Chief Briefs - Seton Hall Edition

[Chief00]

A good win, that should have been a 20 point win. A good win, because any win is a big one now. We also controlled the boards.

The adage “necessarity is the mother of invention” held true today with Sanogo’s illness forcing Hurley to play Clingan more minutes in the first half. The Big Two (Sanogo and Clingan) continue to shoot around 60%, so why not ride it Danny? Clingan has the ability to change the game. However, true to form we went away from that in the second half. Danny has got to coach better in that respect.

Hawkins has mixed a nice dunk drive into his 3 point mix. His explosion and elevation at the end of the drives are truly incredible. While we drive some as a team we shoot too many threes, especially with such a strong and efficient inside game..

I liked the early screen action on offense, more than in prior games, but on other plays we have non 3 shooters standing on the 3 line pretending they are spreading the floor. Rather have them screening.

With Jackson on offense it is simple, put him in the right position before he gets the ball. We did that some with inside screening and baseline movement. He is fine from the foul line, so I would like to see that as well. Yet, too often he’s put in position to fail 23 feet from the basket when he should be roaming the baseline and getting in offensive rebounding position. Take his three missed 3’s away and he just missed 1 shot. Over/all Andre had a very good game today with dunks, rebounds and defense.

Again we came out of halftime sloppy and non focused. Eight minutes without a basket and plenty of turnovers going back to the first half before a timeout. After what happened in Jersey, how do we allow that to happen? Danny has no sense of urgency in his timeout usage. Losing nearly all the 50/50 balls hurts too until mid way through the second half. Richmond’s injury helped the last ten minutes.

Diarra gives us such good energy but as a point guard he needs to get better from the foul line to see more minutes. 50% doesn’t cut it! He also dribbles too long on the shot clock.

I am starting to see the recognition that Hawkins is the guy you got to figure out how to get the ball in his hands in the last five minutes. However, we continue to be sloppy with the ball. Passes thrown too hard, guys not prepared to catch the ball, and guys trying to be flashy rather than productive.

We get the win but even in the last 2 minutes, a lack of shot clock recognition, an unnecessary foul, and 3 bad possessions in a row with seemingly no clue what we want to do. I also don’t like having no big guy in the game late. Sometimes they are a good safety outlet to pass to against the press.

 

[REB1094]

I have enough thoughts to fill a novel, but I'll try to keep them concise. At the end of the day, they did enough to win the game by 9. But dang that didn't feel like a 3 possession win and doesn't leave me feeling great.

The Good:

1. Clingan impacts nearly every play he's out there. On the plus side, he gets his hand on nearly every rebound when he's out there and alters nearly every shot in the paint. On the down side, he dropped a few easy passes, was 0-2 from the line, and got schooled on pump fakes by Ndefo and Samuel a few times. He needs more reps to refine his game
2. Second half was a foul fest, but we didn't foul much in the first half while also getting some of their key guys in foul trouble
3. Spurtability is how we've been winning games. Went up 11 in the first after 2-3 minutes of great play, and went up 16 in the second after 6 minutes of great play. We nearly blew both of those, but we led for 33 minutes of that game including the entire second half. Ugly, but enough.

The Great:

1. Is Hawkins a driver and dunker now? His three was off (mostly good looks, just didn't hit them) but he drove to the hoop for a handful of layups and monster dunks. Yet another 20 piece
2. Despite Hawkins' 20 piece, Diarra and Andre get MVP. When we looked like we were going to blow it again, they brought unlimited energy and were the spark plugs for the 14-0 run. Diarra's box score doesn't do him justice this game, and Andre took 4 threes too many, but great games from them both
3. We won the boards 37-19, and offensive boards 13-4

The Bad:

1. For most of the game, we played exactly how Seton Hall wanted us to. So many instances of us passing the ball around the perimeter and then just handing it to someone with 5 seconds left to make an iso play
2. Hawk struggled playing defense in the post, and Seton Hall went after him. He did draw 2 charges but didn't get the call for either of them (1 could have been a flop). He gets officiated so uniquely. He gets held and grabbed every possession with no call, gets bumped every time drives with no call, but draws at least 1 foul per game on threes. So weird

The Ugly:

1. Tristen Newton didn't want to play today. Really rough game, but he did ice it at the FT line late
2. Sanogo should have got benched in the last 5-6 minutes. By my count he had 3 turnovers down the stretch, and that doesn't include a stepback airball 3 (?) and a pass to Hawkins 30ft from the hoop with 3 seconds left in the shot clock (might as well be a turnover). But he got us the game saving block so all is forgiven?

