Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and
welcome to SoundOff with SinkOff
.
I am your host, brian SinkOff.
Thank you so much for checkingout the podcast.
Of course, soundoff issponsored by the SinkOff Realty
Group, a full-service realestate brokerage in the capital
region of New York.
All right, so my wife, francinenot a huge sports fan as
(00:22):
Francine, but she's sort of thethe Genesis for this edition of
sound office sink off Um, if youhaven't heard Dan Hurley, uh,
uconn coach, winner of twonational championships, being
heavily courted, uh, by the LosAngeles Lakers at this time, at
the time of this podcast taping,um, they want to pay him big
(00:43):
bucks, they want to lure himfrom the college game to the NBA
.
And my wife, francine, we're atlunch today and I said I'm
thinking about doing a podcast.
She said what are you going totalk about?
I said, oh, this Danny Hurleysituation going from UConn to
the Lakers.
And Francine, with sort of aningenious comment, she goes
(01:05):
isn't that the naturaltrajectory, brian, like you,
right?
You go to college, you, you dowell there, and then you get the
NBA job.
Isn't that like an admirable,like that's, that's what you
should be shooting for, right?
And I said, francine, that thatwas like a brilliant comment
Because you would think on paperleaving college to go to the
(01:28):
NBA just on paper, knowingnothing about anything that that
would be a good move.
But for Danny Hurley it's aterrible move and I'm going to
tell you why.
First of all, in the last 30years okay, we're going back 30
years, okay, we're going back 30years Only two coaches in the
last 30 years have left college,went to the NBA and had a
(01:51):
winning record Billy Donovanwith the Thunder and Brad
Stevens with the Celtics.
Neither of them won achampionship Winning percentage
of those coaches roughly under545% winning percentage combined
.
Okay, stevens went to theCeltics.
Probably realized being in thefront office was a better move
(02:12):
for him.
He had more control of theroster and things of that nature
, and he bolts for the Celticsfront office.
So you know the history is notthere.
They're talking about along-term deal.
And you know the history is notthere.
They're talking about along-term deal and you know
Hurley is seriously thinkingabout it.
This comes roughly about the20-year anniversary that the
(02:33):
Lakers were going to offerKrzyzewski, who at the time was
at Duke.
He was going to get a five-year$40 million deal.
Krzyzewski turned it down, wona couple more championships with
the Blue Devils, goes on to bethe winningest college
basketball coach of all time.
There's a lot of different ways,a lot of different moving
pieces to look at it.
(02:53):
You know I'm going to give yousort of maybe the way Hurley's
thinking and then I'm going togive you the reality of it.
But Hurley's probably thinkingit's a challenge, right, I've
succeeded at UConn.
I've the reality of it.
But Hurley's probably thinkingit's a challenge, right, I've
succeeded at UConn, I've won acouple championships in a row.
I played that college game.
I can do it.
You know he wants.
(03:14):
You know the NBA is obviouslyyou're going to have better pay.
You're going to be thelimelight of Hollywood.
You're going to be in that LAcrew Lakers coach kind of a
prestigious job of Hollywood.
You're going to be in that LAcrew Lakers coach kind of a
prestigious job.
You know Hurley also thinkswith the NIL and the transfer
portal, even a program likeUConn, you're going to lose guys
to the NBA.
(03:36):
Guys on your roster right, yourupperclassmen, your guys that
leave for the NBA, maybe thesixth, seventh, eighth, ninth
guy on the Huskies bench maybenot be there next year.
They go to a different program.
They get the NIL money and thepromise of playing time.
They were frustrated maybe thispast season at UConn because
they didn't play and they bolt.
And Hurley, much like a lot ofother, even big-time colleges,
(03:59):
he's doing the NIL recruitingtap dance, trying to get guys in
to fill a roster for next year.
Not IL recruiting tap dancetrying to get guys in to fill a
roster for next year.
Not as difficult.
In the major programs it is for, like the mid majors, like the
Siena's and you Albany's,because a guy at those programs
has one good year and he's done.
He's getting more moneysomewhere else.
He's going to a mid major, ahigher mid major in a 10 school,
(04:21):
even maybe a big power fiveschool.
He's done.
But at UConn they're sufferingattrition.
Either NBA or guys on theroster that didn't play last
year simply aren't happy andthey're promised with more
playing time next year.
