It’s hard to be that unprepared for a game.

[That Guy]

Needs to start recruiting shooters. Hurley's style is too old school for the modern game. The fact is that everyone on the floor in today's game needs to be a threat from the 3 point line and we're the complete antithesis of that.

 

[BigFanCT]

I don’t think it’s coaching as much as it is roster construction.

Jesus c hrist it was roster construction when Adams was on the team, it was roster construction the year after with Vital…..when do the excuses stop?

 

[Drfla]

You mean their best player played like a great player? Calhoun would have focused his entire game plan on stopping him. It was like Hurley didnt know who was on the other team.

Should have doubled him and made him give up the ball but let’s face it the rest of their team shot 7-10 from three. Not going to beat many teams that go 11-17 from three, especially when you come out like you’re sleepwalking in the first half. Not sure even JC could get these veterans to respond. Also with Hawkins out we basically have a 6 player rotation. Nobody to put in to replace those that didn’t come ready to play.

 

[Rumrunner]

It starts and ends with recruiting and roster construction. RJ Cole has been the best player for UConn all season. We would've had a DePaul like season if it wasn't for him. Don't get me wrong. He is a beast and played his heart out. Athletically though while he has been the best player on the floor for UConn, most times he wasn't the best player on the floor. I know that he played at St. Anthony's and that whole Dad/Danny/Bobby legend of NJ high school hoops thing. But you've got to get players that are dominant at their position if you want to make tournament runs. We saw the Brendan Adams saga play out. Tyrese Martin is a phenomenal A10 player and decent Big East player. But come on...Caron Butler, Ray Allen, Jeremy Lamb. Those are the types of players that get you deep into the tournament. Bouknight gave us a taste, but Hurley has to recruit the best player that can win games, not fulfill some fantasy ideation of a team his Dad would be proud of. High major basketball is so far removed from HS prep programs they are not in the same league.

 

[AntG168]

Jesus c hrist it was roster construction when Adams was on the team, it was roster construction the year after with Vital…..when do the excuses stop?

Excuses? How is saying he constructed the roster poorly an excuse? It’s a knock on him. He should have known having one shot creator/pg was a recipe for failure. He should’ve know you can’t play Whaley, Sanogo, and Jackson together and expect a high level offense.

 

[Drfla]

We were prepared. NMSU was just the better team

Maybe prepared to play by the coaching staff but players ready to play…NO

 

[auror]

Should have doubled him and made him give up the ball but let’s face it the rest of their team shot 7-10 from three. Not going to beat many teams that go 11-17 from three, especially when you come out like you’re sleepwalking in the first half. Not sure even JC could get these veterans to respond. Also with Hawkins out we basically have a 6 player rotation. Nobody to put in to replace those that didn’t come ready to play.

The 2nd half we did focus on him (I mean we did in the first half too, he was 0/6 to start). We were blitzing his PnRs and forcing him into deep 3s and off the dribble step back 2s.

He just made a bunch. He made one from the logo in the 2nd half. And then we stupidly fouled him on 2 3-pointers.

 

[superjohn]

Exactly. He has made the adjustment. He is recruiting more basketball players like Clingnan, Karaban and Diggins than Athletes who play basketball like Whaley. When I look at the upcoming recruiting I am very pleased with Hurley. Getting a great playmaker like Castle this early is huge

The roster is flawed and that's on Hurley. You can't go into a season starting 2 players who can't score and having only one guard who can handle and break down a defense.

More troubling is that he comes up so small in the biggest moments. The team was totally unprepared and he wouldn't even use his timeouts to change things up and stop the bleeding. The non timeout at the end when RJ was right in front of him, there's no excuse for not calling a timeout there. When you have only one player who can beat you, you have to change things up so that he doesn't beat you and we've seen this happen over and over.

No excuses for next season, it's all his players, we simply have to have a much better constructed roster and he has to show he can win a tournament game.

 

[mrl2016]

Hurleys best call of the game was switching to zone in last four minutes. Completely perplexed Allen and sanogo bum rushes him with a second left on the shot clock

After that a few non fouls against Andre on Allen’s drive to the left side and the and 1 on the untouched reverse

33% shooting team shot 65% on high volume and tough shots, plus 100% from the FT line. Just not gonna beat a team like that shooting like we did tonight

 

[UConnStats]

He’s unquestionably coming back so as awful as today is, you just have to take a breath and realize Hurley has turned the program around, albeit while falling short of everyone’s goals.

Hurley is not a good offensive coach. Never has been. Best way to get around that is to recruit shooters. Hurley can teach just about anyone to defend, but he can’t teach people how to score. Find scorers. Ollie couldn’t coach offense to save his life either, but the one year he has shooting he won a natty.

To me this was as obivous a year ago from today as it is now. But will he actually do something about it? Don’t tell me you don’t want transfers, you need them. And by the way, you just got absolutely obliterated by a kid who has transferred 40 times and I think NMSU feels fine about their culture right now.

 

[daddy slamb]

Its not only the lack of in-game adjustments that kills me but also the lack of adjustments Hurley refused to make over an entire season. I feel like this team didn’t improve one bit this season. I felt like I was watching a team play their first game of the season tonight. Hurley’s stubbornness lost us the game tonight and a few games this season. I think he belongs here and can do good things with this program but he has to learn how to adapt and quickly.

