Why Uconn Fans Should Temper Expectations For Hurley’s Huskies.

If Uconn basketball wins another Division 1 National Championship this year it will be the schools 4th in a row and Connecicut will remain the basketball capital of the world.  

Last year Mike Mutnaski allowed me to write a Uconn basketball preview for Mutstack.com.  Included in that preview was my betting advice to put futures on both the Uconn men’s and women's programs to win the National Championship.

A lot has changed since last October.  Paige Bueckers and the Uconn women lived up to expectations, Hurley joined me as the only other human to complain about a free trip to Maui, and Mut ironically sold his substack to Dave Portnoy for thousands, guaranteeing he’ll become only the 2nd Boston media mogul to buy his company back for a dollar.  Kevin Bacon Game, I now basically write for Portnoy (I’m just waiting for access to the Blog,They’ve sent an email to HR).

Uconn men are set to tip off in their first real test of the preseason against Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans on October 28th.  The Huskies are ranked in the top 5 of the preseason poll again and Dan Hurley is not backing off his Championship or bust mentality.(dude wrote a book about it)

 There is nothing I dislike  ike about Dan Hurley.  By all accounts he seems like a great guy and someone I would have loved to play for had I been blessed with better genes and work ethic.

Hurley’s system works.  His intensity is obvious (He runs practice like Bob Knight on Adderall). But, it's  his preparation that allows him to optimize  players’ strengths within his system. His assistants are a rare breed of crazed hoop fiends that have the unique ability to care about a program more than individual desires.  These guys don’t just talk about championship or bust the demonstrate it on a daily basis.  It's exactly how it should be, but it unintendedly puts pressure on the players to work harder than any team in the country (and they do).  

In sports, doing everything the right way doesn’t always mean positive results.  As a high school coach, it was always the hardest to have to explain to a player with all the intangibles that their 0/16 shooting performance wasn’t good enough to justify playing time. Great players make great coaches. Hurley and the staff are great, but the players' performance in 2023 and 2024 is what gave us the opportunity to recognize and appreciate it.

It’s too soon to be able to know how the Husky’s will do this year.  They seemed to struggle at times with Boston College, granted they were down two starters.I haven’t watched enough of the new guys to get a feel of how they are going to handle Big East play, but the core of Karaban, Ball, and Reed proved last year they needed help.  Karaban is the ultimate value guy, does everything on the court at such a high level that you are willing to live with his streaky shooting. Has he improved it enough to hit the big momentum changing shot more consistently? For a chunk of last season McNealy was the guy I was picking to take that shot.  Ball is lights out from three and rumors are he’s improved off the dribble.  When great defenders chase him off the line this season is he going to be capable of making tough plays off two feet in the paint? Reed has the mentality of Adama Sonogo, but holy shit stop fouling! 

At the end of the season if the Huskies yet again hoist the trophy people will either be saying; “Wow, Karaban and Ball have improved so much that they are now lottery picks”  or “the new guys filled the gaps that McNealy, Mahaney couldn’t”. What one do you think is more likely?

Dying Guys Pick:

Uconn Women Repeat National Champs

Uconn Men Finish 2nd in Big east, exit in the Elite 8. (rooting against it)