Best player on this team is Donovan clingan

[HuskyHawk]

Best NBA prospect.

Donovan is going to be a beast next year. He needs just a bit better foot movement and a little more strength.

I think he can be an impact big in the nba. Unlike Drummond, he has better foto speed, offensive skills and more length and can defend.

No he doesn’t. Drummond is faster and more athletic. People are delusional. His skill rate is high. His athleticism is not.

 

[JohnFSilver]

No he doesn’t. Drummond is faster and more athletic. People are delusional. His skill rate is high. His athleticism is not.

Clingan right now is 10 times the defensive player Drummond was and is.

Drummond one of the great rebounders of this generation and he remains unplayable on some matchups .

 

[JohnFSilver]

No he doesn’t. Drummond is faster and more athletic. People are delusional. His skill rate is high. His athleticism is not.

Drummond’s feet are anchored to the ground. Always has been. He has never been a good defensive player. He is just an athletic freak.

As far as Clingan, he has more length and skill is going to be a much better defender. No one is going to rebound like Drummond

Look at big men in nba like Walker Kessler. you need drop big men with length. Check out how Brook Looez plays.

 

[TheChamps990411]

His offensive stats might look pretty good but he's losing most matchups.

Truth. He has been getting owned by opposing bigs in big east play.

 

[auror]

Clingan is still a bit situational with his impact. The last game it against SJU I think Hurley may have taken him out a bit too early in the first after that double tech/flagrant/whatever.

That give him his 2nd foul.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It is amazing that Hurley has actually used the fact that he doesn't have a set for them together as an excuse for why he doesn't play his two best players more often.

Lol we ran a motion offense in high school. With 2 big, 1 big, and open sets.

This is not that hard and I hope this isn’t true. I’m sure we ran motion offenses under JC and Ollie too with basic ball movement and floor spacing concepts…

Even if he didn’t anticipate playing these 2 together, was the idea that Samson was going to be a straight perimeter player?

 

[rjnardi007]

A two-three zone for 10-15 minutes might be the answer with two bigs on the floor during that time. Great offensive possibilities if the guards either drive/shoot or lob pass. This combo should shut down the guard penetration and improve our rebounding. We haven't tried this scheme.

Yes Yes and Yes
PLEASE play 2 3 zone with the big guys
Change it up cause man is not working for 40 min

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Lol we ran a motion offense in high school. With 2 big, 1 big, and open sets.

This is not that hard and I hope this isn’t true. I’m sure we ran motion offenses under JC and Ollie too with basic ball movement and floor spacing concepts…

Even if he didn’t anticipate playing these 2 together, was the idea that Samson was going to be a straight perimeter player?

There are only about a thousand offensive sets with two bigs, but Hurley did actually say that he had not practiced any sets with them together after I believe the providence game. What the fudge is he doing in practice?

There is a tunnel vision aspect to Hurley that is extremely frustrating. I bet, based on interviews of him, that he thinks his focus is the reason he has become a top tier D1 coach, but it actually effectively creates a ceiling on how good he can be.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

1-3-1 works when you have

Diarra
Jackson. Hawkins. Karaban
Clingan

 

[freshler40]

He's gotta play Alleyne, Newton and Diarra way less until they figure out their offense. Newton doesn't fit on this team. He plays way too slow. I wish Diarra had the little offense Newton does but he doesn't so that's one more guy the opponent can leave open. Alleyne is just lost. I keep holding out hope he will find it but we are over halfway through the season and he hasn't.

Joey is the spark plug for this team. When he finds himself again, we're a completely different team. Then you have optionality where you can put Andre or Joey at the 1 (I know Joey isn't a PG, but if he is shooting well he needs to be out there), Joey or Hawkins at the 2, Hawkins or AK at the 3, Sanogo at the 4 or 5, Clingan at the 5.

I'd rather us get all this $h!++y play out of our systems now so that we are firing on all cylinders come March (and hopefully April). We're too good to be playing this bad. Hang in there Boneyard!

Good thoughts! There is still time with good bones to work with. Most teams would shy away from playing us in early rounds. When were good, were very good. The coaches and players will figure this out.

 

[freshler40]

In 8 league games AJ and Newton are shooting 34% overall. Three amigos of Joey, Alleyne and Diarra are actually worse. Hawkins, the guy we work so hard to get open (and wear him out running around) is shooting 37%. Too many low % shots. 45% of UConn's shots are 3's, that's Golden State Warriors range and I'm not seeing any Curry clones on UConn. Opponents have made 50 more foul shots in just 8 games (and that includes playing Butler and Georgetown).

