AO should be in there when we have 3 guards

[UCweCONN]

You may be on to something here. Didn't Alex comment earlier this season that the reason the team was not playing well was because some players were being selfish? Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was him.

From what I see, Olander is basically gobbling the rebounds up, Drummond is slamming and going for them as well, AO isn't getting enough of the action, I mean there are times I do see AO is open ready to slam it or shoot it, and sometimes Shabazz or Lamb completely ignore him, could just be something like that.

 

[babysheep]

AO needs to attend a clinic on keeping the ball secure before he plays with three guards i.e. three potential passers.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

i think it was quite clear to anyone watching the game today that JC is sending AO a message. Olander was pretty poor all game and he continued to get the meaningful minutes. its a gut check for AO, he needs to prove he's in this for the right reasons and he can take this small period of negativity and grow from it. these are the things that Calhoun does that turns boys into men, as cliche as that sounds.

You may well be right, but I have seen it differently. It seems to me that there is only room for one "center," or big who plays inside and is not expected to defend the perimeter very much. With AD in that role for the most part, it leaves AO in a position of having to guard these 4's who step outside and hit 3's. AO has given up a bunch of them and he has difficulty guarding the perimeter in terms of lateral movement as well. Another issue is that with AD in the center spot, our 4 has needed to be able to be able to catch and pass the ball. TO is a better fit for these needs and AO has struggled. I think that there will be teams against whom AO and AD can play together, but at least one of them has to be able to guard outside. AD is struggling to handle the hedging on the pick and roll, often getting back to his man late and being way out of position.

 

[babysheep]

I mean JC didn't even play DD much at all in the second half, and he's been a decently consistent contributor. There's definitely some messages being sent.

 

[UconnU]

NG deserves more time too tbh. We have to many pieces and still cant figure the puzzle out. We need our bigs to play consistently well and our guards to look for the pass more. SN should have double digit assists every game with the weapons he has around him. And Jeremy needs to D up!

 

[TopDog18]

NG deserves more time too tbh. We have to many pieces and still cant figure the puzzle out. We need our bigs to play consistently well and our guards to look for the pass more. SN should have double digit assists every game with the weapons he has around him. And Jeremy needs to D up!

Agree Lamb does need to step up his D. Even the last shot of the game, although it was a deep shot I was screaming at the TV for to get up on his man and not leave so much space. No homo.

 

[Prezidint]

NG deserves more time too tbh.

I gotta disagree. I like the kid a lot, but he hasn't done a thing that I can see this season to warrant minutes.

 

[Giddyup5]

I gotta disagree. I like the kid a lot, but he hasn't done a thing that I can see this season to warrant minutes.

He deserved time before RB showed up. Now...I just don't see who's minutes he takes.

 

[TopDog18]

Unfortunately, NG has not shown any improvement this year from the limited mintues we've seen him play. I just don't see him cracking the rotation now with the Boat Show.

 

[BarkingDog]

There's no way TO should be taking minutes away from AO based on what is happening on the floor. TO was terrible today. Don't get me wrong. I like having him on the team. He plays hard. But think about March. TO would start, play two minutes and then sit the rest of the way. Alex was great. There's no other way to say it.
But today, I thought JC was willing to lose the game in order to send whatever message he is sending to AO. I agree that JC is either punishing AO or playing some kind of mind game to get him to play harder. But it has nothing to do with TO deserving to be on the floor.

 

[caw]

AO just seems off, but he is too talented/experienced a player to only get 10 minutes. Hopefully JC and he work out whatever is going on. I have to say the team still seems quite cohesive as a unit. If AO's the "bad" apple, I'm not worried in the least. He seems like a good kid who is a bit frustrated, right now.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Hallway gossip. How about we trust the HOF coach with 3 rings to pull the right levers based on what he sees every day in practice instead of grassy knoll theories about tweets coupled with Monday morning qb statline analysis.

 

[huskyharry]

TO was a real liability today. His shot was way off, ball handling and passing was awful and his D was weak. I kept expecting JC to replace him with AO, but when he did it was only for a minute or two. That doghouse must have 10 rooms and a 2 car garage for AO to see such limited action.

"Passing was awful"...he had 4 assists! His shot was clearly off today, but over 7 games he has demonstrated much more.

