A supposed deep team...UConn not so much

[Hi-Low]

When Daniels is healthy we have 6 guys to count on, tonight we had 5 guys. Calhoun's confidence & shot are shot, Nolan & Olander are just bodies to give fouls and Samuel/Facey are not ready.

Bazz, Daniels, Kromah, Giffey, Brimah & Boat ....that's our team in meaningful games the rest of the way. Luckily those 6 are pretty good, but margin of error vs good teams is very small...and margin of error for the rest of the season is shrinking, looking at a 5th place finish in AAC. Need to win a couple more vs top half of conf and all vs the bottom half.

 

[CTBasketball]

Didn't see T. Sam in the second half.

 

[BoatShow]

Went with those 6 the whole second half i think. Maybe Omar got a few minutes. No wonder they were gassed.

 

[jibsey]

Ya know just stating the obvious we really miss Calhoun's scoring. It's a small but vital component that could change some of these close losses. He bangs a couple 3's, different story.

 

[superjohn]

No other way to put it, Omar's lack of anything is killing us. It's especially felt tonight when we didn't have our second best player. We are so close to being a damn good team, that's what hurts.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Didn't see T. Sam in the second half.

It's actually starting to bother me a bit. T Sam goes in, and makes a couple great moves every game....then we never see him again. He is the only other real ball handler we have beside boat and bazz. I understand that he misses defensive assignments, but he really has played well during his extended stints (all 2 or 3 of them). I hope he picks it up soon...and i hope he gets a chance.

Facey is another who gets the super quick hook. Certain guys get far quicker hooks than others. I wish i was at practice, or in the locker room, so i could fully understand.

 

[SaeHusky]

Yeah I thought Samuel looked good in his short stint. He made a really nice drive to the hoop. He should have been used to give Napier a short breather in the 2nd half especially since Napiers shot wasnt falling.

 

[babysheep]

We had three players in double digits, Boat had 9. Who knows with DD in. That's not what you see with a team that has no depth.

Reasons we lost: PN foul trouble all game, Bazz taking 12 threes and making 2 (if he just shot 33%, we win), Cinci dominating boards in the second half, our second-best player not playing, AT the #7 team in the country.

 

[CTBasketball]

We had three players in double digits, Boat had 9. Who knows with DD in. That's not what you see with a team that has no depth.

Reasons we lost: PN foul trouble all game, Bazz taking 12 threes and making 2 (if he just shot 33%, we win), Cinci dominating boards in the second half, our second-best player not playing, AT the #7 team in the country.

I view those all as excuses. Not to be a d**k or anything, but it came down to crunch time and we folded. Probably the worst basketball I've seen since the Texas roadtrip.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I view those all as excuses. Not to be a d**k or anything, but it came down to crunch time and we folded. Probably the worst basketball I've seen since the Texas roadtrip.

Early in the second half the team reverted to the Texas Massacre offense of pound the ball in to the ground, wait til 10 seconds and then try something.

I think the first play to start the half was the curl by Kromah and his no-dribble lay up.

When this team moves without the ball it's an effective offensive team. Puts 70-80 points on the board.

When the guards pound the ball in the ground and everyone stands around, 60 points ain't happening.

As others have said, Omar's regression this year has really hurt this year's team.

 

[Hi-Low]

We had three players in double digits, Boat had 9. Who knows with DD in. That's not what you see with a team that has no depth

Look at the 2nd half...the starting 5 played all the minutes, Nolan had foul trouble but Jackson was eating him alive anyway.

The reality is that the sophmore class of Calhoun, Nolan and Tolksdorf is way underperforming resulting in little depth...sophmores should have an impact. Luckily Brimah has stepped up, Ollie would play him 30 mins a game, every game if he could. At this point I would bypass Calhoun/Nolan and give Facey/Samuel more of the bench minutes...maybe light a fire for the sophs.

 

[Milo65]

Early in the second half the team reverted to the Texas Massacre offense of pound the ball in to the ground, wait til 10 seconds and then try something.
I think the first play to start the half was the curl by Kromah and his no-dribble lay up.
When this team moves without the ball it's an effective offensive team. Puts 70-80 points on the board.
When the guards pound the ball in the ground and everyone stands around, 60 points ain't happening.
As others have said, Omar's regression this year has really hurt this year's team.

It all starts with our guard play and as much as I love Bazz and Boat. Tonight, they sucked and they are the reason we lost this game. Crossing over, behind the back passes, taking tough shots, and not running any offense at all.

 

[jibsey]

Facey was in for a second and grabbed a key rebound. What is the size diff from Nolan to Facey?

 

[babysheep]

I view those all as excuses. Not to be a d**k or anything, but it came down to crunch time and we folded. Probably the worst basketball I've seen since the Texas roadtrip.

I'm using them as explanations; I'm not excusing anyone from responsibility for our loss. Bazz is responsible for shooting better than 2/12 from 3, our frontcourt is responsible for grabbing boards, and everyone is responsible for playing through that kind of environment.

