Chief’s Briefs - AZ Edition

[Chief00]

We tried without 2 key starters but we got out rebounded by 20 and shot only 50% from FT. Neither is a recipe for a win.

We were outrebounded 43 to 23 and the 13-6 offensive rebound deficit part really hurt us. Many second chances translated into points.

9 for 18 (50%) FT’s vs 19 for 25 (76%) made the difference tonight in 4 point game. In the first half Demery, Reibe, Karaban and Ball all made foolish fouls putting us into an early penalty and the rest is history. If you play like you practice, why don’t we crack down on foolish fouls in practice more? Our centers were chasing guards 20+ feet from the basket leading to mismatches and bad fouls.

Give the guys credit for fighting back the entire game but when your two best 3 point shooters (Ball & Karaban) go 2-10 combine and your centers (Reibe & Koroma) go 3-10 on FTs, it’s tough to win. Yet, if Reed played we likely would have won.

Reibe, Demary, and Stewart combined for 38 points on 57% FG shooting and 5 of our 8 threes. Reibe is going to be a good player but his body is one year away in the weight room.

Koroma marginal helps us in certain ways but his foul shooting really hurts (tonight 2 for 6 today) in close games.

Give Bradley, Peat and Krivas credit, they played well and played efficient. This was likely one of the 2-3 games where we would miss Reed and Mullins the most.

Karaban plays better when he has other good players playing with him and he’s the 3rd or 4th option not the first or second. He’s a more relax and not a rushed player when he has other stars around him.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Nice tight briefs Chief.

Reibe is figuring out how to square his size against this level of competition. He's going to get better as the season progresses and we could have another two headed monster with the grizzly

 

[Spaceman213J]

I think Reed being out was very big. I think he would negate some of the rebounding edge and would not let Krivas get set up as deep and have made things tougher for him. Still, Reibe played a great game for a frosh.

You mentioned it. Cut the rebound diff in half or make a decent percentage of the free throws and you probably walk away with a win against a top 5 team without 2 starters.

 

[Scot-e]

Two starters down? We did great. Any top 10 ten down two starters is not winning this game against another top 10 team.

 

[nomar]

I think Reed being out was very big. I think he would negate some of the rebounding edge and would not let Krivas get set up as deep and have made things tougher for him. Still, Reibe played a great game for a frosh.

You mentioned it. Cut the rebound diff in half or make a decent percentage of the free throws and you probably walk away with a win against a top 5 team without 2 starters.

I have no idea what difference Mullins would have made but I am pretty darn certain that Reed would have made all the difference in the world.

 

[Kolumbo]

the free throw misses didn't hurt as much as I thought. we left 8 points at the line and AZ left 6. Of course, AZ outscored us by 11 at the line because they took more free throws which is typical UConn.

I just looked it up. UConn was actually 9/18 from the line so left 9 points. Rebounding hurt. Looks like what kept UConn in the game was AZ only going 2-10 from 3 vs UConn 8-25. Both teams made 25 field goals.

 

[shizzle787]

Very disappointing result given we were up two with under two minutes to go. I thought we had it. That being said, when healthy I now believe we are the best team in the nation. We legitimately go 11 deep. That is frightening.

 

[Chief00]

Nice tight briefs Chief.

Reibe is figuring out how to square his size against this level of competition. He's going to get better as the season progresses and we could have another two headed monster with the grizzly

I agree but getting significantly stronger will take an off season.

 

[Chief00]

Very disappointing result given we were up two with under two minutes to go. I thought we had it. That being said, when healthy I now believe we are the best team in the nation. We legitimately go 11 deep. That is frightening.

We are short a big muscle guy up front and a shooter until Reed and Mullins come back and return to form.

 

[Chief00]

the free throw misses didn't hurt as much as I thought. we left 8 points at the line and AZ left 6. Of course, AZ outscored us by 11 at the line because they took more free throws which is typical UConn.

I just looked it up. UConn was actually 9/18 from the line so left 9 points. Rebounding hurt. Looks like what kept UConn in the game was AZ only going 2-10 from 3 vs UConn 8-25. Both teams made 25 field goals.

True. AZ is not a 3 point team but they have the type of front court guys Chief Loves. We missed Reed.

 

[dogpause]

Despite the score, the rebound margin, and the shooting issues, my observations are very encouraging. I thought we looked better as a team than we did against BYU. The comeback was very encouraging and a bit surprising. All the problems seem fixable, too. AZ has a wealth of talent, size, and athleticism. This could have been a blowout, but it wasn't.

 

[Chief00]

I have no idea what difference Mullins would have made but I am pretty darn certain that Reed would have made all the difference in the world.

I agree on Reed, he may be our best player. But, I do wish we had another front court muscle guy. Koroma foul shooting will hurt his minutes if he doesn’t improve it soon. The Mullins I saw at the scrimmage in August was a very elite shooter and good athlete, who’s on court skills and understanding of the game was incredible for a freshman. Our wonderful Casual Fans will love his game.

 

[Lafayette]

I have no idea what difference Mullins would have made but I am pretty darn certain that Reed would have made all the difference in the world.

Mullins is someone you have to follow around all game for his shooting. They would have had to rotate a forward to guard him else play 3 guards. He stretches the floor sure.

