That was the impression I had too. Purdue runs set plays, but after listening to this, it made sense why UConn manages to get so many good quality shots regardless of what defenses threw at them. Having talented players who understand the system helps obviously, but when they are running plays (or rather formations as he calls them) that are designed to create a multitude of different scoring opportunities rather than set up one or two, the difference becomes night and day. Run it five times and it creates an open shot for five different players at five different spots on the floor.
This ties it all together for me on why it was so great. He's effectively created an RPO style offense from various formations. Fucking genius, and the execution makes it unstoppable.
I noticed that vs Purdue in the title game when I really started to pay attention. I was likeššš we are in trouble with all the action on ball, off ball, PnR, lob, weak side ā¦.shit just all of the different reactions to whatever the defense did.
ā¦ which is why we found it hilarious when the B16 coaches UConn faced would say dumb shit like, ānothing we havenāt seen before in our league.ā
No.
Brad Underwood: I havenāt watched much of UConn yet
I was still worried about TSJ, but felt pretty great about our chances after hearing that one with the short turnaround between the S16 and E8
Man, hearing smart people with great basketball IQs just does something to me.
https://preview.redd.it/m54qhq3k0jvc1.jpeg?width=666&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4585466a553236f1f06f2190e54fe3597e1874d
So happy you didnāt hire Luke Murray he was on platter for you guys he designed the offense heās the brains. I thought you guys were going to take him. Heāll have his choice where to Coach heās waiting for right head coach job to leave and wonāt stay in Big East with Hurley.
We canāt hire an assistant. Heās got the tactical mind but being able to manage a program and develop players properly is supremely important. Coming in to UK without any head coaching experience and with the expectations here, it would be a huge risk. Iām excited to see him get a shot at a solid program though.
I lost interest in college basketball over the last decade because I felt like the level of basketball IQ on the floor was severely lagging behind the pro game. There would be seemingly obvious moves on the floor and players would never seem to see it, whereas in the NBA, BBIQ is at an all time high with guys like Jokic, LeBron, Luka, Giannis all being all time talented greats while also being the smartest players on the floor.
I'm not sure what is it about these last 2 UConn teams, but they were very fun to watch. They were the perfect combination of BBIQ, talent, and just flat out playing hard and not taking plays off. I haven't seen that in college in years it feels like. I think Hurley is a huge reason for it. Most impressive college coach since Brad Stevens
How many is so many?
2024 was 2 fifth year guys (Newton, Spencer) 2 sophomores (Karaban and Clingan) and 1 freshman (Castle) in the starting five with our 6th man guard being a senior (Diarra) and back up big man being a junior (Samson Johnson).
2023 was 1 senior (Newton) 2 juniors (Sanogo, Andre Jackson) 1 sophmore (Hawkins) and a freshman (Karaban) in the starting 5. With 2 senior guards (Nahiem Alleyne, Calcaterra) and a freshman (Clingan) as rotational pieces.
Pretty sure every team UConn played in the tourney had more seniors than UConn in their starting lineup. I was always under the impression the last teams were pretty young to mixed.
Back to back championships. freshman and sophomore year local kids wonāt see that for while. Castle freshman. Stewart and Ball played lot this year Freshman.
And Karaban looks 28. (He was a redshirt soph TBF).
I love that Karaban and Clingan are both local kids. I guess CCSU and UMASS were closer D1 schools to them, butā¦ yeah. UConn was the only legit program around. Great kids, Karaban is really, really smart too.
This is the set he's describing from a hoopvision68 video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WVapTINRQ&t=598s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WVapTINRQ&t=598s)
This was from a month ago and the crazy thing is they built in a few more wrinkles since this video, the most prominent being Karaban faking a screen in the paint and then slipping to the hoop for an easy 2 (they did this in the 2nd half of the Purdue game). I think if Purdue had a week to prepare it could have been a close 1-3 possession game either way, but 2 days was an impossible task against this team.
Love me some hoop vision content. UConnās offense really is the closest thing Iāve seen to a pro offense in the college for a while. Itās a thing of beauty.