 

[REB1094]

Loved the two first half plays for Andre. Run the baseline off a Newton drive for an and1 layup, and run the baseline off a Hawkins drive for an alley oop slam. He shot 4 threes which is too much, but otherwise played to his strengths. High energy defense leading to rebounds and fast breaks, where he is most comfortable

 

[Scottobot]

We live and die by the 3P shot. Today we shot terrible, but found a way to win. The team rebounding and attack on rim by Hawkins and Jackson were encouraging signs for a team that has scored most of its points via 3 ball and Sanogo post up. I thought Hawkins drives to rim today were his best ever.
When the team is struggling to score I don’t understand why Hurley doesn’t put Clingan in to get offensive rebounds. When we are struggling to run offense and get a good shot, offensive rebounds turn ugly possessions into points.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I will add that the BE officiating today was again consistently inconsistent. So many plays where one of our guys grabbed a clean rebound and then got hacked and lost the ball or had someone jump over their shoulder to get a fingertip on the ball to be called a jump ball. If you have a rebound and someone has to jump over your back and put you in a sleeper to get their hand on the ball that isn’t a jump ball. And don’t even get me going on Hawkins. The guy is getting mauled all game long and 99% of the holding that goes on never gets called. Even with all that, Karaban might get the worse whistle on the team. One of the reasons I’m so positive about our team in March is because we won’t be getting these lousy officiating crews.

 

[REB1094]

I will add that the BE officiating today was again consistently inconsistent. So many plays where one of our guys grabbed a clean rebound and then got hacked and lost the ball or had someone jump over their shoulder to get a fingertip on the ball to be called a jump ball. If you have a rebound and someone has to jump over your back and put you in a sleeper to get their hand on the ball that isn’t a jump ball. And don’t even get me going on Hawkins. The guy is getting mauled all game long and 99% of the holding that goes on never gets called. Even with all that, Karaban might get the worse whistle on the team. One of the reasons I’m so positive about our team in March is because we won’t be getting these lousy officiating crews.

Hawkins and Lou from the womens' team are officiated similarly. Held and grabbed off ball all game with no call. Get bodied when driving with no call. Makes no sense

A Seton Hall player jumped into Hawkins with his arms up on his layup attempt at the end of the first half. I'm actually okay with refs letting them play in that situation. But Karaban got called for a shooting foul on the exact same defense literally the play right before it for a potential and1

Poorly officiated game today, and for both sides. Refs let them play in the first half and then called every ticky tack foul in the second half. Don't know the exact count for 2nd half fouls but it must have been over 1 foul per minute. Officials can set the tone for a game with their whistles, and that's fine, but they have to be consistent. Can't call the game 2 completely different games depending on which half it is. Coaches and players make halftime adjustments, officials should not

 

[Okafour rings]

A good win, that should have been a 20 point win. A good win, because any win is a big one now. We also controlled the boards.

The adage “necessarity is the mother of invention” held true today with Sanogo’s illness forcing Hurley to play Clingan more minutes in the first half. The Big Two (Sanogo and Clingan) continue to shoot around 60%, so why not ride it Danny? Clingan has the ability to change the game. However, true to form we went away from that in the second half. Danny has got to coach better in that respect.

Hawkins has mixed a nice dunk drive into his 3 point mix. His explosion and elevation at the end of the drives are truly incredible. While we drive some as a team we shoot too many threes, especially with such a strong and efficient inside game..

I liked the early screen action on offense, more than in prior games, but on other plays we have non 3 shooters standing on the 3 line pretending they are spreading the floor. Rather have them screening.

With Jackson on offense it is simple, put him in the right position before he gets the ball. We did that some with inside screening and baseline movement. He is fine from the foul line, so I would like to see that as well. Yet, too often he’s put in position to fail 23 feet from the basket when he should be roaming the baseline and getting in offensive rebounding position. Take his three missed 3’s away and he just missed 1 shot. Over/all Andre had a very good game today with dunks, rebounds and defense.

