Hartford Post Game Thoughts

[Griffman]

More Martin. Less Polley. Polley adds NOTHING unless he hits from the outside. Martin will be a stat stuffer. They are nothing alike.

 

[HooperScooper]

Here's my two cents. And I said this before the season.

When you have a lot of new and inexperienced, but talented, players on a team it's going to take time to figure out roles and rotations. Usually you use 12 or 13 games before conference play with lots of buy games and a few high major games to work on this and see how things look. We have a bunch of new players who've never played with each other before. And other guys are inexperienced.

Unfortunately with this messed up season they don't have that long before conference play to figure things out. I don't think these things ever get worked out in 2 games except when you have a very experienced team coming back who have played with each other. It's going to be a work in progress until at least early January.

 

[AdamaNation]

I think I like Gaff/Bouk/Martin/Polley/Whaley as starters next game. Akok to replace Polley when ready. Bouk and Cole are the best scorers; one if them needs to be in at all times. I like AJax in the high post against the zone; missed that tonight. Cole/Adams/AJax/Polley/Sanogo would be a good 2nd 5 when Akok returns.
Is Josh only for foul trouble?

I see the lineup in January being cole bouknight Martin Akok Whaley

 

[UCfor3]

I see the lineup in January being cole bouknight Martin Akok Whaley

These 5 along with Gaff, Jackson and Sanogo will be the best 8 I think later in the year. Polley and Adams can be bought in at times for heat checks. If hot ride em. If not pull em.

 

[superjohn]

I see the lineup in January being cole bouknight Martin Akok Whaley

Yep.

 

[uconnfan68]

I’m not sure why Danny kept Sanogo on the bench so long in 2nd half. He was dominating early on.

He’s not the rim protector that Whaley is.

 

[Flahuskie]

Gaff is just clearly much better than Cole.

The whole “offense runs better through Cole” is nonsense.

Also, if we’re going to recruit so many bigs and not play them that’s going to be a problem.

I like AJacks energy and contributions in the game more than Martin’s. Martin is solid but his overall impact on the outcome of the game was negligible.

Polley impacts the game in a positive way. When he’s in the game good things happen for the team.

Martin is solid but his overall impact on the outcome of the game was negligible.

10 rebounds is negligible???

 

[HuskyFich]

Here's my two cents. And I said this before the season.

When you have a lot of new and inexperienced, but talented, players on a team it's going to take time to figure out roles and rotations. Usually you use 12 or 13 games before conference play with lots of buy games and a few high major games to work on this and see how things look. We have a bunch of new players who've never played with each other before. And other guys are inexperienced.

Unfortunately with this messed up season they don't have that long before conference play to figure things out. I don't think these things ever get worked out in 2 games except when you have a very experienced team coming back who have played with each other. It's going to be a work in progress until at least early January.

This exactly.

What makes ppl think DH played his top lineup for the whole game?
It’s game 2, against Hartford. We had a minute of panic when being up only 3...but, foul trouble played a huge part of the lineups and game flow, our shots weren’t falling much, and our defense was better but still bad.

Cole is clearly a more capable scorer than gaffney at this time. Whether that’s because of inexperience and hesitation, idk. But, Cole creates his own shot much more easily, attacks the rim at a whole different speed level, and hits the 3. Reminds me a lot of Isaiah Thomas (you know which one I mean)

 

[ucp990411]

Didn't anybody else notice that Gaffney got beat off the dribble every time they isolated him? I was surprised they went away from it. They really exposed his lack of foot speed. You better believe opposing coaches will see this this when preparing for us.

 

[Sphinx]

You watched Cole tonight and the eye test told you great player? He was outplayed by Gaff by a big margin.

Do me a favor. When you get a chance, watch the replay from the 14:00 minute mark of the second half to the 12:30 minute mark or so. This is when UConn, having seen their lead cut from 19 to 3, and looking like scared rabbits, suddenly opened the lead back up to 10. Tell me what player was personally responsible for every single point scored in that run. And then let's talk about the eye test again.

 

[Scot-e]

He’s not the rim protector that Whaley is.

Also I believe he got into foul trouble early.

 

[Huskymagic]

Martin is solid but his overall impact on the outcome of the game was negligible.

10 rebounds is negligible???

Three guys brought value and affected the outcome of the game: Bouk, Gaff, and Whaley.

Everyone else was a zero or a negative last night.

