Can UConn develop same offense as Providence or Xavier?

[Conndog]

I wonder about this- we are supposed to be so deep and have such skilled players, but Xavier and Providence took us to the woodshed and just looked better, especially on offense. Can we develop the same game strategies? Is it a matter of the kind of athletes they have versus our predominantly outside shooting squad? How were they able to neutralize our firepower? Will other teams try the same strategy to beat us, and what will we do to overcome that game plan? When Plan A isn't working for us, what is Plan B? Shouldn't we have one?

 

[FLDawg16]

I mean shots falling and not getting called for defensive fouls will make you look better than you are 10/10 times. We're not always going to shoot whatever our awful percentage was against Providence

 

[August_West]

I mean shots falling and not getting called for defensive fouls will make you look better than you are 10/10 times. We're not always going to shoot whatever our awful percentage was against Providence

^ This.

People were talking about what a well oiled machine our offense was, we were assisting like 80+% of baskets and we were a juggernaut.

The difference? We made shots. That is who we are this year, Hurley wanted 4 out with shooters surrounding Sanogo. That is our design. if we make shots we look great, if we are all cold, we look pretty pedestrian. We are not going to turn into a driving team overnight (mid season). And quite frankly we don't have the guards to do it with. This is by Hurleys design. For the first couple months of season it looked like genius. Now not so much. We have to make shots.



Joey C has regressed to the mean after his sensational start. We need him hitting.
Newton is in a funk.
Hawkins whose high volume average was at 41.5% (Very good) has now dropped to 36% He HAS to be a 40 plus shooter for us.

Karaban is solid at 38%

 

[storrsroars]

We shouldn't have to develop "same" offense as those two. We have different personnel. But we also can't be as predictable with how we score, particularly regarding Sanogo.

When this team looked invincible, there was furious ball movement like watching a 3-card monte dealer, coupled with stifling defense. For the most part, the last two games have not had that same intensity (mismatch of AK on defense aside), coupled with cold shooting. More Clingan is one solution. More Newton offense is another. Hawk can take and hit a 10-footer whenever he wants. And back door cuts to HD and AJax are there for Sanogo to pass to. It's curable.

 

[gtcam]

UConn doesn't have to mirror any other team but it does need to change things up as far as rotations and playing time allocations. Nobody on the team should be owed anything and the staff should not be afraid to sit someone down who is not producing, being disruptive or not playing up to standards. They recruited them so play them. Being too predictable is very bad in basketball.

 

[CTBasketball]

We shouldn't have to develop "same" offense as those two. We have different personnel. But we also can't be as predictable with how we score, particularly regarding Sanogo.

When this team looked invincible, there was furious ball movement like watching a 3-card monte dealer, coupled with stifling defense. For the most part, the last two games have not had that same intensity (mismatch of AK on defense aside), coupled with cold shooting. More Clingan is one solution. More Newton offense is another. Hawk can take and hit a 10-footer whenever he wants. And back door cuts to DC and AJax are there for Sanogo to pass to. It's curable.

I’d still like to see a few new offensive sets set up for Hawkins. Maybe like a double screen for him to get a baseline 15 footer. Metrics might suggest that’s not the best shot tho.

 

[REB1094]

Probably not.

Xavier: we don’t have a Boum, Nunge, or Colby. Our closest things would be Newton (not as good as Boum), Clingan (should be better than Nunge in 2 years), and no comp to Colby Jones.

Providence: we don’t have a Hopkins or Carter. No comp to Hopkins, and our closest to Carter would also be Newton (not as good)

Xavier and Providence don’t have an Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, or Andre Jackson. The offenses are different because the personnel are very different. I think what you’re looking for is the ability to make quick in-game adjustments to make the most of the lineups you have. In that regard, yes we have a lot of room for improvement

 

[storrsroars]

I’d still like to see a few new offensive sets set up for Hawkins. Maybe like a double screen for him to get a baseline 15 footer. Metrics might suggest that’s not the best shot tho.

I don't have stats handy on Hawk's midange jumper %, but I also don't recall him missing. Metrics would prove you right in the aggregate, but if a specific player can hit that shot regularly, why not take it?

(also edited original post, meant HD instead of DC)

 

[ToolzieFan]

I don't have stats handy on Hawk's midange jumper %, but I also don't recall him missing. Metrics would prove you right in the aggregate, but if a specific player can hit that shot regularly, why not take it?

(also edited original post, meant HD instead of DC)

Hawkins midrange shooting percentage is not good. He’s 2-14 on two-pointers outside the paint. It would be nice if he could create a little bit more. I don’t think the midrange game is the answer.

CBB Analytics - College Basketball Analytics, Stats & Metrics, & Research

cbbanalytics.com

 

[storrsroars]

Thanks for that. Guess I have selective memory. Also thought he took many more shots in that 20% area, but some could've been in the key. Appears he only averages 1 mid-range per game, which to me seems very light vs my memory.