So look, Hurley is also facingthat hurdle as well.
Hurley hurdle, he's facing thathurdle as well.
(04:43):
So he's dealing with the NIL.
He's dealing with constantturnover in college basketball.
We don't know what the collegebasketball landscape is going to
look like in five years, muchless 10.
You know he's thinking that,all right Now.
Here's why I don't think this issuch a great idea for him to go
(05:08):
.
For him to go to the NBA andthat is the NBA is for him to go
to the NBA and that is the NBAis it's not a coach's league?
Hurley is a player's coach, buthe's a coach's coach.
He is.
He's sort of an old schoolgrinded out yell at you demand.
You know the intensity.
I think Led certainly maybe allof college basketball with the
(05:31):
amount of technical fouls he gotlast year.
He's really.
You know Hurley is a littlesurly right Fired up, yells at
people, yells at refs.
That crap don't fly in the NBA.
The players run the roost.
They don't want to hear fromthe coach, they don't want to
hear him whining.
You know it's keep the noisedown and basically in the NBA
(05:54):
you're substitutions.
I mean that's what you're doing.
These guys aren't reallycoached, they don't do
fundamental drills.
They have 77 assistants underthem.
You know they're freaking,making substitutions.
I mean, let's be honest, yeah,they're motivating a little bit,
but you know you're making $20million a year in the NBA.
(06:16):
I don't know that you needmotivation.
You're a grown man, you've kindof been doing this.
You're your own boss.
So I don't know that therah-rah plays in LA.
I just don't know that it playsin the NBA.
Here's the other thing.
You know, lebron, I love LeBronand you know this If you've
been following me over my career.
I'm a big LeBron James fan,always have been.
(06:37):
Lebron's going to be 40 yearsold this season and while he's
putting up numbers when he was29 years old, he's 39, you know
the 25 points a game and almostaveraging a triple-double.
He's 40 years old.
How many years does he haveleft?
A couple.
When he leaves, that team iscompletely decimated and you can
(06:57):
talk to me about draft and allthat other stuff, but the core
of that team is gone.
Anthony Davis is an old 31.
He seems to be injured everyother season.
Are you really banking on thatguy?
I mean Bronny James, lebron'sson.
That's a cute story.
For a year or two they playtogether.
But am I building a franchisearound Bronny James?
(07:18):
A guy wasn't even that good incollege, like you know.
I don't know.
The other problem with an NBAteam being a coach is you don't
even run the team the players do.
The players have so much poweron an NBA roster from who we're
going to sign to.
And here's the other thing Ifthey don't like you as a head
(07:41):
coach, you're done, you're gone,you're fired.
How many times have you seen ateam get together and blow out a
coach?
The players always win.
That's the problem in the NBA.
More so than any of theprofessional sports, the NBA
because the rosters are small.
(08:02):
Here's why the rosters aresmall.
Usually one or two stars iswhat keeps the team together.
You can win and I've always saidthe sink off theory of NBA
championship tivity is NBAchampionship.
Look it up One team in the last40 years does not have this
going for him and I'll tell youthat as in a second.
(08:23):
But you need a hall of famerand two all-stars around you to
win an NBA title.
Yes, you can have a combination, a couple of hall of famers and
an all-star, but you need atleast one hall of Famer and two
all pros around you, all starsaround you, to win an NBA title.
The only team it's theexception is the Detroit Pistons
, when they had Wallace and RipHamilton and those guys.
(08:45):
But the NBA is so dominated bythe players.
It is a players league the twoor three top players on each
team.
They run the roster.
They can blow a coach out ofthere.
If Brad Stevens, if DannyHurley's, I'm thinking of Brad
Stevens.
But if Danny Hurley's act wearsthin with the Lakers, he's done.
(09:07):
And how long could that be?
A couple of years.
If the players don't like himand it doesn't his sort of
college rah-rah, get in yourface intensity.
If that doesn't play for theplayers, there's no security
blanket.
And that, I think, is thebiggest fundamental problem with
the NBA.
It is a player's league, it'snot a coach's league.
(09:29):
Coaches are substitution guys.
Here's the other thing UConn.
You're there for life.
I mean you literally, as I'vealways said, you have to drop
your pants and poop in thepresident's office to lose your
job at UConn.
