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Bazz

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Tough to push the ball when your bigs can't rebound.

This really falls on everyone's shoulders - not just Shabazz like so many people want to claim.
 
Agreed, I would love to see more uptempo ball. If they can get some easy baskets for Roscoe, Daniels, AO, ect maybe they will snap out of their season long funks.
 
A team shouldn't need 3 players who can individually break down a defense in order to score more than 57 points in a game. Does a team like Florida State or Michigan State have multiple guys that possess moves which allow them to create their own open shots? It's all a question of ball movement and freeing guys so that they don't have to look to create for themselves. I'm a little sick of the isolation offense, and would much prefer to see a bit of ball rotation once in a while. With the athletes we have, some quick ball movement could lead to uncontested dunks and layups. There really is no need for Bazz to pound the ball at the top of the key while awaiting a poor high ball screen.

We also need to pick up the pace on both offense and defense. I know Shabazz is our only true ball handler, but I'm a bit tired of seeing him take 10 seconds to dribble up the court and initiate the offense. We should be a pressing and fast breaking team, which would allow us to fully utilize the strengths of DD and Roscoe (which aren't playing in a half court offense). At the beginning of the year I certainly wasn't expecting to see a Big Ten type style of play employed by the team.

With the proper adjustments, I really believe this team has the talent and ability to win another National Championship, and just want to see them start moving in the right direction/not playing so frustratingly below their potential.
 
Burnsbros23 said:
Shabazz is a ball stopper. When the ball gets in his hand he dribbles or holds it ruins offensive movement. Did the big man play well no not at all. But they didnt get the ball in good positions. I just dont like the way Shabazz runs a team. Didnt think he played well vs cincy didnt think he played well today. Team wont go far with Shabazz as the leading scorer or second leading scorer. We have too much talent and need a PG to get everyone else involved first then worry about his scoring. If people disagree I totally can understand.
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Boat is more of a ball stopper than Bazz is. People are forgetting that when they are calling for Boat to start.
 
Jay Bilas thinks UConn's problem is that they don't stick to running their offense and Shabazz just goes on his own too much. I agree with him Shabazz scored 18points on 18 shots. You don't necessarily need more guys who can create their own shot, if you run your plays correctly and run them hard you can get more easy buckets. It is hard to run a play when one guy is dominating the ball.
 
i agree with this to an extent, but I think bazz should be at the point for 15-20 mins and at the 2 for 10-15 mins when boat comes back... I also think that just alternating when both are in there isn't such a bad idea, as you don't need a "true" point guard when you have 2 good ballhandlers on the court- both guys can attack, run the offense or create for others...

i think bazz is tired right now and the announcers the last two games have noted that he's taking some "easy" or "tired" shots early in the shotclock... that pull up 3 on the 1 on 4 fast break was a prime example and I think he just needs a rest every so often...
 
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Disagree Bazz is way worse than Boatright as far as ball stopper.

I agree about alternating at the point while both in but one needs to run the floor im sick of seeing three guys waiting to see if they should bring the ball up. Jeremy does that all the time get out and run.
 
Burnsbros23 said:
Disagree Bazz is way worse than Boatright as far as ball stopper.

I agree about alternating at the point while both in but one needs to run the floor im sick of seeing three guys waiting to see if they should bring the ball up. Jeremy does that all the time get out and run.
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On occasion you may see Andre with a 2 handed outlet to start the break and even TO once or twice but in 3 years have you ever seen a Walton-like outlet from Alex? Those are the key to getting out and running............our bigs are they key to so many things, good & bad right now!!
 
mauconnfan said:
On occasion you may see Andre with a 2 handed outlet to start the break and even TO once or twice but in 3 years have you ever seen a Walton-like outlet from Alex? Those are the key to getting out and running............our bigs are they key to so many things, good & bad right now!!
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I'm just thrilled when AO gets a rebound and avoids getting stripped by a smaller player.
 
fleudslipcon said:
I'm just thrilled when AO gets a rebound and avoids getting stripped by a smaller player.
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Alex is not the problem of this team so stop trying to disrespect Alex all the time. He is the toughest player we have on the team and someone who isnt afraid of contact. He has limitations but he is our best option down low and he should start 30 to 35 minutes every game without getting a quick hook for every little mistake. We need to play up tempo like I and burnsbro have already mentioned, and not a slow methodical half court game we have been playing so far with Shabazz. Roscoe/Daniels/Olander are not capble of and or are not ready to produce for us this year. Alex needs to play all game for us if possible as he and Drummond are the only big guys who can play for us right now. Olander and Roscoe off the bench for whoever needs rest.
 
