Chief’s Brief - Creighton Edition

[SwingDog]

If you go 2 bigs, one has to be mobile. This seems to be May's secret sauce. Goldin and Wolf (mobile) last year, Mara and Johnson (mobile), this year. I'd expect May to continue with that template, as it's working. If he had better guard play last year, they could have been dangerous.

Maybe it's time to try Koroma along with Tarris for a few minutes and see how it goes.

 

[RitzLuce1]

karaban disappears too much. He can be fantastic, clutch and the glue guy every program loves to have. But- He cannot be relied on as a consistent go to guy. .. Too often he just isnt anything at all. Six shots and four rebounds… he just didnt participate on offense or defense. Is he too deferential at times? The dude can so most anything. Just do more of it

Karaban disappeared because he was injured. He had no business playing. This injury was mentioned a while back and you would think this coach could part with his Karaban blankie for a home stretch against 2 beatable teams at home. Call some of these guys on scholarship out like Stewart and force them to contribute. Put them on the spot.

Now Karaban as the coach said “looks like a ship cargo” with the 2 hardest games next. Heckuva a job by all involved.

 

[freescooter]

While others including our coaches worried about some fan or empty seat before the game, I worried about our team and ref James Breeding. We loss by 7 and they were 27-32 FT compared to us at 11-18 or 14 more FT attempts (78% greater) and 16 more conversions. True a couple intentional fouls at the end but the damage was done.

When they drove and receive even minor contact, they went to the line. Nothing short of an NFL tackle contact sent us to the line with Breeding’s crew. Mullins took 22 shots including many drives /mid range and went to the line once (1) after he was grabbed and pushed throughout nearly every possession.

On Creighton, Green was 0-7 FG but 8-10 FT, Zuric 4-7 FG & 6-8 FT, Harper 3-3 FG & 4-4,FT. Not one UConn player had more FT attempts than FGA.

In fact, we had had 18 FTA to 71 FGA or 25% compared to Creighton 32 FTA to 55 FGA or 58%. That was the hill too big to climb. I do think our fans instead of doing stupid stuff with banana customs need to react to bad calls much more. And our players need to slap their opponent’s hands or arms when being grabbed continuously with no calls.

What do we need to do to be better:

1) Only 5 turnovers tonight and we need that improvement to continue. We made 13 points off TO’s compared to 4. Demary had 9 assists to 1 turnover.

2) We can’t stop drivers. We don’t seem to have enough athleticism to do that. Solution, we need more rim protection by playing Reibe and Reed together and trash the high hedge that makes our players look loss being caught in between. Creighton beat our shooting % anyways (49% to 44% FG) and (48% to 37% 3PT). It is clear coaching staffs like Creighton’s now have scouting reports that destroy our high hedge.

3) We no longer dominate in rebounding and the solution to #2, playing Reed/Reibe together 10-15 minutes a games should help. We got out rebounded by Creighton 41-35, a team with no real center. This would also give us weakside rebounding. And we need to flip the page big time on the high hedge disaster.

4) Yes!!!!! Practice foul shooting more. At lunch, at midnight or whenever. We don’t get a lot of attempts but shooting 61% FT doesn’t work when Creighton shot 84%.

5) Alex was 1-2 from 2pt and 0-4 from 3pt. We are a paradox, an assist driven offense with patience yet Alex, Ball and Mullins all take some very quick, very deep threes. If you have the hot hand and are feeling it ok - but let’s not start the game that way.

Chief,

Just stop with the ref crap. Yes, they missed some but no that isn’t why we lost. Our defense let them pretty much go to the hoop uncontested for large parts of the game. Karaban was often trying to cover up for our big being out covering some guy at the foul line. According to the tv guys we missed 11/12 shots, most of them good opportunities. And it looked like Creighton got every rebound. We shot our poorly from the line.

This was the Georgetown game redux only Creighton didn’t crack like the Hoyas did.

One last thought. If you are playing a form of defense that gets you called for fouls, maybe modify how you play. Unless the coach is too busy counting empty seats to have time to make such changes.

 

[Stinger92860]

We are a team which fouls way too much. It’s our signature now. What injury does AK have?

