Adams and Carlton out

[SeattleHoop]

Sure, it's great he adapted at all, but are you seriously not irked that it took him so long to recognize what he needed to do? I'm not saying Hurley needs to be fired... he's clearly a great coach. But criticism and some accountability from the fans/media is part of the gig when you get paid 3 million a year to coach a game and then mess up.

Notice I never said anything bad about Adams. He isn't being paid for this. He's a kid. Deserves the benefit of the doubt. He just has physical/mental limitations.

I am and was irked by it. But the action of doing what he had to do is much easier said than done. You have to remember that Adams is his guy. The first guy he brought over here and they have a special bond .

It’s not easy to bench a really good dude whom you have a special connection with.

I get as a head coach of an elite program you have to make tough decisions. But it’s not as easy as we make it seem from afar.

These are relationships and people we are talking about. Not just stats and numbers.

I think it has less to do with his ability to recognize what he had to do and more to do with the difficulty and emotional repercussions of actually having to do it.

 

[QDOG5]

Bouk coming back?

The reason I think he's coming back is because if you watch the replay of AJax's breakaway dunk(18:38 of the 2nd half) you can see Bouk in the background jumping along with him(kind of blocked by the backboard). Bouk wants to play and will be back.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The problem is that it took him 13 games and weeks of extra practices to realize Adams shouldn't be playing 30 minutes a game. If you think he didn't blow it playing Adams so much earlier in the season, you aren't looking. He's way too slow to adjust. That's going to be more and more important for him to fix as we continue to recruit higher level players.

You can't wait until February to decide to play a guy like Hawkins big minutes next year over an inefficient senior.

To be fair, he didn’t have Jackson. Adams minutes went way up with both Bouk and Jax out.

 

[Kitaman]

If Sanogo keeps dropping every pass and rebound and being completely lost on D Josh will get burn

AJ and Sanogo were playing against upperclassmen. AJ never played against someone like Scruggs, who didn't score much but kept him occupied and busy all game. Simply experience vs inexperience.

Just saying freshman guarding seniors ain't easy.

 

[SportsFan88]

Not a coincidence with our team performance today ??‍♂️

 

[Kitaman]

The reason I think he's coming back is because if you watch the replay of AJax's breakaway dunk(18:38 of the 2nd half) you can see Bouk in the background jumping along with him(kind of blocked by the backboard). Bouk wants to play and will be back.

I hear you, but putting his emotions aside he could have the same reaction with a bigger bank account next season.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Not a coincidence with our team performance today ??‍♂️

The impulse to post snarky things about players on the team you root for is probably my least favorite thing about this board.

Anyway. This team has great chemistry. There are no hangdogs. Carlton didn't take off his warmups and he was jumping around like crazy when his roommate was knocking down 3s. Gaffney was a nonfactor and he was up and cheering for Cole. Bouknight got up higher than Jackson on his breakaway dunk. You love to see a group that's all in on each other's success like that.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The problem is that it took him 13 games and weeks of extra practices to realize Adams shouldn't be playing 30 minutes a game. If you think he didn't blow it playing Adams so much earlier in the season, you aren't looking. He's way too slow to adjust. That's going to be more and more important for him to fix as we continue to recruit higher level players.

You can't wait until February to decide to play a guy like Hawkins big minutes next year over an inefficient senior.

We don’ t beat USC without Carlton and he has been getting garbage minutes for the last 5 games. The decision was obviously to go young even if it hurt but it’s a sad way to end a career where he had some bright moments especially for a kid who came in with little fanfare and quickly got thrown to the wolves. Jopefully he embraces his role of pushing the youngsters like Olander did in 2014.
Adams on the other hand
has been a Hurley favorite but in reality his main strength is he can give your backup minutes only , however at 3 positions.We never did see that heralded shot with any consistency. I thought he might be a Vital replacement.

 

[UConnKev]

Can’t question them as teammates. They were engaged and cheering on the team when they showed the bench celebrating at one point in the 2nd half.

 

[SportsFan88]

The impulse to post snarky things about players on the team you root for is probably my least favorite thing about this board.

