What is your take on Hurley and the Refs?

[CardiacAndre7]

Reed was mugged underneath on multiple occasions. We were feeding the post and not getting calls.

To be fair, they were letting the big boys bang. Dainja didn’t get any calls either.

 

[Kenny11]

Hurley is who he is. He’s a great coach and he’s crazy and obsessed. He’s going to lose his Shh sometimes. It cost us the game yesterday

 

[Icehawk]

I love the passion, hate the timing of this T though. Also, I think Ts should be announced and explained, that first one is and was a real head scratcher.

I do wish he’d try tempering the insults/language, hard to defend him when he’s just straight up swearing at the refs all game. Leave that to us!

Those two elbow calls are a real WTF though.

 

[Mr. French]

He’s a front runner because he didn’t abuse officials when he was winning games by easy margins
He obviously doesn’t have the team he had the last two years so he goes back to abusing officials
That’s exactly what the front runners
He’s on good behavior when things are going well and as soon as it doesn’t, he isn’t

This is odd. And objectively wrong.

 

[Improviser]

If it gets the players fired up, even better.

Maybe so, if done earlier in the game, but not in OT when we had momentum.

Calhoun would deliberately draw technicals when the players were sloughing off, but I don't recall him doing it very much when the game was on the line.

This was bad timing on Hurley's part.

 

[98Uconn]

Dan’s quotes seem to imply that we should be getting more respect from the refs due to our success…..
The thing is.. that respect needs to be earned, and by non stop talking to the refs like they are dog **** on your shoe, you’re never going to get the treatment you want.
It’s simple human nature.. you can’t force someone to respect you by denigrating them constantly.

 

[freescooter]

No. Absolutely not. Getting T‘d up for opening your mouth is a coaching flaw. Physically attacking players is a personal flaw. Not a comparison that it’s fair to make.

Look how it started with Knight. Uncontrollable anger at bad calls while he was at Army. The one in the NIT was infamous. The one at Rupp. Throwing the chair. All started with losing control over calls. I’m not saying Hurley will head down that road. Just that he needs to watch himself. For crying out loud, He’s still yapping at the press conference. And still not taking responsibility. He got hit with a T in a tie game with 40 second left in double ot. Not in the first half. He threw himself on the floor like a friggin’ 2-year old.

I thought he was over this nonsense. But it’s back. I just hope he gets himself under control again. And show some class.

 

[Mike Honcho]

I can't believe people are taking the side of the referee over Dan Hurley. You don't get to make a terrible call and then double down on it by T'ing up the coach in the THAT situation. If you let Hurley mouth off all game long, you don't pick that moment to T him up either. Where is the accountability for referees in this sport?

College basketball needs a challenge option because these refs are consistently terrible. Hurley is not even asking for a favorable whistle, he is asking for a FAIR whistle. We don't even get a fair whistle. Does anyone remember last year when Goodman reported that numerous refs told him that they have a personal animus against Dan Hurley? Yeah. And we're supposed to expect them to be unbiased? This is something that borders on match fixing and I cannot believe that it wasn't investigated to find out which refs told Goodman that.

There are plenty of fair critiques of the refs from yesterday, but here's my take:

• They were obviously calling it super tight, with a whistle 19 seconds in. Instead of adjusting to how the game was called, Hurley expected the refs to bend to his will and loosen up a bit. It's a reasonable stance, but given that Memphis was in the double bonus with over 10 minutes to go in the half, there was ample time to reflect and change strategy. Our coaching staff did not.
  
  
• We have a fouling problem. Samson is a fouling machine. He fouled out in 5 minutes in the national championship game. Our guards have been way too handsy, especially Solo. We contest everything even after we've been beat.
  
  
• The over the back call was not as egregious as you're making it out to be. We're UConn homers and obviously we wanted the call, but it was a 50/50 call at best. Had Danny picked his spots and decided what he wanted to get worked up about, I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten rung up in that situation. But he was a maniac the entire night.
  
  
• The cameras panned away, but right after the game ended, they showed Kimani (and not Dan) going up to Penny to shake hands. Danny got into the scene soon thereafter, but it seemed pretty clear that he was (again) going after the refs. He has acknowledged that his reputation has preceded him in some instances, and I'm sure he'd agree that this is not the way to remedy that perception.

And also, we gave up 99 points yesterday. Just let that sink in.

 

[Woodson]

Still waiting for our apology!
…
Lol

 

[Deepster]

It has nothing to do with being a hot house flower. It has everything to do with winning. Coach cost us the game. Period. He needs to do better.

I disagree with you. I could point to 20 other things that “cost us” the game over that T.

Ohhhhh, our coach lost his temper! Be better!!! Boo hoo. It’s like the Calhoun years are forgotten here. Pansies.

 

[UConniki]

Rather have a coach with passion who defends his team than a coach who shows no emotion.

