The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Hurley wants confident Huskies
STORRS — Dan Hurley wants guys who breathe fire on the court. Guys who are confident and amped up from pregame warmups to postgame media availability.
He wants guys who have that “kill or be killed” mentality, as he noted a few days ago. Guys in the mold of emotional senior guard Christian Vital — or, in the mold of Hurley himself.
What he has at UConn instead is a roster largely full of nice kids who might lack that killer instinct. That’s a paradox, because it’s not an easy task to get guys to adapt a certain personality they just might not be wired for.
But Hurley is confident he can imprint that mentality with the Huskies, who host St. Joseph’s on Wednesday at Gampel Pavilion (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
“You can add that,” Hurley noted after practice on Tuesday, “as you become more confident as a player, in your own way ... We’re not asking for guys to come completely out of character, but be better communicators, show some more fire, more intensity, more urgency.”
He noted that junior center Josh Carlton has shown “flashes of that charisma” after coming up with a big blocked shot or dunk. He also understands why UConn may not be a team brimming with confidence.
“I think it’s a program thing. Not every guy I’ve coached in my prior stops was extroverted, personalitywise, but they had at least a quiet confidence, if not a loud swagger. Part of the issue is we haven’t won here in a few years, so it’s hard to have a collective confidence. We want to see
more emotion, more joy. Make big plays, splash plays, engage the crowd and embrace the atmosphere on the road as the bad guy. You’ve got to have an edge to you.”
UConn (10) will need an edge to ward off upsetminded St. Joe’s on Wednesday night. This isn’t the St. Joe’s you might know best, with Phil Martelli pacing the sidelines. Martelli was fired after last season, replaced by firstyear coach Billy Lange, and is now an assistant at Michigan.
Oh, and this isn’t Jim Calhoun’s St. Joseph’s, either. That’s a Division 3 squad.
This is a unique Hawk team that spreads out the floor, posts up its 6foot5, 225pound guard and whose best 3point shooters might be its two big men.
“Kind of like a matchup nightmare,” according to Hurley.
Guys like Carlton and forward Isaiah Whaley might have a tough time defensively guarding bigs out on the perimeter. For Hurley, he just wants them to play with added intensity.
The coach noted that his team has improved defensively, but has a long way to go.
“I think we’ve gotten better in all facets — better understanding of rotations, understanding of ballscreen defense. I think guys have grown up and gotten physically more mature. They’ve grown athletically. If we’re gonna have a good year and compete for something, we’ve got to be a top50 defensive team.”
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ Assistant coach Kenya Hunter is “feeling better,” according to Hurley, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be on the bench on Wednesday. Hunter has been sidelined for the Huskies’ exhibition against Saint Michael’s and their seasonopener against
Sacred Heart on Friday and remains on indefinite leave for an undisclosed medical reason.
⏩ Freshman guard Jalen Gaffney played just nine scoreless minutes against Sacred Heart. He’s healthy, Hurley noted, after missing more than three weeks of practices
with an ankle injury.
“Those characterbuilding practices would have sped up his learning curve,” said the coach. “He’s gonna be a factor for us at some point, this just put him a little bit behind.”