borges: Calhoun Not Impressed With UConn's Win

[husky99]

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/search/label/Niels Giffey

 

[Kitaman]

Thanks 99, its all about 1st game jitters. Just ask dook and UCLA. Lot of new pieces/rotation on our team.

 

[husky99]

Thanks 99, its all about 1st game jitters. Just ask dook and UCLA. Lot of new pieces/rotation on our team.

very true....

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I was at the game and Calhoun was being even more demonstrative than normal...and I loved it!

Alex was getting it the worse, and Drummond to a lesser extent as well.

I think Calhoun realizes our OOC schedule is weak and has to make sure he's on these guys to not let them just coast by the early season low to mid majors.

 

[Prezidint]

Ok. I'll admit up front that I'm a bit of a worry wart.
I trust in JC. I had my moments of doubt back in the Stan/Dyson disaster year, but within a few weeks of last season beginning, the doubts were gone - I was watching UConn basketball again.

I'll admit up front - I'm probably reading waaay too much into the words I just read. But these things concern me:

Oriakhi not being at the post game press conference. We need this guy in a good state of mind.

JC making the statement that "Niels says his ankle is sore." I'd much prefer JC to have said, "Niel's ankle is sore." The "he says" part almost seems as if JC's implying - "he should be playing."

AD - really bad start to his DI career, mentally. He says that he thinks not starting "is really throwing him off"? Man, I know he must be feeling all kinds of pressure, but that's a worrisome note. Is JC sending a message? Get more involved or you'll be a sub? Has the #1 or #2 recruit in the nation ever NOT started his first game? Breaking down to build up usually works, but I wonder if there is enough time with this young man.

Shabazz - saying to AD - "don't let coach drill your mistakes into your head." Man, I hate that wording.

Many have pontificated that the lack of a 2nd ball handler caused the implosion of the 06 team. I don't know. I always thought it was a lack of buying in. For whatever reason, that team did not buy into the JC method of accruing championships. I often wonder if the abundance of talent was the heart of it. That, with so much talent, the expectations were through the roof and that caused too much pressure from all angles, the result being a spreading apathy.

I'll be substantially more comfortable when we get our first blowout win with almost everybody playing fairly well.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

JC will be JC at the beginning of the year, pushing the kids to toughen up and making sure they are listening to him. I don't especially like the way he is challenging Giffey to buck-up and play if injured. That can lead to season long problems. Hopefully he has good medical advice.

I hope that Alex can focus on getting good position on defense and rebounding so he stops getting early fouls (same with AD). I think that the fouls have made it hard for them to find their rhythm and get enough consecutive minutes to be productive. I hope to see us running plays to get them both going at the beginning of games.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Shabazz hardly let Alex or AD touch the ball. Not sure what they could do. This team needs to pound the ball inside early and often then let Lamb and Napier clean up outside. I'd like to see them pressing and running.

 

[Donyell]

Hard to press without the bodies.

 

[huskyhal]

Ok. I'll admit up front that I'm a bit of a worry wart.
I trust in JC. I had my moments of doubt back in the Stan/Dyson disaster year, but within a few weeks of last season beginning, the doubts were gone - I was watching UConn basketball again.

I'll admit up front - I'm probably reading waaay too much into the words I just read. But these things concern me:

Oriakhi not being at the post game press conference. We need this guy in a good state of mind.

JC making the statement that "Niels says his ankle is sore." I'd much prefer JC to have said, "Niel's ankle is sore." The "he says" part almost seems as if JC's implying - "he should be playing."

AD - really bad start to his DI career, mentally. He says that he thinks not starting "is really throwing him off"? Man, I know he must be feeling all kinds of pressure, but that's a worrisome note. Is JC sending a message? Get more involved or you'll be a sub? Has the #1 or #2 recruit in the nation ever NOT started his first game? Breaking down to build up usually works, but I wonder if there is enough time with this young man.

Shabazz - saying to AD - "don't let coach drill your mistakes into your head." Man, I hate that wording.

Many have pontificated that the lack of a 2nd ball handler caused the implosion of the 06 team. I don't know. I always thought it was a lack of buying in. For whatever reason, that team did not buy into the JC method of accruing championships. I often wonder if the abundance of talent was the heart of it. That, with so much talent, the expectations were through the roof and that caused too much pressure from all angles, the result being a spreading apathy.

I'll be substantially more comfortable when we get our first blowout win with almost everybody playing fairly well.

You're right: you are a bit of a worrywart. JC has always used these cupcake games to send messages to his players ... directly, via his substitutions, quick trigger, and in-game tirades; and indirectly, via his quotes to the media. The comment about Giffey is just his way of making sure Nils doesn't get too comfortable on the exercise bike, and let's him know that he's needed. As for AD's comment, coming off the bench is a much different dynamic than starting, and it's doubtful he's had to come off the bench very often, so it's not unreasonable for him to struggle with it. The best way for him to deal with coming off the bench is to play so well that he doesn't have to anymore. Shabazz is not the first veteran player to tell a freshman to not let JC get to him ... very often, early in the season, it's an 'us versus him' dynamic. I'm glad to see Bazz taking that kind of a leadership role, and I suspect JC is glad too. Kemba spent a lot of time last year reassuring the freshmen that JC had their best interest at heart. The only worry I share with you is about Alex. He's a leader on this team, and if he's an unhappy one, that could be a concern, whether his unhappiness is with his play, or with JC's use of him. He needs to get some dominating games under his belt, so he can feel good about himself.