All credibility is lost with a reply of asking for more minutes for alex. Do we need more solid, impact minures from alex? hell yeah, but for now he's getting too many when he plays like yesterday. Your guy got caught jogging back on defense while watching his guy score....and yet you want kore minutes from him? Your guy missed 3_5 rebounds which went throuh his hands bcause he doesn't have hands. His post defense which you would call "tough" is awful, never moves his feet and is always looking to block shots rather than just playing tough defense and being in position to rebound the misses. Alex is one of the major issues like it or not and you're blind if you cannot see that.
 
mauconnfan said:
All credibility is lost with a reply of asking for more minutes for alex. Do we need more solid, impact minures from alex? hell yeah, but for now he's getting too many when he plays like yesterday. Your guy got caught jogging back on defense while watching his guy score....and yet you want kore minutes from him? Your guy missed 3_5 rebounds which went throuh his hands bcause he doesn't have hands. His post defense which you would call "tough" is awful, never moves his feet and is always looking to block shots rather than just playing tough defense and being in position to rebound the misses. Alex is one of the major issues like it or not and you're blind if you cannot see that.
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Buddy seriously what post player do we have that is better than Oriakhi? There is none and your delusional if you think that any of our other bigs can help. The only post player that we have are Oriakhi and Drummond who doesn't play like a big man should. Roscoe/Daniels/Olander will not and are capable of producing for us this year. Oriakhi needs to get the ball 10 to 15 touches in the post. Lamb should get 15 to 20 shots every game with Boatright running a fast paced up tempo offense. We need a guy who can penetrate at will and who has quickness like Boatright which will free up guys on the wing and free up our bigs as well and you will see Alex producing like he did last year.
 
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I'm not your "buddy" for one and there's only one dellusional one in this thread. Alex hs been awful and if anything deserves less time. More touches for him as of now will mean less shots and more TO's for the team. Tyler has been a better player than alex more often than not. At the very lest he can pass, catch, hs hands and can make a jumper. They're both fairly horrific on low post defense but for now AO hasn't earned for time.
 
mauconnfan said:
I'm not your "buddy" for one and there's only one dellusional one in this thread. Alex hs been awful and if anything deserves less time. More touches for him as of now will mean less shots and more TO's for the team. Tyler has been a better player than alex more often than not. At the very lest he can pass, catch, hs hands and can make a jumper. They're both fairly horrific on low post defense but for now AO hasn't earned for time.
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I like Tyler hes a nice kid but seriously Tyler is just a rotation player and is not ready to produce against Big 6 conference teams. Tyler is a hybrid 3/4 who doesnt have the strength to play in the post and is too slow to be a 3. He has good fundamentals unlike our other bigs but he can't be a starter for us this year. Despite your constant vitriol aimed at Oriakhi he is our best big men and is the only one who can bang and play physical in the post. Everyone else on this team avoids contact.
 
Bazz has also been forced to play 40 minutes a night due to all this, which isn't helping the cause at all.
 
magic, i am not abusing alex in a bitter way as you alluded to. He just hasn't played well and if you think he's a physical presence you are missing most every game. Is he our most physical presence?..maybe but we all know that's saying very little. He heeds to match the physical play of his opponent and he doesn't. He doesn't box out and he doesn't defend enough with his body and always ends up sideways trying to block the shot. He's not the only Husky to do this but he's the experienced one and I for one expect a heck of a lot more.
 
huskymagic said:
Alex is not the problem of this team so stop trying to disrespect Alex all the time. He is the toughest player we have on the team and someone who isnt afraid of contact. He has limitations but he is our best option down low and he should start 30 to 35 minutes every game without getting a quick hook for every little mistake. We need to play up tempo like I and burnsbro have already mentioned, and not a slow methodical half court game we have been playing so far with Shabazz. Roscoe/Daniels/Olander are not capble of and or are not ready to produce for us this year. Alex needs to play all game for us if possible as he and Drummond are the only big guys who can play for us right now. Olander and Roscoe off the bench for whoever needs rest.
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No disrespect towards AO intended. He is who he is and although he is flawed on the offensive end, and he has some weakness on the defensive end, I agree that he is the best option in the lineup and I like him paired with AD. The one disagreement I have is that TO is needed in certain match ups for offense even if he isn't as good as Alex on the defensive end. RS and DD should be role players imo.
 
Alex is a problem on the team. He is improved his offensive game, but seems to have lost that much on rebounding AND defense. What concerns me is roscoe smith and how weak and slow he looks at times.
 
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DieHardHusky said:
Bazz has also been forced to play 40 minutes a night due to all this, which isn't helping the cause at all.
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I wonder if people really understand what this does to the mind, body and soul. His mistakes are more from mental and physical fatigue The kid has no relief and is truly an iron man. He gets a pass in my book because he's not 100% and is forced to play the whole game against equal athletes who are getting in-game rest.

Sure he's young and in shape but he's human, and he needs rest that he is certainly not getting. My Bazz concern is will he have anything left in the tank come March?
 