Again we came out of halftime sloppy and non focused. Eight minutes without a basket and plenty of turnovers going back to the first half before a timeout. After what happened in Jersey, how do we allow that to happen? Danny has no sense of urgency in his timeout usage. Losing nearly all the 50/50 balls hurts too until mid way through the second half. Richmond’s injury helped the last ten minutes.

Diarra gives us such good energy but as a point guard he needs to get better from the foul line to see more minutes. 50% doesn’t cut it! He also dribbles too long on the shot clock.

I am starting to see the recognition that Hawkins is the guy you got to figure out how to get the ball in his hands in the last five minutes. However, we continue to be sloppy with the ball. Passes thrown too hard, guys not prepared to catch the ball, and guys trying to be flashy rather than productive.

We get the win but even in the last 2 minutes, a lack of shot clock recognition, an unnecessary foul, and 3 bad possessions in a row with seemingly no clue what we want to do. I also don’t like having no big guy in the game late. Sometimes they are a good safety outlet to pass to against the press.

"Necessarity" - of course you meant necessity, right?

It was a win, but not a good win. Giving up a 16 point lead late in the second half and not securing the win until 35 seconds left in the game is not a recipe for success late in the season. This team lacks killer instinct, and a nightmare scenario is a Round of 32 game when the Huskies are up 10 midway through the second half, take their foot off the gas, and let the other team come back and snatch the victory away.

Clingan should be playing a minimum of 15 minutes that he played today. He impacts the game greatly...but boy does he need to strengthen his forearms as he got stripped and lost the ball 3 times today, as well as several other times when the ball was his for the taking but got outfought for it.

Jackson was utilized MUCH better today by Coach Hurley by being placed in the corners and getting dunks. But he has to stay disciplined: his four 3-point attempts were second most to Hawkins. That number should be zero for the rest of the year.

As Chief said, late in the game Diarra didn't start the offense until 10 seconds remained on the shot clock. in EVERY case, it led to a Hail Mary shot or clock violation. Why weren't the coaches screaming at him to pass/drive with 15 seconds left?

Hawkins was only 3 for 11 from the arc, but I think Seton Hall's rough play on him was the primary reason for that. They fouled him consistently throughout the game.

Lastly, the coaches: kudos for drawing up those plays for Jackson and highlighting Hawkins in their offensive plans. Thumbs down for taking the air out of the ball so much at the end that we totally lost our flow, and SOMEONE take Clingan aside and work on this foul shooting!?! Since 90% of his misses clang off the back of the rim, how about just having him stand 2-3 inches back of the foul line?

 

[Hunt for 7]

Hawkins is the best player the bug east. And I don’t think it’s close. When he goes to the basket like he did he will get his points. He is the kind of player that could put a team on his back. Just imagine if he made a few more of those three’s like he usually does. 26-30 point game. His defense and rebounding is way underrated. Who is better and who has a higher ceiling in the big east than JH. He will be a lottery pick before the year ends.

 

[Hankster]

I have said this before. Clingan needs to burn the midnight oil on foul shots. He missed all of them I believe? Donavon is the type of player that changes a tight game with minutes left. However if he gets fouled I am afraid it won't be pretty. At least put one shot in. This is going to comeback and haunt us.

 

[gtcam]

A win is a win which is especially important for this team. It shouldn’t be but the lack of execution in all parts of this team from coach to substitutes makes it so.
Hawk with another 20 pt game and Ajax with 15 and 10 boards were the bright points for UConn. I also appreciated the energy that Diarra brought but he does need to reign himself in. AK played a rather intelligent game and should demand the ball more on offense. DC gave some good minutes but made som freshman errors and I don’t understand how he couldn’t miss free throws in Oregon yet struggles so baby during NBE play - it’s a mental thing for sure.

AS looked like he had been sick much of the week but had flashes of brilliance. Newton had one of his I don’t give a crap games and the team needs a PG. Alleyne played 17 minutes and had zeros across the board. Awfully hard to do that. Remember that Kadary Richmond played only 7 total minutes.