I mean that's how secure Hurleyis in his gig.
It's a pretty good gig.
And yeah, if the NIL and thePower Five and UConn becomes a
(09:50):
little less relevant, he'll geta Power Five job making crazy
money.
But he's got great job securityat UConn.
He's not going anywhere.
He is going to be there for aslong as he wants to be there.
Two national championships forHurley in the last two years.
First team to do that sinceFlorida in 06 and 07.
And prior to that was Duke in90, 91.
(10:11):
So you're talking about.
Hurley did something that'sdone about every 17 years the
life of a cicada, right whencicadasadas are hatched.
That means a team repeats incollege basketball okay, and
Hurley pulled a cicada.
Every 17 years there's anational championship repeat.
He's got a long leash at UConn.
He is not going anywhere.
(10:33):
I mean, they have to really beterrible for him to lose his job
and guess what it would be likefour years before there's even
talk of him being fired.
I don't think that would everhappen.
But he'd get a job in 27seconds.
So money, cash, job securityfor Hurley staying at UConn is
not a problem.
There's no loyalty in the NBA.
They don't give a rat's asswhat you did in college.
(10:55):
They don't care about pastperformance at UConn.
They don't care about anything.
They care about what have youdone?
Can you control the players,can you babysit and can you be a
substitution guy?
Give you some names of collegecoaches successful college
coaches that went to the NBA.
(11:15):
That sucked.
John Beeline, michigan and theCavaliers 14-40.
Have a nice day.
Donovan did okay, went toOklahoma City.
He was okay.
Fred Hoiberg Iowa State to theBulls 115-155.
Brad Stevens had a good record,one of the few that you could
(11:36):
say made the nice transitionfrom college to the pros.
He was good, reggie Theus, Idon't even remember him with the
Sacramento Kings but he wentfrom New Mexico state.
Sacramento lasted like twoseasons.
Mike Montgomery, memberStanford went to some final
fours, went to some lead eliteeights in the early two
thousands, goes to golden state.
He was unbelievable and he wasliterally last of two seasons
(12:00):
with Golden State.
Leonard Hamilton remember himFrom Miami to my Wizards.
They were terrible.
He went back to Florida State.
He's been there 22 years since2002.
He's had tremendous successwith the Seminoles.
Why on earth would he leave?
You know he left.
He realized dumb mistake,mistake back at Florida state.
(12:21):
Has been there for two decades.
Lon Kruger, illinois to theHawks uh, lasted three seasons.
Tim Floyd remember him.
Iowa state to the bulls lastedthree seasons.
Now he had a tough gig becausehe took over after the Jordan um
broke, breakup John Calipari.
He took over after the Jordanum broke, breakup John Calipari,
(12:41):
umass to the nets disasterdisaster.
Two and a half seasons um threeand 17.
In his third season, blown outPJ Carlissimo.
Seton hall to Portland uh,losing record.
He had a bunch of gigs in theNBA and did not do well.
(13:02):
So there is history withcoaches making that jump from
college to the pros and exactlytwo of them have had winning
records.
It's not a good track record.
I don't think it's a great movefor Danny Hurley to make.
I just don't like the Lakersroster either.
I don't think it's a great movefor Danny Hurley to make.
I just don't like the Lakersroster either.
I don't think it's a roster.
(13:23):
Yeah, you can rebuild it.
It's like maybe you get a freshslate in a couple years, but
you still have LeBron James forat least two years.
You have Anthony Davis and hisbad injuries and you have a
couple of core guys there, butit's just not a great fit.
It's limelight, it's glitz,it's Hollywood, it's Tinseltown.
(13:43):
I get it Not a good move.
Stay with UConn Hurley.
That's all I can say.
I mean.
Again, thanks to Francine forgiving me the topic of this,
because that was like a prettysmart comment.
It's a natural trajectory to gofrom the college to the NBA.
Maybe not for Dan Hurley.
(14:04):
All right, that's going to doit for this edition of SoundOff
with SyncOff.
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Give my podcast a like, give ita subscribe, give it a share.
Whatever you kids do with yourpodcasts that's what she said Do
it with this one as well, and Ilook forward to many more
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(14:25):
We got some special surpriseguests coming up in the next
couple of weeks and I want tothank you for joining and we'll
talk to you next time, everybody.