anyone want to argue now?

[fortebleedsblue]

Referees did not decide the game....please. Were they bad? yes. was the game still there to be win if this team could just figure out a way to make some winning plays? absolutely. I hate people that blame refs, other than when they truly decide a game in the last several seconds (ala John Clougherty). Refs may have influenced the game today, but they certainly didn't decide it. Marquette made winning plays, UConn didn't...plain and simple

Get over yourself with your holier than thou attitude.

 

[Brochacho]

If you flipped the calls UConn got vs Marquette's, UConn would have won by 15. +/-30 point swing.

 

[caw]

If you flipped the calls UConn got vs Marquette's, UConn would have won by 15. +/-30 point swing.

It wasn't nearly that bad. It was a 15 or so point swing at the most, if you assume UConn takes advantage of the calls.

 

[Henry]

If their RPI and SOS stay strong, they're in easily (8-9 seed) as long as they don't totally crap the bed.

If they win out (obviously less confident about this today) and win a game in the BE, they'll be a 5-6 seed.

Win out? When we still have to play Syracuse. We still need 3 wins but the way they are playing, it is not likely. This game could have been won but the way they played, exposes them as a team without toughness or an ability to play smart basketball.

 

[huskymagic]

Also the moron Blaney plays Wolf and Olander to together and thinks its a good idea against a small quick team like marquette. I actually want to see more of Wolf but not together with another unathletic player like Olander. Roscoe and Wolf should have been on the court together at that point and that would have been acceptable. Wolf should get more minutes at the expense Daniels and Olander for sure and I am all for that. You cant blame Blaney for this one despite this folly. He tried something anything to try to get us back min the game, and the team responded well in the second half in general.

 

[Henry]

I like George Blaney, but I can't even think about him anymore. Our coaching situation is just not good right now. We have four head coaches on the staff right now and I think the reigns have been given to the fourth best option right now.

My point about the refs is this - UConn had enough adversity in this game. Marquette is a deservedly top-15 club. They have two great senior players who scored about 55 of MU's 79. It was already uphill for UConn...the refs needlessly and inexplicably made the slope steeper. We went from a blue square to double black diamonds with about eight minutes left in the first half.

You earn the calls from the refs. The way we have played this year we have not earned the right to get the benefit of the doubt from the ref. And I'm the biggest whiner of them all so it's hard for me to admit that.

 

[James]

Blaney can't coach and the refs blew. Drummond shouldn't have been on the floor a whole bunch, and then giffey gets thrown into the fire against a rolling Crowder.

 

[CL82]

um, last year's team was all underclassmen except for one player...and by the way, today was the 26th game of the season.

Alex Oriaki does not = Kemba Walker.
1. Kemba was a once in a generation player. Everyone knew who was getting the ball at crunch time and there wasn't anything they could do about it.
2. Leadership from the guard spot > senior from a power forward playing at center.
3. Having an upper classman scorer is > than having an upper classman role player.

I'm not knocking Alex but anytime you compare anyone to Kemba they are likely to come up short.

 

[CL82]

If that post-season ban holds we won't have much of a core left either. Who wants to stay another season to just play during the regular season? Lamb and Drummond will be gone and others might transfer if Calhoun decides this is it too. Burke did really nail it when she said that this program is at a very fragile point right now....

Agree, though I'm hopeful that NCAA will figure out that using old data to exclude us when current data is available and would allow us to qualify isn't justifiable.

 

[dpross]

Regarding the defense, understanding that a zone is very anti-JC, but the thought occurred to me our players may be more suited to play zone defenses. Our big guys are being abused.

I had the same thought while watching the game today. Maybe a zone would help , at least as a change of pace for the other team.

And yes, the refs were dreadful. It isn't an excuse when it is an astute and justified observation.

 

[champs99and04]

We dont have a guy who can just score in the post. They were the mismatch not us. We needed Roscoe to guard Crowder somewhat effectively and he couldn't. Crowder took our big guys outside and killed us we needed to make an adjustment. Shouldnt of played Drummond and Oriakhi together today very much just doesnt work vs Marquette.