There were eight of us watching the game and all felt this was one of the worst coached games we remember. Down the stretch this team had no game plan from getting the ball inbounds to allowing the players to hold the ball to the final seconds of possession with zero idea of what to do with the ball. Folks on the chat were saying DH can’t play himself so don’t blame him. That’s pure BS. The team came out flat in the second half and had experienced a near fatal collapse the final 4 minutes. It was a headless horseman syndrome. They don’t know how to react to pressure - why? because they are not prepared with offensive sets, gimmicks, plays etc. if you are prepared you don’t panic. Makes you wonder what they work on to prepare for an opponent. Like one of my buddies, who coached very high D2 level for years said today, it looks like Hurley throws 5 bodies out there and crosses his fingers that it will work out. There’s more to coaching than recruiting under the Hurley name.

PC is a much tougher foe than Seton Hall. They are chewing up Nova today. They have a consistently good PG and UConn does not. They are disciplined and well coached. UConn is playing at Gampel which is a favorable advantage. I feel this game will tell us how far can go and to me is a must win game. PC needs to beat UConn twice to help off play their light non conference schedule. They will be ready.

UConn needs some good mojo going into the NBE tournament and a victory over PC would be a springboard.

A win is a win. This team is better than that adage.

 

[RichZ]

The adage “necessarity is the mother of invention” held true today with Sanogo’s illness forcing Hurley to play Clingan more minutes in the first half. The Big Two (Sanogo and Clingan) continue to shoot around 60%, so why not ride it Danny? Clingan has the ability to change the game. However, true to form we went away from that in the second half. Danny has got to coach better in that respect.

Clingan gave up too many baskets to 2s and 3s. Hall's strategy seemed to be drive to the rim against Clingan, and not when Adama was in. Against Adama it was have a big (try to) back in on him in the paint.

We get the win but even in the last 2 minutes, a lack of shot clock recognition, an unnecessary foul, and 3 bad possessions in a row with seemingly no clue what we want to do. I also don’t like having no big guy in the game late. Sometimes they are a good safety outlet to pass to against the press.

We were horrible closing this game out. Use up the shot clock, then turn it over -- either on a clock violation, or on a desperation pass or drive into the paint, and end up not getting a shot off.

 

[giddyup]

The level of game mismanagement down the stretch was atrocious. The players are not prepared, and Hurley’s brain shuts down in the last 4 minutes and he goes into drain the clock mode with no offense. We were one turnover scoring conversion from being in big trouble.

Adama was terrible with a net -1. He made some great plays but gave more back with turnovers, bad help on D and missed rebound ms from not boxing out. Clingan was no prize with turnovers and missed FTs but he changes the game favorably… cleans the boards and alters shots.

AK and Hawk are the glue.

Danny, for God sakes, put AJ in a position to succeed. You can’t stretch the floor if nobody respect his 3 ball.

 

[connVA]

I have enough thoughts to fill a novel, but I'll try to keep them concise. At the end of the day, they did enough to win the game by 9. But dang that didn't feel like a 3 possession win and doesn't leave me feeling great.

The Good:

1. Clingan impacts nearly every play he's out there. On the plus side, he gets his hand on nearly every rebound when he's out there and alters nearly every shot in the paint. On the down side, he dropped a few easy passes, was 0-2 from the line, and got schooled on pump fakes by Ndefo and Samuel a few times. He needs more reps to refine his game
2. Second half was a foul fest, but we didn't foul much in the first half while also getting some of their key guys in foul trouble
3. Spurtability is how we've been winning games. Went up 11 in the first after 2-3 minutes of great play, and went up 16 in the second after 6 minutes of great play. We nearly blew both of those, but we led for 33 minutes of that game including the entire second half. Ugly, but enough.

