Boatright (not a bashing post)

[lange10]

It's clear he's just not 100% and its really unfortunate. He was limping around the 17:00 minute mark in the 2nd half so it's clear the thigh isnt there yet and who even knows about his ankle and anything else he has going on.

Who's to say even with a healthy Boatright, a man who has to do EVERYTHING for this team to win, this team would be better than 9-7 but you'd like to think we would be a little better.

I just feel bad for the guy because in his senior year his squad won't make the tourny (unless we win the AAC auto bid) but he would give anything for us to win.

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

I feel bad for him was hoping he could lead this team to big things and rise his draft stock like Shabazz. Too bad their isn't Giffey or Daniels to bail him out

 

[HooperScooper]

He's definitely still hurting. You can see it in is face when he comes off the court. Can't really blame him for any of this. He's trying to give you all he's got but he's hurt.

 

[RipCity]

He may not be 100% but he's just much more limited offensively than Napier, Kemba, Gordon, ect. A team where he is the #1 offensive option isn't going to be that good. Lot of time for someone to emerge, but someone needs to.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

ever since his 1st injury, he hasn't looked like boat.
defensively and offensively, it's just not the same boat show.
it has compounded all of the other flaws in this team and made everything so much worse.

 

[aceboon]

Boat told one of the announcers this is as healthy he's felt since the injury, he didn't say the same stuff following the UF and USF games. Boat is better suited for the role he played last season, that's becoming clear.

 

[lange10]

He may not be 100% but he's just much more limited offensively than Napier, Kemba, Gordon, ect. A team where he is the #1 offensive option isn't going to be that good. Lot of time for someone to emerge, but someone needs to.

Times up. AAC tourny or NIT. Unless this inconsistent and young team wins out in their conference with 2 games vs SMU, 1 vs Cincy, 1 vs Tulsa, 1 vs Temple....

 

[CL82]

Boat told one of the announcers this is as healthy he's felt since the injury, he didn't say the same stuff following the UF and USF games. Boat is better suited for the role he played last season, that's becoming clear.

It was a non-answer. He didn't say he was 100% or even 70%, just that he was as good as he's been since the injury.

 

[lange10]

I disagree with all you saying a team cant win with Boat as the go to guy. In the first 5 games when he was 100% (Bryant, CofC, Dayton, WVU, Texas) he shot 43% from the field and averaged 20.8 points and 6.2 rpg. If boats ankle doesnt give out on the screen in the final play of the texas game we couldve gone 4-1 in those games. Boat is a winner.

 

[jdb50]

They better win every home game from here on out and yes that includes the AAC tourney. We'll see what kind of pride they have or not.

 

[AfgHusky15]

He may not be 100% but he's just much more limited offensively than Napier, Kemba, Gordon, ect. A team where he is the #1 offensive option isn't going to be that good. Lot of time for someone to emerge, but someone needs to.

Boat def belongs with the group. All the other guys had much more talent around them... There is a reason why Calhoun, purvis and cassell were left that wide open on their threes.

Every team Uconn has played have had all 5 defenders primarily focused on boatright. He also plays better defense then all the other guys in that group, he has to for this team and that can be draining

 

[aceboon]

It was a non-answer. He didn't say he was 100% or even 70%, just that he was as good as he's been since the injury.

He looked pretty good against Cincy when he was leaving their guards and their bigs in the dust to beat them for baseline and in the paint layups, he looked as good in that game as he did in the early season. Now after 2 no shows its the injury, *shrugs* after the free throws and this I'm putting the passes in storage.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Boat def belongs with the group. All the other guys had much more talent around them... There is a reason why Calhoun, purvis and cassell were left that wide open on their threes.

Every team Uconn has played have had all 5 defenders primarily focused on boatright. He also plays better defense then all the other guys in that group, he has to for this team and that can be draining

agreed 100%... and on top of that I dont know if if I've seen teams attack a player both physically and verbally than this year with boat... the kid gets assaulted every game and still goes out there and competes... the one thing I've noticed since his injury (or just this season as a whole) is that his mid range jumper is non existent... thats what made him so dangerous over the years was his mid range game, he still attacks the basket extremely hard and doesnt get the calls... but without another player that can create their own shot it's going to be very hard for boat... that being said I am so impressed at the way he handles the pressure when the team gets frustrated and down, you can see him on the court telling the kids to calm down and then talking to them

 

[lange10]

He looked pretty good against Cincy when he was leaving their guard and their bigs in the dust to beat them for baseline layups, he looked as good in that game as he did in the early season. Now after 2 no shows its the injury, *shrugs* after the free throws and this I'm putting the passes in storage.

You can see him limping when he walks on/off the court. You're really gonna bash boatright...?

 

[gtcam]

this kid is getting beat up every time he drives to the hoop and/or he dribbles towards the lane. he is abused more than any UConn player in recent history.
the sad part is that even though I feel he has earned it, boat gets absolutely no respect from the refs.

 

[AfgHusky15]

agreed 100%... and on top of that I dont know if if I've seen teams attack a player both physically and verbally than this year with boat... the kid gets assaulted every game and still goes out there and competes... the one thing I've noticed since his injury (or just this season as a whole) is that his mid range jumper is non existent... thats what made him so dangerous over the years was his mid range game, he still attacks the basket extremely hard and doesnt get the calls... but without another player that can create their own shot it's going to be very hard for boat... that being said I am so impressed at the way he handles the pressure when the team gets frustrated and down, you can see him on the court telling the kids to calm down and then talking to them

He is most dangerous attacking the rim, but he is just not getting many calls this year and he gets banged up quite a bit so I think it's leading him to rely on his mid range game more... But his bread and butter is his driving ability because no one in college basketball can stay in front of him.

