Why UConn needs to take step in NCAA Tournament

[HooperScooper]

From Borges. Amen to this. It's about time UConn starts being UConn. As Lunardi said the other day (I posted it in another thread) UConn is now set up well to get back to being dominant. Are we spoiled? Hell yeah! But if you don't expect success then you never get it.

And so, when the Huskies hear their name called on Selection Sunday for a third straight year come March, as nearly everyone in the sport presumes they will, will the pressure and expectations be ramped up even more than usual?

"It may creep in at that point — or, let me change that — it'll definitely creep in at that point," Hurley confessed. "Not being successful is something, from the psychological standpoint, we as coaches are going to be keenly aware of, that push-and-pull, where you're going into that moment: 'Do I keep it too loose, because I'm worried about the team being too tight? Am I afraid that my team's not going to be as intense, and maybe it's too loose?'"

"It'll definitely be going through my mind, maybe in the middle of the night when I wake up," Hurley added, "but not necessarily during the workouts."

Why UConn men's basketball team needs to take step in NCAA Tournament: 'Getting on a run in March'

Dan Hurley has brought UConn men's basketball team to consecutive NCAA tournaments, but Huskies need to win a game (or more) in tourney this season.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate free link:

Why UConn men's basketball team needs to take step in NCAA Tournament: 'Getting on a run in March'​

 

[husky429]

Big East tournament and NCAAT success are the only things that matter to me this season at the end of the day. I already know what Hurley can build in the regular season. We have a SERIOUS problem if we flame out in the first round again.

I have a feeling we'll see our best basketball in March with this group though. We'll have some ugly games as these new pieces learn to gel, but we have too much size/toughness/athleticism on the floor to not be good. If we can even be just average shooting the ball, we'll be a tough out in any tournament setting.

IMO us being a "great" team will depend on whether we can confidently put 3-4 shooters on the floor at any given time. We're wasting Sanogo's talent without it.

A lot is riding on Karaban, Alleyne and Hawkins being the shooters we expect. 2 of Newton, Diarra, Johnson, Jackson taking a leap with their shooting ability would take us to the next level.

 

[aburks41]

Hurley has to get the monkey off his back this year and accomplish 3 things:

1) Beat Creighton at least one time
2) Make the BE Championship game
3) Win 2 games in the NCAAT (at least)

The most important one is getting out of the first weekend in the NCAAT. This team will be good enough to make a serious run. We cannot be losing to mid major 12 seeds or lower end P5 schools for the 3rd straight season

 

[NJHoops]

Hurley has to get the monkey off his back this year and accomplish 3 things:

1) Beat Creighton at least one time
2) Make the BE Championship game
3) Win 2 games in the NCAAT (at least)

The most important one is getting out of the first weekend in the NCAAT. This team will be good enough to make a serious run. We cannot be losing to mid major 12 seeds or lower end P5 schools for the 3rd straight season

I know what you mean (and I am mainly just being obnoxious here ), but he did beat Creighton in the NCAA tournament.

But yeah, the coaches aren’t stupid. They know what’s up.

My one wish for this season is a healthy Hawkins all season long. Win as a team, lose as a team, but him being able to play in the Big East and NCAA tournaments last year could have changed a lot.

 

[Get a Job]

No we didn't...

We're 0-5 against Creighton.

I assume URI beat Creighton under Hurley. (@NJHoops said "he," not "we.")

 

[auror]

I assume URI beat Creighton under Hurley. (@NJHoops said "he," not "we.")

I deleted because I re-reread, thought it said Big East tournament.

 

[uchusky32]

Team needs to stay relatively healthy. Gain cohesiveness.

 

[8893]

This team will be good enough to make a serious run.

This is certainly the hope and expectation, but we really have no idea how good (or not) this year's team is yet. I've heard varying reports even from people who say they spoke directly with Hurley about it.

So much will depend on how the guard experiment(s) work(s) once conference play starts.

 

[navery12]

This is certainly the hope and expectation, but we really have no idea how good (or not) this year's team is yet. I've heard varying reports even from people who say they spoke directly with Hurley about it.

So much will depend on how the guard experiment(s) work(s) once conference play starts.

The team is going to be good, it's just a matter of how good. There are definitely some unknowns like you mention, but those things take us from a second round team to a second weekend team. With the players we have coming back not winning a game in the tournament would be a massive disappointment.

 

[8893]

The team is going to be good, it's just a matter of how good. There are definitely some unknowns like you mention, but those things take us from a second round team to a second weekend team. With the players we have coming back not winning a game in the tournament would be a massive disappointment.

Agreed. I was commenting on the "serious run" part. That's the hope, for sure.

 

[aburks41]

This is certainly the hope and expectation, but we really have no idea how good (or not) this year's team is yet. I've heard varying reports even from people who say they spoke directly with Hurley about it.

So much will depend on how the guard experiment(s) work(s) once conference play starts.

The lack of optimism and doomer mentality of this board annoys me. Hurley took a team of Ollie era 3* recruits in Whaley & Polley, a low major recruit in Cole, and another 3* mid major recruit in Martin and had them in the top 25 nearly the entire season. This staff has proven time and time again that they can develop talent. And now that Hurley has an entire roster full of 4* recruits, multiple projected NBA picks, and the BE Preseason POY (who is also a top 5 center in all of college basketball) people are still doubting? It's ridiculous. This team is going to be really freaking good

 

[8893]

The lack of optimism and doomer mentality of this board annoys me. Hurley took a team of Ollie era 3* recruits in Whaley & Polley, a low major recruit in Cole, and another 3* mid major recruit in Martin and had them in the top 25 nearly the entire season. This staff has proven time and time again that they can develop talent. And now that Hurley has an entire roster full of 4* recruits, multiple projected NBA picks, and the BE Preseason POY (who is also a top 5 center in all of college basketball) people are still doubting? It's ridiculous. This team is going to be really freaking good

Ok.