The Great:

1. Is Hawkins a driver and dunker now? His three was off (mostly good looks, just didn't hit them) but he drove to the hoop for a handful of layups and monster dunks. Yet another 20 piece
2. Despite Hawkins' 20 piece, Diarra and Andre get MVP. When we looked like we were going to blow it again, they brought unlimited energy and were the spark plugs for the 14-0 run. Diarra's box score doesn't do him justice this game, and Andre took 4 threes too many, but great games from them both
3. We won the boards 37-19, and offensive boards 13-4

The Bad:

1. For most of the game, we played exactly how Seton Hall wanted us to. So many instances of us passing the ball around the perimeter and then just handing it to someone with 5 seconds left to make an iso play
2. Hawk struggled playing defense in the post, and Seton Hall went after him. He did draw 2 charges but didn't get the call for either of them (1 could have been a flop). He gets officiated so uniquely. He gets held and grabbed every possession with no call, gets bumped every time drives with no call, but draws at least 1 foul per game on threes. So weird

The Ugly:

1. Tristen Newton didn't want to play today. Really rough game, but he did ice it at the FT line late
2. Sanogo should have got benched in the last 5-6 minutes. By my count he had 3 turnovers down the stretch, and that doesn't include a stepback airball 3 (?) and a pass to Hawkins 30ft from the hoop with 3 seconds left in the shot clock (might as well be a turnover). But he got us the game saving block so all is forgiven?

Good points. I'd add that our offense in the last two minutes of close games continues to be a trainwreck. Basically dribbling the air out of the ball until there's 5-6 seconds on the shot clock before initiating the offense, typically leading to a turnover or a desperation shot to avoid a violation. That strategy works if you've got Kemba, Shabazz, or Boatright as a closer. We do not.

 

[InKembaITrust]

AJ and Hawk both played like absolute monsters tonight. I'm sure they knew they had to kick it into another gear with Adama less than 100%.

So entertaining watching Hawk off-ball. Clear he's gotten more comfortable being chased/shadowed by the other team's best defender. Doesn't even seem to faze him at his point. He's found the perfect balance of when to pull up and when to drive. He's found his flow. The ball should run through him on offense every single time. Kid has a motor. Would love it if someone had a stat on how many miles he's running per game.

If these two play like this the rest of the way with Adama at 100%, I like our chances. Even if Tristen forgets how to play basketball every other game.

 

[alphasigko]

In the 1st half AJ got all the way into the paint (I thought "Here comes a monster dunk!") He jumps up and his head is near the rim, and he turns his head to the right and proceeds to pass the ball to the corner where there was no one waiting for the ball. Thankfully AS got there and saved it from going OB. What was he thinking? He could have slammed that ball into the hoop, but noooo, he nearly threw it OB. I now know for a fact that he plays to his own melody.

 

[coachn]

No wonder I don't see Coach Calhoun at the games. We are hard to watch.

 

[coachn]

Great Briefs.

 

[REB1094]

Good points. I'd add that our offense in the last two minutes of close games continues to be a trainwreck. Basically dribbling the air out of the ball until there's 5-6 seconds on the shot clock before initiating the offense, typically leading to a turnover or a desperation shot to avoid a violation. That strategy works if you've got Kemba, Shabazz, or Boatright as a closer. We do not.

Yep. They tried everything they could do loss that game. Fortunately the run earlier in the half was enough to hold on.

Hawkins is the closest thing we have to a closer, but he could barely touch the ball. Sanogo really wanted to be that guy down the stretch, but it wasn’t working

 

[Chief00]

I will add that the BE officiating today was again consistently inconsistent. So many plays where one of our guys grabbed a clean rebound and then got hacked and lost the ball or had someone jump over their shoulder to get a fingertip on the ball to be called a jump ball. If you have a rebound and someone has to jump over your back and put you in a sleeper to get their hand on the ball that isn’t a jump ball. And don’t even get me going on Hawkins. The guy is getting mauled all game long and 99% of the holding that goes on never gets called. Even with all that, Karaban might get the worse whistle on the team. One of the reasons I’m so positive about our team in March is because we won’t be getting these lousy officiating crews.

I had a section about the officiating but removed it, since the foul shot stats were relatively even. Having said that, I have no explanation why we don’t get the calls our opponents get other than they don’t like UConn or Danny.

 

[caw]

I haven't looked it up but it seems the earlier in the day the game is the worse Newton is. Dude needs some coffee.

 

[Chief00]

I haven't looked it up but it seems the earlier in the day the game is the worse Newton is. Dude needs some coffee.

