3/21 14.3% from deep, 6/11 from the Free throw line, 55%. Never gonna win when players play this poorly.

Why do posters constantly do this? People aren't blaming Hurley for the horrid shooting and he gets praised for their defense. They're blaming him for cooling our hot shooter/best player, they're blaming him for poor offensive execution, they're blaming him for deer in the headlights/not adjusting when the opposing coach changes defenses on him, they're blaming him for having no out of bounds plays... There's recurring themes in all these games when they have a lead going into the final stretches of games which leads to the wheels coming off over and over again.

 

[HuskyFich]

We had an alpha last year and had the same problems. It was probably worse.

I agree with you, but the team as a whole is much better this year...
let's just hope Hawkins' dribble can improve 10x by the end of BE play.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

 

[Kenny11]

I agree with you, but the team as a whole is much better this year...
let's just hope Hawkins' dribble can improve 10x by the end of BE play.

His handle probably isn’t as bad as it looks. He’s just nervous as hell..or too excited, as the whole team is in crunch time. Is the amount of intensity within the team too much and guys can’t calm down and stay composed??? I don’t know. But it’s a big issue.

 

[tower1]

Hurley gives too long a leash for guys that really aren't contributing.

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT !!!!!!

 

[NCNutmeg]

Last night it was clear to me that Cole felt the pressure of having to carry us a bit more than he should ever have to considering the talent that surrounds him, even without Martin and Sanogo in the lineup. Polley needs to watch more Rip Hamilton or Ray film and understand how to move without the basketball to get the open shot. Same with Hawkins, as previous posters have stated, the kid is a liability when he puts the ball on the floor. Andre had a pretty good game, in my opinion. Just needs to get under control a bit more and learn what a jump stop is, but wasn't too upset about his play overall. And yes, not rebounding on free throws when you're on defense is how you lose close games. Prognosis: We'll be fine.

 

[Banta55]

He isn't new though. He's a decade into his career and pushing 50. I think he is what he is... and what he is is a hell of a recruiter, talent manager, a hard worker, but not a game day coach. It is what it is.

I think you should be the coach.