 

[huskyharry]

You may well be right, but I have seen it differently. It seems to me that there is only room for one "center," or big who plays inside and is not expected to defend the perimeter very much. With AD in that role for the most part, it leaves AO in a position of having to guard these 4's who step outside and hit 3's. AO has given up a bunch of them and he has difficulty guarding the perimeter in terms of lateral movement as well. Another issue is that with AD in the center spot, our 4 has needed to be able to be able to catch and pass the ball. TO is a better fit for these needs and AO has struggled. I think that there will be teams against whom AO and AD can play together, but at least one of them has to be able to guard outside. AD is struggling to handle the hedging on the pick and roll, often getting back to his man late and being way out of position.

Agree...both AO and AD are very effective in the low block, although AO more as an offensive rebound/put back guy since he struggles to catch the ball in traffic. Both are lost right now at the high post...not confident, easily stripped by guards, not confident shooting from 15 to 17 feet, and AO, in particular is not a very good passer. No doubt both are stronger and better shot blockers than TO and RS but all 4 players have their roles to play and we may even see some of DD or NG at the four to have better shooting and passing capabilities against teams that don't have an overpowering four

 

[mauconnfan]

"Passing was awful"...he had 4 assists! His shot was clearly off today, but over 7 games he has demonstrated much more.

His passing wasn't very good..........he had a wide open 12 footer on the baseline and threw a rocket to AO in the post over his hands and other opportunities to give it to shooters open either behind them or high - FSU closed on the ball fast so you need to throw the ball crisp and to spots rom the post. Normally he is pretty solid though and has been up until now. Not a good game for TO but he's tough should bounce back. Worried the speed of the game with FSU was up a notch and this could hurt his PT at some point in time though also. He did not move his feet well on D and his help defense was always a step or 2 slow. Not that anyone else gets that either!

 

[Giddyup5]

What are your thoughts about having AD at the high post when he and AO are both in.

I know AD hasn't shown that foul line shot. However, he has shown that he can pass the ball decently well. Most importantly, I've seen several times now the ability to put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble. He has done it from the baseline a few times and also from the top of the key.

With time and practice I'd like to have both AO and AD in the game. In fact, I think they can alternate flashing to the foul line because i honestly believe AO can knock down that foul line jumper, and AD can be effective from there as well.

 

[babysheep]

Hasn't AO supposed to have been the 4 the whole time? So how come he and AD are rarely in together, and even when they are, it seems AD is playing the more mobile role as the 4?

 

[Dogbreath2U]

What are your thoughts about having AD at the high post when he and AO are both in.

I know AD hasn't shown that foul line shot. However, he has shown that he can pass the ball decently well. Most importantly, I've seen several times now the ability to put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble. He has done it from the baseline a few times and also from the top of the key.

With time and practice I'd like to have both AO and AD in the game. In fact, I think they can alternate flashing to the foul line because i honestly believe AO can knock down that foul line jumper, and AD can be effective from there as well.

I have thought the same thing, that perhaps AD can flash to the foul line and drive and dish sometimes. The problem might be that teams would just dare him to shoot from the foul line. Alex is the better jumpshooter by a mile, but he's not great handling the ball or passing into the post. Another hope is that with RB playing, maybe we won't need another passer in the game as much as we have. It's been tough because JL and DD have not shown very good ability to handle the ball against tight pressure or to find open men.

I wonder if the minutes will continue to shift following RB's arrival. DD certainly dropped out of sight in the second half against FSU. I do hope that JC will play JL, SN, DD, TO, and AD less minutes and give others more time to become ready to contribute. The problem is that JC will not loosen up with who he plays if we are not comfortably ahead--I guess he likes to win a little bit. I would like to see NG get some more time. He has continued to be too tentative in the little time he's gotten, but I think that he is actually more versatile in some ways than either DD or RS. The biggest thing is for AO to play better and carve out his role with AD playing big minutes, cuz that ain't changing any time soon.

 

[david]

I'm sorry, but for all the people saying 'it was one bad game for Tyler, he should be getting minutes over Alex' and 'Alex didn't get involved and he was in there for 10 minutes' did you watch the game? This was the first game that we played a big-east level front line. Tyler has improved vastly and played very well over our first 4 or 5 games but against Florida State his limitations were glaring. Alex on the other hand has never performed that well against lower tier teams, but rather got 21 rebounds against Texas, 17 against Kentucky, 15 against Michigan State, 11 in the title game (all going off memory, forgive me if i'm off on any of those). He is someone that performs better when he's playing better post players and more importantly not being triple teamed in the post. Against Florida State Alex may have logged 10 minutes but a few times he was in there for not even two offensive posessions before he was taken out. If you are put in the game 2 minutes at a time you aren't going to be able to impact the game that much, especially with the way our offense is run. His fouls were a result of over helping and trying to make things happen knowing that he was only going to be in the game for 1-2 minutes at a time.