Anyway. This team has great chemistry. There are no hangdogs. Carlton didn't take off his warmups and he was jumping around like crazy when his roommate was knocking down 3s. Gaffney was a nonfactor and he was up and cheering for Cole. Bouknight got up higher than Jackson on his breakaway dunk. You love to see a group that's all in on each other's success like that.

It’s not a snarky take.. adams was jumping up and down all game which was AWESOME to se but it’s clear that he shouldn’t of been getting the minutes he was getting

 

[superjohn]

We don’ t beat USC without Carlton and he has been getting garbage minutes for the last 5 games. The decision was obviously to go young even if it hurt but it’s a sad way to end a career where he had some bright moments especially for a kid who came in with little fanfare and quickly got thrown to the wolves. Jopefully he embraces his role of pushing the youngsters like Olander did in 2014.
Adams on the other hand
has been a Hurley favorite but in reality his main strength is he can give your backup minutes only , however at 3 positions.We never did see that heralded shot with any consistency. I thought he might be a Vital replacement.

The decision was to go with his best players, Sanogo and Whaley are a lot better than Carlton. Most of us thought Adams was playing too much but now with Jackson and Akok back there's no reason to play him. Every team has some players where there role is to make the team better in practice and not play much in games, they always have to be ready though if and when their name is called.

 

[Fishy]

One of the reasons that Hurley was playing Adams 30 minutes a night in February was that he had to play Adams 30 minutes a night into February.

Our lineup was and is a product of the injury issues.

I like Adams as a player, but he’s a role player - some games, he’ll be in there 20 minutes. Some games, zero. That’s the role.

 

[Kitaman]

Carlton's 5 fouls will be needed one day, don't let him rust too much.

As for Adams he's place holder to give a quick rest, no longer necessary to use him as a high option for foul trouble.

Just saying both have value and won't be discarded.

 

[superjohn]

One of the reasons that Hurley was playing Adams 30 minutes a night in February was that he had to play Adams 30 minutes a night into February.

Our lineup was and is a product of the injury issues.

I like Adams as a player, but he’s a role player - some games, he’ll be in there 20 minutes. Some games, zero. That’s the role.

If we're healthy Adams won't see 20 minutes again.

 

[UconnFanDC]

The problem is that it took him 13 games and weeks of extra practices to realize Adams shouldn't be playing 30 minutes a game. If you think he didn't blow it playing Adams so much earlier in the season, you aren't looking. He's way too slow to adjust. That's going to be more and more important for him to fix as we continue to recruit higher level players.

You can't wait until February to decide to play a guy like Hawkins big minutes next year over an inefficient senior.

I agree with what you're stating but Adams was his first Uconn recruit and followed him from Rhode Island. Maybe he felt some type of obligation. Idk

 

[ZenConn]

Once Bouk comes back, Adams will see his minutes dwindle to 0. We'll need Josh at some point.

He's not seeing any minutes because of the match ups. I think he'll see some minutes at Georgetown vs Wahab.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I don't know what to say about Carlton. He's definitely not your typical senior buried on the bench. Early in his career we tried to pound it down low with him. I remember Hurley crediting Carlton as one of the nice returning young players. One of the guys who attracted him to UCONN. Now here we are. Years later. After Josh had an off season where he got himself into pretty decent shape. It's odd and I feel for him.

Other seniors I can remember who were still buried on the bench as seniors were guys like Antric Klaiber. Guys who just never did much of anything. Sort of a different situation with Josh.

 

[freshler40]

Maybe it did take him too long, but I still like how Hurley is capable of adapting. It's a great sign.

Aside from the line-up change, the biggest apparent change was the great pace of play throughout this game. We didn't try and hold the score down playing the clock. If you had a decent look you took it. The Huskies can play with anybody in this league.

Here are some things to clean-up. I was discouraged to see we didn't take the ball out of the hands of their center.
He is a quality player and made us pay throughout the game. We need to front him more especially Santago. He got beat repeatedly by losing his man. Whaley was immense and very active on defense. Good to see him shooting more and involved in the offense. Except for the missed fouls at the end, we looked like a top 25 team for long stretches. Cole had an impressive game shooting. However, both he and the other guard need to work on cutting down the speed of their passes down low, many are uncatchable. Gaftney also needs to shoot these shots after penetrating so well. We now know we can win against a good team without top shooting guard. This game might be the turning point.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Coach blew it. Just like he did with Adama in the SJU game. I'm sure he knows it. If he's learned from his mistakes, and it seems he has, then we're fine. Year 3 of a rebuild.

