A GoHeels.Com Analyst Reacts To The Game

[Matrim55]

We shot 31 versus UNC. Not even mentioned by Hurley, who is definitely fine with it.

We run an NBA offense. The same action that dummies run for low-efficiency 18-footers can be run for good-to-excellent efficiency 22-footers that are worth 50% more.

1. Hurley's no dummy. Lay-ups, free-throws and threes -- in that order -- are the best shots.
2. The highest-percentage scoring plays in the modern game are cuts and transition looks.

As long as we keep doing this and most other college coaches are stuck in the stone age, we're going to win a ton of games.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Part of the reason we ”gave away” those points is because every time Samson Johnson left the ground to catch a log, Carolina was allowed to root out Johnson with their bodies without being whistled for fouls.

One of them could have been pretty disastrous - he got completely lowbridged and I thought he was going to land on his back.

I actually thought Bacot's T was pretty soft - like him. It was clearly the refs' effort to squash things before they got out of control. Hard to be too mad about Cam's either. Personally, I like games with some juice. Cam firing up the crowd was probably my favorite non-basketball UConn moment since Shabazz took the mic from Jim Nantz.

 

[uconnfan68]

UConn has 4 guys on the court at all times that can handle ball, pass, rebound, and run offense. Karaban’s ball handling, passing and shooting at the power forward spot is very rare. Guards Newton, Castle, Spencer, Ball all have exceptional strength and grit at guard position and rebound well. All handle the ball well under pressure. Clingan and Samson also pretty sure handed for guys their size. Injuries or a red hot opponent in tournament is the only thing stopping this team. So far it looks like we will have a problem with injuries. I hope everyone heals, but odds are at least one will linger. If that happens we will need Ross or Stewart to step up and be 8th player. 7 players is not enough to win 6 in a row in tournament.

They have 8 with Diarra. Wish we had another Karaban type though. I realize Samson can be the 4 if necessary, but we lose a lot of offense if he does. Time for Stewart or Ross to step up.

 

[M.S.G.]

I just personally think that Hubert Davis is a terrible coach.

I was @ the Final Four 2 years ago in New Orleans (sick brag I know) when he absolutely sat on his hands the last 10 minutes of the championship game. Just absolutely stood there like a statue.

 

[freescooter]

I remember a Ollie post game presser where he said, "We shot 30 threes, I don't like that."

We shot 31 versus UNC. Not even mentioned by Hurley, who is definitely fine with it.

I didn’t like Ollie as a coach particularly, but context is everything. 1. The game has become more 3-point oriented since Ollie’s days. 2. Depends on who you have for 3-point shooters. We are loaded with guys who can hit from outside the arc. Newton is shooting 36%. Karaban 40% and Spencer 42% from 3 I think. Those might not be updated numbes but they are good shooters. So it is easier to say chuck away when they do it than when Jalen Adams was chucking them at a 27% clip.

 

[Waquoit]

I just personally think that Hubert Davis is a terrible coach.

That was a nice set they ran for that open 3 at the end of the first half.

 

[uconnfan68]

I didn’t like Ollie as a coach particularly, but context is everything. 1. The game has become more 3-point oriented since Ollie’s days. 2. Depends on who you have for 3-point shooters. We are loaded with guys who can hit from outside the arc. Newton is shooting 36%. Karaban 40% and Spencer 42% from 3 I think. Those might not be updated numbes but they are good shooters. So it is easier to say chuck away when they do it than when Jalen Adams was chucking them at a 27% clip.

Or Purvis was out of bounds.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Our offense is relentless and does not let you take a play off, or even a moment off during a possession. There is constant movement, almost everyone is a threat to shoot, cut, pass, or drive to the rim. And we're not fazed by late clock situations.

Look at how many wide open dunks Karaban ended up with. During the KO era we used to rue how badly out-dunked we were game after game, with this being a sign of how much of a slog our offense was in comparison to our opponents. Now it's the opposite.