We need Alex. His confidence may be at an all time low and his frustration at an all time high coming off a 14-10-5 game and then being played 10 minutes. He was our best player in the Championship game last year and it's stupid that some of you (not near all of you) are now saying that Alex should be riding pine unless he can prove something in the 2 minute stints he's getting on the court. If we want to be the dominant team that we can be in March it will involve AD and AO playing together for at least 25 minutes a game together up front.

 

[61cygni]

A good two man post game between AD and AO would be great, I'm thinking something like when Gavin made got the ball near the paint and would make an immediate pass to Thabeet or Adrien, from the highpost to the lowblock or from low post position to the opposite side of the post.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm sorry, but for all the people saying 'it was one bad game for Tyler, he should be getting minutes over Alex' and 'Alex didn't get involved and he was in there for 10 minutes' did you watch the game? This was the first game that we played a big-east level front line. Tyler has improved vastly and played very well over our first 4 or 5 games but against Florida State his limitations were glaring. Alex on the other hand has never performed that well against lower tier teams, but rather got 21 rebounds against Texas, 17 against Kentucky, 15 against Michigan State, 11 in the title game (all going off memory, forgive me if i'm off on any of those). He is someone that performs better when he's playing better post players and more importantly not being triple teamed in the post. Against Florida State Alex may have logged 10 minutes but a few times he was in there for not even two offensive posessions before he was taken out. If you are put in the game 2 minutes at a time you aren't going to be able to impact the game that much, especially with the way our offense is run. His fouls were a result of over helping and trying to make things happen knowing that he was only going to be in the game for 1-2 minutes at a time.

We need Alex. His confidence may be at an all time low and his frustration at an all time high coming off a 14-10-5 game and then being played 10 minutes. He was our best player in the Championship game last year and it's stupid that some of you (not near all of you) are now saying that Alex should be riding pine unless he can prove something in the 2 minute stints he's getting on the court. If we want to be the dominant team that we can be in March it will involve AD and AO playing together for at least 25 minutes a game together up front.

David do you honestly believe he's getting "2 minute stints" because of what has been happening in games? A guy who did help win a NC suddenly abandonded to 2 minute stints? It goes beyond what we know or see.............leave it to Calhoun to sort out with Alex. I agree we need Alex but they need him to be the guy who played in Maui and the tourney, not the guy who occasionally showed up for a BE game. He's good but his game needs to be all-out physical and hard work or else there's really nothing else. Weakside rebounding could make him a hero like Rodman as his offensive skills are weak. Toughen up, quit twitting, act like the captain you are and the time will return. Until then they'll be fine!

 

[Donyell]

All this and now the Boat show is on. He will gobble up a lot of minutes. DD lack of playing time in the 2nd half was due too the Boat being in there and the 3 guard lineup was working and JC has always like the 3 guard setup and DD has been slowly regressing due to his only being a freshman still has so much to learn and too get stronger . He will put it together at some pt. he is too good not too.

 

[mauconnfan]

All this and now the Boat show is on. He will gobble up a lot of minutes. DD lack of playing time in the 2nd half was due too the Boat being in there and the 3 guard lineup was working and JC has always like the 3 guard setup and DD has been slowly regressing due to his only being a freshman still has so much to learn and too get stronger . He will put it together at some pt. he is too good not too.

Agreed on Deandre.......much like Jeremy last year I expect the bumps in the road to flourish into a solid contributor by mid-season and forward! He is too talented and just needs to get up to speed and play with a bit more emotion/passion. He will..........

But yes that 3 guard lineup vs most competition will eat up a lot of minutes if they are out of foul trouble, it looked to be a matchup mightmare for the future!!

 

[sparky]

AO IS GETTING THE JC SCRIPT TO READ AND ABSORB.WHEN HE IS WHERE JC WANTS HIM HE WILL BE PICKING UP TO TIME. TO IS GREATLY IMPROVED, BUT NOT CONSISTENT ENOUGH YET. AO WANTS TO PLAY ON THE NEXT LEVEL AND DOESN'T WANT TO KNOWN AS A MALCONTENT. HE WILL RISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!