Arizona Post Game Thread

[Waquoit]

I think the overreactions about Solo are going to look as good as the overreactions about Reibe in one direction and Ross in the other direction we've already seen this year

I'm not sure about that.

 

[DCKembaFan]

Long-term lurker, first time poster...

Generally, I'm not at all worried about last night's result. A gritty win would have been awesome, but losing to a very good Arizona team without two starters isn't going to make an impact on seeding 4 months from now. Frustrating game for Alex and Solo, very promising game for Eric, and a solid defensive/passing performance by Malachi.

One question for the crowd though: Does anyone have any intel on Elezaj? He's the tallest guy on the roster, and it's pretty clear that Koroma isn't actually an effective center option at 6' 8'', 212.

 

[Mr. French]

Right - who stops working on their shot? Any chance muscling up may have contributed? He’s 10-49, 20%, so this is becoming a material sample size. The looks are no different - all good.

I don’t think I’d attribute it to muscling up…but it’s possible.

What’s not possible is that “he started working on other areas of his game and stopped working on his 3 point shot.” I give that a 0.0% chance of likelihood.

 

[Conndog]

I think Solo’s 3-point shooting woes will heal when he gets another sniper- Mullins- to take the pressure off him. Hope that helps Alex too, although I wouldn’t mind if Alex stayed more inside for rebounding help and putbacks.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Others said it I think, but Solo is often worried about drawing the foul on his 3s. I can’t imagine that has a good impact on the shot.

 

[Deepster]

I must say: I am surprised about the negativity. I know, its the BY. But to me, this team showed a mettle that last year's team only showed once: the loss vs. Florida in March. This team plays D with energy. They had a chance to win a game against a Final Four opponent when missing the starting center (probably top 5 center in the country), and a guy who is lottery projected next June, when their four year senior goes AWOL for most of the game, when their sharpshooter continues to struggle from 3, and when they shoot terrible from the FT line. Are you kidding me? Listen, we stay healthy and we are going to be very much OK.

• I trust we can all see that we now have 2 highly skilled PG's that can run the team and play tough D.
• I trust that we can all see that Reibe is improving more and more with every passing game. And last night was a baptism of fire for the kid. He played his a-- off and did not foul out. HUUUUUGE.
• Solo is struggling from 3. Granted. But last year, he was a one trick pony. This year he is finding buckets by penetration and by shooting the mid range J. That is improvement. And his D is much, much improved.
• Shoutout to Koroma. The kid brought energy to the game. Competent minutes.
• But above all else: this team has spunk. They have fight in them. They go down 13, mojo is on empty, against a team that had begun to bully them a little. Their response was nothing short of awesome. I did not see this kind of character last year.

It's pretty simple. You fall into two camps.

Camp 1: List out a few reasonable excuses (every loss has them) and act like it's not going to happen again.
Camp 2: Be frustrated you let a home game against at top 5 opponent slip through your fingers.

I'm in Camp 2. I know we'll contend all season and we'll play well in March. But the game was last night with the players on the court and we lost one we could have (and probably should have) won.

(p.s. - Thankfully, Hurley is in Camp 2)

 

[superjohn]

Others said it I think, but Solo is often worried about drawing the foul on his 3s. I can’t imagine that has a good impact on the shot.

He was actually bumped on his three at the end of the game.

 

[Excalibur]

It's pretty simple. You fall into two camps.

Camp 1: List out a few reasonable excuses (every loss has them) and act like it's not going to happen again.
Camp 2: Be frustrated you let a home game against at top 5 opponent slip through your fingers.

I'm in Camp 2. I know we'll contend all season and we'll play well in March. But the game was last night with the players on the court and we lost one we could have (and probably should have) won.

(p.s. - Thankfully, Hurley is in Camp 2)

Hurley's supposed to be in Camp 2. But as a fan, if we had won last night it would have felt like we stole a game. Doesn't mean it's not a missed opportunity.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He was actually bumped on his three at the end of the game.

I mean, there are gonna be bumps, can’t call every one. Seems like he looks for it too much and that can lead to issues lining up shots.

 

[Vancat]

Maybe it's just me but the energy in the crowd the last few big games at Gampel seems low. Didn't sound that loud on tv, they were quick to sit down, Hurley a few times tried getting the crowd up last night. I went to the St. Johns game last year and there was no reason why it shouldn't have been rockin' but it really wasn't.

It must not have sounded loud on TV. It was loud. Very loud. And we stood up probably 85% of the game.

 

[WiseWillie]

Maybe off base here but I really don't think Danny too bothered by the loss even though in the post-game he kind of put on a little and let his "disappointment" at the end show. That's what good coaches should do. They let the team know they are proud of the effort but also put them on notice that there's a lot more to do to reach UConn standard of championship level ball. This game was a necessary learning experience for players who normally wouldn't start to gain floor time and in strengthening team weaknesses. A hard fought loss against a top 5 team this early will pay huge dividends later in the season.

 

[ctbro1999]

He's 9-34 (27%)

A couple of games where he goes say 5-7 and 4-9, and he's right back to where no one is seriously worrying anymore (36%).

 

[TRest]

Maybe off base here but I really don't think Danny too bothered by the loss even though in the post-game he kind of put on a little and let his "disappointment" at the end show. That's what good coaches should do. They let the team know they are proud of the effort but also put them on notice that there's a lot more to do to reach UConn standard of championship level ball. This game was a necessary learning experience for players who normally wouldn't start to gain floor time and in strengthening team weaknesses. A hard fought loss against a top 5 team this early will pay huge dividends later in the season.

Im not checking the whole thread again but didn't see anyone mention Dan Hurley saying we got punked on the boards and some guys were standing around while their teammates were in a street fight. That more than anything worries me about this team, let Reed by the muscle and the other guys can all skate.