That’s my contribution for our beloved casual fans.

 

[Palatine]

Cole is a very good player. He may not be a high level facilitator. So far, it seems he is much better at getting his own shot (which is pretty good) than at getting easy buckets for others. Through two games (52 minutes) against lesser opponents, he leads the team in assists (7), turnovers (6) and and steals (5).

Gaffney in a few more minutes (60) has 5 assists, only one TO with a single steal.

They bring different things. Both are valuable. But let's not form lasting opinions after two games. There is plenty of time to gain cohesion and chemistry.

 

[Stainmaster]

Three guys brought value and affected the outcome of the game: Bouk, Gaff, and Whaley.

Everyone else was a zero or a negative last night.

That’s my contribution for our beloved casual fans.

The only thing worse than being wrong is being wrong and egotistical.

 

[UCSouth]

Three guys brought value and affected the outcome of the game: Bouk, Gaff, and Whaley.

Everyone else was a zero or a negative last night.

That’s my contribution for our beloved casual fans.

Your contribution is as valuable as Carlton's was last night.

 

[CTBasketball]

I thought we were undisciplined on defense and we’re still not gelling yet offensively. We have so many new pieces and a lot of them. Over time Hurley will limit the rotation.

 

[Huskymagic]

The only thing worse than being wrong is being wrong and egotistical.

Every game is different, but I’m not wrong.

Bouk, Gaff, and Whaley are the only guys who brought enough value and made enough winning plays that it led to winning last night.

Everyone else were just warm bodies on the floor despite their stats.

Let’s see what happens next week. That will explain a lot.

 

[navery12]

Every game is different, but I’m not wrong.

Bouk, Gaff, and Whaley are the only guys who brought enough value and made enough winning plays that it led to winning last night.

Everyone else were just warm bodies on the floor despite their stats.

Let’s see what happens next week. That will explain a lot.

You are wrong on RJ Cole. Full stop.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I missed the game it was too early , but according to the box score Polley played only 15 minutes and never shot a three against a team playing zone. Curious Stat Line for a zone buster. Maybe Hurley was approaching this like a scrimmage seeing what other shooters would step up or Polley was just off his game. I’ll tell you more from the replay.

 

[Palatine]

I missed the game it was too early , but according to the box score Polley played only 15 minutes and never shot a three against a team playing zone. Curious Stat Line for a zone buster. Maybe Hurley was approaching this like a scrimmage seeing what other shooters would step up or Polley was just off his game. I’ll tell you more from the replay.

Polley had early foul trouble and Hartford prioritized denying him the three point shot. He didn't force anything which was smart but he had almost no effect on the game. I would be interested to see the +/- on Polley. I suspect it was very good.

 

[navery12]

Polley had early foul trouble and Hartford prioritized denying him the three point shot. He didn't force anything which was smart but he had almost no effect on the game. I would be interested to see the +/- on Polley. I suspect it was very good.

He was +11 in 15 minutes, 3rd highest on the team

 

[Stainmaster]

You are wrong on RJ Cole. Full stop.

I can't understand how anyone could watch last night's game and think Tyrese Martin had nothing to do with the outcome.

 

[Huskymagic]

He was +11 in 15 minutes, 3rd highest on the team

Polley always has a positive effect on the team just by being out there on the court. Yet everybody wants to replace him with unproven guys constantly. It's ridiculous.

Pair Ty with Bouk, Gaff, AJacks and Whaley. That's the group until Akok comes back. However, Hurley it wont happen because Hurley is too stuck on Cole and Martin.

That's the best lineup because everyone has defined roles and fit well cohesively. In addition everyone of those is unselfish and makes the right reads most times, which helps when you have a guy like Bouk who takes a lot of shots and needs the ball.

Starting Lineup Should be : Gaff, Bouk, AJacks, Polley, and Whaley.

#FeedPolley
#UnleashAJacks

 

[Bomber36]

I’m just not sure how you can watch the last two games and call Cole a selfish player

Agreed...he leads the team in assists after two games and has made 9-20 shots. That doesn’t look selfish to me.

 

[CP76]

Polley had early foul trouble and Hartford prioritized denying him the three point shot. He didn't force anything which was smart but he had almost no effect on the game. I would be interested to see the +/- on Polley. I suspect it was very good.

I posted this in another thread but people complaining about polley not taking shots need to rewatch the game there were a ton of times where he was wide open and no one passed to him