The loss of DD affected the amount of potential points we could have gotten and directly impacts "depth." Cinci is a good team, and had a home court advantage. I don't think anyone here would argue against any of that.

I'm simply stating that my opinion is that our alleged lack of depth was at least not a major reason we lost.

 

[tjc1888]

How is that the worst basketball you have seen since the Texas roadtrip.....are u blind? We had the #7 best team in the country (a team that went to Louisville and beat them) on the ropes. We outplayed them for 30 mins of that game. We were missing our second best player which with our "lack of depth" means that our guys were gassed at the end. That's what Cincy does....they wear you down and until you crack, and we did. So if you think that is the worst basketball you have seen since Texas you just don't know basketball. It's easy to beat Temple UCF and Houston and look good. Cincy is a whole another story. But i forgot according to some people here we need to go undefeated and win every game by 20 to be consider a good basketball team.

 

[jibsey]

I'm using them as explanations; I'm not excusing anyone from responsibility for our loss. Bazz is responsible for shooting better than 2/12 from 3, our frontcourt is responsible for grabbing boards, and everyone is responsible for playing through that kind of environment.

The loss of DD affected the amount of potential points we could have gotten and directly impacts "depth." Cinci is a good team, and had a home court advantage. I don't think anyone here would argue against any of that.

I'm simply stating that my opinion is that our alleged lack of depth was at least not a major reason we lost.

If we don't have a lack of depth then why did our entire front court score 6 points and have 6 rebounds? We could not stop them in the paint in the second half.

 

[boog204]

It's actually starting to bother me a bit. T Sam goes in, and makes a couple great moves every game....then we never see him again. He is the only other real ball handler we have beside boat and bazz. I understand that he misses defensive assignments, but he really has played well during his extended stints (all 2 or 3 of them). I hope he picks it up soon...and i hope he gets a chance.

Facey is another who gets the super quick hook. Certain guys get far quicker hooks than others. I wish i was at practice, or in the locker room, so i could fully understand.

Samuel did have that one nice drive to the hoop. But he also forced a penetration and got lucky to have the ball knocked away and another time passed up an open jumper and had to be bailed out. On defense, he got burned twice in a row on screen/rolls and back cuts.

I would have liked to see more of Facey last night. He played very little and to my eyes did nothing "wrong." In his other stints he has looked lost in half court sets and defensively (despite putting up some numbers.)

 

[freescooter]

Early in the second half the team reverted to the Texas Massacre offense of pound the ball in to the ground, wait til 10 seconds and then try something.

I think the first play to start the half was the curl by Kromah and his no-dribble lay up.

When this team moves without the ball it's an effective offensive team. Puts 70-80 points on the board.

When the guards pound the ball in the ground and everyone stands around, 60 points ain't happening.

As others have said, Omar's regression this year has really hurt this year's team.

I agree with this but I also attribute some of it to Cincy's defense which really turned it up a notch in the 2nd half. And Kilpatrick is one of the few guards we've seen who could take Napier out of his game. For good or ill, this is Shabazz's team. If you can keep him under control, you keep UConn under control.

 

[babysheep]

If we don't have a lack of depth then why did our entire front court score 6 points and have 6 rebounds? We could not stop them in the paint in the second half.

C'mon man, AB and PN have had two or three good games a piece. 6 and 6 is much closer to their average than say 20 and 14.

 

[sledog]

Gassed? That's what you get for screwing around with the H-run.

 

[caw]

I agree with this but I also attribute some of it to Cincy's defense which really turned it up a notch in the 2nd half. And Kilpatrick is one of the few guards we've seen who could take Napier out of his game. For good or ill, this is Shabazz's team. If you can keep him under control, you keep UConn under control.

I think you are giving Kilpatrick way too much praise for his defense on Napier.

Don't get me wrong he's a fantastic defender, but it was their whole team defense on Napier and honestly the makeup of their team.

They have big, strong 6-5 to 6-8 guys who can move their feet. They switched on every screen/pick and helped on all penetration off of Brimah or Nolan.

Going to another poster/post.

We will see if Daniels helps in the next game, but it's not an excuse to say he didn't play.

For that matter I think Cinci might be a team UConn would have gone small against to close the game. I mean Napier/Boat/Kromah/Giffey/Daniels. Then Cinci would have had much more trouble doubling Napier off of Brimahs man.

 

[joober jones]

When Daniels is healthy we have 6 guys to count on, tonight we had 5 guys. Calhoun's confidence & shot are shot, Nolan & Olander are just bodies to give fouls and Samuel/Facey are not ready.

Bazz, Daniels, Kromah, Giffey, Brimah & Boat ....that's our team in meaningful games the rest of the way. Luckily those 6 are pretty good, but margin of error vs good teams is very small...and margin of error for the rest of the season is shrinking, looking at a 5th place finish in AAC. Need to win a couple more vs top half of conf and all vs the bottom half.

Nolan isn't a body to give fouls. He's a vehicle for referees to make calls on non-existent fouls.