I'm amazed that anyone can watch this team lately and conclude that the problem is Shabazz.
 
he's the only one doing anything. You're claiming he is a 'ball stopper'. I've seen many fastbreaks where the ball doesn't touch the ground, where shabazz gets the hockey assist or the assist. What do you expect him to do? he aint steve nash
 
fleudslipcon said:
No disrespect towards AO intended. He is who he is and although he is flawed on the offensive end, and he has some weakness on the defensive end, I agree that he is the best option in the lineup and I like him paired with AD. The one disagreement I have is that TO is needed in certain match ups for offense even if he isn't as good as Alex on the defensive end. RS and DD should be role players imo.
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I agree with this post and am glad some people are waking up to the fact Alex is needed on this team as a starter and if needed in some matchups Olander will play limited minutes.
 
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Burnsbros23 said:
Im amazed people can watch this team and conclude Shabazz isn't part of the problem.
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How to respond?

I hate making excuses but this season has just been a really weird one from a personnel perspective. Not having Boatright for 6 games (plus 2 exhibition games), then getting him back but losing Calhoun for 3 games, then getting him back but losing Boatright for 3+ games has really thrown off the progression of this team. I think this more than anything else has contributed to the Jekll-Hyde feel for this very young team.

Look at how Pitt, UL and Cuse have reacted to losses of key players (with more veteran lineups) and it's easy to see why this lack of cohesion is a problem.

This applies not only to Napier but also to Lamb and even Oriakhi/Drummond/Giffey/etc.

That said, Napier has been a ball-stopper the past 3 games. I think this is partially by design. If you watch the games prior to Boatright showing up (against decent teams) and the way the team is playing right now. It's very similar.

Napier and Lamb are exhausted during games and playing a much more deliberate (slow) pace in order to shorten the game and make it easier for them. This is obviously not how this team would like to play (or at least how the fans would like it to play).

It's not only about having another player to "break down the defense" but simply about having a decent backup for the 1-2 position so Napier and Lamb can feel comfortable playing aggressive on offense and on defense.

Lamb at least has a somewhat suitable backup in Giffey/Daniels (high D-1 recruits who can play defense at the 2, if not offense).

Napier has Lamb (who is not a D-1 PG) and a walk-on freshman as his backups. This has to be in his mind during the first half. Can you imagine what the team would look like if Napier got in foul trouble or fouled out?

Almost every player has suffered by missing Boatright, excluding Giffey who is seeing more time with less of a 3 guard option available.

To the initial question: should Boatright start over Napier? I don't think so, simply because the offense was actually decent with all 3 guards available. I also thought when all 3 were available, Napier ran the offense the best.

I do think that having Napier play the 2 on occasion to give Lamb a breather would be great or having Napier on the bench for a breather would be great. Boatright, for how good he is, does not run the team as well as Napier (yet).
 
Burnsbros23 said:
Shabazz is a ball stopper. When the ball gets in his hand he dribbles or holds it ruins offensive movement. Did the big man play well no not at all. But they didnt get the ball in good positions. I just dont like the way Shabazz runs a team. Didnt think he played well vs cincy didnt think he played well today. Team wont go far with Shabazz as the leading scorer or second leading scorer. We have too much talent and need a PG to get everyone else involved first then worry about his scoring. If people disagree I totally can understand.
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Try watching something other than the ball.
 
No kidding, the kid can't run the point and run them through their sets and finish for them too. He looks for his offense because he usually has to. Some of you sound like we've got really potent low post scoring threats that just aren't getting a chance to do their thing because shabazz isn't looking for them. That's absurd.
 
Bazz and Boat are 1a and 1b. Boat can play point and both can play the 2. The problem with both starting is that we give away too much in size. That being said, we are not getting enough out of the bigs. AO's footwork on D is a jumble and AD is still learning how to play at this level. DD has been a disapointment and AO seems to just miss on the timing of his jumps.My line up is : Bazz, Lamb, AD, Giff, and TO/AO. Boat spells Bazz at point and moves him to the 2 and move Lamb to the 3. When giff comes back in Spell Lamb, Lamb comes back in spell Bazz. We have AD who can fly but we don't use him Boat speeds up the play and we play 96ft instead of 1/2 court. The offense we are running does not fit the guys running it. JC Let my people go!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
You have seen many fast breaks where Bazz gets the hockey assist? I cant recall many all year. Huge part of the problem is he never pushes the ball up the court. I just cant recall a time where Bazz gets the ball and makes a quick decision.

Bazz last 8 games he is shooting 35% from the field and 29% from three.
 
[ Huge part of the problem is he never pushes the ball up the court. I just cant recall a time where Bazz gets the ball and makes a quick decision.
[/quote]

Answer is (a) you're not paying attention; (b) you dont know what you should be looking for, or (c) you're saying something you know is garbage. There's really no other explanation.
 
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