Can't figure out why Reed can't be Sanogo lite

[alphasigko]

They played better without either of them in the game sitting on the bench due to foul troubles and built the 8 point lead which began to disappear aa soon as one or the other came back in. One would think that that would provide a hint to Coach Dan.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

They played better without either on them in the fame and built the 8 point lead which began to disappear aa soon as one or the other came back in. One would think that that would provide a hint to Coach Dan.

As I said in another thread, being shorter is not an advantage in basketball, no matter how many times short people tell you it is. Big players do a lot of important things on the basketball court that a team of 6'5 wings could not do.

Alternatively, someone should confront Calhoun at the next game he is at and tell him what an idiot he was to play so many lineups with 2 or 3 of Okafor, Villanueva, Boone and Armstrong in 2004.

 

[alphasigko]

As I said in another thread, being shorter is not an advantage in basketball, no matter how many times short people tell you it is. Big players do a lot of important things on the basketball court that a team of 6'5 wings could not do.

Alternatively, someone should confront Calhoun at the next game he is at and tell him what an idiot he was to play so many lineups with 2 or 3 of Okafor, Villanueva, Boone and Armstrong in 2004.

So you are lobbying for coach to play the double Big?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn didn't have a point guard or really anyone looking to pass inside. UConn had 10 assists on 26 made baskets against Creighton, and Reed was 3 of those assists. Against Marquette, with Diarra still semi-healthy, UConn had 16 assists on 25 made baskets, and Johnson and Reed both had good games. Don't blame their lack of scoring on them if no one gets them the ball.

On defense, it is pretty simple. If the perimeter defense is playing better, our centers will foul less. If it isn't, the centers will foul more. The issue with Creighton was compounded by having to defend one of the best centers in the country, although most of the fouls were in help. Reed just kind of stunk it up defensively against Creighton. I wouldn't make a strategic shift every time someone has a bad game.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So you are lobbying for coach to play the double Big?

I would rather see 2 bigs than some of the lineups that have played extended minutes, particularly when McNeeley was out. I think playing 2 bigs actually results in more and better 3 point attempts for your better 3 point shooters. 4 out offenses are easy to recover against, and we don't have 4 shooters on the court all the time that I want shooting 3's over getting more inside shots. Ball, McNeeley and Stewart are the only 3 players shooting over 35% from 3, and Stewart is terrible defensively. Johnson is shooting 79% from 2 and Reed is shooting 65% from 2. Shouldn't those two be shooting more instead of more mediocre 3 point attempts?

 

[alphasigko]

I would rather see 2 bigs than some of the lineups that have played extended minutes, particularly when McNeeley was out. I think playing 2 bigs actually results in more and better 3 point attempts for your better 3 point shooters. 4 out offenses are easy to recover against, and we don't have 4 shooters on the court all the time that I want shooting 3's over getting more inside shots. Ball, McNeeley and Stewart are the only 3 players shooting over 35% from 3, and Stewart is terrible defensively. Johnson is shooting 79% from 2 and Reed is shooting 65% from 2. Shouldn't those two be shooting more instead of more mediocre 3 point attempts?

I cannot disagree and would also like to see the dbl big at least some of the time. Unfortunately, given their propensity to foul they just might foul out sooner than later. Then Coach would have to be OK with giving Singare more playing time (which I also support).

 

[SubbaBub]

Doesn't defend one on one as well, recover as well on defense or score as well in the post.

That's not a knock, he should be getting more minutes and more of the ball if he can stay on the floor. Hurley clearly trusts him not to foul as much as Johnson, but he isn't as good as Sanogo.

Still a good player and an excellent portal pick up. Michigan was dumb letting him go.

 

[Hoophound]

Reed has so much talent. He just didn’t develop at all at Michigan. He’s gonna be a late bloomer.

 

[RuffRuff]

Doesn't defend one on one as well, recover as well on defense or score as well in the post.

That's not a knock, he should be getting more minutes and more of the ball if he can stay on the floor. Hurley clearly trusts him not to foul as much as Johnson, but he isn't as good as Sanogo.

Still a good player and an excellent portal pick up. Michigan was dumb letting him go.

They got Wolf and Goldin, they’re doing ok at the 5.

 

[DogMania]

The problem was when Johnson or Reed were on the floor Kalkbrenner was able to just park under the hoop as Johnson and Reed do not present any threat outside of the paint. Once we went small and Kalkbrenner had to defend the free throw extended the middle opened to allow for PNR and attacking the rim.

Everytime Johnson and Reed got the ball at the top there was a good 8-10 feet of open space that Kalkbrenner did not have to guard.

I don't know why either didn't turn, take one or two dribbles towards the basket and take a short J. Often there was about 6 feet or more open court right up the middle. At worst, take two power dribbles and one hard upfake and see if they can draw a foul on Kalk.

 

[RuffRuff]

I don't know why either didn't turn, take one or two dribbles towards the basket and take a short J. Often there was about 6 feet or more open court right up the middle. At worst, take two power dribbles and one hard upfake and see if they can draw a foul on Kalk.

Kalk doesn’t foul - only reason you’re doing it is to take an uncontested 8-9 footer. Analytics don’t love it, because not only is it a lower percentage shot for 2, but it leaves your best offensive rebounder away from the rim, given he’s taking the shot.

 

[DogMania]

Kalk doesn’t foul - only reason you’re doing it is to take an uncontested 8-9 footer. Analytics don’t love it, because not only is it a lower percentage shot for 2, but it leaves your best offensive rebounder away from the rim, given he’s taking the shot.

