“We’ll happily get on the bus back to Storrs if Slater & Samuels beat us from 3”

[CheshireCat]

We used the exact same defensive strategy at XL and won. Slater and Samuels took 14 of Nova's 27 three's that game while we sold out to stop Moore, Gillespie, and Dixon. I would imagine everyone at Villanova was expecting the same defense tonight, and it still almost worked.

We won at XL because Nova uncharacteristicly coughed it up at the end. We can compete with them, but they are simply the better team. I’d guess if we played 10 times they’d win 8.

 

[UConnSwag11]

In the first half they got clear, open looks. Whaley was about 3feet off of Slater on every shot.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We won at XL because Nova uncharacteristicly coughed it up at the end. We can compete with them, but they are simply the better team. I’d guess if we played 10 times they’d win 8.

Why do you keep saying "we"?

It is obvious that you are pretending to be a UConn fan in an attempt to knock the school and its athletic programs.

I'm guessing that you are a PC fan at heart but it could be another member of the original Catholics (St John's, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Nova). Man up and be honest.

 

[awfuldan]

We won at XL because Nova uncharacteristicly coughed it up at the end. We can compete with them, but they are simply the better team. I’d guess if we played 10 times they’d win 8.

I'm not gonna disagree with you that Nova is a better team than us, but we did not win that game because of one play. We had a good game plan that the team executed well. We played super hard for 40 minutes and the crowd was as good as it has been in years. All of that put us in a position to win the game at the end. Polley and Cole hit two of the biggest shots of the year, we forced a critical turnover, and Cole got the stop at the end.

I guess maybe you are trying to troll, but I think that's a pretty ridiculous statement.

 

[CheshireCat]

Why do you keep saying "we"?

It is obvious that you are pretending to be a UConn fan in an attempt to knock the school and its athletic programs.

I'm guessing that you are a PC fan at heart but it could be another member of the original Catholics (St John's, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Nova). Man up and be honest.

Just a realist. How many times would you’d say we beat nova out of 10?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Just a realist. How many times would you’d say we beat nova out of 10?

I'm also a realist, I've stated before that Nova is the better team. To answer your question, three maybe four.

That does not alter the fact that in many threads recently you've done nothing but take jabs at the school and athletic programs. At least be adult enough to confess who you really are a fan of.

 

[CheshireCat]

I have? The only jabs I’ve taken are at Hurley. Not a fan of his, and yes, I’ve made it pretty clear. I think he literally acts like toddler during games. But I’ve said nothing negative about a player or the program other than Bouknight’s off court issues. In fact, I was just defending Sanogo yesterday while many were trashing him. Why don’t you call those people out?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have? The only jabs I’ve taken are at Hurley. Not a fan of his, and yes, I’ve made it pretty clear. I think he literally acts like toddler during games. But I’ve said nothing negative about a player or the program other than Bouknight’s off court issues. In fact, I was just defending Sanogo yesterday while many were trashing him. Why don’t you call those people out?

For the sake of argument I'll continue on the (questionable) premise that you are a UConn fan.

Earlier in this thread you stated that the strategy we utilized in Friday's Nova game was terrible. You later agreed that it was the same strategy deployed in Hartford when we beat them.

You have stated that they are the better team. How is it possible that a terrible strategy on our part leads us to two down to the wire, tossup games (which we happened to have split)?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Slater is a beast that can score on all levels. Terrible plan. I’m sure the plan was also used as fuel. How bout just shut your pie hole and simply say if we don’t beat ourselves we can win the game. McDermott said it best after beating PC. If it’s UCONN we will game plan as much as we can in the short time we have. If it’s Nova, nothing you need to know, stay grounded on all the ball fakes and head fakes - Nova is Nova. ANY of those guys can shoot the 3 and heat up out there, including Dixon.

sLaTeR iS a BeAsT tHaT cAn ScOrE oN aLl ThReE lEvEls!

Yeah, you're right, most coaches game plan to shut down Brandon Slater and live with Gillespie and Moore doing what they want.

This isn't even entertaining trolling anymore.

