Did Dan Hurley Replicate Steve Kerr? Draymond Green’s Viral Post Sheds Light on UConn’s Masterplan for NCAA Championship

The Connecticut Huskies have done it. UConn won their second consecutive NCAA Championship tonight after blowing out the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60. While many expected Zach Edey and Co. to put up a tough fight, Dan Hurley’s incredible coaching gave Purdue no chance to make a comeback. Hurley displayed a masterclass in coaching during the Final, even executing plays frequently used in the NBA. Draymond Green applauded UConn’s master plan and shed light on Hurley’s imitation of Warriors’ HC Steve Kerr.

During UConn’s dominance against Purdue, Draymond noticed a similarity in Dan Hurley and Steve Kerr’s coaching style. The Warriors Forward tweeted, “That was very Steve Kerr-esque Dan Hurley!! Hit the corner while the big is off, fake the handoff, hit the slip”, followed by several fire emojis.

Green was referring to a UConn play that Steve Kerr frequently uses during the Warriors’ games. The play can be executed when the opponent’s Center is off position, and there is a driving lane inside the paint. The ball is initially passed to the corner, usually to a Forward or a Big Man. Then, an elite shooter runs to the corner, posing the threat of a three-pointer. The ball handler fakes a handoff pass to the shooter, sending defenders the wrong way to guard the shooter. The Forward can then either drive to the basket himself or pass the ball to a cutting teammate for an easy basket. Now, why is this so important here? It’s because Draymond has run this kind of play multiple times with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Even Trae Young couldn’t help but shower his appreciation for Hurley. He said, “Dan Hurley gonna be considered one of the best to ever do it when his career is over”. Others who came forward with words of appreciation for UConn and Hurley include Kendrick Perkins and Skip Bayless.

Dan Hurley used the same play tonight while going up against Purdue’s 7’4 Center, Zach Edey, with 37 points and 10 rebounds. And Zach wasn’t the only one who stepped up. There were four other double-digit scorers. The Steve Kerr-esque action helped UConn get Edey away from the basket for easy dunks.

Dan Hurley’s message to UConn before the Championship Game

Hurley’s amazing coaching played a huge part in wearing out Zach Edey. UConn knew Edey was the biggest threat going into tonight’s final, and they strategized accordingly. Although Edey had an incredibly impressive performance tonight, it was not enough to keep UConn at bay. During the trophy presentation ceremony, Hurley revealed his message to the Huskies before the crucial game. “Play to our identity, be who we’ve been the whole year. We’ll be Champions.” And that is what happened.

UConn had no flaws in their game tonight and proved why they are the number 1 team in Men’s college basketball. With tonight’s win, UConn joined the elite company of UCLA, Kentucky, and North Carolina as the only teams with 6 or more NCAA Championship wins. Hurley was hyped after winning his second straight Championship and yelled, “We’ve been running College basketball for the last 30 years!” Hurley signed a 6-year $32.1 million deal with UConn following last year’s win. So, fans can expect to witness his incredible coaching for many more years to come.

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