 

[TheChamps990411]

No worries. this is the first game of the season without the glue that held last years team together, the addition of a few new pieces who were playing their first d1 game, a few players out with injury and off court issues and a team that has players playing lead roles who were secondary players last year.

what i liked:
TO was terrific! i liked him last year and this year hes going to be big for us whether hes starting or coming off the bench he will be productive.
SN looked alot better than i thought he`d look and he shot the ball with confidence. he took a few ill advised shots and his passing needs improvement but overall i was happy with how he played.
RS is RS defense and rebounding although he didnt seem as sharp on defense like he did last season i expect him to pick it up.
JL if he continues to play like that he will be the best player in the country.
AO extremely disappointed in his play. i think hes disappointed in himself and thats why he didnt show for the post game. expect him to come up big against wagner.
DD loved his hustle,defense and ball handling although he made some poor decisions over penetrating and dribbling in traffic against smaller defenders. i also notice his shot takes a long time to release he needs to fix that.
AD disappointed but not concerned. JC knows how to deal with these kids and i fully expect AD to respond and get better and better.
i forgot the walkons name who backed up SN at the point. he looked really lost but you could see hes gifted physically. i think in time he could be a much better more reliable version of DB for this team. i like the kid.

This was just the first game of the season and there were some bad things out there which if this were game 10 and not game 1 id be a little concerned but this team needs time its young and super talented. the biggest positive i got from this game is JL looks like he can take and make the big shots that we`re going to need in crunch time.

 

[RS9999X]

JC making the statement that "Niels says his ankle is sore." I'd much prefer JC to have said, "Niel's ankle is sore." The "he says" part almost seems as if JC's implying - "he should be playing."
.

I expected him to quote Parcells in the next sentence and say ''She's making progress"

 

[RS9999X]

That contraption on Drummond--they aren't comfortable at all.

 

[aceboon]

Shabazz hardly let Alex or AD touch the ball. Not sure what they could do. This team needs to pound the ball inside early and often then let Lamb and Napier clean up outside. I'd like to see them pressing and running.

they didn't get the ball because they didn't establish position. This team won't be running and pressing with basically 2 guards right now.

 

[UconnU]

I would be more surprised if he said he was impressed

 

[boog204]

It is a legit concern if Boat is out for an extended period of time or he cannot handle the backup point job. The 06 team did suffer in many ways from having just one guy who could create a shot for someone or handle the ball. Rashad, Denham, and Rudy (at that time) were not great triple threat guys. Rashad was a shooter pure and simple and Rudy and Denham were wildly inconsistent w/ their handle/passing. I think this team is better/different because you have a number of guys who can pass/handle a bit. Even Olander is probably at worst an equal passer to what Rashad, Rudy, Hilton, Josh were at the same point.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

It is a legit concern if Boat is out for an extended period of time or he cannot handle the backup point job. The 06 team did suffer in many ways from having just one guy who could create a shot for someone or handle the ball. Rashad, Denham, and Rudy (at that time) were not great triple threat guys. Rashad was a shooter pure and simple and Rudy and Denham were wildly inconsistent w/ their handle/passing. I think this team is better/different because you have a number of guys who can pass/handle a bit. Even Olander is probably at worst an equal passer to what Rashad, Rudy, Hilton, Josh were at the same point.

I think it's safe to say that Olander is a better passer than those guys were while at UConn (IMHO).

 

[slumdog]

Ok. I'll admit up front that I'm a bit of a worry wart.
I trust in JC. I had my moments of doubt back in the Stan/Dyson disaster year, but within a few weeks of last season beginning, the doubts were gone - I was watching UConn basketball again.

I'll admit up front - I'm probably reading waaay too much into the words I just read. But these things concern me:

Oriakhi not being at the post game press conference. We need this guy in a good state of mind.

JC making the statement that "Niels says his ankle is sore." I'd much prefer JC to have said, "Niel's ankle is sore." The "he says" part almost seems as if JC's implying - "he should be playing."

AD - really bad start to his DI career, mentally. He says that he thinks not starting "is really throwing him off"? Man, I know he must be feeling all kinds of pressure, but that's a worrisome note. Is JC sending a message? Get more involved or you'll be a sub? Has the #1 or #2 recruit in the nation ever NOT started his first game? Breaking down to build up usually works, but I wonder if there is enough time with this young man.

Shabazz - saying to AD - "don't let coach drill your mistakes into your head." Man, I hate that wording.

Many have pontificated that the lack of a 2nd ball handler caused the implosion of the 06 team. I don't know. I always thought it was a lack of buying in. For whatever reason, that team did not buy into the JC method of accruing championships. I often wonder if the abundance of talent was the heart of it. That, with so much talent, the expectations were through the roof and that caused too much pressure from all angles, the result being a spreading apathy.

I'll be substantially more comfortable when we get our first blowout win with almost everybody playing fairly well.

Too much talent? Poppycock. There are about three laws of success in college hoops. Chemistry, leadership, and coaching. Even with average D1 players, UConn would produce results with those three fundamental elements in place. Only time will tell what happens with this team. I don't care if JL is the next coming of Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, and Micheal Jordan rolled into one, and AD is the next "Wilt." Without the rest, things would end badly.

 

[babysheep]

I will not soon forget, when Allen made that stupefyingly dumb pass right into the hands of a Columbia player directly in front of him, Calhoun stamping his feet on the wood so hard, you could hear it in the student section as we were yelling and jumping as the team was coming back on defense.

 

[babysheep]

Wait... so a sports writer in CT claims to not understand why we hate Puke?