STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The visit to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational was not exactly a trip to paradise for two-time defending national champion UConn.
Coach Dan Hurley was very much in the spotlight and outspoken as his team lost to unranked Memphis, Colorado and Dayton.
After beating Maryland-Eastern Shore 99-45 to snap the three-game skid, the 25th-ranked Huskies (5-3) face another challenging stretch against No. 15 Baylor, Texas and No. 7 Gonzaga. Baylor visits Storrs on Wednesday night.
“The psyche of the monster that this staff and these players have created in this program, it was a jarring week, a humbling week and knocked us on our butt pretty good,” Hurley said. “Obviously, the level of competition from here on out is going to be (at an) incredibly high level which is really exciting."
UConn is looking to become the first program since the John Wooden-coached UCLA dynasty in the early 1970s to win three consecutive national titles. Hurley has not hit the panic button.
“We have created a monster here that we are not playing up to (expectations) right now,” Hurley said. "A lot of things could be better. I think the coaching could be better, the point guard play could be better, the center play could be better. I think the shooting could be better. There are a lot of things that could be better. We will get that squared away."
Many of the team's key players were on the court only sparingly during the two title runs or weren’t at UConn yet. This group is planning to play their way through the struggles.
“We are just trusting in the coaches and we are going to figure it out as a team,” freshman forward Liam McNeeley said. “I don’t think the confidence needs to be restored but I think we could have more swagger. We all believe in each other and have confidence in each other, so that is a big part. Just because we lost doesn’t mean it goes away.”
UConn knows the best way to silence the doubters is to win.
“Just tune out the noise and continue to play every single day with the confidence to know that we have the ability to be in there with the best teams and compete at the highest level,” sophomore forward Jayden Ross said. “We have the best coaching staff in the country, I can promise you that, so just knowing that gives us a lot of confidence also.”
For Hurley, one of the most surprising aspects of the losses in Hawaii was the reaction to his sideline behavior. He picked up a costly technical foul in the loss to Memphis. He is not planning a personality overhaul.
“I would say that the reaction to my intensity that went viral (was surprising), Hurley said. ”I think just the reaction of me coaching so hard as I have always coached, how that was so stunning to people who maybe aren’t used to seeing such a fierce competitor challenging calls that were influencing the game and trying to put a battery back in his team.”
UConn has won its past 24 home games. However, a Baylor team that has already faced Gonzaga, Arkansas, St. John's and Tennessee will be a tough matchup. Baylor is 5-2, with Jayden Nunn the only one of the five players averaging more than 10 points per game who played for the Bears last season.
“It is a long season,” Hurley said. “I don’t look at it as a must-win game in Game 9 in such a long season.”
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley, second from right, greets guard Hassan Diarra (10) during a timeout against Colorado during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Maui Invitational Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lewis Hamilton is looking back on an “amazing journey” and the most successful partnership in Formula 1 history as he prepares to bid farewell to Mercedes this week and join Ferrari.
The move offers a new start for the 39-year-old Hamilton, who's had a difficult end to his last Mercedes season. Ferrari's first task next year might be to get him back on form.
“I don't think we're going to end up on a high,” Hamilton said Sunday after finishing 12th in Qatar in another tough race which saw him get penalties, a puncture, and even ask Mercedes for permission to retire the car. Two days earlier, he said he was “definitely not fast any more” after struggling again in qualifying.
Hamilton's last race for Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday will bring down the curtain on a 12-year stay with the team. He won six of his seven world titles with Mercedes, the most by any F1 driver with a single team.
As an all-time great and the sport's only Black driver, Hamilton's influence extends far beyond the F1 grid.
Hamilton shook up F1 with the shock announcement in February that he would join Ferrari in 2025 — a decision he even kept secret from his parents — and the prospect of leaving Mercedes has overshadowed this season.
“I’ve had all year to think about it, so there’s been those highs and lows through the year. I can’t predict how I’m going to feel next Sunday after the race, or the days to follow, or at Christmas time,” Hamilton said last week.
Hamilton said he would miss the “family” atmosphere at Mercedes and will leave with warm memories, including of Niki Lauda, the former F1 champion who played a key role in bringing him to the team and who died in 2019.
“There’s many, many great moments. Moments with Niki, amazing conversations, arguments,” Hamilton said. “It’s been an amazing journey together, one that I’ve genuinely loved.”
The last time Hamilton switched teams, he found it hard to stay away from his old employer. Hamilton recalled the incident in 2013 when he mistakenly drove into McLaren’s pit at the Malaysian Grand Prix, in his second race after leaving for Mercedes.
“I remember when I joined this team it was strange driving past my old team in the pit lane, to the point that I stopped at theirs at one point,” he said.
After an emotional victory at his home British Grand Prix in July ended a 945-day wait for a win, Hamilton took another win at the Belgian Grand Prix when his teammate George Russell finished first but was disqualified. Since then, though, Hamilton has placed behind Russell in 10 of 12 races, including sprints.
Qualifying has been Hamilton's biggest problem, forcing him to try to make up places on race day.
“When you’re always back where I am (on the grid), it makes it very hard, almost impossible, to be competing for wins," he said last week.
Hamilton is missing one potential chance to drive the Ferrari this year in the testing session after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He said it’s not possible under his contract with Mercedes but he didn’t want to start his Ferrari career that way, anyway.
It's likely Hamilton will get take the wheel behind closed doors at Ferrari's famed Fiorano test track early next year.
“I know (Ferrari team principal) Fred (Vasseur) wanted it to happen. For me, I was in two minds. Driving the red car for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me. In a perfect world you’d get to drive and not be seen and do the first rollout next year,” he said. “Am I missing out on something? For sure.”
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain leaves the pit during sprint qualifying at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, Pool)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gets ready for practice at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks through paddock as he arrives at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain leaves the pit during practice at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
