What Do We Do In Practice?

[UCfor3]

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.

They are blaming him for losing. If I had a nickel for every "This is on Hurley" post on here or on the chat I could retire. It's become the kneejerk reaction whether it's all his fault , partially his fault, or not his fault at all. Losing has been a group effort. Hurley has his share as you stated above, but some things are just beyond his control. So the narrative is Hurley is responsible for stinking at the end of games. Not saying there isn't some truth there but last night in the last few minutes Gaffney tripped over his own feet and turned the ball over, we had a shot clock violation where several players passed up decent shots and were unaware of the time on the shot clock, Polley, a 5th year senior, shoots a desperate turn around 3 with a reset shot clock, and Akok forgets to put a body the guy he is supposed to block out after a missed foul shot. That's four major gaffes in the last few minutes that contributed to the loss. A coach can only do so much micro managing. At some point the players have to not turn into mash potatos as well and show they can play smart. and execute basic fundamentals. The ironic thing is he gets hammered for in game coaching and his team building is as much at fault. While Hurley and his staff are excellent recruiters and get lauded for that on here(as they should), he has struggled putting together a team that is well rounded in all areas and fits together. We are thin in the area of ball handling, creating, shooting and generally skilled basketball players. If we had another handler/creator and could shoot even a lick my guess is suddenly his coaching at the end of games wouldn't look so bad. Ollie was a genius with Bazz & Boat. Not so much after. Funny how that happened. Coaches need players to look good most of the time and defensive coaches like Hurley need them more than most. We knew he wasn't a great offensive mind coming in.

 

[uconngb]

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.

This is what people have a hard time understanding

 

[Sonova]

They are blaming him for losing. If I had a nickel for every "This is on Hurley" post on here or on the chat I could retire. It's become the kneejerk reaction whether it's all his fault , partially his fault, or not his fault at all. Losing has been a group effort. Hurley has his share as you stated above, but some things are just beyond his control. So the narrative is Hurley is responsible for stinking at the end of games. Not saying there isn't some truth there but last night in the last few minutes Gaffney tripped over his own feet and turned the ball over, we had a shot clock violation where several players passed up decent shots and were unaware of the time on the shot clock, Polley, a 5th year senior, shoots a desperate turn around 3 with a reset shot clock, and Akok forgets to put a body the guy he is supposed to block out after a missed foul shot. That's four major gaffes in the last few minutes that contributed to the loss. A coach can only do so much micro managing. At some point the players have to not turn into mash potatos as well and show they can play smart. and execute basic fundamentals. The ironic thing is he gets hammered for in game coaching and his team building is as much at fault. While Hurley and his staff are excellent recruiters and get lauded for that on here(as they should), he has struggled putting together a team that is well rounded in all areas and fits together. We are thin in the area of ball handling, creating, shooting and generally skilled basketball players. If we had another handler/creator and could shoot even a lick my guess is suddenly his coaching at the end of games wouldn't look so bad. Ollie was a genius with Bazz & Boat. Not so much after. Funny how that happened. Coaches need players to look good most of the time and defensive coaches like Hurley need them more than most. We knew he wasn't a great offensive mind coming in.

The in-game execution that people are talking about isn't just a momentary thing. Or really a micro managing thing. It's a cultural thing - one that's built by practice focus, and repetition. People talked about Calhoun's infamous rebounding drill throughout most of his career. Its no wonder that Calhoun's teams were among the leaders in the nation when it came to rebounding...or why his teams got big rebounds when they needed them in big games. By that point it was habit/muscle memory. And its why he was maniacal in cupcake games when the game was long in-hand. He knew that if he let guys take games/plays/situation off, it would come back to bite them in big moments deeper into the season. JC's teams were at their BEST in big moments (close games in the last 5 minutes). We were mentally tougher than just about everyone we played - which is really what execution is all about.

I'm not asking Hurley to be JC, but do you think Polley would have taken that shot if JC were coaching? No because he would have faced the wrath of JC much earlier in his career and learned that shots like that were a quick ticket to the end of the bench. I get that mistakes and brain farts happen (see Roscoe Smith) and maybe the Polley shot was just that...but execution gets built over time and in situations where winning isn't necessarily on the line. It then gets hardened by big moments. Unlike JC, when it's "winning time," we seem to be the deer in the headlights and these little things all seem to happen. More frequently than not.

