Can We Stop With The "Lack of Effort" Cliche?

[blackbird]

This team is a poorly constructed basketball team. It has limitations, both physically and mentally, that'll prevent them from being very good. (That's not to say they don't have a run in them, but..)

Here's the truth. For most of the season, we've struggled with: Shooting, Defense, and Rebounding.

Whaley and Carlton have helped tremendously in the defense and rebounding department. But we have no shooters.

People care so much about stats, advanced stats, and overcomplicate the game..If you can't shoot, you can't win.

To make it even worse, our best player is dependent on shooters.

Kemba Walker is one of the best to ever play here. But if Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, and Niels Giffey weren't on the wings, waiting for a three - pulling defenders out - he's not winning a championship. He's probably not even going to the NCAA tournament his last year here.

Anderson is flat out awful, can't shoot, can't dribble, can't drive..and quite frankly, his defense is overrated. And that hurt tonight, but not having Larrier hurt more. Why? He's the shooter that allows Adams to drive and dish. He's the shooter that allows Vital more space on his shot, and allows space to drive. He's not a great shooter, but he's something.

We were dead in the water the second he was out. Because we didn't have the basketball abilities - shooting..the most basic aspect of the game - available to us.

But the kids showed effort. They didn't quit. In fact, this team has never quit. The energy is there, the ability isn't.

We, as a base, need to face the facts..this is a very limited team..and if anything goes wrong, it's a crap shoot. That doesn't mean the kids quit, or they aren't showing effort. It's that they really don't have the ability to be much better. Could they have done less stupid crap? Sure. They're still not able to shoot, which means Adams and Vital don't have space to drive. Which means our offense is even more stagnant (and quite frankly, Larrier's one of the players who is always in motion..)

So enough with that comment. This team isn't talented. They're dumb. But they do try.

 

[whaler11]

Sorry about halfway through your post I got distracted by another Memphis dunk on a 3-0.

 

[socal613ws]

THey threw an alley oop down 26? What are we suppose to think after that ?

 

[uconnbill]

It is more lack of talent and playing together. It is like they have no idea what the other one is doing.

 

[ASweet3781]

Who cares if they try or don't try? If as you say they are dumb and not talented it really doesn't matter if they try.

 

[KodiacKemba]

Yeah that 4 on 1 fast break told me all I needed to know about Anderson

 

[ASweet3781]

It is more lack of talent and playing together. It is like they have no idea what the other one is doing.

Yeah that sorta stuff happens when players transfer and we think we can replace them with 5th year grad transfers. Seems to be our current recipe. Roster upheavel so no one group grows and meshes together.

Should continue if Jalen and Terry bail in the off season.

 

[jdb50]

I agree with the effort analysis. We are out of position or make lousy plays leading to jailbreak dunks but the players are trying. The lack of shooters , makes us almost unwatchable unless you are a UCONN fan. Lack of ball handlers, stagnant offense, playing 3 guards and getting killed on the boards, refusing to call timeout, and just in general playing whack a mole. We have very few sure things to count on game in and game out.

 

[Towney007]

I'm not a lack of effort guy, usually ever... Like ever.

This is a team that's cooked. Adams barely moved off the ball. People were making GIFs all over Twitter. I almost felt bad for the kid. Larrier has 'headaches' which is just.... we're getting beaten on 3-0 breaks. One or two instances and 4 jerseys are over half court before one of ours was. It was a lack of effort.

It's also the look of a team really quitting on its coach. They just look helpless. There's no one throwing them a safety ring.

 

[joober jones]

It seems almost like when it was decided Larrier wouldn't play, there was just a collective, "Too late to come up with a new game plan now. Let's get out there and take a pounding."

 

[AdamaNation]

Yes y

This team is a poorly constructed basketball team. It has limitations, both physically and mentally, that'll prevent them from being very good. (That's not to say they don't have a run in them, but..)

Here's the truth. For most of the season, we've struggled with: Shooting, Defense, and Rebounding.

Whaley and Carlton have helped tremendously in the defense and rebounding department. But we have no shooters.

People care so much about stats, advanced stats, and overcomplicate the game..If you can't shoot, you can't win.

To make it even worse, our best player is dependent on shooters.

Kemba Walker is one of the best to ever play here. But if Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, and Niels Giffey weren't on the wings, waiting for a three - pulling defenders out - he's not winning a championship. He's probably not even going to the NCAA tournament his last year here.