 

[jibsey]

Alex has to be injured. He gives us 14 points and 6 or more rebounds a game so what does that do to the score? Rest him to get ready for the March tourneys.
The BE has figured it out, the way to beat or stay up with UConn is to drive to the rim, score, get fouled. The FT differential is immense every game now AND we don’t make them because the wrong players are taking them.
So, Mullins, Solo and Silas have to drive and get to the line and maybe even Ross. (Stewart acts like he was abducted by aliens). When good 3’s are open take them. Our entire offense can’t be 3’s and Reed.
Ball movement is not what it used to be. How do I know? My wife who does crosswords while she watches the games pointed it out!
As long as we get a 3 or 4 seed we can win with better non BE reffing. The fans and coaches have reason for concern but ultimately it’s on the players, so we’ll see what we are made of.

 

[GHSWolverines]

karaban disappears too much. He can be fantastic, clutch and the glue guy every program loves to have. But- He cannot be relied on as a consistent go to guy. .. Too often he just isnt anything at all. Six shots and four rebounds… he just didnt participate on offense or defense. Is he too deferential at times? The dude can so most anything. Just do more of it

After the Georgetown game, Hurley remarked that he is playing on one leg. He has played a ton of minutes this year and I think it has taken a toll. I would not be surprised if he gets the same type of minutes, if not less, when they play Villanova.

 

[businesslawyer]

To me, we can analyze the offense all we want, but we lost that game on defense, and our defense has been getting worse and worse over the last month. I know some of you know how to look this up, but to my eye one of the HUGE problems is that we play much better when Ball and Mullins aren’t in together. J Ross played well last night, Reibe was fine on offense and Malachi had his best game in forever, but J Stew’s total loss of confidence makes the inability to play Ball and Mullins together even worse.

Having said that, Creighton played a fabulous offensive game last night. hat’s off to them. But you don’t score that many points without the lack of defense also contributing.

Time to take our eyes off seeding and make sure we win the Big East. I’ll worry about the NCAA’s when we get there.

 

[JungleLobo]

Bad loss. When is karaban scheduled to return?

Philly, need his free throw shooting down the stretch

 

[Fatroony5]

If you go 2 bigs, one has to be mobile. This seems to be May's secret sauce. Goldin and Wolf (mobile) last year, Mara and Johnson (mobile), this year. I'd expect May to continue with that template, as it's working. If he had better guard play last year, they could have been dangerous.

We've been sitting on 4 years of AK here, so not sure what Hurley's plan is next. He seems subscribed to the EuroBall spacing concept with a stretch at the 4, which the game seems to have caught up to. The fact he was going after Pierce tells me he's still thinking along these lines - which is boring as heck. Reibe/Pierce FC would have been dreadfully unexciting. I'd personally rather see some size/strength there next go. We need an athlete with some size next to Reibe.

100% agree. Playing Reibe & Reed together makes zero sense, especially against a team that’s playing small & has shooters everywhere. Their playstyles are too similar & it’d bog down the offense. Then defensively you want one of our bigs chasing forwards around pindowns & flares? Or straight up off the bounce?

I’m glad Pierce committed elsewhere, I really want the staff to re evaluate the forward spot next year. You want someone big, physical, & athletic next to Reibe. It’s really hard to find an Alex clone & id much rather them go a different direction of someone whose way more athletic, long, & rebounds well. I fear trying to replace Alex with a clone is just a worse version of AK. To get the best out of Reibe, you need that physical athletic guy next to him & that may mean changing the offense a bit but it is a worthy trade off imo.

 

[RuffRuff]

100% agree. Playing Reibe & Reed together makes zero sense, especially against a team that’s playing small & has shooters everywhere. Their playstyles are too similar & it’d bog down the offense. Then defensively you want one of our bigs chasing forwards around pindowns & flares? Or straight up off the bounce?

I’m glad Pierce committed elsewhere, I really want the staff to re evaluate the forward spot next year. You want someone big, physical, & athletic next to Reibe. It’s really hard to find an Alex clone & id much rather them go a different direction of someone whose way more athletic, long, & rebounds well. I fear trying to replace Alex with a clone is just a worse version of AK. To get the best out of Reibe, you need that physical athletic guy next to him & that may mean changing the offense a bit but it is a worthy trade off imo.

Think Malik Reneau, JT Toppin type ideally. My fear is Hurley has moved SO far away from that type of dominating athlete, he continues that route. This whole Euroball thing worked great with a star studded roster, not so much anymore. And it's painful to watch when you don't have the parts. You miss the lobs, the cuts. It becomes jump shooting. We need a little nasty on this team.

