(12-02-2024 05:40 PM)bill dazzle Wrote: (12-02-2024 04:44 PM)Nameless Wrote: (12-01-2024 10:33 AM)bill dazzle Wrote: (11-29-2024 01:08 PM)Nameless Wrote: (11-29-2024 09:06 AM)bill dazzle Wrote: With the somewhat sluggish start the Big East teams collectively have seen, dare I say DePaul could be one of the five or six best teams in the league this year? The Texas Tech game looms large.
Seeing a few highlights of your Huskies ... there are multiple elements missing from this team that have been present in the past (and you know this better than I). If I'm Hurley, I want to see my team excluded from the next AP and coaches Top 25 polls. The team needs a reset, needs to have a decrease in pressure from unrealistic fan expectations, needs motivation (and time) to improve, etc. An Elite Eight is still possible. Another national title? I don't see it either. I'm with you.
I'm looking forward to catching some minutes of play from VCE's Georgetown club. It's possible the combo of GU and DePaul will be "better" this season than the combo of, for example, Seton Hall and Providence (which would have been hard to fathom the past few seasons).
I don't think it's crazy to think DePaul might be that good. The top of the league is down, and they are definitely improved. Again, excited to see how they perform against TT! Will be telling as to what both their floor and ceiling truly are.
I definitely don't think we deserve to be a top 25 team next week. Who have we beaten that would merit consideration? We were clearly ranked too high to start the season. I agree, I think needing to earn that ranking will be good for this team.
Great point on DePaul and GTown vs SH and Providence. I think Seton Hall or Providence may finish ahead of GTown, but likely not both. I think DePaul will finish above all 3 teams. Providence looks bad, but will be better once Hopkins comes back. Seton Hall will have a really tough time scoring, and I think will struggle in league play. But I'm not totally sold on Georgetown yet. They did get absolutely smoked by the one "Power" team they've played. I want to see them perform against higher tier competition before I'm confident enough to predict them finishing any better than 9th.
Have you read the CBS Sports column in which the writer is very critical of Dan Hurley's behavior? I would be curious to get your take.
I have not. If you can link me the article in question though, I'd be happy to provide my opinion. I'm actually curious what the author had to say myself, lol
Here we go, my good man:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...d-himself/
I think he's correct in his assessment of Hurley's behavior being unacceptable and him needing to better control it. I think his assessment as to why Hurley does what he does is off, and the overall tone of the article comes across as a little snooty. At least to me.
Hurley does need to stop cussing out officials. I know you were reading the UConn Memphis game thread on the AAC board, I said in there he needs to stop calling officials a "****ing joke." It really is getting old. It's not like he's going to accomplish anything by **** talking a referee. Especially at a tournament like Maui. I know there's more than one group of officials there, but you have to expect to see those guys again in the coming days. Just stupid to get on their bad side, even when you have a point to make.
However, he makes some comments in the article that I think are pretty off base. Example, "there's a standard by which college coaches are treated by officials per the NCAA rulebook, and Hurley – who believes his team should be above it – is being handled with kid gloves." What makes him believe Hurley, the players or anyone associated with the program (fans included) think the team is above the rulebook? Is he trying to say Hurley melting down shows he feels he's "above the law" so to speak? Is it not possible the dude is just incredibly passionate and letting his emotion get the best of him? It's just so unobjective to phrase it in a way that makes it seem like that's the only explanation. Especially when anyone who follows the sport knows how passionate the guy gets.
There was one comment I found pretty telling, and I'll bolden the part I found revealing, "Fits of rage have become synonymous with Hurley in the same way excellence has become synonymous with his program.
Some may even argue you can't have the latter without the former. Maybe it's true, probably it's not."
When I was younger, I probably would have agreed with that comment and glossed over it. As I've gotten older, I've started wondering, "well, what have you accomplished that makes you so positive about that?" (referring to the final part of the bolded.) As I've gotten older, I've realized every successful guy I've met has that passion, that fire, that dog inside of him --whatever you want to call it-- that is key to his success. And that often makes them seem like an *******, at least in situations where it comes out. I just think it's so easy for journalists to snipe at athletes and coaches from afar on their high horse and act as if they're morally superior. That these coaches need to set a better example, and they're so confident they wouldn't act that way were they in their shoes.
Well, have you won a championship? Have you won a game? Have you
even coached a game? No? Well then, maybe you know what it takes to win a championship, probably not.
And that is what I mean by it comes across as snooty. It reads more like he doesn't like the guy, and wanted to assassinate his character a bit, than he had a problem with what he saw in Maui and wanted to assess what he was seeing. Again, I'm not trying to excuse Hurley's behavior. He needs to be better and he knows it. But it's also a coaches job to stand up for their team when they feel they are not being given a fair shake, and the guy
loves his players. I think a much more accurate assessment is, he's passionate, loves his team and hates losing. That combination leads to him being a successful coach, but it is also his main flaw in the sense that it makes him absolutely reckless on the sidelines sometimes. His take seems to boil down to, "he's won 2 championships and now he's an arrogant hothead. We should've gotten on top of him years ago!" Lol
