Xavier Post Game Thread

[RuffRuff]

I got villified for saying the same thing a week ago.

This year the team REALLY needs coaching. They ain’t getting it. Instead he’s trying to ram a bunch of square pegs into his system of round holes. Really shocking that it ain’t working but hell, let’s just keep doing it.

Great players make everything and everyone look better. Recruiting well will always be priority 1. Cal made a living on it, it made him look good when it’s clear as day he’s not a great coach.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I got villified for saying the same thing a week ago.

This year the team REALLY needs coaching. They ain’t getting it. Instead he’s trying to ram a bunch of square pegs into his system of round holes. Really shocking that it ain’t working but hell, let’s just keep doing it.

Imagine if Liam didn’t get hurt. We’d very likely be either 17-3 or 16-4, 9-0 or 8-1 in conference. Read what you just posted above. It’s just some of the most insane ridiculous ranting on the BY.

 

[uconnblueinky]

I miss Donovan Clingan

 

[RuffRuff]

I miss Donovan Clingan

Don’t we all. Lot of noise out there that Hurleys success is contingent on Clingan, whether right or wrong. If Dan Hurley falls short this year, that will be offseason noise among other fan bases and some national media. As fiery and media hardwired as he is, will be fascinating to see how he responds and whether he keeps his cool or gets reactive in roster management.

 

[freescooter]

This wasn't a great game and Xavier is no juggernaut. The team played well in spots but underperformed once again in another game that was winnable. Aiden flashed this game but his 3 turnovers were killer. Half the team underperformed. It's o.k. to call it what it is.

Don’t you know the official position of the Boneyard? Every New Big East team is a great one regardless of how they actually play. And at home, they are all virtually unbeatable. And if we lose it was the ref’s fault.

 

[freescooter]

Imagine if Liam didn’t get hurt. We’d very likely be either 17-3 or 16-4, 9-0 or 8-1 in conference. Read what you just posted above. It’s just some of the most insane ridiculous ranting on the BY.

But guys do get hurt. And we have zero depth which the defending national champ in the portal era shouldn’t have. And we need to change our strategy if a critical guy is going to miss a month or more, which we really haven’t done either. Asking Karaban to do what McNeeley did isn’t a change. Then again our coach is the best coach in the country so he must be doing it right.

I expected us to take a step back this year. We had too many critical pieces to replace and nothing on the bench to replace them with. But I didn’t think we’d have 6 losses at this point with most coming against mediocre competition.

 

[gsmooth]

But guys do get hurt. And we have zero depth which the defending national champ in the portal era shouldn’t have. And we need to change our strategy if a critical guy is going to miss a month or more, which we really haven’t done either. Asking Karaban to do what McNeeley did isn’t a change. Then again our coach is the best coach in the country so he must be doing it right.

I expected us to take a step back this year. We had too many critical pieces to replace and nothing on the bench to replace them with. But I didn’t think we’d have 6 losses at this point with most coming against mediocre competition.

Which of the 6 teams that Huskies lost to would you consider mediocre?

 

[RuffRuff]

But guys do get hurt. And we have zero depth which the defending national champ in the portal era shouldn’t have. And we need to change our strategy if a critical guy is going to miss a month or more, which we really haven’t done either. Asking Karaban to do what McNeeley did isn’t a change. Then again our coach is the best coach in the country so he must be doing it right.

I expected us to take a step back this year. We had too many critical pieces to replace and nothing on the bench to replace them with. But I didn’t think we’d have 6 losses at this point with most coming against mediocre competition.

Losing your alpha hurts team chemistry beyond just the talent. Take a team like Purdue for instance, who is playing amazingly well. I thought they’d take a massive leap back with Edey gone. They are really a 3 man team and a bunch of role players, and two of those three are good but not great players. Smith is just so good, he runs that system and the entire ecosystem rolls through him. Liam is not that but he was starting to take on that role. It’s hard to project their upside with him back because his role as that leader hadn’t fully baked out yet and now he’s coming back off his second injury of year. There is reason to hold out hope as long as you manage expectations.

 

[KingAG]

Don’t we all. Lot of noise out there that Hurleys success is contingent on Clingan, whether right or wrong. If Dan Hurley falls short this year, that will be offseason noise among other fan bases and some national media. As fiery and media hardwired as he is, will be fascinating to see how he responds and whether he keeps his cool or gets reactive in roster management.

The noise is stupid and is only being spouted by the haters. I mean they literally have nothing else to cling to(no pun intended) but to hope that Hurley only won because of Clingan. And there is a near zero chance Hurley will change his approach because of it. Clingan played 12 minutes a game his freshman year. Very impactful. But it was the other guys(Ajax, Hawk, Adama) who led that team.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ross should've never gotten the ball in that situation. That's the problem.

Honestly and hate to say this but the ball shouldn’t be in Diarras hands later than 7-8 seconds left on a key possession. He doesn’t create or make good decisions very often. And his bad pass left Ross with little to nothing. Good pas at least we get a wide open 3.

 

[buddy]

Which of the 6 teams that Huskies lost to would you consider mediocre?

Not my discussion, but I would say Dayton and Colorado. Villanova on the cusp of mediocrity.

 

[RuffRuff]

Not my discussion, but I would say Dayton and Colorado. Villanova on the cusp of mediocrity.

Mediocre is subjective, but if you're to align with how the committee sees it (Quad 2 plus+), Uconn ain't really doing that bad. Crazy that Texas is ranked higher than us in the NET at 32. At a 36 in the NET, about the same in the KP, we are trending for that 8/9 game as of now, and will likely cement that line or help the cause over the next 2 weeks. What would juice this fanbase back into gear is to win 2/3 of the post DePaul games with Liam back. Stretch, but I can see that bringing the happy endorphins back.

