We need a point guard

[Brochacho]

Sometimes I feel like half this board doesn't watch any games outside of ours. They would be freaking out if they were a fan of pretty much any other team in the nation. Look at the Big East alone, I can't imagine the mental breakdown this board would have if we lost to Purdue or Butler, and yet Xavier lost to both. Marquette got blown out by us, we would say that's proof we're not good enough to hang with the best teams in this league if the opposite happened to us. Providence just lot to St. John's and only beat Rider by one point earlier this year!

Every game is not going to be a blowout or include a flawless performance. Nobody in college basketball does that. There are things that need to be cleaned up, but ultimately we're a top 15 team and have the ability to make a deep run in March. I wanted us to be a top 5 team the way we started but I think its safe to say we're not that. So my recommendation would be to stop worrying so much and try to enjoy the ride.

Here's the thing with Seton Hall. They're basically the separator between who sucks and who doesn't in the Big East. They swept St. John's, DePaul, Butler and Georgetown. 1-8 vs the rest of the league.

Their best player played 7 minutes. Despite this, they almost cut it to a one possession game with about a minute left on our home court after being down 16 a few minutes prior. Our team has obvious flaws - inconsistent guard play and in-game adjustments. Other teams deal with this too, but the point of this thread is to take an honest look at this team. We struggled with a team we should've killed. Our flaws aren't going to be fixed by March - we just have to hope Newton balls out and we don't play tight games.

 

[Kathy]

C

If you actually thought we were going to lose that game you’re one of those people who assume the absolute worst is going to happen no matter what.

The amount of freaking out on this board after a win in which we were up 14 with 3 mins left and won by 9 is truly next level

Never said I thought we would lose - but after 40+ years of watching CBB - all conferences - metrics don't always tell the whole story. Some on here seem to use them as gospel - the eye test is also very telling.

 

[NJHusky]

I don’t get the 5th in his 5th season thing either. As if every season is supposed to surpass the past one. With that logic by his 6th season anything less than 3rd is unacceptable . And so on and so on until anything less than a 1st place finish is unacceptable. Right?

That’s just not a realistic trajectory for any college program. You’re going to have down years. And this year isnt even that

So last year was an up year? Losing our only NCAA game…as the favorite? Well at least we won the BE ….oh wait.

 

[Waquoit]

Me - “We need a point guard”
Pundits - “UConn needs a point guard”
Everyone else on earth - “They need a point guard”
Aliens from outer space - “Those earthlings need a point guard”

You kids -

That ain't it. It's just that we heard you the first 10 times.

 

[uconnfan68]

This is the issue. UConn fans have an expectation that is unrealistic. You’re going to stay miserable

Get off my lawn!

 

[NJHusky]

We've had PG limitations for 3 years. DH has publicly commented on it in years past. So he's as aware as anyone of this reoccurring issue. But it doesn't seem to get fixed.

Maybe as a former Pg with limited skills he’s not good at evaluating high end PG

 

[Kemba15]

Maybe as a former Pg with limited skills he’s not good at evaluating high end PG

RJ cole was 1st team all conference last year

 

[NJHusky]

That is nice, but its wrong.

We are 5-5 in BE play the first time we played an opponent, 4-2 in the second go around. How does this fit your narrative that teams gameplan for us and we cannot overcome it?

U do realize there is a different winning % home v away. We played 3/4 top teams away first…and seton hall too. How did that away rematch with Creighton go?

 

[Doctor Hoop]

The last few minutes were beyond ugly and probably the worst stretch of basketball Sanogo has played in his career, but at the same time basketball is a game of runs and the outcome was really never in doubt. If Sanogo shoots/hits one of those 3s on the designed pick and pops this isn't even a discussion right now.

Do you expect other teams to never go on runs? We were also up 9 early in the 2H and that lead dropped to 2 within 3:30 minutes, it happens. Fortunately more times than not we are better at going on big runs than our opponents.

Every game isn't going to look like the Marquette game but since our big losing stretch we are 4-1 with an average margin of victory of 11. Win at home against PC on Wednesday and this team will really be heading in the right direction.

I’ll say it again, Seton Hall is a middling Big East team and was without its best player. In those last 5 minutes we had turnovers, inability to inbound, and shot clock violations after running 20 seconds off the clock, unable to create a good shot. Once up 16 we all knew the win was in the bag. But there’s a difference between looking like a competent team and letting a 16 point lead dwindle slowly to 9, and struggling at home to handle basic tasks while letting that same lead look briefly questionable with a minute to go. What if Sanogo doesn’t make that block, or worse, fouls on a make? We shouldn’t have ever been one play away from sealing that win.

There are many treating the Marquette win as the baseline, and finishes like yesterday’s as the aberration. We are 6-7 in our last 13, with head scratching performances twice against Seton Hall and once against St. John’s. Five of 9 league wins are against Butler, Georgetown and DePaul. The Marquette game was fabulous. Not every game will be played at our ceiling, but I want the floor to be higher.

 

[HeGotGame]

U do realize there is a different winning % home v away. We played 3/4 top teams away first…and seton hall too. How did that away rematch with Creighton go?