 

[navery12]

I think the TV mikes were set up to drown out crowd noise. It was really loud any time they got a couple stops or big buckets in a row.

And everywhere but the lower season ticketholders stood the entire game. I don't think TV captured the scene accurately at all and would welcome other's comments who were also there.

Agreed, it was loud pretty much the entire game. I was right behind the Arizona bench and even the mostly older season ticket holder crowd there was standing up every time we got a big bucket and then when we couldn't get a stop sat back down

 

[Marat]

At this moment I feel more confident in Solo's midrange game then his 3s.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

It's pretty simple. You fall into two camps.

Camp 1: List out a few reasonable excuses (every loss has them) and act like it's not going to happen again.
Camp 2: Be frustrated you let a home game against at top 5 opponent slip through your fingers.

I'm in Camp 2. I know we'll contend all season and we'll play well in March. But the game was last night with the players on the court and we lost one we could have (and probably should have) won.

(p.s. - Thankfully, Hurley is in Camp 2)

Your description of the two "camps" is pretty weird. But more importantly, you can do both: be frustrated they lost a game they could have won and recognize that all things considered it was a pretty decent showing given who was absent.

p.s. Hurley also recognizes that it would have been an absolute robbery had they managed to win that game. Arizona was better last night. People are going overboard with the "UConn gave a game away" stuff.

 

[imno1]

There are a lot of valuable things Clingan did as a freshman that Reibe doesn’t do, like scare people from entering the lane and absorb rebounds. Those are really important for a 5. He doesn’t play with near the force.

I agree. Reibe is more advanced offensively but Donovan Did 2 things we really need especially in a backup.

He was also being grabbed relentlessly. That was my one officiating complaint tonight. Arizona obviously scouted him well and had the type of guys that he struggles with anyway, but they treated him like my son used to when I would drop him at day care, and he only got the call once.

My son (now 17) pointed out to me late in the first half that one of the officials told Alex to tuck his shirt in. Alex just looked at him like this guy

View attachment 113412

Similar to last year refs rarely call the blatant grabs when going east or west, but they’ll call a bunch of ticky-tac ones when going towards the basket

Is there a more ridiculous rule than a player having to tuck his jersey in?

 

[WiseWillie]

Im not checking the whole thread again but didn't see anyone mention Dan Hurley saying we got punked on the boards and some guys were standing around while their teammates were in a street fight. That more than anything worries me about this team, let Reed by the muscle and the other guys can all skate.

There's positive assessments and negative assessments. Some prefer to go with what the legend Wooden said that a loss should never be considered a negative if it was well fought. There were mistakes for sure but the Huskies played hard. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I prefer to look on the positive side.

 

[alphasigko]

Fouls "... are so much different from this year to last."? Respectfully, to me it looks like a replay of last year.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Maybe off base here but I really don't think Danny too bothered by the loss even though in the post-game he kind of put on a little and let his "disappointment" at the end show. That's what good coaches should do. They let the team know they are proud of the effort but also put them on notice that there's a lot more to do to reach UConn standard of championship level ball. This game was a necessary learning experience for players who normally wouldn't start to gain floor time and in strengthening team weaknesses. A hard fought loss against a top 5 team this early will pay huge dividends later in the season.

I believe that he sees the game as some ammunition he and the staff can use to push the players. We have a few kids who prefer finesse to physicality and that won't fly with Dan Hurley and it won't survive the battles ahead.

Im not checking the whole thread again but didn't see anyone mention Dan Hurley saying we got punked on the boards and some guys were standing around while their teammates were in a street fight. That more than anything worries me about this team, let Reed by the muscle and the other guys can all skate.

This. Dan Hurley wasn't happy and I imagine this team will soon learn they shy away from the rough stuff.

 

[TroyHall98]

Malachi Smith (+16)

The +/- efficiency of Arizona individually and collectively was impressive. They came to play.

While Reed would have obviously impacted the points in the paint and rebounding discrepancies, there were defensive lapses all over the floor. Great fight but lots to work on! Go Huskies!

 

[FightOnCT]

Maybe it's just me but the energy in the crowd the last few big games at Gampel seems low. Didn't sound that loud on tv, they were quick to sit down, Hurley a few times tried getting the crowd up last night. I went to the St. Johns game last year and there was no reason why it shouldn't have been rockin' but it really wasn't.

The energy was there last night especially when we took the lead late, it’s just that Arizona would always come back with a bucket.

St. John’s last year was simply too hard for fans to be excited when we blew an early lead and then crushed any momentum we could have by bricked shots and dumb turnovers.

 

[AllHusky]

😂 I’d pay handsomely for a Boneyard Q&A with Danny just to see his reactions. $50/per question straight to the NIL slush fund.

Double bigs is fun to think about especially now that Reibe has shown he can step behind the arc, but not really practical. Maybe if we get a big lead on someone, Danny will give us a few minute look to satisfy the masses…er handful.

I am, have been and always will be all in on #Double Bigs
😁

 

[thekollieman]

It's pretty simple. You fall into two camps.

Camp 1: List out a few reasonable excuses (every loss has them) and act like it's not going to happen again.
Camp 2: Be frustrated you let a home game against at top 5 opponent slip through your fingers.

I'm in Camp 2. I know we'll contend all season and we'll play well in March. But the game was last night with the players on the court and we lost one we could have (and probably should have) won.

(p.s. - Thankfully, Hurley is in Camp 2)

…Or, and hear me out here, you could even think something other than those two specific things!

 

[AllHusky]

I wonder if Solo worked on those other aspects of his game we all kept harping on

Yes