Andy Katz posgame interview with AO

[ctchamps]

" pretty effective front court"??

Where? I mean right now whether they are 13 for 33 or 25 for 33 them taking shots is much more effective than feeding the post. This thread is funny - Shabazz suddenly sucks because Alex said they are too selfish and blah blah blah............hey watch the damn game, has anyone played it before? Alex was thrown the ball I don't know how many times and he came up with maybe 2 passes after bobbling them. One time early he caught it and threw a brick off the bottom of the rim as he didn't slow down to make a play. Other times he missed the ball, didn't keep his guy off of him or whatever. At some point you just don't throw it so him because....and this is simple.....a "bad shot" is better than no shot right? I'd have a tough time throwing him the ball unless he was wide open. And quite honestly unless it was for dunk or alley oop I'm not much more confident in Andre for now although he will improve. He needs to play like he's playing against people his size now........they are winning and we're complaining about what mey be the best backcourt in America by years end. WOW

I totally agree with you. The guards are trying to feed AO, TO, AD and RS the ball. Only TO has decent options. AD will put the ball away if it is near the rim. AO and RS its a crap shoot. And I find it fascinating that a guard who has seven assists with only two turnovers and only takes ten shots is selfish. KW dribbled far more than Shabazz and took a lot more shots than SN and shot at a lower percentage but I guess that doesn't matter.

 

[ctchamps]

I agree with you. Boatright is the only guard that makes good decision and gets people in good position to score. Lamb played well and I didn't see him make bad decisions yesterday. Lamb looked good and I was glad he was hitting the boards last night. Napier has to stop trying to imitate Kemba because he is not close to Kemba. Shabazz needs to move the ball around better, and stop chucking up contested threes and running the shot clock down. Boatright has played extremely well, and is very poised as a freshman and makes really good decisions with the ball. Boatright I believe needs to handle the ball to close out games because Napier will cost us in the big games with his decision making.

I like RB, but this was a poor game on his part. Three assists and two turnovers and he struggled to create. SN had a much better game imo.

 

[Giddyup5]

I totally agree with you. The guards are trying to feed AO, TO, AD and RS the ball. Only TO has decent options. AD will put the ball away if it is near the rim. AO and RS its a crap shoot. And I find it fascinating that a guard who has seven assists with only two turnovers and only takes ten shots is selfish. KW dribbled far more than Shabazz and took a lot more shots than SN and shot at a lower percentage but I guess that doesn't matter.

Isn't it interesting that we started off on our run when Kemba started get a lot more support from Lamb and company. It is a work in progress, but if we want to maximize this team's potential than we need better production from the support cast. I have no problems with Bazz taking 10 shots. Hell he can take 30 shots if he is open. We have more options this year with an improved Lamb, RB, TO, and the rest of the team.

Assists are a funny stat. You can make a great pass to a big who is 2 feet from the hoop but if he misses you get nothing. It does not tell the whole story. Sure Bazz had 7 assists, but watching the game he could have made better decisions and made the extra pass more than a few times. Would that have resulted in a more assists? Who knows, but it would be better basketball and would help the team for the longer run imo.

 

[aceboon]

I totally agree with you. The guards are trying to feed AO, TO, AD and RS the ball. Only TO has decent options. AD will put the ball away if it is near the rim. AO and RS its a crap shoot. And I find it fascinating that a guard who has seven assists with only two turnovers and only takes ten shots is selfish. KW dribbled far more than Shabazz and took a lot more shots than SN and shot at a lower percentage but I guess that doesn't matter.

At this point it doesn't matter, certain posters have already taken their anti Shabazz stance and they're dug in for the season(and possibly his career). Its a surprise the team scores any points at all with Shabazz dribbling out the shot clock and chucking 3s on every single possession of every game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This team is not clicking on all cylinders like they were last year. We need a leader like Kemba who can unite the team.

You're right on 2/3 of your claims. Yes, we are not yet clicking on all cylinders. But when you consider last year, do you remember the stretch in February when our offense was downright ghastly, especially against the zone? Except for spurts here and there, I don't think we ever had a great rhythm or flow on offense. What saved us throughout the year was, as your last point suggests, that leadership that Kemba provided.

I think we were all a bit hasty in assuming that Shabazz would be able to step in and immediately fill that void. He'll get there, but recall it took about two-thirds of his sophomore year for Kemba to figure out how to be that guy.

 

[Chief00]

I do agree with Alex and Lamb that we need better ball and player movement on offense....and there is often too much dribble by Bazz. Now of course, Bazz's perspective probably is Alex sometimes has hands of stone....and Alex has admitted that on occasion. I do think AD is setting a good example by dunking everything close to the basket and I think Alex will learn from that although granted his dunking upside isn't as high.