Of course we want a coach who coaches with passion but not to the detriment of the team and the outcome. And it seems it’s spreading to the rest of the team. If I’m remembering correctly the bench got a T and Johnson after contributing absolutely nothing to the game which was a plus because it allowed Reed to play longer decided to join in with the festivities and shove a player which was also in overtime and would’ve resulted in 2 shots and the ball if not for the retaliatory shove by a member of Memphis well after fact which luckily negated Johnson’s stupid decision. We were looking at a possible 8 point swing at the end of a close game based on unsportsmanlike behavior. There’s passion and then there’s inexcusable disregard for Winning which is what we were supposed to be trying to do. I thought we were past this because I don’t remember much if any of this stuff going on the last two years. JMHO

 

[Hurleyman216]

Let’s be honest, even if Hurley didn’t draw a T there at the end do you think those officials were walking off the court without making some other egregious call in Memphis’ favor to hand them the game? I’ve never seen so much flopping in my life. There were at least 3 fouls called on us with a Memphis player taking a 3, two of them that I watched replays on showed absolutely no contact, but the Memphis guys fell to the floor after every 3. If you’re going to call touch fouls when they are driving to the hoop, then you need to call all of the hand and body checking that was going on way past the 3 point line. For the first 10 minutes of the game the refs let Memphis physically bully us out to half court while calling touch fouls and phantom technical fouls on our medical trainer. Sorry, but that was some god awful officiating and if it means us taking a loss so that Hurley can further discuss it after the game then so be it. I hope he keeps referring to this game all year as the game we lost playing 5 on 8 just to prove his point. The NCAA needs to do better. Yes, UConn has kept the power football schools from winning championships recently, but officiating a game like that just makes it look like the entire NCAA is out to take UConn down so a P5 team can win the championship.

 

[huskyjawz]

Hurley needs to realize he's not Coach K. or Dean Smith. Refs are watching him and allow a lot, so whatever they actually call must be bad. I question the timing of the 2nd T, not whether he deserved it. I remember JC costing the team games as well and it infuriated me. You can't give away points in close games and riding regs usually backfires.

Name a game that Calhoun cost the team a win with a technical. I don't believe it.

 

[Storrsbred]

I disagree with you. I could point to 20 other things that “cost us” the game over that T.

Ohhhhh, our coach lost his temper! Be better!!! Boo hoo. It’s like the Calhoun years are forgotten here. Pansies.

I doubt Calhoun would have taken a technical at that point in a game.

 

[Ctedgeman]

It would probably be more effective if it stayed somewhat civil and didn't go on for too long like any other coach complaining about calls. Danny seems to take it way too far and attacks the refs themselves (ie. Saying "You're a bleeping joke" over and over). It may seem silly, but I think from the ref's point of view, there is a big difference between a coach saying his particular call on that play was a joke vs. saying he, as a person, is a joke.

When he's in this mode, it seems more like refs can't stand him and are more likely to be completely uninterested in listening to him or giving him a makeup call.

 

[BlueandOG]

I disagree with you. I could point to 20 other things that “cost us” the game over that T.

Ohhhhh, our coach lost his temper! Be better!!! Boo hoo. It’s like the Calhoun years are forgotten here. Pansies.

Calling people that disagree with you pansies doesn't help your argument. Show me the evidence. Let me know the game Calhoun lost due to a technical. Or even a time when he got a T in a similar situation. Also, tell me how the T Hurley got yesterday did not make it harder for us to win.

 

[huskyjawz]

I am surprised by the number of hothouse flowers we have on this board.

I stand with Coach. Period.

When losing hurts more than winning feels good, you have guys that are wired differently. Michael Jordan punched his own teammates in practice. Calhoun had one of the shortest fuses in the history of the sport. Larry Bird had a temper.

Truth is, if the team showed half the fire that Hurley showed we wouldn't have been in that predicament to begin with. We played like crap in the last cupcake warm up and we played sloppy on both ends of the floor yesterday and he won't accept it and neither will I. Keep doing exactly what you're doing, Coach.

Bird and Jordan would never give away an advantage by losing their cool and getting a technical in a big spot.

 

[imno1]

Give Coach a break. He just had a year and 1/2 of not letting off any steam. Maybe he just had to let it out.

 

[sdglast]