I really think he just needs to shoot more. He sometimes tends to let miss shots affect his decision making. What bazz did so well last year was even if bazz air balled a three you knew the next time down the court he was going to pull up for a shot. Bazz never let his last shot affect his next.

Thoughts on him shooting more?

 

[Palatine]

It looks like the job is too big for Boatright. He just isn't making the players around him better. He doesn't seem to find the hot hand. When he needs to pick the team up, he hasn't been able to do it. When he needs to nail down a game, he misses fouls shots. Sometimes, he makes the situation worse with bad TOs.

He is a gifted player. But we may be asking too much of him.

 

[UConnSwag11]

He is most dangerous attacking the rim, but he is just not getting many calls this year and he gets banged up quite a bit so I think it's leading him to rely on his mid range game more... But his bread and butter is his driving ability because no one in college basketball can stay in front of him.

I really think he just needs to shoot more. He sometimes tends to let miss shots affect his decision making. What bazz did so well last year was even if bazz air balled a three you knew the next time down the court he was going to pull up for a shot. Bazz never let his last shot affect his next.

Thoughts on him shooting more?

more and more shots, i dont care if he puts up kobe numbers if they're good looks and he has a mismatch just shoot... with omar playing the way he is and hopefully purvis and hamilton can play better when the defense continues to surround boat they'll be open and better knock down those shots

 

[Gurleyman]

It looks like the job is too big for Boatright. He just isn't making the players around him better.

That isn't really fair. Pretty much every single wide open shot we missed in the second half was set up by Boat. And despite all those misses, he still had seven assists.

He's doing what he can to facilitate while his own offensive game is leaking like a sieve (his midrange shots are way, way off - some badly so). He needs to get his scoring back (as does DHam), since we have seen progress from Purvis and Calhoun.

 

[champs99and04]

He looked pretty good against Cincy when he was leaving their guards and their bigs in the dust to beat them for baseline and in the paint layups, he looked as good in that game as he did in the early season. Now after 2 no shows its the injury, *shrugs* after the free throws and this I'm putting the passes in storage.

Yeah. I'm not advocating that anybody be slamming Boat, but somehow Boat is now beyond criticism on here while the freshman and sophomores get repeatedly railed on after every loss. Obviously Boat is a great player and one of my favorite Huskies ever, but we do need him at some point to actually play well in these tough road games.

 

[tennmike]

Yeah. I'm not advocating that anybody be slamming Boat, but somehow Boat is now beyond criticism on here while the freshman and sophomores get repeatedly railed on after every loss. Obviously Boat is a great player and one of my favorite Huskies ever, but we do need him at some point to actually play well in these tough road games.

The only problem with boat is that he doesn't have Daniels or Giffey to count on for shots and rebounds. If Shabazz were in boats shoes, he would be losing his mind. We may have a couple more wins because he rarely missed important free throws, but the opposition is ganging up on Boat and we have no viable options. Boat is playing most of the game one on two or three. He's good, but c'mon. He has to be thinking "Who the hell am I suppose to pass to"?
Nolan sets screens and flashes to the bucket wide open, but we know how that ends.
Purvis is horrible at weak side rebounding...as is TSam, etc...

 

[Palatine]

You rarely see those little huddles on the floor. Players only before a foul shot. Or see Boat getting in someone's face. Some guys are vocal leaders, others lead by example. Some guys are a better Robin.

 

[BoatShow]

Hopefully we can get this kid some rest vs USF and UCF.

 

[mauconnfan]

Boat's been better than expected for most of the year. He was great until the injury and had a couple tough outings but I think he looked healthy last night but played out of his realm. He got into too many "I'm better than you" matches, went one-on-one and forgot the team concept. He also has missed way to many key FT's this year and he's just is a notch below the "it factor" which Bazz and Kemba had as far as I'm concerned. Not because of last night or any other games, he's just not quite that type of player. He's been great but last night was a step back, even one time driving out of control only to jump up on the low block with nothing there and throwing a pass out while turning to the corner for Purvis who had since moved thinking he was going to shoot it, and yet Ryan bitched Rodney out? Kidding me right Boat? You're the leader, keep it together please.

 

[60'sfan]

I feel bad for him was hoping he could lead this team to big things and rise his draft stock like Shabazz. Too bad their isn't Giffey or Daniels to bail him out

Or Kromah or a superb back court mate like himself. We need to realize that this team that Boat is leading is much younger and dramatically less experienced. Teams are focusing their best defenders on Boat and at times double teaming him. Did anyone notice that Stanford started three seniors?

 

[ChrisSmith]

I feel bad for him was hoping he could lead this team to big things and rise his draft stock like Shabazz. Too bad their isn't Giffey or Daniels to bail him out

Wait, I thought if kids come back for another year of school they can only improve their draft stock?

 

[RipCity]

I love Boat don't get me wrong.

But I think as a leader you have to focus on distributing and ball movement more when your putting up 3-12 games consecutively. I know he obviously feels a lot of pressure to carry the load, but our ball movement in the half court is lacking, and it would create more looks for Calhoun/Purvis or give way to entry passes to Facey/Brimah for higher percentage shots.

Hamilton is a whole different story. How inefficient can you be? Hard to get mad at the frosh, but he's got to cut those running pull ups from mid range. He shoots like 4 a game and is lucky to make 1. If he played under control we'd save ourselves some possessions and find better shots.