Anderson is flat out awful, can't shoot, can't dribble, can't drive..and quite frankly, his defense is overrated. And that hurt tonight, but not having Larrier hurt more. Why? He's the shooter that allows Adams to drive and dish. He's the shooter that allows Vital more space on his shot, and allows space to drive. He's not a great shooter, but he's something.

We were dead in the water the second he was out. Because we didn't have the basketball abilities - shooting..the most basic aspect of the game - available to us.

But the kids showed effort. They didn't quit. In fact, this team has never quit. The energy is there, the ability isn't.

We, as a base, need to face the facts..this is a very limited team..and if anything goes wrong, it's a crap shoot. That doesn't mean the kids quit, or they aren't showing effort. It's that they really don't have the ability to be much better. Could they have done less stupid crap? Sure. They're still not able to shoot, which means Adams and Vital don't have space to drive. Which means our offense is even more stagnant (and quite frankly, Larrier's one of the players who is always in motion..)

So enough with that comment. This team isn't talented. They're dumb. But they do try.

yes yes yes. We hit free throws though.

 

[Matrim55]

Any lack of effort comes from the coaching staff. Lack of effort in recruiting, lack of effort in building a structure on either offense or defense, lack of effort on a day-to-day basis.

He's not a head coach.

 

[rex33]

It starts and ends w Adams. I appreciate what he did last year but he’s given up and his attitude is detrimental to the team. He’s lazy, a showboat (yet he never connects on any of his hotdog passes, the one thing about Shabazz when he did that stuff at least he connected some/most of the time), he’s doesn’t care to play defense, he walks down the court, he can’t shoot. Good luck, god bless, whoever our coach is next year would be better off without him.

 

[Travelman6]

It is not a cliche when it is true.

 

[Ewekon]

If Pat Riley was coaching this team. If somehow he just inherited it, they wouldn't win. The current talent level is bad.

 

[nychuskyfan]

It starts and ends w Adams. I appreciate what he did last year but he’s given up and his attitude is detrimental to the team. He’s lazy, a showboat (yet he never connects on any of his hotdog passes, the one thing about Shabazz when he did that stuff at least he connected some/most of the time), he’s doesn’t care to play defense, he walks down the court, he can’t shoot. Good luck, god bless, whoever our coach is next year would be better off without him.

Congratulations! This is the dumbest post this week, and there’s stiff competition after last night’s performance.

Adams has answered the call time and again - he’s missed a total of 32 minutes in the past 15 games (3 of which went to OT) and is averaging 40 minutes in conference play. Did it ever occur to you that he takes a few plays off a game because he’s exhausted and/or knows we are totally if he gets into foul trouble? Do you recall him hobbling around on a bad ankle last year and not missing a game? But keep ripping him because “never connects on any of his hotdog passes”, as if that’s a real thing.

This post is really not going to age well if he leaves. JA has given us everything he has and our fan base shouldn’t ask for more just because he’s not Shabazz.

 

[blackbird]

If you swapped Adams and Shabazz, you’d likely have the same results..in both teams.

This team is just really poorly constructed. When are people going to get that? It’s not toughness, pride, effort...it’s lack of ability...especially when our second best offensive player is out.

 

[Waquoit]

If you swapped Adams and Shabazz, you’d likely have the same results..in both teams.

You should quit basketball.

 

[blackbird]

You should quit basketball.

You should pay attention to what's going on in this team.

There's a tendency to hero worship on this board. Jim Calhoun teams. (It's always been ugly basketball guys. There have also been pathetic teams). Certain players (Okay, Bazz and Kemba I get, given what they've done..but Boat? Really? )

I think Shabazz deserves mention in the "Greatest Uconn Player of All Time" category. I really do. Because he's the only Uconn player to start on two championships, as an outstanding player and as one of the best players in the country. But he doesn't get that mention if Brimah doesn't get that "and one." And he doesn't get it if Ollie didn't instill confidence in Giffey (who was our second best player by the time the tournament came around. ) Something Calhoun was never able to do.. Shabazz had a lot break his way, and that's how our image is of him. Kemba? Kemba's worst team had Dyson and Sticks as his second and third best players. We thought that team was miserable. Dyson and Sticks are considerably better than anyone else on this roster. (Although, notice..again..with a player that needs to drive to the basket, he doesn't have any shooters around him..and that spells trouble.)

Adams has had very little break his way. He hasn't had a point guard to learn from, like Shabazz and Kemba did. When he was going to jump into having a bigger role, his seniors didn't play like seniors, and the other talented people on the team were injured.

