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.
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!
BY expectations and reality don't sync up much.
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.
I agree with you, but the team as a whole is much better this year...
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.
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT !!!!!!
I think you should be the coach.
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.
This is what people have a hard time understanding
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.
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 Dan Hurley if he wasn't focusing on the correct things.
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.
You just mentioned a ton of things that a Coach can have a direct impact on. If he can't impact these issues why have a coach?
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.
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.
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.