Looking at that graph, seems teams should almost just treat Hawk like AJax and let him shoot 3s at will when he's left side of hoop.

 

[TheChamps990411]

^ This.

People were talking about what a well oiled machine our offense was, we were assisting like 80+% of baskets and we were a juggernaut.

The difference? We made shots. That is who we are this year, Hurley wanted 4 out with shooters surrounding Sanogo. That is our design. if we make shots we look great, if we are all cold, we look pretty pedestrian. We are not going to turn into a driving team overnight (mid season). And quite frankly we don't have the guards to do it with. This is by Hurleys design. For the first couple months of season it looked like genius. Now not so much. We have to make shots.



Joey C has regressed to the mean after his sensational start. We need him hitting.
Newton is in a funk.
Hawkins whose high volume average was at 41.5% (Very good) has now dropped to 36% He HAS to be a 40 plus shooter for us.

Karaban is solid at 38%

Joe C is fine. Hes had a couple of spotty games but he`ll bounce back. The absolute key to this team is Newton and Hawkins. Newton needs to get his crap together because hes been flat out awful over the last 6 or 7 games. Hawkins needs to step up and be the player so many have talked about and we`ve seen flashes of and do so for an entire game not one half on and next half the invisible man.
If Newton can go back to driving more like he was doing early on and making better decisions he`ll be fine. Those are two things he is in full control of and can instantly improve. Hawkins needs to play like hes option #1 and look to score everytime he has the ball. Defender sagging off? shoot! Defender tight? Drive and attack. Dont stop moving and look for screens nonstop.
Also Sanogo has to be better. Hes had his lunch taken two games in a row now by the opposing big. He is supposed to be the best player in the conference and that should not be happening. He needs to defend and rebound better. He needs to stop with dumb fouls 20 feet from the basket. He needs to stop trying to go 1v3 and look for the pass. These two losses are on him as much as anybody and if he doesnt get his act together this team could be looking at 4 consecutive losses pretty quickly.

 

[tennmike]

^ This.

People were talking about what a well oiled machine our offense was, we were assisting like 80+% of baskets and we were a juggernaut.

The difference? We made shots. That is who we are this year, Hurley wanted 4 out with shooters surrounding Sanogo. That is our design. if we make shots we look great, if we are all cold, we look pretty pedestrian. We are not going to turn into a driving team overnight (mid season). And quite frankly we don't have the guards to do it with. This is by Hurleys design. For the first couple months of season it looked like genius. Now not so much. We have to make shots.



Joey C has regressed to the mean after his sensational start. We need him hitting.
Newton is in a funk.
Hawkins whose high volume average was at 41.5% (Very good) has now dropped to 36% He HAS to be a 40 plus shooter for us.

Karaban is solid at 38%

In conference, we're not good enough to overcome a 20 shot free throw discrepancy and expect to win. If the root of the problem are several factors, they need to be addressed.
Providence capitalized on some timely shots and fortuitous bounces.

 

[kansashusky]

My biggest Hurley gripe is we are robots on offense and not basketball players. We run too many sets and don’t read defenses. We become predictable.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

^ This.

People were talking about what a well oiled machine our offense was, we were assisting like 80+% of baskets and we were a juggernaut.

The difference? We made shots. That is who we are this year, Hurley wanted 4 out with shooters surrounding Sanogo. That is our design. if we make shots we look great, if we are all cold, we look pretty pedestrian. We are not going to turn into a driving team overnight (mid season). And quite frankly we don't have the guards to do it with. This is by Hurleys design. For the first couple months of season it looked like genius. Now not so much. We have to make shots.



Joey C has regressed to the mean after his sensational start. We need him hitting.
Newton is in a funk.
Hawkins whose high volume average was at 41.5% (Very good) has now dropped to 36% He HAS to be a 40 plus shooter for us.

Karaban is solid at 38%

Hawkins needs to shoot more of his his shots in the red zones of this shot chart

 

[bendm]

 

[Conndog]

Good thoughts. I also want any player that does get past their defender, or at least gets an advantage, will seek contact to get to the foul line. Chances are, the shot will go in as well and then they'll get the old-fashioned 3 point play. That's one way that both Providence and Xavier created their free throw disparity.

It was amazing too how open the lane was at times these last two games, which allowed the opponents to drive one-on-one against UConn. Why not use some kind of zone more to provide more help defense?

 

[TheChamps990411]

Something we`ve been saying for two years around here? smdh

 

[McLovin]

My biggest Hurley gripe is we are robots on offense and not basketball players. We run too many sets and don’t read defenses. We become predictable.

Agree 100% and will take it a step further…

We have been so robotic the past few games, we seem to be over thinking everything rather than just going out and playing ball. Too much hesitation, too much second guessing, too much forcing “what should be”.

Really want to see them just go out and have fun playing together, like they did the first 12 games of the year.