 

[SubbaBub]

This team wins or loses based on the number of wasted empty possessions. We have a tough time getting baskets in crunch time or at will generally, so we can't afford to blow easy buckets earlier in games. The offensive output against Villanova this season demonstrates this perfectly. Creighton, too. Limit bad turnovers, shot selection, bad misses and we beat just about everyone.

 

[Icehawk]

I think the main difference between the two games is that in this recent matchup Wright made some changes at the half that allowed his team to get points in the paint somewhat nullifying the original UCONN gameplan. I'm not blaming Hurley for the loss though, the gameplan was good and our guys just fell a little short against a rock solid team.

 

[CheshireCat]

For the sake of argument I'll continue on the (questionable) premise that you are a UConn fan.

Earlier in this thread you stated that the strategy we utilized in Friday's Nova game was terrible. You later agreed that it was the same strategy deployed in Hartford when we beat them.

You have stated that they are the better team. How is it possible that a terrible strategy on our part leads us to two down to the wire, tossup games (which we happened to have split)?

Well, baby boy dope got tossed from one and Young made nice adjustments, showed great leadership and took them home. Zero credit for DH there.

My point is that DH made a dumb “strategy” statement. All of Novas players are extremely solid, multi-dimensional guys. You TRY to take away 3s from Gillespie and Moore, they can beat you in other ways - especially posting up. They are too well balanced to make a statement like that. For what it’s worth Slater shoots just as well as Moore from 3 statistically and has come on so strong this year, and Samuels hasn’t had a great year out there, but he shot 40 percent from 3 last year - he’s very capable.

Phil McCrackin with another solid response.

 

[TheChamps990411]

What? Do you think the Villanova players were listening to the broadcast on the bench to get fired up?

Theres this thing called social media. Word spreads faster than when you were a kid. We`ve advanced quite a bit since the pony express.

 

[August_West]

Theres this thing called social media. Word spreads faster than when you were a kid. We`ve advanced quite a bit since the pony express.

This is true, but the kids still gotta make the shots. A lot of times if you key on someone to beat you and they know it, they choke. Slater and Samuels didn’t. We tip our cap and move on.

 

[navery12]

Theres this thing called social media. Word spreads faster than when you were a kid. We`ve advanced quite a bit since the pony express.

First of all, I'm 28 so I grew up with social media. Second of all, my point was it was a comment Dan Hurley made to the announcers pre-game and was brought up during the game by the announcers. It wasn't some public comment calling out the Nova players

 

[TheChamps990411]

This is true, but the kids still gotta make the shots. A lot of times if you key on someone to beat you and they know it, they choke. Slater and Samuels didn’t. We tip our cap and move on.

Yeah. I dont believe in any of this bulleting board stuff i just found it ironic that someone as superstitious as DH would put anything out that could give the other. team motivation.

 

[TheChamps990411]

First of all, I'm 28 so I grew up with social media. Second of all, my point was it was a comment Dan Hurley made to the announcers pre-game and was brought up during the game by the announcers. It wasn't some public comment calling out the Nova players

ok zoomer? Relax its not that serious.

 

[August_West]

First of all, I'm 28 so I grew up with social media.

Your delta tau chi name is……. Peewee

 

[Edward Sargent]

Just a realist. How many times would you’d say we beat nova out of 10?

4.6

 

[August_West]

4.6

Ok kenpom

 

[Chief00]

So to be clear, does this mean that every season that we did not win the BET from 1987-2012 JC did not employ a good strategy?

LOL - I think Jim won 7 Big East Championships - so he did ok! His strategy was just fine. How many has Danny won? You need to get into a Big East Finals game first!

No knock on Danny, but you are certainly not comparing equivalent situations. Danny will get there, but he needs to adjust his strategy to the fact he’s not playing Wagner or URI level competition.

Good teams will make you pay for predictable pressing or doubling on the high hedge. We not only put a true Big out on a high hedge 25 feet from the basket but then we double the guard on top of that. Good point guards on good teams with shooters or smart cutters will make you pay dearly.

Jim gradually made the adjustments from Northeastern level competition, Danny needs to do the same. That means changing some things you are stubborn and comfortable with.

Chief thinks Danny is smart enough to identify and make the changes necessary to win at a higher level - it’s more emotionally letting go of what worked against a lower level of teams but not the elite teams you have to beat to win a NC.

I hope this helps. Chief