Beginning to remind me of a Calhoun team

[willie99]

Strong on defense, strong on the boards, tough as nails, and challenged on offense. Come mid January, the offense clicked

Of course this team looks much better on offense when Sanogo plays. Without him? Furgetaboutit

 

[GHSWolverines]

I hope our offense gets better. It is not like a lot of their shots are contested.

 

[uconn1999]

Jackson, Hawkins, Gaffney, and Polley play D like they’re wearing concrete boots
Blow my specialists

 

[willie99]

Yet teams can't score for some strange reason

 

[BigFanCT]

Lmfao

 

[CTBasketball]

I too enjoy alcohol.

 

[huskyfan224]

Great win, now let’s get healthy and keep it going

 

[8893]

Blow my specialists

Well that’s a new one on me.

 

[Palatine]

Jackson, Hawkins, Gaffney, and Polley play D like they’re wearing concrete boots
Blow my specialists

This is not real analysis.

 

[willie99]

Nice win, on to PC

 

[superjohn]

Jackson, Hawkins, Gaffney, and Polley play D like they’re wearing concrete boots
Blow my specialists

If you watched UConn basketball since '99 like your handle would suggest you would know our great defensive teams over the years would often let a guy get a step on them. They recover and ballhandlers are funneled to our shotblockers. It looks pretty similar to our defenses from the past.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Blow my specialists

Navy won today. Take your specialists back.

 

[olehead]

Agreed. At one point Akok was blocking everything off-ball just like Hilton from back in the day. Looking forward to getting healthy and like those Calhoun teams leading the league in wins, blocks, and dunks.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Strong on defense, strong on the boards, tough as nails, and challenged on offense. Come mid January, the offense clicked

Of course this team looks much better on offense when Sanogo plays. Without him? Furgetaboutit

It’s fuhgetboutit

 

[husky429]

If you watched UConn basketball since '99 like your handle would suggest you would know our great defensive teams over the years would often let a guy get a step on them. They recover and ballhandlers are funneled to our shotblockers. It looks pretty similar to our defenses from the past.

We overplay to deny the 3. We want guys to stay in front as much as possible, but expect them to get beat... it's a risk/reward thing. Generate TOs and deny the 3, then rely on shotblocking and early help to make 2 point shots tough. I wouldn't say we have any superb defenders, but no one is that bad really. Hurley can coach defense.

Some people will never be happy. He coached pretty darn well today.

 

[superjohn]

We overplay to deny the 3. We want guys to stay in front as much as possible, but expect them to get beat... it's a risk/reward thing. Generate TOs and deny the 3, then rely on shotblocking and early help to make 2 point shots tough. I wouldn't say we have any superb defenders, but no one is that bad really. Hurley can coach defense.

Some people will never be happy. He coached pretty darn well today.

It's exactly how we should play teams, take away the and let our shotblockers clean up stuff at the rim.

 

[CTrefugee]

Strong on defense, strong on the boards, tough as nails, and challenged on offense. Come mid January, the offense clicked

Of course this team looks much better on offense when Sanogo plays. Without him? Furgetaboutit

Agreed. One Calhounism I wish coach would adopt is pulling players who do stupid things. Twice, Whaley took long three pointers for no reason and before the O was organized. Calhoun would have subbed immediately both times. Whaley is very valuable to the team, but sometimes I think he is also trying to improve his NBA credentials. Ducking my head.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Nice win, on to PC

And PC doesn't know what they are walking into. Welcome to a hungry Hartford.

 

[willie99]

It’s fuhgetboutit

Different dialect

 

[Sky ball]

Different dialect

Bronx vs Queens?

 

[Tenspro2002]

We overplay to deny the 3. We want guys to stay in front as much as possible, but expect them to get beat... it's a risk/reward thing. Generate TOs and deny the 3, then rely on shotblocking and early help to make 2 point shots tough. I wouldn't say we have any superb defenders, but no one is that bad really. Hurley can coach defense.

Some people will never be happy. He coached pretty darn well today.

Another defensive tactic that deserves more credit is the high hedge, especially when Whaley does it.

Yes, one big is out of position temporarily, but it requires multiple passes, including usually a big-to-big pass, to take advantage.

Baiting the offense to attempt a big-to-big pass and locking down everything else is actually brilliant.

 

[mauconnfan]

Defensively both AJ and Akok were much better yesterday. Akok hedged strong and retreated well only got burnt once but again, much better. And his shot blocking on and off man was really good, he changed a few shots as well. AJ played his man better than all year, much less wandering and instead staying home.

I expected Tyler to get better this year and I was wrong thus far. He and Gaff continuously get beat off the dribble, guessing that won’t change. In Gaffs defense they called 2 fouls on him that were definitely offensive fouls but still these 2 get the defense off rotation often by not keeping their guys in front of them. Good news is our bigs can block shots often.

Overall yesterday the defense was very good.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you watched UConn basketball since '99 like your handle would suggest you would know our great defensive teams over the years would often let a guy get a step on them. They recover and ballhandlers are funneled to our shotblockers. It looks pretty similar to our defenses from the past.

Yep. Shotblockers in the paint are what allowed us to play shooters tight outside. You give up some drives and guys may make some tough shots at the rim. Or you may block or alter it. It’s part of why I’ve been railing against the constant hard hedge. We still give up the drives and they all turn into easy buckets instead of difficult ones.

 

[navery12]

The last 2 posts just about sum up the Boneyard right now. "Hard hedge deserves more praise" and the next post immediately criticizes it

 

[husky429]

The last 2 posts just about sum up the Boneyard right now. "Hard hedge deserves more praise" and the next post immediately criticizes it

Whaley/Akok/Johnson should hedge on screens. Sanogo needs to play in drop coverage unless the screener is a shooter... imo