I would like to see Alex go to the floor more for loose balls and I would bet my house that Coach does too!!!! That is the quickest way to get pulled to the bench and it happened to Alex last night. As a JR he should know Coach that way better by now. Coach is very fair that way - he pulls anyone who reaches rather than goes to the floor.

While Alex has gone through a few recent speed bumps, JC is starting him because deep down JC knows we need Alex and knows he can rebound and fight for the ball when he is in the right mindset. I also think that despite some recent mistakes Alex is a very good kid. It's probably a little frustrating to him how easy certain things come to AD. Quite frankly, the talent meter is very different; however that doesn't mean that Alex isn't a key part of our team and critical to our success to make a deep run in March.

 

[wpq4elamin]

At this point it doesn't matter, certain posters have already taken their anti Shabazz stance and they're dug in for the season(and possibly his career). Its a surprise the team scores any points at all with Shabazz dribbling out the shot clock and chucking 3s on every single possession of every game.

I love the sarcasm, because, for the most part, that only actually happens a few possessions every game...

and for those who want to complain about what the guards shooting percentage is.... the guards are shooting 47, 51 and 55% from the field for the season... and for all the complaints about bazz' 3 point chucks, he's actually shooting 42% from 3 for the year... higher than Lamb, who at times looks like he can't miss on the wing...

the guards actually have a much higher percentage than Daniels, AO and Roscoe at this point in time, which shouldn't really happen when you think about the shots they're taking/should be taking... (with the possible exception of Deandre, who takes a lot of 3's)

 

[wpq4elamin]

I love the sarcasm, because, for the most part, that only actually happens a few possessions every game... I agree that it's ridiculous all the people calling for his head and calling him selfish... he's still only a sophomore and he is much improved over last year, not to mention still learning how to exist without kemba in there...

and for those who want to complain about what the guards shooting percentage is.... the guards are shooting 47, 51 and 55% from the field for the season... and for all the complaints about bazz' 3 point chucks, he's actually shooting 42% from 3 for the year... higher than Lamb, who at times looks like he can't miss on the wing...

the guards actually have a much higher percentage than Daniels, AO and Roscoe at this point in time, which shouldn't really happen when you think about the shots they're taking/should be taking... (with the possible exception of Deandre, who takes a lot of 3's)

 

[sparky]

I agree with AO. Inside out not outside in. The shots will be there for the guards, but they need to look inside more. I also think we need to get up the floor quicker our bigs can move so why do we end up with the ball bouncing, bouncing, bouncing yada.

 

[Vehcoo23]

My take is that I cringe when anyone but Lamb, Napier and Boatright touch the ball when it matters. I don't trust Alex or Roscoe when it comes down it. They're just too careless with the ball. I do feel like we haven't been running an offense and going 1 on 1 a lot. They're going to have to fix that and hopefully these 10 days off and playing easier teams coming up can fix that in time for big east play.

 

[Gurleyman]

We can't go inside out with this team at presrent. Neither Alex or Andre are good enough weapons to draw double-teams, and not good enough passers to pick out cutters or shooters with their backs to the basket. So if we try to go inside, it needs to be with the intention of scoring -- deep on the low block, flashing into the paint under the hoop, alley-oop, etc. If Andre developed a more consistent low-post game and people started collapsing their defense to deal with him, it'd be different, but that might not happen this season. Right now, you can just defend him one on one and force him into a tough shot, which serves the added benefit of keeping him off the offensive glass.

 

[arnie3]

AO referred to chemistry of the team as needing to be, like last year, unselfish. Right now, this is a work in progress. Last year, after ripping Harvard apart, the team came down to earth when they were demolished by Pitt. Truly, everything meshed at the BE tournament. Did anyone really believe that this team would win it all after the team lost on March fifth to ND? Well one John Beluype must have, because he challenged all of us to get our butts in the seats at MSG for the DePaul game and the rest was blissful history!

 

[District-Husky]

I missed the game last night - did we win?

 

[MarieM]

a lot of the players have said the same thing .. AO just repeated it and anyone who has watched every single game knows that this statement is true

 

[frosh360]

Bazz takes some ridiculous shots. it's almost like at times he isnt a true pg. I dont know if he really is. He can score when he wants to, and we've needed that sometimes this year, but I'd like to see him be a Marcus Williams type sometimes, like someone said up there. When Lamb is off, AD is in foul trouble and Boatright is doing okayish, then Bazz can take over and score his 20 like he could.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't understand all the Bazz criticism. Sure he makes bad decisions at times, but what young PG doesn't? By comparison, Kemba early in his sophmore year makes the current Bazz look like Steve Nash.