Hate to say it but Stewart still needs to come off the bench.

 

[Chief00]

Thus far for our two big OOC games John Gaffney is our home conference referee in both. What is wrong with that picture? If I need to tell you, you have not paid attention. Thank you Big East Commissioner for failing UConn once again.

 

[NJHusky]

Thus far for our two big OOC games John Gaffney is our home conference referee in both. What is wrong with that picture? If I need to tell you, you have not paid attention. Thank you Big East Commissioner for failing UConn once again.

And where would the BE be without UConn….

 

[mauconnfan]

Mullins is someone you have to follow around all game for his shooting. They would have had to rotate a forward to guard him else play 3 guards. He stretches the floor sure.

Hate to say it but Stewart still needs to come off the bench.

For who? Stew played very well last night despite the huge missed rebound late. 2 games in a row solid defensively. Ross didn’t show much so Stew is fine for now. We need Mullins back.

 

[UConnJim]

With Reed out, what was the plan for rebounding? The two tallest starters outside of Reibe, Stewart had 3 rebounds in 28 minutes and Karaban had 3 rebounds in 35 minutes.

 

[TheShot1990]

I agree on Reed, he may be our best player. But, I do wish we had another front court muscle guy. Koroma foul shooting will hurt his minutes if he doesn’t improve it soon. The Mullins I saw at the scrimmage in August was a very elite shooter and good athlete, who’s on court skills and understanding of the game was incredible for a freshman. Our wonderful Casual Fans will love his game.

Agree we could use Karoma's muscle against the likes of Peat but I looked up his FT%. I think 50% is about all you're gonna get from him, so his offensive minutes will be very limited.

 

[Vancat]

Nice tight briefs Chief.

 

[HCCForever]

Many comments on Mullins. He is a great prospect and has great potential but so far untested. Hard to know for sure if he would have made a difference. But I am anxious to see him on the court.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Many comments on Mullins. He is a great prospect and has great potential but so far untested. Hard to know for sure if he would have made a difference. But I am anxious to see him on the court.

Prize freshmen lighting it up all over the country and for the third year in a row, ours is starting the season hurt.

 

[tennmike]

Many comments on Mullins. He is a great prospect and has great potential but so far untested. Hard to know for sure if he would have made a difference. But I am anxious to see him on the court.

Mullins is a big time scorer, particularly from 3. Without Reed, UConn needs to rely more on threes. With both Solo and Alex shooting below their historic rates, Mullins may have been the way to overcome rebounding and FT deficiencies.

Eric should be buoyed by his play in this game. While not perfect, he may now know he belongs.

 

[NJHusky]

Prize freshmen lighting it up all over the country and for the third year in a row, ours is starting the season hurt.

Is there an issue with our training staff?

 

[RedStickHusky]

Is there an issue with our training staff?

I want to think it's bad luck, but when you only have a kid for one year...

 

[Kenny11]

Karaban needs to step it up. He disappears in big games way too often. He played 35 minutes and attempted 5 shots, didn't rebound and missed free throws.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Our centers were chasing guards 20+ feet from the basket leading to mismatches and bad fouls.
.

It seems to be an emphasis for Hurley and his staff, but Sanogo and Clingan learned how to do the hard hedge and quick recover. Whaley was also excellent at doing this and SJ became pretty good by the time he left. Reed has become pretty darn good at this, too. He struggle the first third of last season, but really seemed to learn how to do it well.

Watching the game last night, I was really wishing this team had a SJ or Whaley to run their guys down the floor and maybe tire them out some.

 

[HCCForever]

I want to think it's bad luck, but when you only have a kid for one year...

Didn’t DC have some injury issues as well when he was a freshman? That would make four straight seasons.

 

[jdb50]

Silas is an unreal portal addition. Karoma misses his bunnies and is maybe 50% from the free throw stripe. Smith being short and not shooting well is troubling. These 2 players need to bring more but it may never happen. Even with Reed we still lack a strong forward that can rack up rebounds. This has been ongoing since the season started. Our poor team free throw shooting is also consistent. Karaban missing the front end of the one and one. Come on! Solo has been way off from 3 since the end of last year. 4 tough games coming up in the next 6. Maybe just fix the free throw issue? Hopefully.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I want to think it's bad luck, but when you only have a kid for one year...

It's just bad luck. When it happens to 1-and-dones or potential 1-and-dones there is more of a spotlight on it. RIP had a serious contusion to his thigh, Price & Larrier tore ACLs, A. Gilbert's entire career with shoulders.. etc.
Look at what the women's team has gone through in the last 5 years.
Part of it also being the program that you are. The teams from Storrs have one of the bigger spotlights shining down on it when it comes to basketball.

 

[Palatine]

Solo was one for eight from the arc. In five games, he is shooting 26% from three on 6.8 threes a game. If you include the exhibitions, he is 11 for 49, a 22.5% clip.

Last year he shot 41% on 6.8 threes per game.

That is the biggest concern I have for the team. If Solo takes a big step back this year. It will put many games into the toss up category. Maybe this is a slump. At one point last year he looked like the best shooter in the country. That's what makes this so baffling. I use to think every time he shot the net would splash. Last night for the first time, I didn't.