What did Dan Hurley mean by calling UConn's big men ‘Oppenheimer' after preseason win?

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Was Dan Hurley referring to an Oscar, or Oskar?

Or maybe both.

Shortly after the UConn men's basketball team's impressive, 78-70 exhibition game win over Michigan State on Tuesday night, Hurley, as most coaches do, found some negatives in the Huskies' performance. In particular, the play of UConn centers Na'jai Hines and Oskar Giltay, who combined for more fouls (nine) than rebounds (eight).

"That wasn't exactly a (expletive) Oppenheimer performance," he said of his big man tandem.

Hurley apologized for his profanity, saying he was hoping to get through the season without cursing during a postgame press conference. That didn't even make it to the regular season.

He didn't explain what he meant by his "Oppenheimer" quote. Was he implying that Hines and Giltay hardly had Academy Award-winning performances, a la Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. in the film "Oppenheimer," which also copped a Best Picture Oscar? Or was he simply going ... um ... nuclear on his bigs.

Oscar or Oskar (and Na'jai)? Clearly, he wasn't too pleased with the latter.

"We've got to get our inside game going," Hurley said. "We didn't get enough post catches ... It's like our running game. We don't have it where we need it to be right now."

No coach will ever come out of a game, especially an exhibition game, 100-percent pleased. Hurley's own father says he's not happy unless he's complaining about something. But even Hurley could barely contain the pleasure he took in watching his team convincingly beat the No. 6 team in the nation, in front of a full house on its home floor and without Braylon Mullins.

"I was pleasantly surprised with how we held up," he confessed.

Indeed, Hurley seemed to be nitpicking a bit about his center's play. Hines was the best player on the floor in the Huskies' 20-point exhibition win over Syracuse a week earlier, coming off the bench for 17 points and eight rebounds. That earned him the starting spot on Tuesday night, one he's not likely to relinquish the rest of the way. He finished with eight points, three assists, two blocks and just two boards in 17 minutes before fouling out. Hines scored on a nifty, left-handed hook shot that's looking like a real weapon for the 6-foot-11 sophomore, and had a couple of monster dunks, as well.

Still, it was the second time in as many exhibitions that UConn's starting center fouled out. Giltay had fouled out of the Syracuse game with just four points and two rebounds. He played better on Tuesday, finishing with four points and six rebounds in 19 minutes. He also committed four fouls.

The foul troubles of Hines and Giltay are probably the bigger worry than how many post catches they get. Less than a minute before halftime, Giltay picked up his third foul and Hurley summoned 7-foot Bosnian Elmer Dzafic from the bench. But no sooner had Dzafic got up from his seat when Hurley changed his mind and instead called for Jacob Ross to enter the game.

Ross, the younger brother of Jayden, sat out last season as a redshirt and isn't expected to play much this season. He's also just 6-6, 205 pounds - not exactly your classic big.

Early in the latter half, Ross got a couple more minutes of run. Dzafic, a sophomore expected to be the team's third center, never got into the game.

Why was that? It had less to do with a lack of faith in Dzafic and more simply a matchup situation, Hurley explained. The Spartans were playing a little small-ball with 6-9 Cam Ward at the five, and he would have been a bad match-up for Dzafic.

"We're trying, to a degree, to bulk Jacob up and have him play a little positionless five," Hurley added. "Maybe utilized him in a way we did Dwayne Koroma last year a little bit. He's trying to get the weight on. But it was more their lineup."

"And," Hurley added after a slight pause, "Elmer's got a lot of work to do."

A couple of other observations from Tuesday night:

• The Huskies' free-throw shooting over the first two exhibition games hasn't been very impressive. UConn missed five of its first nine from the charity stripe and was just 6-for-12 at halftime. The Huskies improved in the latter half, hitting 10 of 13 to finish a respectable 77 percent for the game. Against Syracuse, UConn also missed half of its 10 first-half free throws and wound up at 67 percent (18-for-27) for the game. Hines, however, was 7-for-8 in that game.
• Hurley's unbridled love for Michigan State and Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo continued. 

"To this day, Coach is a mentor for me and is someone I've tried to model myself after," Hurley said. "He's your coaches' favorite coach."

Indeed, Jim Calhoun was an unabashed fan of Izzo, as well. No doubt, part of Hurley's admiration for Izzo stems from their shared disgust at the current state of college athletics, where 24-year-old Europeans and fifth-year players previously ruled ineligible are popping up on rosters everywhere. On Monday, Kansas got word that former Purdue standout Trey Kaufman-Renn, a 2021 high school graduate who was an NBA Draft pick in June, is now eligible to play. At least for now.

Hurley's affection extended to Michigan State's fans, even though a "(Bleep) Dan Hurley!" chant erupted early in the game. Izzo emphatically directed the fans to stop the chant.

"We root for Michigan State when they're playing, we've got the ultimate respect," Hurley said. "Obviously, the fans turned on me at different points in the game, and rightfully so. That was the first time seeing the antics. But, as much as they were mean to me, I root for them."

He laughed, then added: "Go Sparty."

This article originally published at What did Dan Hurley mean by calling UConn's big men ‘Oppenheimer' after preseason win?.