Not comparing the two, but with Khalid, Chief disliked the noon starts. He though would generally make some big plays after the mid point of the second half.

 

[sdglast]

A good win, that should have been a 20 point win. A good win, because any win is a big one now. We also controlled the boards.

The adage “necessarity is the mother of invention” held true today with Sanogo’s illness forcing Hurley to play Clingan more minutes in the first half. The Big Two (Sanogo and Clingan) continue to shoot around 60%, so why not ride it Danny? Clingan has the ability to change the game. However, true to form we went away from that in the second half. Danny has got to coach better in that respect.

Hawkins has mixed a nice dunk drive into his 3 point mix. His explosion and elevation at the end of the drives are truly incredible. While we drive some as a team we shoot too many threes, especially with such a strong and efficient inside game..

I liked the early screen action on offense, more than in prior games, but on other plays we have non 3 shooters standing on the 3 line pretending they are spreading the floor. Rather have them screening.

With Jackson on offense it is simple, put him in the right position before he gets the ball. We did that some with inside screening and baseline movement. He is fine from the foul line, so I would like to see that as well. Yet, too often he’s put in position to fail 23 feet from the basket when he should be roaming the baseline and getting in offensive rebounding position. Take his three missed 3’s away and he just missed 1 shot. Over/all Andre had a very good game today with dunks, rebounds and defense.

Again we came out of halftime sloppy and non focused. Eight minutes without a basket and plenty of turnovers going back to the first half before a timeout. After what happened in Jersey, how do we allow that to happen? Danny has no sense of urgency in his timeout usage. Losing nearly all the 50/50 balls hurts too until mid way through the second half. Richmond’s injury helped the last ten minutes.

Diarra gives us such good energy but as a point guard he needs to get better from the foul line to see more minutes. 50% doesn’t cut it! He also dribbles too long on the shot clock.

I am starting to see the recognition that Hawkins is the guy you got to figure out how to get the ball in his hands in the last five minutes. However, we continue to be sloppy with the ball. Passes thrown too hard, guys not prepared to catch the ball, and guys trying to be flashy rather than productive.

We get the win but even in the last 2 minutes, a lack of shot clock recognition, an unnecessary foul, and 3 bad possessions in a row with seemingly no clue what we want to do. I also don’t like having no big guy in the game late. Sometimes they are a good safety outlet to pass to against the press.

The last point you make echoes what Jimmy Jackson said last week during the Creighton game. UConn does not do a good job valuing offensive possessions (they settle for bad shots at times and don't get the ball to the right people), turn the ball over with especially silly turnovers (not executing fast breaks, forced passes), and lastly committing silly fouls (think the silly reach-ins by Hawkins). That seems to be their mantra in many games turning winnable games into losses or unnecessarily close games. Certainly, some of this is on the coach, but some of it is poor basketball IQ by players as well. Now they are playing a Providence team who will be methodical in their approach (get it to Hopkins and let him work, take good 3s, and play physically on both ends of the floor). UConn cannot commit silly fouls against a team who lives on the free throw line. UConn can't miss easy fastbreak opportunities throwing ill-timed lobs, and UConn must be very efficient offensively getting the ball inside to Sanono and Clingan. Run the game inside out and go hard at Providence. Make them defend you in the low box. They aren't a very big team, so you can put pressure on them down low. Lastly, Jackson has to look to score when he penetrates. Watching his last drive when he made the layup from the straight on look from the opposite end of the floor on TV, you see the Seton Hall defender actually step towards Sanogo and away from Jackson (basically the player did not take Jackson on to defend him). I think players are being coached to think pass first with Jackson even on drives and step into passing lanes rather than play him (heck he got an offensive rebound and had a lane to dunk in the 1st half and actually tried to pass the ball to Sanogo). Jackson needs to attack the rim from the get-go on Wednesday, He does that, the passing lanes will open up more.

 

[Seamus84]

We were up 14 with 3 minutes left and 12 with 2 minutes, in the Bonus and at home. Yes, we had a couple bad possessions/turnovers, primarily by AS who always gives 1000% effort that can’t be questioned, and sure there is execution to clean-up, but if you thought we were going to lose that game, you may want consider not watching UConn games live, because I fear a heart attack may be in your future. Let’s chill and enjoy a win and some really good aggressive to basket plays from AH and AJ.