This has been an ongoing issue since Hurley got here. We all complained that KO never rode refs, and now you have the other side of the coin. I think there needs to be a healthy balance where you ride refs and get a T when your team needs it, as opposed to getting a T with the game on the line. My guess is that Hurley was beside himself all day and the McNeeley call put him over the top. He's not going to change from being a guy who rides refs, but you have to hope he straddles the line but doesn't cross it (like he did yesterday). To his defense on riding refs, that game was absymally officiating. Heck, you have Devin Carter, a Providence guy, tweeting how poorly officated it was. He was getting the short end of the stick on all the calls all game, and the McNeeley play just blew the gasket for him. Now, I think some of his antics are to use the pulpit he has to shine a light on the officiating issues. Not mention, he is still ticked that his team shot less free throws than a small school team in buy-game the game before. In the end, you can't take away who he is, a fighter/madman (he's our madman), totally. That will be there, but he does have to adjust a bit moving forward.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Let’s be honest, even if Hurley didn’t draw a T there at the end do you think those officials were walking off the court without making some other egregious call in Memphis’ favor to hand them the game? I’ve never seen so much flopping in my life. There were at least 3 fouls called on us with a Memphis player taking a 3, two of them that I watched replays on showed absolutely no contact, but the Memphis guys fell to the floor after every 3. If you’re going to call touch fouls when they are driving to the hoop, then you need to call all of the hand and body checking that was going on way past the 3 point line. For the first 10 minutes of the game the refs let Memphis physically bully us out to half court while calling touch fouls and phantom technical fouls on our medical trainer. Sorry, but that was some god awful officiating and if it means us taking a loss so that Hurley can further discuss it after the game then so be it. I hope he keeps referring to this game all year as the game we lost playing 5 on 8 just to prove his point. The NCAA needs to do better. Yes, UConn has kept the power football schools from winning championships recently, but officiating a game like that just makes it look like the entire NCAA is out to take UConn down so a P5 team can win the championship.

Take off the blinders. We got totally bailed out on Samson's technical. We were extraordinarily fortunate the refs called a double-tech there to negate that enormous blunder.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Take off the blinders. We got totally bailed out on Samson's technical. We were extraordinarily fortunate the refs called a double-tech there to negate that enormous blunder.

So you cherry picked literally the one call that went in our favor which offset the 10-15 blown calls against us? Samson’s technical was not good, but it was a result of the refs having no control over that game. Johnson was getting thrown around like a ragdoll but he was the one who committed 5 fouls in 10 minutes.

 

[Zonepress]

Calling people that disagree with you pansies doesn't help your argument. Show me the evidence. Let me know the game Calhoun lost due to a technical. Or even a time when he got a T in a similar situation. Also, tell me how the T Hurley got yesterday did not make it harder for us to win.

Facts and evidence on this forum are in short supply

 

[El Obrero]

Hurley gon’ Hurley. He was wrong, and I have no problem with people here ripping him and blaming him for the loss, even though I will not. (Back-to-back natties earns you a bunch of free coupons in my world.)
But the biased whistle here was so over the top, it’s malpractice if those refs aren’t at least called into a meeting by their supervisors.

 

[Mike Honcho]

So you cherry picked literally the one call that went in our favor which offset the 10-15 blown calls against us? Samson’s technical was not good, but it was a result of the refs having no control over that game. Johnson was getting thrown around like a ragdoll but he was the one who committed 5 fouls in 10 minutes.

We didn't keep our composure in the big moments. If you want to assign 100% of the blame to the refs, so be it. I personally believe that smart teams adapt to circumstances on the ground, and we refused to.

 

[Himhalhoun]

There were some very questionable calls against us not doubt. However, Coach Hurley should have more self control and know how to temper his emotions considering the score and time.

I'm sure Andrea will have a chat with him

 

[NoSpamHere]

Dan Hurley is the next Big Villian in CBB

I always wanted to join a cult lead by a "complete psychopath"

 

[Himhalhoun]

The funny part to me is that the question that's posed by the thread is, What is Your Take on Hurley and the refs? That's a general question. Then everyone here makes it just about the technical. It seems most people on this board are okay with Hurley's behavior if he doesn't get the tech. I understand the outrage about the tech, because it might have cost us the game in this case, and that's inexcusable.

But is it okay for him to just continually abuse officials every single game? Referees are human beings. They're just regular guys trying to do their jobs the best they can. We all get that coaches have to work their butts off, and it's frustrating when refs don't get a call right. But Hurley is yelling at them the WHOLE GAME. He screams at them at any close call that doesn't go his way. Sometimes Hurley sees it right, and I'm guessing most times when he's screaming, the ref actually got it right. Again, the guys calling the games are human. We've all seen it, they're going to get most things right, and some things wrong. It's part of the game. Screaming at the officials constantly shouldn't be part of the game.

Dan Hurley is the best coach in college basketball in my opinion. That doesn't give him a free pass to do whatever he wants.

There is a method to his madness!

 

[gtcam]

Obviously the refs vs Dan Hurley battle continues through the Colorado game.
Not saying that it will continue after this awful tournament but Dan Hurley needs to reflect on how many points his actions are adding to score before the start of the game.

 

[mauconnfan]

When you teach excellence you demand excellence in return. We can talk all we want about “knowing the situation”, etc but that’s not how people like Danny, Steve Jobs, etc are wired. Liam did an excellent job of high-pointing the rebound exactly how you’d teach it, the ref’s blew the call. Where it will always be a journey for Danny (and us as fans) is expecting perfection.

Well then the perfect coach would not be selfish enough to get a T in that situation. Took the game from his kids after a great comeback, it’s not acceptable.

And the calls they got and didn’t get today translated from his whiny ways thus far in Maui. Coach a little more whine a little less please!

 

[Excalibur]

Memphis was a gang r@63 by the officials. Tonight we had nobody to blame but ourselves.