Clingan has taken 29 shots in 8 league games.

Minutes played per game:

Alleyne 14.1
Diarra 13.9
Clingan 12.3
Joey 11.6

Too bad UConn doesn't have a big guy who shoots 69%, averages a rebound every 2 minutes and a block every 6 minutes.

Yes, the eye test and reality don't seem to meet. Are we trying to be something were not? Were focused on three players being able to shoot or have green lights. Several starters have been reigned in. We are easy to defend with this combo. Just shut down two of the three shooters. The last game was a perfect example of that with Hawkins going off for a career high,

Two other shooters had good stat games but we lost big time. The two non-shooter still need to produce 8-10 points apace unless they contribute in major other way like jackson. Four guards produced 13 points in 80 minutes of play or something like that. Our offense is too predictable, slow and well known. Where is the floor general that sees opportunity and has this green light? The Hawk does but he's a hybrid. Clingan has a lot of upsides. He also, for the most part, has high BB IQ and fire IMO.

 

[PAHusky]

Drummond’s feet are anchored to the ground. Always has been. He has never been a good defensive player. He is just an athletic freak.

As far as Clingan, he has more length and skill is going to be a much better defender. No one is going to rebound like Drummond

Look at big men in nba like Walker Kessler. you need drop big men with length. Check out how Brook Looez plays.

Weird take. In the same paragraph you say Drummond's got his feet anchored to the ground and he's "just an athletic freak".

DC is nowhere close to the athlete Drummond is/was, nor is he close to the NBA prospect Drummond was after his freshman year. DC probably has better hands and plays better fundamental defense, but that's about it. Drummond was consistently one of, if not the, best rebounder in the NBA for a few years.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Most Important Player*

 

[caw]

That give him his 2nd foul.

My contention is if the plan is only to play him 12-15 a game (20 if he's on fire), might as well play him until he gets his third. Can't treat him like a starter with fouls if you aren't going to play him like a starter, IMO.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He's been our best player but this is just completely false. He came into the game when we were up 13-8 and came out of the game and we were up 18-15, so that's a -2 point swing during his time

I don’t know what game you were watching but it definitely was not the one I saw and recorded. I guess weed is legal now in Connecticut? Or wherever you are. Lol

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

There are only about a thousand offensive sets with two bigs, but Hurley did actually say that he had not practiced any sets with them together after I believe the providence game. What the fudge is he doing in practice?

There is a tunnel vision aspect to Hurley that is extremely frustrating. I bet, based on interviews of him, that he thinks his focus is the reason he has become a top tier D1 coach, but it actually effectively creates a ceiling on how good he can be.

If that’s the case, it seems like Hurley coaches to his system and his system only which isn’t good. Things like motion offense teaches players common basketball IQ skills they can take with them everywhere to succeed. Any coach that doesn’t teach their players that is doing them a huge disservice.

I know we hate Cal but that’s part of the reason his players are so well prepared for the NBA, because all he runs is motion iso offense with those kind of sets. It makes issues like we’re talking about a non factor too because it factors in any kind of lineup since the offense is just reads based.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If that’s the case, it seems like Hurley coaches to his system and his system only which isn’t good. Things like motion offense teaches players common basketball IQ skills they can take with them everywhere to succeed. Any coach that doesn’t teach their players that is doing them a huge disservice.

I know we hate Cal but that’s part of the reason his players are so well prepared for the NBA, because all he runs is motion iso offense with those kind of sets. It makes issues like we’re talking about a non factor too because it factors in any kind of lineup since the offense is just reads based.

The offense we ran earlier in the year was absolutely an NBA style motion offense. It sure hasn't looked like it lately, but he talked all off season about how he wanted to play. I have no idea what "motion ISO" is. ISO is pretty much the opposite of motion.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

The offense we ran earlier in the year was absolutely an NBA style motion offense. It sure hasn't looked like it lately, but he talked all off season about how he wanted to play. I have no idea what "motion ISO" is. ISO is pretty much the opposite of motion.

Gotcha. I haven’t been paying attention hard enough to know what exactly we run. It’ll be something I keep an eye out on though. Without a rewatch I just remember a lot of screen action for Hawkins or post ups for Sanogo. Also mostly action to get guys open for three and not action to get guys open cuts to the basket.