Yes, I do. My post was mocking the ridiculous notion that teams simply learned to gameplan us and DH cant adjust. There are a multitude of factors contributing to how the season has gone, but a handful of posters are too dense to understand that and simply think UConn lose = bad coaching.

 

[pj]

This ain’t jim Calhouns era

These things go in fashions. If everyone is following the current fashion (3 and D guys, many scorers, no focal point on offense) then you can find big talents who are neglected because they don't fit the fashion. A little contrarianism can help a coach win.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Maybe as a former Pg with limited skills he’s not good at evaluating high end PG

By this logic Patrick Ewing would be the best big man coach in college basketball

 

[NJHusky]

By this logic Patrick Ewing would be the best big man coach in college basketball

or He’s just a bad coach. Lol

 

[pj]

Top is Newton and Jackson together, bottom is Newton and no Jackson

View attachment 84230

Good stats. The big difference is turnovers, more turnovers when he's paired with Jackson, also a bit lower in assists. A:TO ratio is 0.8 when Jackson is on the court and 1.4 when Jackson is on the bench.

Otherwise Newton seems similar. Shoots better from 3 and worse at the rim with Jackson on the court, probably because Jackson crowds the paint as defenders sag off him.

Maybe they just need to adjust the offense to help Newton's scoring when Jackson is on the court - have him do less driving into traffic and give him more perimeter screens for 3 pt shots. Then when Jackson is off the court, have Newton focus on drives to the basket.

I've said this before, but Jackson really should be used as a changeup, 20-25 minutes on court and 15-20 minutes off, with a very different look to how the team plays when he's on vs off. It can be challenging for teams to adapt to different looks, especially in the NCAA tourney where they have less familiarity.

 

[Rico444]

I’ll say it again, Seton Hall is a middling Big East team and was without its best player. In those last 5 minutes we had turnovers, inability to inbound, and shot clock violations after running 20 seconds off the clock, unable to create a good shot. Once up 16 we all knew the win was in the bag. But there’s a difference between looking like a competent team and letting a 16 point lead dwindle slowly to 9, and struggling at home to handle basic tasks while letting that same lead look briefly questionable with a minute to go. What if Sanogo doesn’t make that block, or worse, fouls on a make? We shouldn’t have ever been one play away from sealing that win.

There are many treating the Marquette win as the baseline, and finishes like yesterday’s as the aberration. We are 6-7 in our last 13, with head scratching performances twice against Seton Hall and once against St. John’s. Five of 9 league wins are against Butler, Georgetown and DePaul. The Marquette game was fabulous. Not every game will be played at our ceiling, but I want the floor to be higher.

We had a rough stretch where we lost more games than we should have if you want to complain about that then by all means, but if a 9 point win to a bubble team at home is grounds for serious concern then you can show concern for almost every team in college basketball.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

How would Cole solve our defensive problems?

It’s like people really don’t remember how stagnant our offense was last year and how hard it was for us to get a good look.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Cool. Tell me more about the team’s talent. Please. Go on.

Won’t even getting into a Hurley discussion with you, it’s not worth it, you and @UConnSwag11 have the same schtick there and it’s sub 100 iq arguments on it.

Well for starters, according to some sites we have the 2 best draft prospects in the league outside of Nova and Whitmore. Add that to the Big East preseason POY and what I’d assume is the best recruiting in the conference AND 18th ranked transfer class and I’d say this team is suppose to be pretty talented.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Jalen Adams. Who is the other one?

Christian Vital I think? Even though towards the end he didn’t play much PG. We just had a three guard lineup and he was the best player.

Now if you add HIM to this team or especially Jalen Adams, yeah this is the #1 team in the country. Or maybe not and RJ Cole would be better still because they never won all conference.

 

[jpeakin]

We're going to finish 5th in the Big East in Hurley's 5th season!

You do realize the strength of the 4 teams in front of us, right?

Disappointed to be in 5th after our 14-0 start? Yep
Will I take 20-7 after all the struggles? Also yep

 

[AntG168]

It’s like people really don’t remember how stagnant our offense was last year and how hard it was for us to get a good look.

That was a Whaley, sanogo, Jackson issue not a Cole issue lmao

 

[Mr. French]

I haven't read everything here, but I'm confused by the take that Castle isn't a point guard.

 

[Bonehead]

We're going to finish 5th in the Big East in Hurley's 5th season!

Rock carver has been contacted. Working to have sleeping giant state park have faces of Calhoun, Ollie, Hurley and Perno. I mean if Perno didn't really suck no Calhoun!!

This team has regressed.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

That was a Whaley, sanogo, Jackson issue not a Cole issue lmao

No it was a Cole and Martin issue. They had the ball the most and it would stick. Martin, especially, was not good at finding his teammates.

RJ Cole averaged 4 assists a game and he was our ONLY ball handler/passer.

 

[slepers]

Richmond was easily the best player on the court today and it wasn’t close nor debatable. The Hall wins by double digits if Richmond stayed in the game. You’re welcome.

7 minutes ,0 points 2shots.........lmao

 

[Huskydog45]

Me - “We need a point guard”
Pundits - “UConn needs a point guard”
Everyone else on earth - “They need a point guard”
Aliens from outer space - “Those earthlings need a point guard”

You kids -