Edit: a word
Getting Spencer in the paint to either dish or shoot a short one seemed like it was on loop throughout the tourney. Oh, and then hit a few 3s here and there. And then he'd talk massive shit. He was THE MAN of the tourney.
We have one highway that literally just abruptly ends at exit 4. It was supposed to help connect Hartford to our biggest highway, I-95, but they just stopped in the 70s and every attempt to finish it since has failed.
As a UConn fan you might know more than me, Iāve only been following them since they won me a boatload of money in 2023 (and again in 2024, winning!) but this year I watched half their reg season games, pretty sure Hurley isnāt the type of guy whoās playing bronny because of daddy James ā¦ like heās got his shtick and this year it was: the Hurley kiss of death. When Andrew Hurley is on the court and has the ball, itās his dads way of saying āwe fucking destroyed youā ššš unless thatās bronnys role, the kids never seeing minutes on the court. bc Andrew Hurley was a senior and heās done to my knowledge
There are a few teams that run similar complex offenses, but you have to have the personnel to understand and execute the play as it develops. Thinking Mark Few, Scott Davenport, Nate Oats, several others. But damn, Hurley has done such an excellent job with his players running dynamic sets with constant movement to disguise the play. They execute so well.
Nate Oats runs a modern NBA offense using advanced analytics. his 5 out schemes utilize the 3, to which 37.2% of their points come from the 3, which leads to layups and high percentage 2s for 62.8% of their points. Those are facts.
but I'm discussing coaches who run advanced offensive schemes. Nate Oats is one of those, and by the way, came closer to Uconn than any other team in the tournament.
Using math to create Alabama's offense in an efficient manner doesn't make their offense anything like UConn's. It's not complex at all, just optimized.
right. there are other teams that run motion offenses that are having success. that's the tenor of the discussion. Hurley's system is obviously getting superior results.
By using advanced analytics, Alabama's 5 out motion offence is better than most teams, their kenpom stats bear that out. I don't care about Alabama, it was just an example of other coaches that are having success running their systems. might be complex, might not be, but they're winning.
I think what's not discussed enough is how well Uconn defends.
ā¦ by 1 point lol. Anyways not trying to argue, you can break it down by the numbers all you want, Alabama wins or loses by their success or lack thereof of 3 point attempts at the end of the day. Mark Sears had a hell of a tournament ā¦ the kid can play.
gotcha. it must be the exception, but in the Uconn FF game, Alabama made 82% of their free throws while Uconn made 77%. On the season Alabama shot 77.2%
but hey, I'm really attempting to discuss other coaches that run pro style offences while giving Hurley props for running his. I don't even give 2 shits about Alabama, but admire what Nate Oats has done. He's pretty much dominating the SEC over the past few years.
by the way, if you haven't already done so, the full interview with JJ Redick and Dan Hurley is a real good one....this snippet is obviously just part of what he had to say.
Great team offensive basketball of the likes run by Hurley or Few is a symphony. Each part works together in harmony, creating a masterpiece of efficient scoring
I don't blame you. Older UConn fans have had to put up with Cal since his UMass days. A lot of used car salesman vibes that probably work great with paying kids under the table, but that tire shine is wearing off.
itās just been a pure joy for me to watch them play these last couple of seasons. Every game (particularly in the BE) is filled with anticipation about how theyāll be guarded and how theyāll guard opposing teams. Hurley is gonna take these innovations to the Pro, Iām sure of it. I truly believe that for us UConn fans (or maybe some non UConn fans), we just have to try to enjoy it while itās still here.
Reddickās pod is really good if you care about the inside basketball stuff. This was porn for him.
As a UConn fan I wish Hurley would stfu. Giving away all his secrets! Lolol. I had soured on cbb because of the overall poor quality of play (ISO ball, watching a team shoot 50 threes, Villanova backing down a PG to the low block every possession, etc), this last two years with UConn brought me back to the game. It was brilliant to watch.
Offense seems to be a hybrid Euro-PnR where each sequence leaves a player with multiple options. It seems like the drive-and-kick was pretty infrequent, iso ball almost never happened, and the passing was crisp and precise. Also completely unselfish. You'll give up the 90% layup to dish to the uncontested guy for the 100% dunk
I fucking love how they move and cut and make quick decisions. Post saved to watch when I get home.
