Baylor Post Game Thread

[Hans Sprungfeld]

May just take a little time to work AMs confidence up for closing time. We could have certainly used his handle down the stretch and there is little drop off in defense from him to Solo.

I was surprised DH made no adjustments on D during free throws down the stretch, to slow down Baylor offensively with the clock being the enemy.

Baby steps.

DH took an early 11 point deficit, gained & then lost the lead before the half, but got to a 5-point lead with 12 minutes left and never gave it up.

Retained the lead from the 12-to-8 minute mark. Did the same for 8-to-4 (oops, wait, that reviewed offensive goal-tending call), and then hung on at the end when Wright kept running unimpeded to the basket.

This was a true close win.

Memphis and Colorado were fails.

Before the past two seasons, this was a major thing, so it was not an insubstantial win. Not fully elegant, but clearly what we've all wanted.

And this place would have completely freaked if it hadn't happened.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

This team needs Mahaney to play well if we have any hope of reaching the Final 4. Nowell isn’t the answer. Mahaney needs to be the answer.

 

[AidanFan20]

Seems a lot of people on here say this win was at least somewhat ugly. WTF?

Beating a ranked team while short a starting forward and having resilience when things didn't always go the Huskies' way?

Coach staying at least a little less maniacal on the sidelines?

The team overall playing with more poise?

This may not have been perfect or artistically pretty, but I think this was more than fine, especially after the nastiness in the Maui Classic just last week.

 

[housekeys]

Man if we could somehow get our perimeter defenders to just stop 50% of the dribble drives they let happen each game (mainly Solo, but they’re all guilty), we’d be cookin

Easy. Do some pregame game planning. Make them dribble to their left (if they like dribbling to the right) and visa versa.

Watch how often players get beat consistently to one side. Adjust.

 

[superjohn]

Abdou Toure was at the game sitting next to Karaban tonight.

 

[KemBuckets21]

Refs were great tonight

 

[housekeys]

Think to yourself, he’s not a Xmas carol.

He is probably a fan of the Xmas carol, The First Nowell.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Yes. Just saying both teams missing key payers.

And we WON.....

 

[UCTitleTown]

Abdou Toure was at the game sitting next to Karaban tonight.

Me likey.

 

[alphasigko]

Perhaps Hass should start wearing his headband again?

 

[TroyHall98]

Can Hurley and co fix him on defense?

This is the biggest question the rest of the season.

 

[jdb50]

Late in the game saw Hass and Ball each had one rebound. Hass then got that huge rebound in traffic up 2. We need more from our guards on all levels. People complaining about Mahaney's D need to watch Ball. Stewart really played a good game just doing what he could without pressing for shots. The refs blew the second half call when ball was shot then shot clock went off. We had the rebound and were on a break.

 

[aceboon]

Was Solo this bad on D last season before Steph's return/increased minutes? I don't remember it jumping off the screen the way it has this season, and that included playing 30 minutes vs a very good UNC team.

 

[superjohn]

 

[alphasigko]

Johnson's last foul was BS. Ojianuwa pushed him to get the rebound.

If Samson Johnson had turned to watch the ball after the shot to get the rebound then the foul would have been on Ojianuwa. Samson Johnson just kept his back to the basket and moved into Ojianuwa. It was an iffy call.

Samson Johnson just never thinks about trying to get into position for a rebound.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I think Hurley has so much confidence in this kid. AM will be a fan favorite by January. We will regret the whining and the poorest showing of support this fan base has put forth towards a player since the bench AJax movement

 

[alphasigko]

It was the right matchup for a very specific opponent tonight. The downside is or course that this will only embolden the double big crowd.

And why is that a downside? Coach tried it and it worked... I hope we see it again.

 

[Kolumbo]

Can't underscore how huge this one pivotal game was. UConn is 6-3 but could have been 5-4 almost 1/3 of the way through the season. That puts you last in the Big East. UNC is now 4-4 at #20 and should drop out of the top 25. Pitt at #18 will drop. The season gets late early.

Huge opportunity at Texas which just beat NC State and may be ranked. Crucial couple games before BE competition.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I feel more relieved than excited. We really needed this win. The poor defense and dodgy shot selection are still problems, but UConn beat a good Baylor team and this win will age well.

The Big East picking up some quality wins and avoiding going off a cliff like the ACC is a bonus.

 

[uconnfan68]

Diarra played a lot better 2nd half and was in their in all of our key positions. The offense runs best with the ball in his hands.

Made some bad plays with that ball tonight. Bad passes, picked up dribbles, took bad shots. Uncharacteristic poor foul shooting. Did have some great rebounds though.

 

[3rdbass]

Made some bad plays with that ball tonight. Bad passes, picked up dribbles, took bad shots. Uncharacteristic poor foul shooting. Did have some great rebounds though.

Yeah his first half was bad but he was very good in the second half running the offense and playing great D. Plus Hurley has little choice but let him play as the other 2 guards don't play D(Ball) or are physically overmathed(Mahaney).

 

[willie99]

At the game, my takes

Ball got us going, reminded me of Rashad

Breakout game for Mahaney

Reed and Johnson were awesome down low

Liam is morphing in to a superstar

Stewie got hops

Hassan was not Hassan tonight. I thought we needed him to be at his best. Instead, the newbies all stepped it up

Thank you Huskies. More fun than anyone is entitled too

 

[bendm]

Shocked we won the foul and FT battle. They had 6 more fouls than us and we took 14 more FTs. we already improved both when it came to playing D without fouling as much and attacking the basket more.

 

[Candyman]

And why is that a downside? Coach tried it and it worked... I hope we see it again.

Next game it won’t work. Karaban will guard Kaluma or Stew will. Reed can’t hang with him outside the paint. Samson /Reed will be on Shedrick. Texas is much better than Colorado and probably Dayton. Kaluma or Shedrick in foul trouble and their backups aren’t good or play much.

Stew/McNeeley/Ross will have to guard Johnson. That kid is legit. He shoots a lot but over 40% from 3.

Will be a tough game at their place.

 

[3rdbass]

Hassan was not Hassan tonight.

Really? I thought he was great for us in the second half and was the only guard playing good D. He had 7 assists and 1 TO and was 7-10 from the FT line. Hassan isn't a shooter and anything he can give us is a bonus. I do agree his D was bad in the first half but he tightened that up in the 2nd half and was a great floor general with some great passes including the one to Samson for that big dunk in the 2nd half. There is a reason why he played a majority of the 2nd half. I still think Nowell is out best PG.