Nothing gained by following up your initial post with any more than this closing paragraph.

The opening paragraphs offered too little to the original and thereby misprioritized the substance, much like a news story that buries the lead.

 

[JakeTheDog]

I don't know what to say about Carlton. He's definitely not your typical senior buried on the bench. Early in his career we tried to pound it down low with him. I remember Hurley crediting Carlton as one of the nice returning young players. One of the guys who attracted him to UCONN. Now here we are. Years later. After Josh had an off season where he got himself into pretty decent shape. It's odd and I feel for him.

Other seniors I can remember who were still buried on the bench as seniors were guys like Antric Klaiber. Guys who just never did much of anything. Sort of a different situation with Josh.

I feel like Rash Jones fits that second paragraph. He balled out his sophomore year then saw a steady decline in minutes. He got some burn as a senior though and of course had the ball as time expired in 99. 77-74!

 

[Jbirdp5]

Nothing gained by following up your initial post with any more than this closing paragraph.

The opening paragraphs offered too little to the original and thereby misprioritized the substance, much like a news story that buries the lead.

I appreciated his opinion and insights from his posts.

 

[SportsFan88]

I appreciated his opinion and insights from his posts.

JB? Do Mode?

 

[ConnEd]

Aside from the line-up change, the biggest apparent change was the great pace of play throughout this game. We didn't try and hold the score down playing the clock. If you had a decent look you took it. The Huskies can play with anybody in this league.

Here are some things to clean-up... However, both he and the other guard need to work on cutting down the speed of their passes down low, many are uncatchable. Gaftney also needs to shoot these shots after penetrating so well.

Totally agree on the better pace of play today. I'm really surprised that Xavier didn't do more of the soft 3/4 court press that PC put on to slow us down and shorten shot clocks.

I also agree that the interior passing of the guards is a problem. The passes are uncatchable. And. for the bigs, I always feel that a bounce pass to them is better than a direct pass. They can get past defender hands better and are on their way up when they get to the big making them easier to receive. But I don't see our guards (Martin included) throw bounce passes much.

I'll add that I think Carlton not playing today was partly because of the matchup. Xavier's bigs are mobile pick & pop guys. And Freemantle could drive it too. Carlton's better against low block, back-to-the-basket post players. Whaley could barely get back on his hedges today and was burned a few times. Carlton would've been toast.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Is this thread really necessary?

Can‘t we just be happy with a Quad 1 win?

So far, the answer is No. And that's too bad.

Someone even did the Coaching 101 thing.

We just went from the lowest point of the season into an 11-2 team's arena, scored 80 points, reintroduced an eagerly awaited player who is a little more than a year out of an injury that has ended careers, got 9 points and 12 rebounds from two highly-prized freshmen who are making increasing contributions, got 39 points & 13 rebounds & 9 assists from two transfers who were identified to meet known needs that were prioritized for successful 2021 recruiting, got 22 points & 12 rebounds & 5 blocks from 2 seniors who were recruited by the previous coach, and nonetheless kept in reserve two players who have both scored more than 20 points in games against prior competition that was not as elevated as we have expectedly seen in this transitional year to a new conference...during a season affected by a worldwide pandemic.

Our targeted and celebrated fall 2019 recruits performed disappointingly in one case, and not at all in the other. We can be confident that Gaffney will be strongly directed to shoot rather than pass when he penetrates the lane, and draw the fouls and make the free throws moving forward. We are uncertain for another 10 days about the condition and return of our otherwise undoubtedly most valuable player.

This all represents a vast turnaround from past Wednesday.

Next Wednesday we will need focus and toughness to accompany the undeniable if imperfect talent on this roster in, yes, "14 games into year 3 of a total rebuild." The head coach has a higher level players and competition than he has ever had, and he's learning, often too slowly for many posters' liking, but learning nonetheless.

Keep moving forward. All of us.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I appreciated his opinion and insights from his posts.

Much to appreciate.
My suggestion was that certain points, when essentially repeated, lost some of their impact.