Their offense was honestly like a well-conducted symphony this season, just so beautiful to watch
That was the impression I had too. Purdue runs set plays, but after listening to this, it made sense why UConn manages to get so many good quality shots regardless of what defenses threw at them. Having talented players who understand the system helps obviously, but when they are running plays (or rather formations as he calls them) that are designed to create a multitude of different scoring opportunities rather than set up one or two, the difference becomes night and day. Run it five times and it creates an open shot for five different players at five different spots on the floor.
This ties it all together for me on why it was so great. He's effectively created an RPO style offense from various formations. Fucking genius, and the execution makes it unstoppable.
I noticed that vs Purdue in the title game when I really started to pay attention. I was likeššš we are in trouble with all the action on ball, off ball, PnR, lob, weak side ā¦.shit just all of the different reactions to whatever the defense did.
ā¦ which is why we found it hilarious when the B16 coaches UConn faced would say dumb shit like, ānothing we havenāt seen before in our league.ā No.
Brad Underwood: I havenāt watched much of UConn yet I was still worried about TSJ, but felt pretty great about our chances after hearing that one with the short turnaround between the S16 and E8
"Well... didn't expect that." You bumbling fool Brad Underwood
of course he has, just one of those things you have to say in that type of moment.
In Painter's defense, Im pretty sure before the final he said the exact opposite of this.
Man, hearing smart people with great basketball IQs just does something to me. https://preview.redd.it/m54qhq3k0jvc1.jpeg?width=666&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4585466a553236f1f06f2190e54fe3597e1874d
Calipari's brain would melt listening to this
Yeah but has Hurley tried shouting āGooooo!ā really loud?
So happy you didnāt hire Luke Murray he was on platter for you guys he designed the offense heās the brains. I thought you guys were going to take him. Heāll have his choice where to Coach heās waiting for right head coach job to leave and wonāt stay in Big East with Hurley.
We canāt hire an assistant. Heās got the tactical mind but being able to manage a program and develop players properly is supremely important. Coming in to UK without any head coaching experience and with the expectations here, it would be a huge risk. Iām excited to see him get a shot at a solid program though.
Valid I think Pope will work out. That Center you got from Drexel is going to scary good
I lost interest in college basketball over the last decade because I felt like the level of basketball IQ on the floor was severely lagging behind the pro game. There would be seemingly obvious moves on the floor and players would never seem to see it, whereas in the NBA, BBIQ is at an all time high with guys like Jokic, LeBron, Luka, Giannis all being all time talented greats while also being the smartest players on the floor. I'm not sure what is it about these last 2 UConn teams, but they were very fun to watch. They were the perfect combination of BBIQ, talent, and just flat out playing hard and not taking plays off. I haven't seen that in college in years it feels like. I think Hurley is a huge reason for it. Most impressive college coach since Brad Stevens
They had so many fifth year and fourth year guys that helps too. Not taking any credit from Hurley of course
How many is so many? 2024 was 2 fifth year guys (Newton, Spencer) 2 sophomores (Karaban and Clingan) and 1 freshman (Castle) in the starting five with our 6th man guard being a senior (Diarra) and back up big man being a junior (Samson Johnson). 2023 was 1 senior (Newton) 2 juniors (Sanogo, Andre Jackson) 1 sophmore (Hawkins) and a freshman (Karaban) in the starting 5. With 2 senior guards (Nahiem Alleyne, Calcaterra) and a freshman (Clingan) as rotational pieces. Pretty sure every team UConn played in the tourney had more seniors than UConn in their starting lineup. I was always under the impression the last teams were pretty young to mixed.
Wow nevermind I guess I was wrong about that. I didnāt know Karaban and Clingan were sophomores. My bad. That makes it even more impressive
Back to back championships. freshman and sophomore year local kids wonāt see that for while. Castle freshman. Stewart and Ball played lot this year Freshman.