This offense that DH runs is relentless and when guys are hitting shots its explosive. Makes me wonder Spencer, Ak and Newton arent super athletic but very skilled now how would this offense look with high skill, elite athlete guys? I think we`ll see that at some point.

 

[TheChamps990411]

They have 8 with Diarra. Wish we had another Karaban type though. I realize Samson can be the 4 if necessary, but we lose a lot of offense if he does. Time for Stewart or Ross to step up.

Stewart is physically a beast and would be another AK type but i guess things arent progressing for him as quickly as we would all like. The talent is there as i said i was impressed an think he will be a first rounder some day but its just not now. Its a shame because him really stepping up would take this team to an unfair level.

 

[uconngb]

Or Purvis was out of bounds.

Cmon, that only happened like 3-4 times a game

 

[CL82]

Part of the reason we ”gave away” those points is because every time Samson Johnson left the ground to catch a log, Carolina was allowed to root out Johnson with their bodies without being whistled for fouls.

Didn't notice that in real time, but I may watch the replay and look for it. That would explain why our timing seemed off the whole night.

 

[The Viking]

the play where Cam reinjured his foot and started limping was after he was pushed from behind by a UNC player. Kind of a loose ball, there were several players vying for it and unc gave him a shove - perhaps because he was a marked man at that point.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

UNC fans on reddit were wildly complimentary of us:

I liked this exchange:

 

[Tenspro2002]

Those KO teams would regularly finish games with very few assists. Even in the title year. Ball movement wasn't nearly as good.

Incredible defense, free throw shooting, and Shabazz (and to a lesser extent Boat) hero ball won us that championship.

 

[NickDanger]

Although this particular call was a bit debatable, it makes me LMAO to read any analysis that would seriously try to paint the refereeing in that game as being anything but UNC-biased most of the night. Notice how he makes sure not to bring up or comment that the total fouls were actually +5 for the Tarheels (18 for us, 13 for them)... because of course that would blow his not-so-subtle point here right out of the water.

Nice try there Adam Lucas... but no. No way anyone could claim that Hurley influenced the refs last night into being "pro-UConn". You can take off the Tarheel Blue-colored glasses you must have been wearing last night buddy.

Just... NO.

He did not say the refs were pro UConn. He said they called a dubious technical foul.

 

[dennismenace]

Reading the UNC forum after the game, I found little appreciation of UConn's performance. The consensus was that UNC played a poor game and UConn just happened to be on the court. As for the chance of meeting UConn again in March, the consensus was, "Bring 'em on."

On the other hand, I found this set of "Rapd Reactions" from columnist Adam Lucas at goheels.com:

<excerpts>
.
1. Connecticut is one of the best teams in the country, and Carolina simply didn't play at that level in an 87-76 UConn win.

2. It's very difficult to make a comeback against a team as good as UConn, and it's almost impossible when you're not combining defensive stops with offensive scores. During the decisive part of the game--the 11:00 mark through the 4:00 mark--Carolina did not have a single stop and score. It's essentially mathematically impossible to come back from a deficit in that fashion.

3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.

4. Then, as you were afraid might happen, the Huskies coupled that efficiency with success from the perimeter in the second half. They warmed up and hit 6-for-15 from three (while still hitting 11-for-16 from two), and that was simply too much offense to overcome. For the game, they were 24-for-35 on two-point shots, nearly 70 percent. Carolina, if you're wondering, was 21-for-43 on two-point shots.

5. The Tar Heels would've had to play an almost flawless offensive game to compete, and they simply didn't. ...

6. Bacot's rebounds were the best individual effort on a night when UConn dominated the backboards. The Huskies, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, had a 41-31 overall edge and 11-9 on the offensive glass, even while missing more shots than the Tar Heels.

