BRIMAH SAT while coach fiddled

[raf46]

The game against SMU slipped away while Brimah sat next to Coach Ollie. All season, and tonight, coach has nosense of the game getting away. Brimah commited NO FOULS in the second half. He needs to play through, not sit while a game gets away. Coach C, could do that, coach O can not.

 

[buddy]

The game against SMU slipped away while Brimah sat next to Coach Ollie. All season, and tonight, coach has nosense of the game getting away. Brimah commited NO FOULS in the second half. He needs to play through, not sit while a game gets away. Coach C, could do that, coach O can not.

They made a comeback. If a few ill advised shots were not taken, it would have been a nailbiter. If he didn't sit him, he would have fouled out earlier and the late game comeback would not have even happened. KO used his guys to the best of their ability. For the first time, I was able to see his frustration with this team, as I believe that he thought that they would pull it out. It was not meant to be today.

 

[nomar]

The game against SMU slipped away while Brimah sat next to Coach Ollie. All season, and tonight, coach has nosense of the game getting away. Brimah commited NO FOULS in the second half. He needs to play through, not sit while a game gets away. Coach C, could do that, coach O can not.

Yeah, I remember all the times JC played guys with 2 fouls in the first half

 

[CTBasketball]

Wow. If you realize anything, its that Brimah cannot rebound the ball to save his life. The one thing we needed more in the 2nd half was rebounds. KO, instead of relying on Brimah down low, upped the intensity on the perimeter and pressed some.

And hey, we cut a 17pt deficit to 5. So yeah, KO did a good job in the 2nd half at times.


Plus playing guys with 2 fouls in the 1st half is sacrilege. If you do play them, 90% of the time it hurts you.

 

[SaeHusky]

i hate the 2 foul rule

 

[mauconnfan]

i hate the 2 foul rule

So does Duke and Coach K

 

[Dove]

There was a classic overhead angle showing SMU guys getting multiple rebounds by jumping up and over Amida and Phil who each remained flat footed looking up at the action.

These guys need serious schooling.

 

[ASweet3781]

There was a classic overhead angle showing SMU guys getting multiple rebounds by jumping up and over Amida and Phil who each remained flat footed looking up at the action.

These guys need serious schooling.

The program needs a Jeff Adrien type post player pretty damn bad.

 

[Huskies2324]

The game slipped away when we got called for fouls on three strait possessions and bailed out SMU with 5 seconds or less on the shot clock. If we just could have forced a tough shot and maybe get a miss and a rebound instead of giving them cake free throws maybe we get a different result. Brimah with his 2 points and 2 rebounds were clearly not a key success factor for us today

 

[pnow15]

When are you guys going to get this in your heads. The refs were not going to let Boat or anyone else on UConn make a play that would lead to a UConn win. Offensive end; defensive end. It didn't matter. From the first two off the ball fouls on Brimah to the Boat steal at the end, the refs were in total control of this game.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

When are you guys going to get this in your heads. The refs were not going to let Boat or anyone else on UConn make a play that would lead to a UConn win. Offensive end; defensive end. It didn't matter. From the first two off the ball fouls on Brimah to the Boat steal at the end, the refs were in total control of this game.

The refs are bad for each team. They DON'T have a vendetta for us.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Brimah with his 2 points and 2 rebounds were clearly not a key success factor for us today

He changed the game defensively. I'm seriously at a loss here with how far apart I feel from most of the board on Brimah's second half performance.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He changed the game defensively. I'm seriously at a loss here with how far apart I feel from most of the board on Brimah's second half performance.

Maybe that shows you he didn't have the type of game you think he did.

 

[Gurleyman]

Maybe that shows you he didn't have the type of game you think he did.

He had 6 blocks in the second half and SMU shot 6-25. So, for an entire half, as many SMU shots hit Brimah's hand as went in the basket. Don't see that every day.

He's part of the reason we had a chance.

 

[tcf15]

He changed the game defensively. I'm seriously at a loss here with how far apart I feel from most of the board on Brimah's second half performance.