When players turn into mashed potatoes (to use your words above), and when they constantly do it in big moments in big games...thats exactly what coaching is about.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

We talkin' 'bout practice?

OK, so here's some practice, and much of this can be "after hours" outside of organized team practice:

• Have Jackson guard Cole 1 on 1 for 20 minutes. Jackson needs to read body movement and move his feet quicker, and trying to do that on a guy quicker than him is the best way to train that. He won't be guarding a small quick point guard in games, but the guys he will be on will look much slower. Same thing for Hawkins. As an aside, have them watch Whaley move his feet on D- he's awesome at it.
• Hawkins, Gaffney, Polley, Jackson all should handle the ball full court against pressuring man to man. Why? Because teams will try to force Cole to give it up, and these guys need to be able to attack the D when they do. The goal can't just be to get it over the timeline, now the shot clock is the 6th defender.
• Rebounding - shot goes up, goal is for all five defenders to get their butt on a guy and let the ball fall to the floor untouched. No offensive players anywhere near the ball. Rinse, repeat, until it's consistent.

 

[QDOG5]

A few observations
27-11 free throw advantage for WVU. Some home cooking there.
Cole was 6-17, 2-8 from 3, and had 5 TO's He's our best player but certainly didn't have a hot hand last night.
UConn let Sherman get to his right hand all night. That's on the players and the staff.
AJax thrills and frustrates every possession. His D may eventually be elite but isn't right now. Check out his box out(not) of Sherman at the 5:22 mark of the second half.
I put the late game failures on the coaching staff not the players.

 

[UCfor3]

The in-game execution that people are talking about isn't just a momentary thing. Or really a micro managing thing. It's a cultural thing - one that's built by practice focus, and repetition. People talked about Calhoun's infamous rebounding drill throughout most of his career. Its no wonder that Calhoun's teams were among the leaders in the nation when it came to rebounding...or why his teams got big rebounds when they needed them in big games. By that point it was habit/muscle memory. And its why he was maniacal in cupcake games when the game was long in-hand. He knew that if he let guys take games/plays/situation off, it would come back to bite them in big moments deeper into the season. JC's teams were at their BEST in big moments (close games in the last 5 minutes). We were mentally tougher than just about everyone we played - which is really what execution is all about.

I'm not asking Hurley to be JC, but do you think Polley would have taken that shot if JC were coaching? No because he would have faced the wrath of JC much earlier in his career and learned that shots like that were a quick ticket to the end of the bench. I get that mistakes and brain farts happen (see Roscoe Smith) and maybe the Polley shot was just that...but execution gets built over time and in situations where winning isn't necessarily on the line. It then gets hardened by big moments. Unlike JC, when it's "winning time," we seem to be the deer in the headlights and these little things all seem to happen. More frequently than not.

When players turn into mashed potatoes (to use your words above), and when they constantly do it in big moments in big games...thats exactly what coaching is about.

Hurley's practices are notoriously tough. Hurley Sr and JC, both have been at and witnessed many practices and a National Championship assistant in Tom Moore who coached under JC is on the staff. I would think they would point out to DH if he wasn't focusing on the correct things.

Perhaps the players turn into mashed potatos because we struggle so much in certain areas, specifically offensively and ball handling, and that is magnified at the end of games when teams have timeouts, set strategic and specific defenses, and players are get rests during those timeouts and really dig in to get stops. Young people make mistakes, especially when they are deficient in areas. Polley I think was a brain fart, Gaffney tripped over his own feet. I guess nobody ever tripped under JC. I have to think Hurley does a box out/rebounding drill. We are a good rebounding team but neither of us are at practice. Again he is not without blame but our roster as constructed leaves little margin for error and the players struggle in these situations as well. BOTH players and coaches have to get better. This is like the Hawkins turnover against Auburn. A bunch of the know it all armchair coaches screaming for him to be in the game. Hurley was "cooling" him. He comes in and turns the ball over and Auburn puts the game into another OT. The same people were like " I guess that's why you don't have a freshman in there, oopsie." Last night people were acting like it wasn't a common practice to give a rest to your best player when you have a cushion as opposed to a deficet. Pretty much everyone does that. Cole hit 2 shots(admittedly a hot streak for us last night). He wasn't going berzerk NBA jam style. Our run had as much to do with WV going cold and playing sloppy. I do agree Cole should have been inserted after the timeout by WV. Hurley got free time for Cole with that timeout and got unnecessarily greedy.