It's interesting that so many people have mentioned the fact that Marquette has nobody only 6'7. While logic would tell you to pound it inside, Burnsboro is 100% correct in saying we have nobody on this team who can score in the post. You look at the two 6'10 kids in the starting lineup you think UConn must have mismatches in their favor. As I see it, the mismatches are actually in the other teams favor, because while Drummond and AO are much less effective guarding the perimeter, they do not have the skill to punish other coaches for going small. When you have a kid like AO on somebody like Crowder, that's a major mismatch on the defensive side of the floor, which is fine, if you can return the favor on the other end.

What's the solution to this problem? With the way this team is currently constructed, there may not be one. Until Oriakhi and Drummond learn some basic back to the basket moves, I will continue to believe that there is a fundamental problem with the way this team is constructed. Unfortunately, Lamb, Shabazz, and Boatright are the only guys who can create offense. If we had a four man like Crowder, life would be a lot easier on everybody.

I don't know, maybe UConn goes with an ultra small lineup of Boatright, Lamb, Napier, Giffey, and Roscoe and just tries to create havoc defensively. Probably couldn't hurt, considering our two bigs got seven total rebounds today.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

It's interesting that so many people have mentioned the fact that Marquette has nobody only 6'7. While logic would tell you to pound it inside, Burnsboro is 100% correct in saying we have nobody on this team who can score in the post. You look at the two 6'10 kids in the starting lineup you think UConn must have mismatches in their favor. As I see it, the mismatches are actually in the other teams favor, because while Drummond and AO are much less effective guarding the perimeter, they do not have the skill to punish other coaches for going small. When you have a kid like AO on somebody like Crowder, that's a major mismatch on the defensive side of the floor, which is fine, if you can return the favor on the other end.

What's the solution to this problem? With the way this team is currently constructed, there may not be one. Until Oriakhi and Drummond learn some basic back to the basket moves, I will continue to believe that there is a fundamental problem with the way this team is constructed. Unfortunately, Lamb, Shabazz, and Boatright are the only guys who can create offense. If we had a four man like Crowder, life would be a lot easier on everybody.

I don't know, maybe UConn goes with an ultra small lineup of Boatright, Lamb, Napier, Giffey, and Roscoe and just tries to create havoc defensively. Probably couldn't hurt, considering our two bigs got seven total rebounds today.

I thought of playing that lineup as well, at least in stretches. Maybe when Crowder was pushing them out of bounds, it would have looked more like a foul than against bigger players.

 

[jibsey]

This team can play with the best. Are they going to win the title? Probably not. But that they won the title last year was almost entirely luck. They played the 5 seed in the Elite 8. They were the highest-seeded team in the Final Four.

If they go on a bit of a run, and get in as a 5-6 seed, they can go further in this tournament than we are giving them credit for. Unless they play like they did against Louisville and
parts of today.

Anyone notice that we are 2 games under 500 with Cuse in the schedule? What tournament? There's a CYO title that maybe we can get in on.

 

[huskyharry]

Key stretch was 9 min to go in the first half. UConn is down by only 2, 20-18. Ref rewards an absolutely ridiculous flop by Crowder and tags AD with a foul which he doesn't deserve...end effect a few minutes later is Coach Blaney has to put Wolf in. Next play the dreaded banked-in three (our young team now has the feeling "OMG everyone, including the basketball gods are piling on us again"), then AD has a dunk two feet from the hoop but Crowder hits him lightly on the elbow and he airmails it over the hoop...two missed FTs later it is as good as a turnover. Then AD throws an outlet pass in between DD and JLamb and it hits off JL's shoulder and goes out of bounds. This is sort of a microcosm for the game. the horrendous call started the landslide but was not responsible for most of the poor plays. So, yes the officials did have a lot to do with losing the game but it is also true that the UConn players making really bad plays clearly lost the game