Shabazz, with his temper, would fair just as well as Adams record wise..and probably lose his cool quite often. Adams with Giffey, Boat, Daniels, Facey, and Calhoun..they're making a run in the tournament.

Again, basketball isn't as complicated as people make it. Our best player is best at driving to the basket? Surround him with shooters. Ollie's biggest fail isn't in game strategy, offense, defense, adjustments...it's in team building.

 

[Horatio]

If you swapped Adams and Shabazz, you’d likely have the same results..in both teams.

This team is just really poorly constructed. When are people going to get that? It’s not toughness, pride, effort...it’s lack of ability...especially when our second best offensive player is out.

We except your apology

 

[HooperScooper]

So I was thinking about this last night. Memphis also had a disastrous off season. They had to fill a lot of spots at the last minute like UConn has. Their roster is not very talented. Certainly not more talented than UConn's, in my opinion. Because of this they were picked to finish 9th in the AAC coaches preaseason poll. UConn was picked to finish 5th (granted nobody knew Gilbert would get hurt again).

Memphis is no juggernaut and yet they seem to compete much harder and play more like a basketball team than UConn typically does. They are now 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference. In their first AAC game of the season they got crushed at Cincinnati by 34 points. But other than that they seem to compete.

So why is it that UConn looked so lost last night against a team that doesn't have more talent? Did they miss Larrier that much or did they just not compete?

 

[Sea Goat]

Any lack of effort comes from the coaching staff. Lack of effort in recruiting, lack of effort in building a structure on either offense or defense, lack of effort on a day-to-day basis.

He's not a head coach.

Yup - I read posts that criticize team talent etc, but this is on Ollie. You can't coach at this level by slogan only. I don't see the substance in his coaching style. I hear pat responses to almost any failure that the team experiences. JC was a master at developing and molding kids who were a bit deficient in recruiting metrics. He turned them into champions. Has any player in the Ollie era dramatically improved since they arrived? As for our players, I don't think they are terrible, just not coached well! Maybe Ollie's schtick works in the NBA, but not at UConn where our style has been tough, gritty players that would run through walls for their coach.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

The thing about letting yourself get down 10 so early is that you’re a little mini 6-0 run from being down 16 and the game is effectively over. They were doubling Jalen at the top of the key rendering our only option with Larrier out useless. Instead of trying something, anything else KO just kept sending Jalen into double teams leading to turnovers. And miserable shots.

Oh and of course some guy who averages 6 pts and 3 boards goes for 21 and 11 on us because every single GD game we give up a career night to some scrub.

 

[USNA90]

So I was thinking about this last night. Memphis also had a disastrous off season. They had to fill a lot of spots at the last minute like UConn has. Their roster is not very talented. Certainly not more talented than UConn's, in my opinion. Because of this they were picked to finish 9th in the AAC coaches preaseason poll. UConn was picked to finish 5th (granted nobody knew Gilbert would get hurt again).

Memphis is no juggernaut and yet they seem to compete much harder and play more like a basketball team than UConn typically does. They are now 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference. In their first AAC game of the season they got crushed at Cincinnati by 34 points. But other than that they seem to compete.

So why is it that UConn looked so lost last night against a team that doesn't have more talent? Did they miss Larrier that much or did they just not compete?

IMHO, it comes down to roster construction. Memphis put together a roster of guys who fill roles/needs on the team. They might not be great players, but they have a ball handler, a shooter, a space eater on the inside, etc. UConn, on the other hand, filled the roster with anyone and everyone who was willing to sign on the dotted line. There are too many guys in the mold of Polley/Whaley/Carlton/Diarra who have no discernible skill or role they play on the team. This group was seemingly put together without a plan other than hoping one or two of these guys would turn into something, and the results are predictable.

 

[Edward Sargent]

IMHO, it comes down to roster construction. Memphis put together a roster of guys who fill roles/needs on the team. They might not be great players, but they have a ball handler, a shooter, a space eater on the inside, etc. UConn, on the other hand, filled the roster with anyone and everyone who was willing to sign on the dotted line. There are too many guys in the mold of Polley/Whaley/Carlton/Diarra who have no discernible skill or role they play on the team. This group was seemingly put together without a plan other than hoping one or two of these guys would turn into something, and the results are predictable.

I think the recruiting philosophy was supposed to be find players who could play positionless basketball.