Tag: UConn men’s basketball

Dan Hurley denied ‘conspiracy’ that he leveraged the Lakers to get more money from UConn

UConn’s Dan Hurley called this one of the worst takes he ever heard.

UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley said there was no conspiracy theory about his interest in the Los Angeles Lakers gig.

While it was initially shocking news that Hurley had emerged as a serious candidate for the Lakers, the college coach eventually said no to the NBA opportunity Los Angeles. During an interview on Dan Le Batard Show, he called it a “gut-wrenching decision” before he made his choice.

But then it was simply business as usual for the Huskies once Hurley eventually made his decision to defend his back-to-back collegiate national titles.

According to Hurley, it is a bad faith argument to suggest that he was trying to use negotiations with the Lakers against UConn for a contract extension:

“One of the worst takes I’ve heard is this was a leverage play by me to improve my situation at UConn. I don’t need leverage here. We’ve won back-to-back national championships at this place. This was never a leverage situation for me. I’ve had a contract in place here for a couple weeks and the financial part in terms of salary has been done for a while. There are some other parts like NIL and staff salaries and some different things that I want adjusted that I’m not comfortable with. But the sense that this was some conspiracy to get me a sweeter deal at UConn is lazy.”

The coach was reportedly offered $70 million over six years by the Lakers.

Hurley said he had already figured out the financials on his next deal with the university, who recently announced a contract extension for UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.

He argued that anyone who viewed this saga as a way to sweeten the pot for himself in negotiations with UConn was being lazy.

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Texas, UConn, Indiana to play in Empire Classic hoops series

Texas could face UConn, the 2023 NCAA Champions early next season.

The Texas basketball schedule appears to be ramping up next season. After a respectable schedule saw the Longhorns face Gonzaga, Creighton, and Illinois, the team is already set to play high profile games next season.

Earlier this week, we learned that Texas would reunite with former head coach Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Big 12-Big East Battle. Smart pulled off a surprising AP National Coach of the Year bid this season after helping his team to a No. 2 seed. Marquette fell to the Michigan State Spartans in the Round of 32.

Now it appears the Longhorns will join UConn, Indiana, and Louisville in New York for the Empire Classic in early November. The early season series gives Texas the opportunity to face two of the top coaches in college basketball, UConn’s Danny Hurley and Indiana’s Mike Woodson.

The low stakes series of games gives Texas head coach Rodney Terry and company a chance to simulate tournament style basketball with their new look team. The games kick off Nov. 19 toward the start of next season.

Jordan Hawkins had the best response to both him and his cousin, Angel Reese, winning titles: ‘The cookout gone be lit’

Talk about a family of champions.

It’s going to be a pretty incredible summer for the family of Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins.

For those of you who didn’t know, the two of them are cousins and they both live in Maryland. Hawkins is from Gaithersburg and Reese is from Baltimore, which is just a ride up the local beltway.

Angel Reese received an elite Old Bay care package after LSU’s national championship win

Hawkins said he and Reese “go way back” to the days when she’d beat him playing one-on-one when the two linked up back home. Hawkins stood up for Reese after people online criticized her for her celebration taunt aimed at Caitlin Clark during the women’s national championship game.

Now, after Hawkins and UConn won on Monday night, both of them are national champions. And Hawkins was totally pumped about it.

“Me and Angel paved the way. We did it. We did it…Look, I’ma see her in Maryland soon, so. The cookout gone be lit.” 

Yes indeed. That cookout might be like a joint championship parade. The menu is going to be wild, too. There will be lots of crabs, Old Bay, some half smokes on the grill,  good burgers and a couple of championship rings to show off.

Hopefully, we get some good pictures.

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UConn’s Andre Jackson shockingly said Russell Westbrook is his choice for NBA MVP

UConn’s Andre Jackson may have raised some eyebrows with this answer.

Before facing Miami in the Final Four of the NCAA men’s tournament, UConn’s Andre Jackson Jr. said something very surprising.

Jackson, who has played very well for the Huskies in the postseason, is one of the most intriguing NBA draft prospects who will play in the Final Four. He recently showed that he has an interesting perspective on the game and that he isn’t afraid to stray from the norm.

When he and other players in the Final Four were asked by Bleacher Report who they thought should win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, the 21-year-old junior confidently said L.A. Clippers guard Russell Westbrook.

@bleacherreport Final Four teams weigh in on NBA MVP debate 👀 #marchmadness #mbb #nba #basketball ♬ original sound – bleacherreport

Most of his teammates and opponents predicted frontrunners like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Other past winners like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were mentioned as well.

Westbrook, who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2017, has missed three consecutive All-Star games. He had trouble finding his role in the rotation for the Lakers and his teammates reportedly looked at him as a “vampire” in the locker room.

He was often used as a scapegoat when the organization struggled, it seemed like he was a frustrating teammate for LeBron James, and he got in a heated exchange with Lakers coach Darvin Ham before he was eventually traded.

Westbrook’s fall from league MVP to NBA journeyman is sad to watch, but it makes sense why Jackson is a fan. At the peak of his powers, Westbrook was one of the most athletic players in the game and he is currently the NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles.

UConn’s Dan Hurley has described Jackson as the “best athlete” he has ever coached. He has approached recording a triple-double in all four games that UConn has played during the tournament, notching 8 points with 9 rebounds and 10 assists in the Elite Eight.

Here is a fun stat to further illustrate the comparison: Jackson’s assist percentage (36.8), defensive rebound percentage (13.7), and true shooting percentage (53.4) in the tournament are all nearly identical to Westbrook’s assist percentage (39.1), defensive rebound percentage (13.7), and his true shooting percentage (55.2) on the Clippers.

Jackson is also averaging nearly as many assists in a transition offense (1.3) this season as Westbrook (1.5) in 2022-23, per Synergy. According to Hoop-Math, the UConn junior also assists on approximately as many 3-pointers per 40 minutes (2.7) as Westbrook (2.5) does as well.

Defenders also guard Jackson relatively similarly to how they currently defend Westbrook, sagging off when both are on the perimeter. More than 60.0 percent of Jackson’s jump shots are uncontested, according to our AI-Powered statistics provided by Stats Perform.

Jackson, however, has maintained a low usage rate while in college which lowers the risk of his team getting hurt by his scoring inefficiency.

Maybe a low-usage version of Westbrook isn’t exactly an unfair player comparison for Jackson, and perhaps the choice isn’t so shocking after all.

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