I think when you're on the same page as Larry Brown in terms of game analysis, you're on the right side of the argument.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He had 6 blocks in the second half and SMU shot 6-25. So, for an entire half, as many SMU shots hit Brimah's hand as went in the basket. Don't see that every day.

He's part of the reason we had a chance.

No i know he had all the blocks and did alter a lot of shots, but going after every single block did lead to some offensive rebounds. Now they didn't always convert on them but they got 35 more seconds which takes half a minute of precious time off the clock. Not saying he didn't change the game, but he wasn't the second best player on the floor in the second half as Okafor alluded to.

 

[OkaForPrez]

No i know he had all the blocks and did alter a lot of shots, but going after every single block did lead to some offensive rebounds. Now they didn't always convert on them but they got 35 more seconds which takes half a minute of precious time off the clock. Not saying he didn't change the game, but he wasn't the second best player on the floor in the second half as Okafor alluded to.

Complaining about the bi-product of a few offensive rebounds in a string of empty trips for SMU and early break offense for us is like complaining about having to pay taxes on the new car you just won. "Yes I acknowledge its a wonderful BMW for free but look at these taxes!"

Whatever we lost on the defensive glass we gained 10 fold in all other aspects of the game. And yes, I maintain that as important as Purvis was on the offensive side of the ball Brimah was every inch as important on the defensive side in the 2nd half.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Brimah changed the game in the second half no question. What changed was purvis and hamilton, even Samuel, took their man to the basket or in the lane almost every time. (I'm still fuming over the calls on boat, the lack of respect he got all year is criminal).We had the game, had the momentum and then purvis committed two stupid fouls which reset the shot clock( which I hate). That pretty much iced it

 

[Deadrody]

The game against SMU slipped away while Brimah sat next to Coach Ollie. All season, and tonight, coach has nosense of the game getting away. Brimah commited NO FOULS in the second half. He needs to play through, not sit while a game gets away. Coach C, could do that, coach O can not.

Did you watch the game ? I don't know if fatigue was a factor, but Brimah - who seems quite capable of jumping to block shots - was a complete non-factor against the interior players for SMU, effectively not even getting off the floor on a single rebound. Sometimes the ball would just fall to him, sometimes hititng him square in the head, and even THEN, it was 50-50 whether he would get the rebound or not.

Suffice to say, the idea that Brimah sitting on the bench is or was crucial to the outcome of that game is hysterical, to say the least.

 

[Deadrody]

He had 6 blocks in the second half and SMU shot 6-25. So, for an entire half, as many SMU shots hit Brimah's hand as went in the basket. Don't see that every day.

He's part of the reason we had a chance.

Yes, that's nice. But there is more to the game of basketball than blocking shots. He also had at least one goaltending call and went for blocks on shots he had no chance to get to, leaving the lane void of rebounders (if you can actually qualify Brimah AS a rebounder).

 

[mauconnfan]

We can't deny the few times he actually changes the game defensively, he does. The problem is as UConn fans is that all we accept? A half here and a half there? His inability to never know where to be either on defense (when not blocking shots or the choice there of) or in position to get a rebound of impact (please? St Joes was 30 games ago) is a killer. Knowing his foul situation is huge and he can't EVER find a way to stay in a big game vs a good team? That pattern is not only frustrating but very very scary for the future.

Man I get the support, but he his improvement is being stunted by his ability to retain any detail of importance. You need to look no further than Kevin Ollie and the staff when he makes the same ole mistake. This may never change by that way, it may be there for good.

 

[OkaForPrez]

@mauconnfan we're going to butt heads on this for a good while so know that all of my arguments are coming from a place of total respect. Brimah IS showing improvement in his ability to avoid foul trouble. When he first started playing as a freshman he was leaving his feet for any pump fake defending directly on the ball. This is something he's largely got under control. His next big issue was swiping down with his arms and roofing offensive players, he's started to take that out. He's made some exceptional plays going up straight with two hands. One of the last lessons for Amida is dealing with off-ball nonsense of guys trying to goat him into fouls. His first one yesterday was Moeirera interlocking arms with him on the block and then diving away. It was pure schoolyard bs, intended to get Amida into foul trouble (because he's so damn important, defensive glass woes and all). And this is part of the problem, the more Amida has improved to avoid foul trouble, the more teams are working harder at putting him in positions to foul. He is going to break through this next year and when the lightbulb comes on, look out.

