Why is it that Dan Hurley had the team playing such a slow tempo with such good athletes and mediocre shooting? I just think the way the team is going to likely be comprised next year you have to play faster than we did last year. Thoughts?
Why is it that Dan Hurley had the team playing such a slow tempo
- Thread starter Colin G
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I agree, it always bothered me watching this team that anytime we played a faster tempo we seemed to control the game. I felt like that is where RJ, Gaff and Jackson got to play to their strengths and build their confidence. Not to mention athletic big men like Whaley and Sanogo (And Akok when healthy) that can get up and down the floor. The weaving and screening at the top of the key was just so predictable at times last year. Now was it flawless, mistake free basketball? No. But it allowed our guys to really turn it into a track meet, use their athleticism in open space and tire the other team out by the middle of the second half.
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Hurley's defensive style and recruiting don't match his offense. I posted it once, but he's only been top 100 in tempo once as a coach. He averages over 200th.
Which is FINE. We can be that kind of team that plays slow. But that also means we need to change our defense and recruiting. Go to packline and recruit more skill and shooting with less athletes with less skill on the team. Pressure defense means fast transition basketball, or else what was the point of the high intensity, high risk defense?
Or... we stick with the uptempo pressure defense and accept that high tempo teams that run on offense will make mistakes and turn it over more. But the payoff with easy buckets is worth it. Hurley hasn't been willing to evaluate that risk/reward very well yet for whatever reason.
I do think we should continue to recruit elite offensive rebounders no matter what. Add a few shooters around that and you have a decent+ offense.
Which is FINE. We can be that kind of team that plays slow. But that also means we need to change our defense and recruiting. Go to packline and recruit more skill and shooting with less athletes with less skill on the team. Pressure defense means fast transition basketball, or else what was the point of the high intensity, high risk defense?
Or... we stick with the uptempo pressure defense and accept that high tempo teams that run on offense will make mistakes and turn it over more. But the payoff with easy buckets is worth it. Hurley hasn't been willing to evaluate that risk/reward very well yet for whatever reason.
I do think we should continue to recruit elite offensive rebounders no matter what. Add a few shooters around that and you have a decent+ offense.
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I noticed that too. Between that, the improved rotation, and using Sanogo I thought Hurley showed some real improvement by the end of the year.
HuskyHawk
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It's like he can't make up his mind. I had that feeling all year and the year before. His rationale that we didn't have the shooters to win games over 70 was (a) illogical and (b) wrong. Our best games were higher scoring. We lost the slow rock fights. If you can't shoot well, you need those transition points. Our offense bogs down in the half court.
A guy like Jackson is far more valuable in an up tempo offense and pressure defense. I don't expect Loyola Marymount style of play, but speed things up a little bit please.
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I think Hurley was afraid to play fast because we were so sloppy with the basketball. As the season progressed, we got better and brought the TOs down. Our first game with less than 10 TOs was at the end of February.
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And it was puzzling that later in the season, after Bouk came back, Hurley specifically mentioned a few times that the team needed to play faster. But then I didn't notice any difference. Did anyone else?
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Going into the Xavier game (so not exactly when Bouk came back but when I noticed the change), we were 334th in pace at 64.2 possessions a game. We ended the season at 309th and 65.5 possessions a game. Might seem marginal but that means the stretch where Hurley talked about changing the pace we were averaging 67.2 possessions a game which would have been 225th in the country. So not necessarily a fast pace, but noticeably different
This probably makes the most sense. Would love to see Whaley or Sanogo work on accurate outlet passes down the floor, plenty of guys on the team next year that should be adept at attacking the rim.
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Yeah, let’s be honest, Hurleys aware of this especially if we are. It’s a great observation that we need to close the gap on
exactly!
We did not have the personal to play much faster. A lot of our players couldn’t finish at the rim which didn’t help.
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If the question is why, didn't Dan Hurley literally tell us several times during the season? Early in the year and with James out, he said they were playing against better scoring teams, so the best chance to win was to limit the number of total possessions in the game. He also said that one of his goals going forward is to play faster. I can see asking if he's wrong, but he has answered the why question.
Icehawk
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I haven't watched BB in a very long time, came back near the end of last season and rediscovered my love of it - but it seems like from watching the tournament that the overall speed of the game is much slower than I remember. I am sure there are fast teams still but even the high scoring games I watched it seemed like they wound the clock down every possession. So few fast breaks, nothing like the Kemba days. My guess is this is because the 3 is more the focus than driving for 2? This drives slower play with lots of passing/motion looking for an open bomb vs a drive into the paint.
I'm in agreement, our team seemed to do better faster - and except a glaring occasion or two Dan Hurley did seem to be altering his strategy once Bouk returned. Next year will be an interesting one with the lineup changing and hopefully a more normal season both on and off court. Can't wait for the next season!
I'm in agreement, our team seemed to do better faster - and except a glaring occasion or two Dan Hurley did seem to be altering his strategy once Bouk returned. Next year will be an interesting one with the lineup changing and hopefully a more normal season both on and off court. Can't wait for the next season!
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Who cleans up after the bigs miss, and miss and miss again?
Chin Diesel
The timing could not possibly be worse
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Simply put to play fast you need fast guards who can push the ball.
UConn doesn't have that.
UConn doesn't have that.
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You aren't going to be be able to play fast with marginal depth.
The idea that this team was somehow athletic—by that I mean more than the average team—was silly. The two most athletic players who got minutes this year had long spells of injury. Akok was injured. Whaley is a fine athlete, but nothing special (good player, this isn't meant to be denigration). Sanogo is going to be a very good player for us, but he's not an awesome run/jump athlete.
The team played slow because despite what a number of people keep pushing, they weren't that athletic. If they were fully healthy all year (Jackson, Bouk, Akok), it's a slightly different conversation. It's no surprise that they started to speed up—at least marginally—when Jackson and Bouk came back.
The idea that this team was somehow athletic—by that I mean more than the average team—was silly. The two most athletic players who got minutes this year had long spells of injury. Akok was injured. Whaley is a fine athlete, but nothing special (good player, this isn't meant to be denigration). Sanogo is going to be a very good player for us, but he's not an awesome run/jump athlete.
The team played slow because despite what a number of people keep pushing, they weren't that athletic. If they were fully healthy all year (Jackson, Bouk, Akok), it's a slightly different conversation. It's no surprise that they started to speed up—at least marginally—when Jackson and Bouk came back.
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At this point we don’t have the guard talent but Sanogo has great foot work and patience for putbacks. I feel like we are in good shape with Whaley and him.
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Thank you Chin here’s your answer. Just think the majority of transition plays of note were outlets to Bouk or his own rebound/steal coast to coast. If the ball went to Cole or Gaff they rarely made plays and usually pulled it back. It will not change if our guards don’t change their games or Dan Hurley doesn’t get guard help or freshman don’t immediately step up.