 

[SeattleHoop]

The 2 bigs idea is dumb and Hurley will never do it..and for good reason. Some of you guys are still hanging on to the the 90s early 2000’s style of ball.

2 bigs just doesn’t work anymore. Too many shooters and PF’s are too versatile and too quick.
There are other fixes we can make without resorting to that

 

[Fatroony5]

Think Malik Reneau, JT Toppin type ideally. My fear is Hurley has moved SO far away from that type of dominating athlete, he continues that route. This whole Euroball thing worked great with a star studded roster, not so much anymore. And it's painful to watch when you don't have the parts. You miss the lobs, the cuts. It becomes jump shooting. We need a little nasty on this team.

Yep exactly. Reibe is a great piece & he’s got a really bright future, he does a ton of things well. But you need to have a certain archetype next to him to really get this team to a title contending team. More athleticism/physicality at that forward spot to pair with him would help a lot. They need that junkyard dog type guy there, even if the shooting maybe isn’t quite as good as what you got with Alex. They can make up for it with lobs, steals, rebounding etc. Would love to see them go after a guy like that.

 

[3rdbass]

Not if we deep six the high hedge, and now is the time to do that. We have too many guys in no man’s land now. We are not beating by athleticism - so maybe protecting the paint and the end of drives - is the way to go.

Solo Ball was the biggest problem on D. Mullins had a few issues too but normally keeps up with his guy but can get bullied near the basket due to his lack size. We need to have Ross starting in place of Ball and Mullins to play the 2. That will help the most. I do agree we need Reed inside more when on D as the high hedge isn't giving us anything but opening up our offense for easy drives. I don't think Creighton is more athletic than us but they were smart to go after our bad defenders. I know Karaban is hurt so he was an issue too. Too bad Stewart is giving us next to nothing on both sides of the ball.

 

[UConnJim]

When I watch the games, I'm shocked about the number of times that the paint is empty when UConn is playing defense. Thus, teams spread UConn out and guards drive to the hoop creating easy baskets or fouls. The starters, with the exception of Demery, are not good man defenders, yet we are asking them to cover opposing players with no help in the paint.

There is a lot of talent on the team and it works on offense, but the defense isn't working with the current players.

 

[Chief00]

The 2 bigs idea is dumb and Hurley will never do it..and for good reason. Some of you guys are still hanging on to the the 90s early 2000’s style of ball.

2 bigs just doesn’t work anymore. Too many shooters and PF’s are too versatile and too quick.
There are other fixes we can make without resorting to that

The top 2 ranked teams in February 2026 front court starters:
#1. Michigan: Mara 7-3 255 pds, Johnson 6-9 255pds
#2. Duke: Ngongba 6-11 250 pds, Boozer 6-9 250 pds
What have you been watching? LOL and you throw around the word “dumb” and phrase “two Bigs doesn’t work anymore”.

 

[SeattleHoop]

The top 2 ranked teams in February 2026 front court starters:
#1. Michigan: Mara 7-3 255 pds, Johnson 6-9 255pds
#2. Duke: Ngongba 6-11 250 pds, Boozer 6-9 250 pds
What have you been watching? LOL and you throw around the word “dumb” and phrase “two Bigs doesn’t work anymore”.

Sorry Chief, you are thinking of this incorrectly. Johnson and Boozer are versatile PF’s with size.
Those teams have Centers that can move quickly and big versatile PF’s.

You can not stick two slow footed centers, Reed and Reibe out there together, it’s not going to work and Hurley isn’t going to do that. Sorry but I’m siding with Hurley on this one.

Now if you want to talk about packing the paint more in general and keeping Reed and Reibe down low and not having them high hedge by parking them more in the paint , those are more realistic solutions and Hurley might actually try that

 

[SaeHusky]

The double big thing makes little sense to me. Most teams run a stretch four and neither Reibe nor Reed move well enough to guard on the perimeter without fouling. And despite the belief he can shoot, Reibe is 4/13 from 3 and is shooting 49% from the line. So not sure how having another big out there with our stretch 4 sets will help at all.

If I’m an opposing coach, I love the idea of Reibe bein out there on the perimeter. It clogs things up

I totally agree with this assessment

 

[Chief00]

Sorry Chief, you are thinking of this incorrectly. Johnson and Boozer are versatile PF’s with size.
Those teams have Centers that can move quickly and big versatile PF’s.