 

[Puparoni]

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.

Like someone said in another thread...he needs his own George Blaney. Someone with high level experience in all facets of the game to guide him through these situations.

 

[husky429]

Like someone said in another thread...he needs his own George Blaney. Someone with high level experience in all facets of the game to guide him through these situations.

That is Tom. Hurley might just not be willing to listen. He's high strung

 

[UCfor3]

I am mentioning issues that both coaches AND players can have an impact on. That is why I mention both need to be bettter. I just don't solely blame the coaches for everything after every loss. Also, coaching can't stop a guy from tripping over his own feet or a player maybe thinking the ball didn't hit the rim and hucking up a panicked 3. A coach can run all the box out drills in the world. Doesn't ensure a player always boxes out like a cyborg. Players are going to still make untimely mistakes. It's an imperfect world and the players are human. The coach has influence but he can't control every little thing that happens on the court in real time.

 

[MTBingNinja]

Putting the ball into the basket

 

[uconngb]

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.

It’s infuriating. We all get the players missed the shots. But you can’t ignore the recurring pattern of disorganization and total fear in crunch time. A well coached team does not commit multiple shot clock violations in late game situations. Or throw crazy high risk passes in close games. We have NO clue in close games late. That’s coaching, pure and simple.

 

[Chief00]

Hurley's practices are notoriously tough. Hurley Sr and JC, both have been at and witnessed many practices and a National Championship assistant in Tom Moore who coached under JC is on the staff. I would think they would point out to DH if he wasn't focusing on the correct things.

Perhaps the players turn into mashed potatos because we struggle so much in certain areas, specifically offensively and ball handling, and that is magnified at the end of games when teams have timeouts, set strategic and specific defenses, and players are get rests during those timeouts and really dig in to get stops. Young people make mistakes, especially when they are deficient in areas. Polley I think was a brain fart, Gaffney tripped over his own feet. I guess nobody ever tripped under JC. I have to think Hurley does a box out/rebounding drill. We are a good rebounding team but neither of us are at practice. Again he is not without blame but our roster as constructed leaves little margin for error and the players struggle in these situations as well. BOTH players and coaches have to get better. This is like the Hawkins turnover against Auburn. A bunch of the know it all armchair coaches screaming for him to be in the game. Hurley was "cooling" him. He comes in and turns the ball over and Auburn puts the game into another OT. The same people were like " I guess that's why you don't have a freshman in there, oopsie." Last night people were acting like it wasn't a common practice to give a rest to your best player when you have a cushion as opposed to a deficet. Pretty much everyone does that. Cole hit 2 shots(admittedly a hot streak for us last night). He wasn't going berzerk NBA jam style. Our run had as much to do with WV going cold and playing sloppy. I do agree Cole should have been inserted after the timeout by WV. Hurley got free time for Cole with that timeout and got unnecessarily greedy.

From what Chief has seen, Hurley’s practices are physically tough. I would even maintain too physically tough for in season. Calhoun, with a few exceptions took his foot off the gas peddle during the In season practices because he didn’t want the team to physically wear down and get injuried. The physical conditioning had already been built as had the toughness in pre-season.

What I think is missing is the skill and mental aspect. Why do guys look so uncomfortable taking 3’s, be they wide open in space or a crazy rushed well defended 3?

Why do we panic and make a litany of poor mental choices down the stretch?

Usually by this point in many of their careers you know what their sweet spots are, the 2 or 3 spots a player has practiced a shot so much and developed such proficiency, he has supreme confidence in it and his teammates do too and plays are run and teammates get him the ball in those spots. Other than Sanogo’s jump hook at 5 feet (not 10 feet) and RJ mid range pop, I don’t see it. Hawkins may be a good potential shooter, but can anyone tell me his favorite spot? What I have seen in practice, my guess is the elbow 3, where you extend the foul line out to the three line.

As for Tom Moore, Chief always thought he was elite at taking an offensive weapon away from an opponent. Less so at exploiting his own weapon against an opponent.