 

[jorge34]

A good win, that should have been a 20 point win. A good win, because any win is a big one now. We also controlled the boards.

The adage “necessarity is the mother of invention” held true today with Sanogo’s illness forcing Hurley to play Clingan more minutes in the first half. The Big Two (Sanogo and Clingan) continue to shoot around 60%, so why not ride it Danny? Clingan has the ability to change the game. However, true to form we went away from that in the second half. Danny has got to coach better in that respect.

Hawkins has mixed a nice dunk drive into his 3 point mix. His explosion and elevation at the end of the drives are truly incredible. While we drive some as a team we shoot too many threes, especially with such a strong and efficient inside game..

I liked the early screen action on offense, more than in prior games, but on other plays we have non 3 shooters standing on the 3 line pretending they are spreading the floor. Rather have them screening.

With Jackson on offense it is simple, put him in the right position before he gets the ball. We did that some with inside screening and baseline movement. He is fine from the foul line, so I would like to see that as well. Yet, too often he’s put in position to fail 23 feet from the basket when he should be roaming the baseline and getting in offensive rebounding position. Take his three missed 3’s away and he just missed 1 shot. Over/all Andre had a very good game today with dunks, rebounds and defense.

Again we came out of halftime sloppy and non focused. Eight minutes without a basket and plenty of turnovers going back to the first half before a timeout. After what happened in Jersey, how do we allow that to happen? Danny has no sense of urgency in his timeout usage. Losing nearly all the 50/50 balls hurts too until mid way through the second half. Richmond’s injury helped the last ten minutes.

Diarra gives us such good energy but as a point guard he needs to get better from the foul line to see more minutes. 50% doesn’t cut it! He also dribbles too long on the shot clock.

I am starting to see the recognition that Hawkins is the guy you got to figure out how to get the ball in his hands in the last five minutes. However, we continue to be sloppy with the ball. Passes thrown too hard, guys not prepared to catch the ball, and guys trying to be flashy rather than productive.

We get the win but even in the last 2 minutes, a lack of shot clock recognition, an unnecessary foul, and 3 bad possessions in a row with seemingly no clue what we want to do. I also don’t like having no big guy in the game late. Sometimes they are a good safety outlet to pass to against the press.

I don’t even care jackson missed threes. As long as he is getting to the hoop and crashing the offensive boards most of the time.

 

[connVA]

The last point you make echoes what Jimmy Jackson said last week during the Creighton game. UConn does not do a good job valuing offensive possessions (they settle for bad shots at times and don't get the ball to the right people), turn the ball over with especially silly turnovers (not executing fast breaks, forced passes), and lastly committing silly fouls (think the silly reach-ins by Hawkins). That seems to be their mantra in many games turning winnable games into losses or unnecessarily close games. Certainly, some of this is on the coach, but some of it is poor basketball IQ by players as well. Now they are playing a Providence team who will be methodical in their approach (get it to Hopkins and let him work, take good 3s, and play physically on both ends of the floor). UConn cannot commit silly fouls against a team who lives on the free throw line. UConn can't miss easy fastbreak opportunities throwing ill-timed lobs, and UConn must be very efficient offensively getting the ball inside to Sanono and Clingan. Run the game inside out and go hard at Providence. Make them defend you in the low box. They aren't a very big team, so you can put pressure on them down low. Lastly, Jackson has to look to score when he penetrates. Watching his last drive when he made the layup from the straight on look from the opposite end of the floor on TV, you see the Seton Hall defender actually step towards Sanogo and away from Jackson (basically the player did not take Jackson on to defend him). I think players are being coached to think pass first with Jackson even on drives and step into passing lanes rather than play him (heck he got an offensive rebound and had a lane to dunk in the 1st half and actually tried to pass the ball to Sanogo). Jackson needs to attack the rim from the get-go on Wednesday, He does that, the passing lanes will open up more.

Also, when defenders inevitably begin adjusting and stepping in front of him on those drives, he needs to make sure the dump to Sanogo (or whoever) is catchable. Avoid decapitating his teammate or throwing the ball into the fifth row.