7. Carolina wasn't great at capitalizing on those offensive boards (just six points), but an even more frustrating stat was points off turnovers. UConn made just eight miscues (Carolina had only seven), but the Tar Heels turned them into only seven points. The Huskies, meanwhile, got 14 points off those UNC errors.

....

9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official.

10. The Tar Heels broke out a halfcourt zone defense for the first time this season during a first half stretch when UConn was having significant success offensively. The Tar Heels tried a 1-3-1 to give them a different look; it resulted in a Cam Spencer three-pointer and was quickly shelved.

....

13. The Jimmy V Classic is a great event, and it feels right to have the Tar Heels back in it again. They played the famous ESPYs speech at halftime of the Illinois-Florida Atlantic game on the in-venue jumbotron, and it was remarkable how quiet it got inside Madison Square Garden as the speech played. ...

This is a pretty incisive look at Uconn. We would do well to get him to cover us on a regular basis if somehow that was possible!

 

[UConnSwag11]

We run an NBA offense. The same action that dummies run for low-efficiency 18-footers can be run for good-to-excellent efficiency 22-footers that are worth 50% more.

1. Hurley's no dummy. Lay-ups, free-throws and threes -- in that order -- are the best shots.
2. The highest-percentage scoring plays in the modern game are cuts and transition looks.

As long as we keep doing this and most other college coaches are stuck in the stone age, we're going to win a ton of games.

Watching other teams runs offense is painful and gross.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Incredible defense, free throw shooting, and Shabazz (and to a lesser extent Boat) hero ball won us that championship.

+ The best backcourt in the country, Giffey 50% from 3, and Daniels being an absolute monster.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Shabazz (and to a lesser extent Boat) hero ball won us that championship.

He really knew how to STICK THAT DAGGER

All time Raft quote

 

[willie99]

We easily gave away 8/10 points on missed lobs. A question for Hurley would be, should they be making simpler passes on those breaks to guarantee a basket?

I'm not changing a thing

 

[Rico444]

+ The best backcourt in the country, Giffey 50% from 3, and Daniels being an absolute monster.

Giffey shot 5-19 for 26% in the NCAA Tournament that year. He was great all year, but his shooting didn't propel us to the title.

 

[UConnSwag11]

 

[OceanDoggie]

I just personally think that Hubert Davis is a terrible coach.

I was @ the Final Four 2 years ago in New Orleans (sick brag I know) when he absolutely sat on his hands the last 10 minutes of the championship game. Just absolutely stood there like a statue.

That's a hot take. 1st time head coach. When you compare His 1st 3 years with Roy's 1st 3 years at UNC and his last 3 years at UNC, they look quite comparable. Only time will tell how good of a coach he is.

 

[Mots010]

That's a hot take. 1st time head coach. When you compare His 1st 3 years with Roy's 1st 3 years at UNC and his last 3 years at UNC, they look quite comparable. Only time will tell how good of a coach he is.

Dont compare Roy and Hubert. Roy had 400+ wins and a couple final fours at Kansas before even stepped foot on the UNC campus. Hiring a first time head coach at a big time program has a 99% chance of failure.

 

[HuskyFich]

I didn’t like Ollie as a coach particularly, but context is everything. 1. The game has become more 3-point oriented since Ollie’s days. 2. Depends on who you have for 3-point shooters. We are loaded with guys who can hit from outside the arc. Newton is shooting 36%. Karaban 40% and Spencer 42% from 3 I think. Those might not be updated numbes but they are good shooters. So it is easier to say chuck away when they do it than when Jalen Adams was chucking them at a 27% clip.

I agree context is everything.
Jalen Adams is arguable the player the program let down the most who had the highest ceiling.
Look at his career stats here.

The year Hurley got here, he had career bests in FG%, 2PT% & 3PT%, while reducing turnovers.
Now look at his statistics (and career highs) on a Per/40 basis...

Imagine Jalen Adams with 4 years under Hurley...
I will be a Jalen Adams defender to the death. He should be in the NBA.