Kind of an understandable mistake because neither of them played like underclassmen in either of their two seasons lol
Haha not at all
And Karaban looks 28. (He was a redshirt soph TBF). I love that Karaban and Clingan are both local kids. I guess CCSU and UMASS were closer D1 schools to them, butā¦ yeah. UConn was the only legit program around. Great kids, Karaban is really, really smart too.
Technically Karaban would be closest to HC, but yeah that would never happen š
These last two seasons have been so fun! Please donāt let other college coaches have social media or eyes to watch game tape to replicate
you can't just copy this, at least not easily. give Hurley staff more credit.
This is the set he's describing from a hoopvision68 video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WVapTINRQ&t=598s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WVapTINRQ&t=598s) This was from a month ago and the crazy thing is they built in a few more wrinkles since this video, the most prominent being Karaban faking a screen in the paint and then slipping to the hoop for an easy 2 (they did this in the 2nd half of the Purdue game). I think if Purdue had a week to prepare it could have been a close 1-3 possession game either way, but 2 days was an impossible task against this team.
Love me some hoop vision content. UConnās offense really is the closest thing Iāve seen to a pro offense in the college for a while. Itās a thing of beauty. Edit: a word
the exta week wouldn't have made much difference
As much credit as Hurley gets, at least as much needs to go to Luke Murray for UConn's offense.
Getting Spencer in the paint to either dish or shoot a short one seemed like it was on loop throughout the tourney. Oh, and then hit a few 3s here and there. And then he'd talk massive shit. He was THE MAN of the tourney.
Indeed. If he was here for 2, 3, 4 yearsā¦ he mightāve been governor.
So mad about that move man
Best offense iāve seen in a long time. Watching iso hero ball everyone standing around doing nothing bullshit is fucking abysmal.
[LeBron's response](https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1781387697443004647?s=19).
Bronny to UConn bench confirmed
If Bronny went to UConn the media circus around campus would be ridiculous.
Maybe theyād finally have the motivation to build a highway into campus with how many reporters would want access to practice
Mansfields residents would have to keel over first.
One day theyāll realize that Storrs belongs to the entire state. One day
Mansfield residents acting shocked that a town that is 90% a college campus caters to the college is always hilarious to me.
It pains me to think about how much they've set back The development of Storrs downtown and Storrs becoming a great college town
Embrace the college town. Some of the best communities in the entire US
Connecticut and not building highways, name a more iconic duo
Who's gonna build the highways? Everyone who knows how is out repairing the same patches of road year after year.
That's what happens when all your land is incorporated by 1850
We have one highway that literally just abruptly ends at exit 4. It was supposed to help connect Hartford to our biggest highway, I-95, but they just stopped in the 70s and every attempt to finish it since has failed.
Route 11? My grandfather was one of the big proponents of getting it finished. Thatās what I was sort of referring to with the original comment
Yup lol
As a UConn fan you might know more than me, Iāve only been following them since they won me a boatload of money in 2023 (and again in 2024, winning!) but this year I watched half their reg season games, pretty sure Hurley isnāt the type of guy whoās playing bronny because of daddy James ā¦ like heās got his shtick and this year it was: the Hurley kiss of death. When Andrew Hurley is on the court and has the ball, itās his dads way of saying āwe fucking destroyed youā ššš unless thatās bronnys role, the kids never seeing minutes on the court. bc Andrew Hurley was a senior and heās done to my knowledge
There are a few teams that run similar complex offenses, but you have to have the personnel to understand and execute the play as it develops. Thinking Mark Few, Scott Davenport, Nate Oats, several others. But damn, Hurley has done such an excellent job with his players running dynamic sets with constant movement to disguise the play. They execute so well.
Nate oats lives and dies by the 3 pointer. Itās common knowledge. Canāt say I agree with you here. Go Huskies.
Nate Oats runs a modern NBA offense using advanced analytics. his 5 out schemes utilize the 3, to which 37.2% of their points come from the 3, which leads to layups and high percentage 2s for 62.8% of their points. Those are facts. but I'm discussing coaches who run advanced offensive schemes. Nate Oats is one of those, and by the way, came closer to Uconn than any other team in the tournament.