 

[mauconnfan]

@mauconnfan we're going to butt heads on this for a good while so know that all of my arguments are coming from a place of total respect. Brimah IS showing improvement in his ability to avoid foul trouble. When he first started playing as a freshman he was leaving his feet for any pump fake defending directly on the ball. This is something he's largely got under control. His next big issue was swiping down with his arms and roofing offensive players, he's started to take that out. He's made some exceptional plays going up straight with two hands. One of the last lessons for Amida is dealing with off-ball nonsense of guys trying to goat him into fouls. His first one yesterday was Moeirera interlocking arms with him on the block and then diving away. It was pure schoolyard bs, intended to get Amida into foul trouble (because he's so damn important, defensive glass woes and all). And this is part of the problem, the more Amida has improved to avoid foul trouble, the more teams are working harder at putting him in positions to foul. He is going to break through this next year and when the lightbulb comes on, look out.

Same here on the respect so no biggie at all we're just not close on this one. I like the kid but I saw very little improvement in so many areas it makes me nervous. He can get better at not fouling all he wants, but 31 minutes the other night and one rebound doesn't even make that a good thing does it? He can stronger all he wants and maybe it will add a basket or 2 on offense but won't make him smarter or a better passer which he is dreadful at. As Gurley said he had 6 blocks the other night, the other team went 6-25 so he made an impact. How may of those 19 misses did he rebound or even get a finger on? He's had numerous offensive rebounds come at him only for him to either not respond or just lose to a more ready player. We can go on and on but I will be totally honest at this point having seen 70 plus games, I'm not sold. He is nowhere near NBA material so that bodes well for us keeping him here I guess. But again, he needs to be a ton better and because of his inability to retain on the intricacies of the game, I am not sure he will ever much more than a solid shot blocking guy.

 

[SubbaBub]

There was a classic overhead angle showing SMU guys getting multiple rebounds by jumping up and over Amida and Phil who each remained flat footed looking up at the action.

These guys need serious schooling.

That was the most painful shot in the entire game. It should be put on an infinite loop in the Champions center. Neither one jumped once in that sequence.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Same here on the respect so no biggie at all we're just not close on this one. I like the kid but I saw very little improvement in so many areas it makes me nervous. He can get better at not fouling all he wants, but 31 minutes the other night and one rebound doesn't even make that a good thing does it? He can stronger all he wants and maybe it will add a basket or 2 on offense but won't make him smarter or a better passer which he is dreadful at. As Gurley said he had 6 blocks the other night, the other team went 6-25 so he made an impact. How may of those 19 misses did he rebound or even get a finger on? He's had numerous offensive rebounds come at him only for him to either not respond or just lose to a more ready player. We can go on and on but I will be totally honest at this point having seen 70 plus games, I'm not sold. He is nowhere near NBA material so that bodes well for us keeping him here I guess. But again, he needs to be a ton better and because of his inability to retain on the intricacies of the game, I am not sure he will ever much more than a solid shot blocking guy.

I don't disagree with the liability of rebounding, I think where we are truly far apart is how much emphasis should be put on that piece next to the importance of taking away an opponents ability to score in the paint and allowing your perimeter defense to press up and take away the 3 point shot. Yes a lot of the time we get exposed on the weak side but a lot of the time we get out on the break after a block. This SMU/UConn chess match this year was about which style of play would win out. Small ball with Hamilton at the 4 or Bully Ball with SMU's huge front 3. Our ability to create dribble drive off the wings was our advantage, their advantage was the ability to get the ball deep inside and then pound the glass, particularly from the 4 when we played small. Some of the rebounding yesterday was just the consequence of the styles of play matching up.

It is looking more like Amida is a 4 year player, and that's a great thing for us. If I was confident that Purvis and Hamilton would both stay for 2 more I would be betting on another NC in 2017.