He did have seven assists last night. Could have had more, yes, but seven assists out of your PG isn't bad. Bazz takes a lot of questionable shots, but I've learned to live with them because really, he makes a lot of them. If you don't believe me look at his shooting percentages on the season.

 

[Giddyup5]

@ champ

Because IMO its not the best formula going forward. I don't like comparing Bazz to Kemba because Kemba had arguable the best single season by a Husky ever on a team that needed him to be the alpha male.

 

[MidTown Husky]

Saying some of the team needs to be a "little less selfish"

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...41493/connecticut-simply-too-much-for-harvard

Well, maybe when you become reliable like you once were, your teammates might start looking your way a bit more.

Did you read the article? You quoted him wrong and started this huge discussion

 

[mauconnfan]

Bazz takes some ridiculous shots. it's almost like at times he isnt a true pg. I dont know if he really is. He can score when he wants to, and we've needed that sometimes this year, but I'd like to see him be a Marcus Williams type sometimes, like someone said up there. When Lamb is off, AD is in foul trouble and Boatright is doing okayish, then Bazz can take over and score his 20 like he could.

Yeah I get it now ........sorry I have no idea what I was thinking all along. After reading this whole thread I have come to the realization I want Shabazz to throw it in to Alex more often because we need to play inside-out.......I mean winning isn't everything so why not get the ball to a guy who's shooting percentage is pretty good because most of the time he can't handle a pass and loses it to the other team? What was I thinking about when I was seriously considering it better for our PG to take "bad" shots at a 50% rate when we can watch this guy throw a left handed prayer up or dribble it off his leg? Thank God for the Boneyard I am becoming educated!!!

 

[champs99and04]

@ champ

Because IMO its not the best formula going forward. I don't like comparing Bazz to Kemba because Kemba had arguable the best single season by a Husky ever on a team that needed him to be the alpha male.

Why can't you compare Bazz to Kemba? Nobody expects Bazz to be as good, but people forget how out of control Kemba was at times during his sophmore season (especially the early part).

For some reason people are suddenly uncomfortable with a UConn PG taking a lot of shots. Calhoun has always run a system where the PG has free reign to shoot the ball, whether it be Khalid, Marcus, AJ, or Kemba. We would like him to be a little more Marcus and a little less Kemba, but we can't forget that he's the 2nd or 3rd best scorer on this team right now, so we do need him to shoot.

I've said all along that I'd like the guards to feed the post more. Oriakhi and Drummond aren't the best in there, but the only way for them to get better is to get the ball. Our guards are always going to be the focal points of the offense, but I think it's important to at least have some semblance of a low post game.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Yeah I get it now ........sorry I have no idea what I was thinking all along. After reading this whole thread I have come to the realization I want Shabazz to throw it in to Alex more often because we need to play inside-out.......I mean winning isn't everything so why not get the ball to a guy who's shooting percentage is pretty good because most of the time he can't handle a pass and loses it to the other team? What was I thinking about when I was seriously considering it better for our PG to take "bad" shots at a 50% rate when we can watch this guy throw a left handed prayer up or dribble it off his leg? Thank God for the Boneyard I am becoming educated!!!

About time, too!!! See, Shabazz will be Kemba in crunch time, Marcus Williams in the half-court, AJ making entry passes and kissing it off the glass, and Khalid when we need a savvy PG with balls of steel. That is all I expect, not one thing more (so as to not be unreasonable).

 

[Giddyup5]

Why can't you compare Bazz to Kemba? Nobody expects Bazz to be as good, but people forget how out of control Kemba was at times during his sophmore season (especially the early part).

For some reason people are suddenly uncomfortable with a UConn PG taking a lot of shots. Calhoun has always run a system where the PG has free reign to shoot the ball, whether it be Khalid, Marcus, AJ, or Kemba. We would like him to be a little more Marcus and a little less Kemba, but we can't forget that he's the 2nd or 3rd best scorer on this team right now, so we do need him to shoot.

I've said all along that I'd like the guards to feed the post more. Oriakhi and Drummond aren't the best in there, but the only way for them to get better is to get the ball. Our guards are always going to be the focal points of the offense, but I think it's important to at least have some semblance of a low post game.

I'm not completely disagreeing with you either. Your right that hes the 2nd or 3rd best scorer on this team.

What i'm saying is that hes also the 1st or 2nd best play maker on this team. He and RB and Lamb to a lesser extent are the only players currently who can create for others. To get the best out of players like RS, DD, AO, AD, TO we need Bazz to be a play maker first and a scorer second imo.