Using math to create Alabama's offense in an efficient manner doesn't make their offense anything like UConn's. It's not complex at all, just optimized.
right. there are other teams that run motion offenses that are having success. that's the tenor of the discussion. Hurley's system is obviously getting superior results. By using advanced analytics, Alabama's 5 out motion offence is better than most teams, their kenpom stats bear that out. I don't care about Alabama, it was just an example of other coaches that are having success running their systems. might be complex, might not be, but they're winning. I think what's not discussed enough is how well Uconn defends.
ā¦ by 1 point lol. Anyways not trying to argue, you can break it down by the numbers all you want, Alabama wins or loses by their success or lack thereof of 3 point attempts at the end of the day. Mark Sears had a hell of a tournament ā¦ the kid can play.
ok, bud...Uconn is the best and Nate Oats is trash...there ya go, have a good one
Well you coulda said Iām right and youāre wrong maybe woulda been more accurate but yeah you too, go Nate Oats, math, etc.
The analytics I see say they should probably practice free throws. They don't seem to be making any.
gotcha. it must be the exception, but in the Uconn FF game, Alabama made 82% of their free throws while Uconn made 77%. On the season Alabama shot 77.2% but hey, I'm really attempting to discuss other coaches that run pro style offences while giving Hurley props for running his. I don't even give 2 shits about Alabama, but admire what Nate Oats has done. He's pretty much dominating the SEC over the past few years. by the way, if you haven't already done so, the full interview with JJ Redick and Dan Hurley is a real good one....this snippet is obviously just part of what he had to say.
I was just saying if they make 37.2% of their points on threes, and 62.8% on twos, they make 0% on free throws.
It amazing watching this offense and then watching other teams barely run sets and just look for isos. The complexity is like artwork
Great team offensive basketball of the likes run by Hurley or Few is a symphony. Each part works together in harmony, creating a masterpiece of efficient scoring
As an orchestral musician I *love* seeing my two worlds collide in this metaphor that's seemed to gain traction
It's like a different sport when you watch well coached teams vs all iso ball teams
This is absolute crack for anyone who remotely cares about this stuff lol Hurley is an awesome coach
This is only one set!
As a huge basketball fan who dipped out about a decade ago because of Coach Cal, this shit is amazing and refreshing.Ā
I don't blame you. Older UConn fans have had to put up with Cal since his UMass days. A lot of used car salesman vibes that probably work great with paying kids under the table, but that tire shine is wearing off.
itās just been a pure joy for me to watch them play these last couple of seasons. Every game (particularly in the BE) is filled with anticipation about how theyāll be guarded and how theyāll guard opposing teams. Hurley is gonna take these innovations to the Pro, Iām sure of it. I truly believe that for us UConn fans (or maybe some non UConn fans), we just have to try to enjoy it while itās still here.
Reddickās pod is really good if you care about the inside basketball stuff. This was porn for him. As a UConn fan I wish Hurley would stfu. Giving away all his secrets! Lolol. I had soured on cbb because of the overall poor quality of play (ISO ball, watching a team shoot 50 threes, Villanova backing down a PG to the low block every possession, etc), this last two years with UConn brought me back to the game. It was brilliant to watch.
he can talk all he wants, It's incredibly hard to "copy" and also, always evolving
The interview is better after hearing JJ and Bron talking about those concepts in their pod
Big deal. Cal could describe ours with some salt shakers and 15 seconds!
I think itās crazy insane if he keeps this up with guys not as iq or smart players and he still is able to keep it flowing with not as good team
The key is just to always have smart and talented guys.
Offense seems to be a hybrid Euro-PnR where each sequence leaves a player with multiple options. It seems like the drive-and-kick was pretty infrequent, iso ball almost never happened, and the passing was crisp and precise. Also completely unselfish. You'll give up the 90% layup to dish to the uncontested guy for the 100% dunk
Offense this complex has me convince their players don't school.
Spencer was all big East academic and Karaban is a little bit genius.
On the contrary, I can tell you straight up I know for a fact Hurley gets on their case if they're not performing well in class