36

35

UConn

Big East

14-6

4-2

1-3

3-3

3-2

3-1

5-0

 

[Excalibur]

Great players make everything and everyone look better. Recruiting well will always be priority 1. Cal made a living on it, it made him look good when it’s clear as day he’s not a great coach.

So is the position that Hurley is not a good coach? I want to make sure we get people on record on this.

 

[RuffRuff]

So is the position that Hurley is not a good coach? I want to make sure we get people on record on this.

Heck no, awesome coach. But mortal.

 

[freescooter]

Not my discussion, but I would say Dayton and Colorado. Villanova on the cusp of mediocrity.

I would add Xavier, Creighton.

I think we whiffed pretty badly in the portal. There has already been a lot of discussion about Mahaney. He even probably regrets his decision. Went from having the chance to be Man at St Mary’s to a minor role player. We got a big who was pretty ordinary on a bad Michigan team to pretty ordinary at UConn. Hurley says if he could ever get him to get it Reed could be great, but so far he hasn’t made the jump they hoped for. Hurley’s comment that “I hope I’m the coach that gets him to do it” doesn’t exactly give you lots of confidence. I know we aren’t allow to speculate but Hurley’s comments sounded a little ominous to me. Then he brings in Nowell. 5-11 point guard. We won back to back titles with big guards. It was one of the points EVERYONE commented on. So now we have a 6 foot point guard backed up by a 5-11 guy. No doubt we’ve had smaller guards over the years, but Hurley hasn’t been that successful with them.

McNeeley was a great get, but he is hurt. Hard to predict how long it will take him to return to full form after this long a layoff.

I think Hurley is an amazing recruiter. He could talk a Turkey into an oven on Thanksgiving Day. But this team is just not well constructed and has no real depth.

 

[AllHusky]

Honestly and hate to say this but the ball shouldn’t be in Diarras hands later than 7-8 seconds left on a key possession. He doesn’t create or make good decisions very often. And his bad pass left Ross with little to nothing. Good pas at least we get a wide open 3.

Yeah, I think you are right. He does get a little antsy when time is tight. Contrast him with some of the great PG's we've had. Those guys would have the ball under 10 seconds and you'd think they had half an hour on the shot clock. They were so sure of themselves.

 

[AllHusky]

So is the position that Hurley is not a good coach? I want to make sure we get people on record on this.

Dan Hurley has done a great job! The numbers speak for themselves. He has elevated his position with each hire. His teams play better at the end of the season. He has won 2 National Championships. I think he is a great coach. How he manages the rest of this season is going to be great theater. He has been put in a very difficult position.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Dan Hurley has done a great job! The numbers speak for themselves. He has elevated his position with each hire. His teams play better at the end of the season. He has won 2 National Championships. I think he is a great coach. How he manages the rest of this season is going to be great theater. He has been put in a very difficult position.

I think saying Dan Hurley is a bad coach is crazy. Hes a great coach and one of the best in the sport.

But it’s hard to complain about having a roster full of talent from two top 5-10 recruiting classes, your pick of portal players, and a veteran PG.


There’s 5 fringe top 50 guys on this roster without Liam and that doesn’t include players like Karaban, Ross, Mahaney, and Diarra.

We may be missing our super freshman but there’s still more than enough talent on this team to win.

 

[AllHusky]

I think saying Dan Hurley is a bad coach is crazy. Hes a great coach and one of the best in the sport.

But it’s hard to complain about having a roster full of talent from two top 5-10 recruiting classes, your pick of portal players, and a veteran PG.


There’s 5 fringe top 50 guys on this roster without Liam and that doesn’t include players like Karaban, Ross, Mahaney, and Diarra.

We may be missing our super freshman but there’s still more than enough talent on this team to win.

Agree. Think it is more a matter of "no wine before its time". We may still have grape juice in the bottle when it is time to serve the wine. Its been said over and over on this board that kids develop at their own rate. That being said, I still think you have to force feed Reed and Stewart minutes. Either they can cut it or they are still grape juice when it is time to serve the wine.

 

[RuffRuff]

I would add Xavier, Creighton.

I think we whiffed pretty badly in the portal. There has already been a lot of discussion about Mahaney. He even probably regrets his decision. Went from having the chance to be Man at St Mary’s to a minor role player. We got a big who was pretty ordinary on a bad Michigan team to pretty ordinary at UConn. Hurley says if he could ever get him to get it Reed could be great, but so far he hasn’t made the jump they hoped for. Hurley’s comment that “I hope I’m the coach that gets him to do it” doesn’t exactly give you lots of confidence. I know we aren’t allow to speculate but Hurley’s comments sounded a little ominous to me. Then he brings in Nowell. 5-11 point guard. We won back to back titles with big guards. It was one of the points EVERYONE commented on. So now we have a 6 foot point guard backed up by a 5-11 guy. No doubt we’ve had smaller guards over the years, but Hurley hasn’t been that successful with them.

McNeeley was a great get, but he is hurt. Hard to predict how long it will take him to return to full form after this long a layoff.

I think Hurley is an amazing recruiter. He could talk a Turkey into an oven on Thanksgiving Day. But this team is just not well constructed and has no real depth.

The Reed experience has been up and down. I thought Hurley was going after a minted rim protector in portal after losing Cling. When we landed Tarris it was more of a huh, let me see what this kid is all about, more the Adama mold. Then I was excited to see if Hurley could reshape. After seeing him up close in August and some early games, it felt like it was all in motion. Now we’re seeing more of the pitfalls he showed at UM than the upside we were hoping for. It’s mainly upstairs with him. I’m not sure how correctable it is.

With you on the Nowell selection too. Not sure what is going on with Abraham. He looked like one of those most gifted kids on the floor in that August practice and he’s nailed to the bench.