I could be wrong though because I don’t do many rewatches.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gotcha. I haven’t been paying attention hard enough to know what exactly we run. It’ll be something I keep an eye out on though. Without a rewatch I just remember a lot of screen action for Hawkins or post ups for Sanogo. Also mostly action to get guys open for three and not action to get guys open cuts to the basket.

I could be wrong though because I don’t do many rewatches.

Loads of cuts and motion and quick passing earlier. Certainly not seeing much of that now. The off ball motion has ground to a halt except Hawk off screens. First couple minutes will show the glaring difference.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Loads of cuts and motion and quick passing earlier. Certainly not seeing much of that now. The off ball motion has ground to a halt except Hawk off screens. First couple minutes will show the glaring difference.

I see very few cuts to score in this game too or backside screens with the intent of a cut to score at the rim.

Most of the time it’s guys are just trying to get open on the perimeter. The only one who consistently does it both in the game you showed and St John’s is Karaban and he’s typically rewarded for it.

I saw one instance from Alleyne too in the first half (only watched the first) where he made a nice cut to the basket with purpose that he was awarded for.

Hawkins should be a big benefactor from those backdoors with how much guys play up on him. Watching St John’s, the spacing isn’t always right for when he does on the floor. But it’s there and open for the taking. Would like to see more of this movement with DC at the top of the key to find guys.

Too many times we set screens just to pop out to the 3 point line instead of cut to the rim to make the defense move.

 

[PAHusky]

If that’s the case, it seems like Hurley coaches to his system and his system only which isn’t good. Things like motion offense teaches players common basketball IQ skills they can take with them everywhere to succeed. Any coach that doesn’t teach their players that is doing them a huge disservice.

I know we hate Cal but that’s part of the reason his players are so well prepared for the NBA, because all he runs is motion iso offense with those kind of sets. It makes issues like we’re talking about a non factor too because it factors in any kind of lineup since the offense is just reads based.

Cal's "motion iso" offense is to spread the floor and let your nba-talent level players go one v one against the other team in an attempt to get to the rim/kick to shooters.

The reason it doesn't work for Cal's team this year, and definitely wouldn't work for UConn this year, is that, bereft of NBA talent, you're left asking players who can't beat their man consistently/can't create their own bucket to do so over and over and over again.

Our offense this year is built on four out and isolating AS in the post for easy buckets. DC comes in for AS and the bench runs basically the same offense. Playing two bigs means a radical rethinking of the offense and defense. Not really sure we can fault DH for not running it a ton in practice.

With the way these refs are calling BE games, how long do we honestly think we could play two bigs anyways?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Cal's "motion iso" offense is to spread the floor and let your nba-talent level players go one v one against the other team in an attempt to get to the rim/kick to shooters.

The reason it doesn't work for Cal's team this year, and definitely wouldn't work for UConn this year, is that, bereft of NBA talent, you're left asking players who can't beat their man consistently/can't create their own bucket to do so over and over and over again.

Our offense this year is built on four out and isolating AS in the post for easy buckets. DC comes in for AS and the bench runs basically the same offense. Playing two bigs means a radical rethinking of the offense and defense. Not really sure we can fault DH for not running it a ton in practice.

With the way these refs are calling BE games, how long do we honestly think we could play two bigs anyways?

There’s rules and principles to that though that makes it work so everyone isn’t standing around watching guys go one on one.

Calhoun ran a lot of the same fwiw. But it wasn’t just straight motion for him I believe. Here’s a small clip of his 3 out 2 in offense.



That’s the thing about motion offense though, you can throw any guys in there and it works because it relies on reads and principles. Then you can throw a couple of plays in there. So even if AS and DC needed to play together it would be fine.

Defense is a different story. We’d probably have to run a zone. I don’t have a big opinion on that because I’m not a fan of zone’s but our man defense hasn’t been good.

I don’t think Sanogo’s passing is good enough for them to be on the floor together effectively anyways. If he developed playmaking skills the lineup could’ve been lethal.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Look at the 2011 offense. There’s times when Oriaki and Okwandu (two VERY less skilled players than Sanogo and Clingan) are in and we are cutting to the rim and getting shots there with purpose.

 

[navery12]

I don’t know what game you were watching but it definitely was not the one I saw and recorded. I guess weed is legal now in Connecticut? Or wherever you are. Lol

When you say last game you're talking about St John's right? Because what I posted is exactly what happened

 

[80shusky]

Question for the "play the two bigs together" guys: If you play them together who plays the 5 when they are on the bench getting a rest? Or so you mean just have them overlap a little? Foul trouble?