19 shots and 3 assists

[James]

Napier has been taking bad shots all year people lol . He was definitely tired though , in the first half he looked amazing. You have to like us in control of that game without our second best player . If only we cleaned up that Texas trip , can you believe we lost to frikken Houston ?

 

[dogpause]

I sometimes worry that Bazz is too focused lately on impressing NBA scouts. Seems he almost never takes a 3-pointer from the arc, it's always from NBA range. And his assists are too often high risk passes that don't find the mark. He needs to go beck to being UConn's PG and not think about his next team, or it may be in Europe.

 

[Inyatkin]

I sometimes worry that Bazz is too focused lately on impressing NBA scouts. Seems he almost never takes a 3-pointer from the arc, it's always from NBA range. And his assists are too often high risk passes that don't find the mark. He needs to go beck to being UConn's PG and not think about his next team, or it may be in Europe.

The guy has carried us for two years. Maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he had a bad game and Cincinnati plays good defense. Or we could just keep killing him for being selfish, whatever.

 

[Lefty2one]

I don't think he's concerned with scouts. I think he was exhausted and our offensive movement was non-existent. He didn't have much of a choice besides trying to create 1-on-1 and hoisting up a difficult shot.

 

[PAHusky]

To take this off topic slightly, I really think Boat needs to start shooting more from three as well. He's not a great shooter but he's not a poor one either, and right now opposing defenses know that all he's looking to do is penetrate. If he shoots even a few more threes a game the lane will open up a little bit for him and he'll get Bazz, Giffey and Daniels some more open looks. The same point holds true to a lesser extent with Kromah.

 

[Onions]

Watch his shot--he kicks his legs out--that is not normal fundamental form. His first 3 of the night was perfect--his feet were planted and everything followed thru. He was taking very long three's kicking his legs out and the balls were coming up way short--he was short all night. You cant make 27-30 footers unless your body and shot are straight on and shooting with maximum strength. On the other hand--notice how easily kilpatrick shoots his 3 very little wasted motion. Im sure bazz is the better shooter? but he has developed a bad habit.

Right, he's got terrible fundamentals, which is why he's a 1500 point scorer whose shooting over 40% from 3. That leg kick is known as the Reggie Miller kick, another guy who I guess you would say has bad fundamentals. When Bazz was scoring 25 points a game with the exact same leg kick I didn't notice you posting about his bad shooting mechanics. Bazz had a bad game, it happens, it's not his "fundamentals."

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Watch his shot--he kicks his legs out--that is not normal fundamental form. His first 3 of the night was perfect--his feet were planted and everything followed thru. He was taking very long three's kicking his legs out and the balls were coming up way short--he was short all night. You cant make 27-30 footers unless your body and shot are straight on and shooting with maximum strength. On the other hand--notice how easily kilpatrick shoots his 3 very little wasted motion. Im sure bazz is the better shooter? but he has developed a bad habit.

Kicking your legs out is not a hitch. Watch Charles Barkley swing a golf club. That's a hitch. As far as the rest of your post, I can't sign onto the idea that one poor game shooting from the outside negates an entire season's worth of work. Those shots have dropped for the kid all year. Kilpatrick, for the most part, took threes when he was absolutely naked. I can't recall him taking a single shot under pressure. Napier, on the other hand, takes almost every shot under pressure because he's far and away the most dangerous player on the court, and everyone knows it. And he's also almost half a foot shorter.

 

[champs99and04]

A lot of over-simplifying going on in this thread, IMO. Did he settle a couple times? Yeah, he admitted as much after the game. But I'm seeing posts like, "too much Bazz vs. Kilpatrick and not enough Huskies vs. Bearcats", and scratching my head. He took 19 shots, that's a lot, but not an outrageous number, especially considering we were without our second leading shot taker, DeAndre Daniels. People calling for Shabazz to feed Giffey more down the stretch are neglecting the fact that Giffey can't create his own shot. Kromah has been surprisingly effective in creating his own offense, but you're lying if you are telling me you want the ball in his hands rather than Napier's in the final five minutes. Boatright has become suddenly reluctant to shoot the ball at all. It isn't like he was out there with the showtime Lakers and he decided he wanted to get his instead.

He had a bad game, it happens. I think some of you are reaching - I have a hard time questioning his shot selection when he's shown the ability to consistently hit hard shots all season. Thread titles like "19 shots and 3 assists" insinuate that he was forcing the issue and playing selfishly, I didn't feel that way at all. Earlier in the season, we were on his case for not shooting more. Now because he has a bad shooting game, he should have shot less? I don't get it. I'm not saying he's above criticism, but some of you are making this more than it is. If he hits a couple more shots down the stretch, the narrative is, "what a gutsy player, stepping up to hit shots even when he had been struggling". Kemba had a ton of 5 for 19 type games his junior year, and we all still wanted him to shoot late in games. It should be the same thing this year.

 

[Palatine]

19 shots are too many when your shots are contested and you throw up air balls. Especially when you have only 3 assists. If your shots are contested then make plays for your teammates.

Bazz is a great player. He is capable of taking over games. But he sometimes he gets myopic. Not a terrible problem but one that hurt us against Cinny.

Please note that in the NC game against Butler, Kemba was the one who told JC it would be better to run plays for Lamb. That's the jump that Bazz has to make.

 

[mauconnfan]

A lot of over-simplifying going on in this thread, IMO. Did he settle a couple times? Yeah, he admitted as much after the game. But I'm seeing posts like, "too much Bazz vs. Kilpatrick and not enough Huskies vs. Bearcats", and scratching my head. He took 19 shots, that's a lot, but not an outrageous number, especially considering we were without our second leading shot taker, DeAndre Daniels. People calling for Shabazz to feed Giffey more down the stretch are neglecting the fact that Giffey can't create his own shot. Kromah has been surprisingly effective in creating his own offense, but you're lying if you are telling me you want the ball in his hands rather than Napier's in the final five minutes. Boatright has become suddenly reluctant to shoot the ball at all. It isn't like he was out there with the showtime Lakers and he decided he wanted to get his instead.

He had a bad game, it happens. I think some of you are reaching - I have a hard time questioning his shot selection when he's shown the ability to consistently hit hard shots all season. Thread titles like "19 shots and 3 assists" insinuate that he was forcing the issue and playing selfishly, I didn't feel that way at all. Earlier in the season, we were on his case for not shooting more. Now because he has a bad shooting game, he should have shot less? I don't get it. I'm not saying he's above criticism, but some of you are making this more than it is. If he hits a couple more shots down the stretch, the narrative is, "what a gutsy player, stepping up to hit shots even when he had been struggling". Kemba had a ton of 5 for 19 type games his junior year, and we all still wanted him to shoot late in games. It should be the same thing this year.

There's "hard shots" and there's "forced shots" and even Bazz knows the difference…….forced too early in the shot clock are never good, guarded closely - too much time left. He id that a few times and from what I've seen from him that is rare. He's usually a bit patient in that regard…….

He had a bad game no doubt but he also made bad decisions on his shot selection and no one is reaching there! If he goes 2-19 with all good looks I'm in, I get that…….but the other night was a rare Bazz off night in many ways but he gets a major pass from me, no biggie at all. Next…...

 

[Danzz]

A lot of Bazz's bad night was the Bearcat D which forced him outside his range but Bazz has to learn not to take those shots. Some teams had success against us playing zone but now we can expect more man pressure on Bazz further from the basket. I think we will make the adjustment and be fine.