A little mind boggling

[HeGotGame]

I would love for people to actually see what happens during halftime of a college or pro basketball game, their mind would be blown about the lack of adjustments being made.

 

[jpeakin]

I would love for people to actually see what happens during halftime of a college or pro basketball game, their mind would be blown about the lack of adjustments being made.

Interesting take. I'm assuming you either played or coached or have some intel regarding this. So let's say you're right about the lack of adjustments...how are our opponents shutting us down in the second half and taking away everything we did well in the first half to build a lead in all but one of our games if there are no real adjustments going on?

 

[HuskyFich]

In my opinion, if I were a BE coach game-planning against UConn, this is what I would do:

1H

*Play a soft man against guards, slowing the tempo but allowing freedom of movement as Sanogo will be utilized early and often.

*Double Sanogo the second he dribbles the ball, specifically with the defender who’s guarding AJax, as his offensive skill set won’t lead to quick points in the miracle of a kick out.

* Trail Hawkins closely from behind making him run, run, run. Even if he’s getting buckets, we need him to work hard for them.

2H:

*Intensify pressure on the guards, making the shot clock slow down and minimize the amount of possessions UConn will get.

*Keep Sanogos defensive gameplan the exact same. If it aint broke, don’t fix it.

*Faceguard Hawkins and let his energy drain. He’s too weak to push the D around after running a marathon during the first half.

*Attack the rim on every offensive possession forcing the guards to collapse, foul, or be blown by.

*Attack Sanogo straight on, or pick and roll with Clingan in the game.


In short, UConn needs to turn Sanogos defensive struggles into borderline invisibility. He’s a weak side rebounder and nothing more unless it’s a post up Center he’s playing against. He is not quick enough to contest crafty guards attacking him at the rim.

Sanogo needs to be in a 3-2 Zone if he’s going to be a benefit defensively. A 2-3 zone will pull him too far away from the rim if he’s playing with DC, and PFs will have a field day with him. A 2-3 zone will work better if he’s playing in the lane. His block avgs. are also down from 1.7/bpg last year to .9/bpg this year.

I hope he turns it around, I’m sure he’s not in the best mental spot right now and I feel for him. He’s too good and physical to be this passive on defense.

 

[HeGotGame]

Interesting take. I'm assuming you either played or coached or have some intel regarding this. So let's say you're right about the lack of adjustments...how are our opponents shutting us down in the second half and taking away everything we did well in the first half to build a lead in all but one of our games if there are no real adjustments going on?

All but 1 what?

We have won 14 2nd halves this year.

We were up 4 on Marquette at half. That is not blowing a big lead, its a 2 possession game on the road with 20 mins to play. We were up 1 on Xavier. We were tied with St. Johns, losing to PC.

These are not some big blown halftime leads. Our biggest issue in the 2hs is our defensive wears down. Xavier, Marq, PC had their highest scoring 10 min periods all in the final 10 mins of the game.

 

[Captbluefin]

We have a ball hog and a guy who tries to make the ESPN top 10 all game ( and doesn’t)

That right there is a big part of our problem.

 

[REB1094]

What is it about the 2nd half that results in such poor playing? Is it fatigue? The other teams don't seem as tired, so I doubt it.
They couldn't get a basket to fall in last 6-7 minutes. How come, were they good shots and just not falling? If the misses were there, did team get any rebounds? If not, can team practice crashing boards more?
Are there any set plays that could be run to get some points to end scoring droughts? Does team have them, do they need more? Who are team's most aggressive players for those need a basket times?
I know the personnel can't be changed at this point, so what can be done? Can existing personnel learn new tricks? How can you get players to buy into being a different kind of player- for example, someone who drives more aggressively to the hoop? Dangle more playing time for them?
Is it the substitution patterns that kill momentum when it is happening?
The turnovers were killers. How can team improve on them? Are they trying a strategy that isn't good? Or are they just getting tight?
The free throw disparity is another killer. How come we can't get as many foul shots as the other teams? What are they doing to get so many more, can we do the same?
I just don't understand the Jeckell and Hyde quality to this team.

Trying to answer all the questions here -

What is it about the half that results in such poor playing?

• Other teams adjust. We do not.

Are there any set plays that could be run to get points to end scoring droughts?

• Yes, but other teams have them scouted to a tee. We're either going high-low to Sanogo, run Hawkins off a screen, flare for Karaban, or clear out a side and feed Sanogo. If you swarm the offball screens and double Sanogo, we have nothing

Does the team have them?

• Yes

Do they need more?

• Yes

Who are the most aggressive players when we need a basket?

• Nobody, that's the problem. I'd like this to be Hawkins or Newton but Hawkins struggles with ballhandling and Newton lacks confidence

What can be done?

• In my opinion, either ditch the rotation and play the best 5 (Jackson/Hawkins/Karaban/Sanogo/Clingan), if that doesn't work then force guys to be more aggressive and adjust to game flow instead of going through set play motions, if that doesn't work then ditch the playbook and re-create it (this would essentially be waving the white flag on this season, so absolute last resort)

Can existing personnel learn new tricks?

• The players probably because they're young and still learning. The staff has to put aside egos for it. Short answer is only if they allow themselves to

How can you get players to buy into being a different kind of player?

• Give them something in return (more playing time, more shot attempts, free Wings Over for a month)

Is it the substitution patterns that kill momentum when it is happening?

• Early in the season our substitution pattern is what destroyed defenses and helped us pull away. Now it seems like players get pulled for doing good things (ie - Hawkins getting pulled when he was on fire because he stepped out of bounds once. Clingan getting pulled most games when he's controlling the paint)

How can team improve on turnovers?

• I don't know

Are they trying a strategy that isn't good?

• Probably

Or are they just getting tight?

• That too

How come we can't get as many foul shots as the other teams?

• Because we foul a lot and BE refs are not consistent

What are they doing to get so many more, can we do the same?

• Finding and abusing mismatches. We can do the same, for some reason we don't

Thanks for tuning in

 

[Jimdish255]

Good point. The other thing that I have noticed recently is that other teams seem to play much harder than we do and seem to want the win more that we do. In terms of talent, we do have some players but are clearly lacking at the guard position. While Hurley has clearly improved the team in his tenure here he doesn't seem to know how to get the team to play hard. With the same team, I think Calhoun and Ollie would have fared better. The future should be better though based on who is coming in next year.

It's easier to play harder when the other team is getting called on every challenge or even for standing their ground. Our guys are understandably confused about what they're allowed to do on defense. Apparently not much.

 

[huskyjawz]

I’m just spit balling here, but I think the decision to go with fettuccine Alfredo carbonara as a halftime snack, may be a mistake in retrospect.

View attachment 83211

Gallows humor, love it!

 

[WestHartHusk]

I’m just spit balling here, but I think the decision to go with fettuccine Alfredo carbonara as a halftime snack, may be a mistake in retrospect.

View attachment 83211

 

[storrsroars]

*Double Sanogo the second he dribbles the ball, specifically with the defender who’s guarding AJax, as his offensive skill set won’t lead to quick points in the miracle of a kick out.

The one thing we all know AJax can do is get above the rim and dunk. If (and of course it's a big if) AS and AJ practice having AS pass to a cutting AJ, that should solve two problems in one. I don't think AJ would have to worry about charges as the D would have little time to get into position. At least not until they start preparing for it - in which case AS wouldn't really be triple teamed.