Well then don't miss it. The alternative has been our perimeter players taking highly contested 3s or driving into traffic.

This was not new. The middle of the paint has often been there against other teams as well.

 

[RuffRuff]

Well then don't miss it. The alternative has been our perimeter players taking highly contested 3s or driving into traffic.

This was not new. The middle of the paint has often been there against other teams as well.

I like that strategy of telling our guys not to miss it, we should probably apply it to every shot they take. If it works and we shoot 100% from the field, good chance we win most games.

 

[SubbaBub]

Sanogo had the best feet and low post shooting of anyone in college for long time. If he were 3 inches taller, he'd have gone #1.

 

[HooperScooper]

Kalk doesn’t foul - only reason you’re doing it is to take an uncontested 8-9 footer. Analytics don’t love it, because not only is it a lower percentage shot for 2, but it leaves your best offensive rebounder away from the rim, given he’s taking the shot.

Curious what percentage of making that shot would make it a good shot? If you make that shot at a 70% clip would the analytics say it is a bad shot?

 

[Spaceman213J]

I get what you're saying, but I think this is a fault of our offense not Reed and Samson. We run a few sets where our 5 gets the ball at the top of the key and the motion is set for a handoff. However, everyone knows this now. So often times we have our 5 just standing there, awkwardly, unguarded 20 feet from the hoop waiting to hand it off to the 1, 2, or 3. The set/motion is built for that handoff and its not Reed not knowing where to pass, but the set being scouted and defended. Love our staff. But I haven't seen any alteration to what we've done the last two years with a completely different team/skillset. After enough time, good coaches will gameplan and we don't seem to have adjusted.

It could also be part of Kalk having half a decade in the same system.

 

[boog204]

It could also be part of Kalk having half a decade in the same system.

Absolutely... This is new to Reed; Samson was just a PNR guy last year. He rarely touched the ball at the top of the key.

 

[TheShot1990]

I would put him in a dark room and have him watch the following videos:

• Charles Barkley 6' 6"
• Dennis Rodman - 6' 7"
• Ron Artest - 6' 7"

All are much smaller and lighter than you and were absolute beasts on defense.
Do what they did....morra that.

 

[RuffRuff]

Curious what percentage of making that shot would make it a good shot? If you make that shot at a 70% clip would the analytics say it is a bad shot?

60%ish

 

[knicksin7]

Did Danny Wolf effectively take over for Reed?

 

[boog204]

I would put him in a dark room and have him watch the following videos:

• Charles Barkley 6' 6"
• Dennis Rodman - 6' 7"
• Ron Artest - 6' 7"

All are much smaller and lighter than you and were absolute beasts on defense.
Do what they did....morra that.

Umm and all three were kinda outliers in, like, you know the history of basketball. Especially the first two. I mean we should just lock Ross in a room and force him to watch Kobe and Jordan and say "play like that."

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I would put him in a dark room and have him watch the following videos:

• Charles Barkley 6' 6"
• Dennis Rodman - 6' 7"
• Ron Artest - 6' 7"

All are much smaller and lighter than you and were absolute beasts on defense.
Do what they did....morra that.

Barkley absolutely was heavier than Reed and there's a good chance that Artest was pretty close to the same weight.

 

[uh-no]

Did Danny Wolf effectively take over for Reed?

oh does he play for uconn now? I thought he played for yale

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Sanago was a special player , Great strength combined with one of the softest touches around the rim for a big ever .
He was talented enough as a freshman to but Carlton on the Bench .
If you are one of those guys who believe Carlton was a stiff , your entitled to your opinion , he was limited for sure but the guy averaged a double in the French A league so dismissing him is naive
Sanago has limitations also which prevent him from being an NBA regular. He is probably 6’7”. His strength superiority alone isn’t enough . I wrote for years he needed to develop a mid ranch face up game which included being able to put it on the floor to have a chance a real NBA career . Hopefully he is doing that in G league . Reed is strong has good hands decent footwork put lacks that touch that made Sanogo who he was in college .
Johnson is an incredible athlete who is not really a true 5 His footwork hurt him but he has improved.. I have the feeling that he is capable of doing things offensively we haven’t seen that would change the team dynamics if it happened.

 

[Scrutineer]

First, it took me about a minute to figure out what the title meant, I'm slow I guess.
1) We don't have guards that play well after the pick, there's just not much of a threat. Kalk can just sit back
2) Sanogo was a RARE player. That combination of footwork, hands and touch just doesn't come along very often.
3) That mid range jumper is frowned upon in todays game, rightfully so. Most teams don't want their BEST shooters taking those, let alone their worst shooters
4) They both had REALLY bad nights last night. They have both showed in the past that they are capable of different offensive skills, I think this is one of the biggest challenges to the staff this year to figure out how to best utilize them against different matchups. Last night was just a night to jump on Liam's back, and it worked.

I think the difference in Sanogo and Reed is likely cultural.

Dan Hurley has commented on how most of our guys are "too nice". Loved by hotel and airline employees and opposing defenders (I added the opposing defenders). Reed seems like the proverbial "gentle giant". Very nice guy but not the "badger" Dan Hurley says he wants...........at least so far.

This is all conjecture, but if you've seen the videos of Sanogo's home village you'll know what I mean by cultural differences. He came from a very poor background and said he wants to make enough money to be able to improve the schools in his home area. He had only played basketball for a few years before he came to UConn and was so motivated he worked on every aspect of his game. He may have just wanted success more than Reed has shown so far.