 

[Palatine]

From Borges. Amen to this. It's about time UConn starts being UConn. As Lunardi said the other day (I posted it in another thread) UConn is now set up well to get back to being dominant. Are we spoiled? Hell yeah! But if you don't expect success then you never get it.

And so, when the Huskies hear their name called on Selection Sunday for a third straight year come March, as nearly everyone in the sport presumes they will, will the pressure and expectations be ramped up even more than usual?

"It may creep in at that point — or, let me change that — it'll definitely creep in at that point," Hurley confessed. "Not being successful is something, from the psychological standpoint, we as coaches are going to be keenly aware of, that push-and-pull, where you're going into that moment: 'Do I keep it too loose, because I'm worried about the team being too tight? Am I afraid that my team's not going to be as intense, and maybe it's too loose?'"

"It'll definitely be going through my mind, maybe in the middle of the night when I wake up," Hurley added, "but not necessarily during the workouts."

Why UConn men's basketball team needs to take step in NCAA Tournament: 'Getting on a run in March'

Dan Hurley has brought UConn men's basketball team to consecutive NCAA tournaments, but Huskies need to win a game (or more) in tourney this season.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate free link:

Why UConn men's basketball team needs to take step in NCAA Tournament: 'Getting on a run in March'​

We need to take step in the NCAA tourney because you can't win a national championship if you don't get out of the first round.

 

[aburks41]

Ok.

I'm sorry but I'm just sick of seeing it. Some of the comments about the potential of this team read like they're from closeted Syracuse fans. Every team in the country right now is playing the "what if" game. We have more known commodities than most teams, and a coaching staff who has proven they have the ability to turn a mid major recruit into an NBA wing. Yet people still have reservations about the staff being able to do that with Hawkins or Jackson? It just makes no sense to me. Get excited about this season or go back home to syracusefan.com

 

[NJHoops]

I assume URI beat Creighton under Hurley. (@NJHoops said "he," not "we.")

Yeah, in the first round of the 2017 NCAA tournament.

 

[Waquoit]

Our lead dogs have to perform in the big dance. Our newest NBAer shot 3-17 in two games, for example. How much is that on the coach?

 

[Umami Zen]

We have the talent to be make a much stronger showing in the Tournament with this year's roster. Keep the Big Three happy and healthy for season -once AJ is back.. Develop AK/DC/SJ as strong contributors.. And get reasonable to above average performance out of our portal guys(stability and leadership).. Any thing above that is a bonus and any outliers not mentioned who earn PT due to their in-game/practice performance(s) is great.

Stay healthy and lets do it.

 

[8893]

I'm sorry but I'm just sick of seeing it. Some of the comments about the potential of this team read like they're from closeted Syracuse fans. Every team in the country right now is playing the "what if" game. We have more known commodities than most teams, and a coaching staff who has proven they have the ability to turn a mid major recruit into an NBA wing. Yet people still have reservations about the staff being able to do that with Hawkins or Jackson? It just makes no sense to me. Get excited about this season or go back home to syracusefan.com

Ok. You may well know the commodities better than I do. I am curious to see how the new players play, and how well they all play together.

Given what we lost, I initially expected that we might have a hiccup this season. But then our portal haul looked very promising, so I thought maybe not. Then every person I spoke with who has seen the team play and/or has spoken with Hurley has come away with a different impression, so I really don't know what to expect and have given up trying to read the tea leaves. I just want to see them play.

Rest assured, I am always excited about the season.

Oh, and I was banned from the cuse site several years ago.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The lack of optimism and doomer mentality of this board annoys me. Hurley took a team of Ollie era 3* recruits in Whaley & Polley, a low major recruit in Cole, and another 3* mid major recruit in Martin and had them in the top 25 nearly the entire season. This staff has proven time and time again that they can develop talent. And now that Hurley has an entire roster full of 4* recruits, multiple projected NBA picks, and the BE Preseason POY (who is also a top 5 center in all of college basketball) people are still doubting? It's ridiculous. This team is going to be really freaking good

This is what I believe as well. The main thing that could hold them back is Hurley himself. His player utilization has been questionable at times. His willingness to adjust to the opponent is a weakness we know Creighton will exploit until he solves it. But the talent is there for a strong run. Top 10 regular season finish wouldn't surprise me, but a lot has to go right for that.

 

[Luna]

Enjoy the ride

 

[navery12]

Our lead dogs have to perform in the big dance. Our newest NBAer shot 3-17 in two games, for example. How much is that on the coach?

Our newest NBAer is actually shooting 100% from the field for his career (on 1 shot)

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Our newest NBAer is actually shooting 100% from the field for his career (on 1 shot)

Think he's talking about his performance in the NCAAT.

 

[Huskybass]

Think he's talking about his performance in the NCAAT.

Thanks Einstein.

 

[navery12]

Think he's talking about his performance in the NCAAT.

Ah that makes more sense. I was thinking he was referencing Bouk's rough start to the season

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Oh, and I was banned from the cuse site several years ago.

Same. On a few occasions I've considered trying to register under a new name but it ends up being more effort than I'm willing to expend.