You can not stick two slow footed centers, Reed and Reibe out there together, it’s not going to work and Hurley isn’t going to do that. Sorry but I’m siding with Hurley on this one.

Now if you want to talk about packing the paint more in general and keeping Reed and Reibe down low and not having them high hedge by parking them more in the paint , those are more realistic solutions and Hurley might actually try that

I don’t believe in packing the paint nor do I believe in playing centers at the 3 line.
Reed and Reibe are plenty mobile when they are not covering guards 25 feet from the basket. You look silly. These other 250 pd guys wouldn’t look mobile either covering the other team’s pg near halfcourt.

 

[Chief00]

The double big thing makes little sense to me. Most teams run a stretch four and neither Reibe nor Reed move well enough to guard on the perimeter without fouling. And despite the belief he can shoot, Reibe is 4/13 from 3 and is shooting 49% from the line. So not sure how having another big out there with our stretch 4 sets will help at all.

If I’m an opposing coach, I love the idea of Reibe bein out there on the perimeter. It clogs things up

We would not be doing stretch 4 sets.
When you have all this evidence what we are doing is not working against well coached teams that scout us well - we need to do something different with the players we have on the squad today.
A couple blocks on drives and three guys can cover the perimeter.

 

[Donyell 360]

karaban disappears too much. He can be fantastic, clutch and the glue guy every program loves to have. But- He cannot be relied on as a consistent go to guy. .. Too often he just isnt anything at all. Six shots and four rebounds… he just didnt participate on offense or defense. Is he too deferential at times? The dude can so most anything. Just do more of it

He was 1-6 on those 6 shots. You want him to shoot more? I think his shot attempts is about right for an off night by a key starter. You don't want to stop shooting after missing your first 4 shots, but at some point when you realize you don't have it, you need to defer to those who do. One problem last night though, who do you defer to?

 

[SeattleHoop]

We would not be doing stretch 4 sets.
When you have all this evidence what we are doing is not working against well coached teams that scout us well - we need to do something different with the players we have on the squad today.
A couple blocks on drives and three guys can cover the perimeter.

We are 24-3 Chief. We have won 2 national championships with Karaban at the 4. You’re solution is too extreme.

I agree with most of your takes, and you are a smart guy and I appreciate your posts.

I just think on this one particular take, (which you also pedaled this idea during our national championship runs if my memory serves me right), is outdated.

 

[Donyell 360]

Yep exactly. Reibe is a great piece & he’s got a really bright future, he does a ton of things well. But you need to have a certain archetype next to him to really get this team to a title contending team. More athleticism/physicality at that forward spot to pair with him would help a lot. They need that junkyard dog type guy there, even if the shooting maybe isn’t quite as good as what you got with Alex. They can make up for it with lobs, steals, rebounding etc. Would love to see them go after a guy like that.

A Kevin Freeman type?

 

[Donyell 360]

The two bigs idea sounds gimmicky. It might be good as a change up from time to time like going zone when nothing else is working.

I'm not buying the ref conspiracy angle. We foul too much. I did agree with Grant Hill that Ross had all ball on that swipe. Tough call, but not a conspiracy, just a bad call.

The reason we foul is because we can't keep drivers in front of us and we don't have elite rim protection. Since there is not really anything we can do to make our guards quicker, we need to find ways to keep our shot blockers closer to the rim and we need good rotations from the weak side when the shot blocker challenges the driver.

 

[boog204]

We would not be doing stretch 4 sets.
When you have all this evidence what we are doing is not working against well coached teams that scout us well - we need to do something different with the players we have on the squad today.
A couple blocks on drives and three guys can cover the perimeter.

We’re not going to restructure the entire offense to play some hi- low sets. On the other side, most teams we play use mobile fours. You want Reibe on Mitchell or Ajayi?

 

[Donyell 360]

We are a team which fouls way too much. It’s our signature now. What injury does AK have?

All I've heard is it is a nagging leg injury. I wonder if Alex is pressing too hard to break all these UConn records? Not his fault though. Coach needs to make the call whether he plays.

What about Mullins' leg injury? Didn't seem to affect his shooting but he was grimacing a lot last night. Grant Hill joked that young guys heal quicker. Hope he is ok.