 

[PNolanFan]

Hurley needs to prove it in big games but it is common for coaches to stink in big games for a while until they figure it out (calhoun, wright, bennett, ect.) not saying hurley will get there but those guys were all there at one point or another

 

[Drfla]

They aren't the better team. We had more talent at 4 of the 5 positions on the floor. They executed better, had more focus, adjusted better, ran better sets, mixed up their defense, etc. We were unprepared AGAIN for a big game.

Sure. Blame the coaches. Players weren’t ready to play. This loss is on them, not the coaches. NMSU was pumped and ready, our players NOT

 

[UconnFanDC]

They aren't the better team. We had more talent at 4 of the 5 positions on the floor. They executed better, had more focus, adjusted better, ran better sets, mixed up their defense, etc. We were unprepared AGAIN for a big game.

NMSU was the better team today.

 

[98Uconn]

Am I wrong or wasn’t the consensus on here at the end of last season that we would be taking a step back this year????

 

[John]

Two more hot takes since this is going to inevitably be a hot take thread given that we're all frustrated right now. As I've noted I really do like Hurley and believe he is the long term answer. That throat-clearing aside:

1) He has to stop talking about how he "rebuilds" programs and has this storied formula that he has implemented everywhere he's gone. He won games at Wagner and URI. He talks like he's Antonio Conte who turns a club completely around, wins actual trophies, and then leaves because he fights with upper management. That analogy won't land unless you're a soccer fan.

2) For having a last name that is such a "brand" when it comes to coaching, he has incredible deficiencies in strategy and tactics. I knew that Calhoun was not going to get outsmarted in a big game. I do not, shall we say, share the same confidence in Hurley.

But I do like the guy a lot!

Well said

 

[uchusky32]

Can we attempt to keep the Hurley debate in one thread? It may be an impossibility on this board, but I figured it's worth a shot.

My thoughts are all over the place, and feel free to critique...

1.) Hurley probably deserves to be in the hot seat next year. He does a lot of things well, but we are a team that expects to win in the tournament. 0 wins in 4 years is unacceptable. Period. Rebuild or not.

2.) He also is probably NOT on the hot seat, because we don't have the money for it.

3.) Either he doesn't know how, or his emotions get in the way, of Hurley making adjustments and coaching well in close games. Yes, the players missed shots. Yes, we didn't defend all that well. But when the team consistent lays eggs in close games and tournament games, it's on the COACH.

4.) The refusal to play a zone early this season when we could practice it with lower stakes cost us big time. The inflexibility on defense kills us. Our strategy is not much more nuanced than "play harder than the other team"... that works A LOT of the time. That doesn't work against teams like Creighton, Nova, and certainly not in big tournament games. Everyone is prepared. Everyone knows your playbook

5.) We recruited well, but made some mistakes. We expected Gaffney to contribute more than he did. I'm not sure we can blame the staff for that. Same with the Whaley/Sanogo thing... they don't play well together, but ultimately they're two of our best players and they do need to see the floor. Even if they don't mesh well.

Absolutely perfect assessment.

 

[RichCTBB]

We started the season with the a great roster construction. Unfortunately Gaffney and Akok had disappointing seasons and Hawkins got a concussion. The pieces were there.

 

[AntG168]

The roster is flawed and that's on Hurley. You can't go into a season starting 2 players who can't score and having only one guard who can handle and break down a defense.

More troubling is that he comes up so small in the biggest moments. The team was totally unprepared and he wouldn't even use his timeouts to change things up and stop the bleeding. The non timeout at the end when RJ was right in front of him, there's no excuse for not calling a timeout there. When you have only one player who can beat you, you have to change things up so that he doesn't beat you and we've seen this happen over and over.

No excuses for next season, it's all his players, we simply have to have a much better constructed roster and he has to show he can win a tournament game.

It’s funny because all we wanted from Hurley this season is a SINGLE tournament win. We went in the higher seed, with the better overall talent. This should’ve been a layup for our trajectory as a program. It was right there for the taking. And we wet the bed in the most embarrassing way. Hurley needs to look in the mirror. You can have transfers and a culture. Look at PC. He needs to throw feelings to the side this off-season and bring back a superior team. The clock started ticking tonight.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

We need way more guard scoring/playmaking ability. That is the name of the game in college bball and we only have Cole which is just not enough.

This

 

[UncleSpliff]

It’s painfully obvious to anyway that watches that he’s just not a good coach. He’s a pretty good recruiter but really a trash coach. When have you ever watched a game against a team with comparable talent where you thought that he outcoached the opposing coach???

 

[superjohn]

Greg McDermott has done a remarkable coaching job this season and Kaluma, Kalkbrenner, and Alexander is a scary trio going forward.

 

[Seamus84]

Getting better talent is the key. Not like we had Richard Hamilton, Kemba, Ben Gordon or Ray Allen out there. Look at the roster please. Hurley has to get better talent.

Exactly. You have to have at least one NBA talent on the roster to even have a shot to win championships. Our guy left a year early. Otherwise it’s smoke and mirrors, and while you may catch lightening in a bottle every so often, you can’t expect it.

My concern for next year is “returning offense”. That is one tried and true predictor of success, and we have what, maybe 20% of our points returning? Need another option for Sanogo (and Hawkins). May need a shooter from the portal.

 

[98Uconn]

So, this fan base firing Calipari now too?

 

[Drfla]

Welp. I guess Hurley made plays for them dumb fouls

Yeah. I think Hurley teaches AS to foul their best player 30 feet from the basket with 1 second on the shot clock.

This loss is on the players, not the coaches.