Chief’s Briefs - Butler Edition

[sledog]

It seemed like the lads may have set a team record for interceptions.

 

[stickybuddy]

Is Ball falling out of the rotation?

No

 

[jibsey]

Comparing fouls Start of second half, minutes in. Butler 3 fouls, UConn 0. Minutes later, Uconn 5 fouls Butler 3. That quick. Teams continue to bring it to the hoop against us. A few drives seemed like a clear highway to the hoop.

Last night the same body contact on driving didn’t produce the same foul calls, but driving against us is what the game plan is. Clingan would be a big help.

 

[M.S.G.]

Exactly what he DIDN'T do on fouls 4 and 5.

I had a problem with the whistle on his 4th and a HUGE PROBLEM with the whistle on his 5th

 

[Rico444]

I had a problem with the whistle on his 4th and a HUGE PROBLEM with the whistle on his 5th

I can't remember which foul it was, I think the 4th, but he did bring his arms down a little bit and you can see Kimani telling him that on the sideline when he came out.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Not sure where that version went lately. I want that Newton back as well

That version seems to be diminished by how they call the games in the BE. In conference it seems even when you are whacked hard you can’t over sell. Tristen tends to flail his arms and even though he is reacting to contact the BE football refs don’t like that they think you are trying to sell a foul. And his personality does not tend to be an asset in combatting that situation. But all respect to him he just said fudge it at the end of the game, I am going to the hoop and I am going to make it so the football refs have to call the fouls.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I can't remember which foul it was, I think the 4th, but he did bring his arms down a little bit and you can see Kimani telling him that on the sideline when he came out.

I think Kimani was saying he was called for making contact with his body. Not that he dropped his arms. I believe he was saying look they are not calling it against them but it is a foul. Just keep your head in the game and try your best to stay close but keep his whole body straight. Last year they would have called him for a charge against Posh but we got the right call based on the new rules. But even with that we got lucky on that call. I just think our coaching staff is helping keep the players more focused on the game than the refs so far this year.

 

[mauconnfan]

Really good win no doubt. Butler played well, was home has some solid tough kids and our kids were absolutely dreadful in the first half on both ends. So all in all they toughed out the first half to keep it within 7 then played a very good 2nd half to finish the deal. This is how it’s going to have to be until we get the big guy back. Foul trouble will also be a thing because neither Samson or Alex know how to stay away from fouling, need to get smarter. And Danny did a bad job not immediately taking Samson out when he got his 3rd he just doesn’t have the ability to back off. Worked out okay but normally we need more than 20 minutes from SJ so shame on the staff for keeping him in.

Diarra was my overall MVP of this game his minutes were tremendous in this win, both ends. I mean he played so well Ball only got 9 minutes.

Karaban looks to have his stroke back which is huge and overall, minus a very stupid 5th foul, he’s playing well on both ends.

Spencer, what can you say about this kid. He gets beat on D on occasion but makes plays, clutch plays, as well as anyone and I love the chip he plays with. I dare to say if we didn’t get him we’d be talking bubble right now he’s that good.

Castle, he’s starting to show who he is. Still needs to understand the importance of caring for the ball but even that’s getting better. Tough tough kid, made some man moves which is great to see. Liked his pull up 12 footer and he needs to do that more with confidence.

Samson was fine minus the fouling. He rebounded better with 6 after a pathetic 1 board versus DePaul. Very impressed with his finishes in tight using the square. Need him to better understand the idea of 25-30 minutes not 20 while DC is out. Again the staff blew it too when he got his 3rd.

Tristen, well we need him back. That’s the worst 17 point effort I’ve ever seen. His defense was mostly lackluster as was his care for some possessions. A couple really w t f passes again but I’m confident we’ll see the real Newton again soon.

Stewie, good to see. Happy for him to get a few minutes and get some meaningful points and rebounds. Played tough as well. Needs to play less robotic on defense and get more athletic guarding off the ball, but this kids got the it. May even see it more before this year ends, maybe a big step last night.

Let’s muck it up again soon!! Lol

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah when his opponent jump stops or pivots with their back to the basket, he's clearly been taught to step forward to take away the space they have to operate. If you don't foul them, it's going to really affect the shot. Unfortunately, if you're moving forward and your hands aren't perfectly straight (and even sometimes if they are), you're going to get called for a foul a lot of the time if your opponent makes a move into your body. The refs usually insta-whistle it.

It's a dangerous game. Other teams that we play just have their guys stay back straight up and less aggressive and those are the teams that never foul (the Creightons and Jay Wright Novas and Butlers of the world.)

Nah Nova always walking into people knees and all when the dribble was picked up and were never called for it. Still do watch them.

 

[TheRealKBuks]

He brings his hands down. And he will get called everytime until he stops doing that.

I think it was his fourth foul where he did this. He had several others where he was in legal guarding position and completely vertical

 

[1999GoodSon]

I will never live down that voice to text at a bar picking up fragments of random conversations that I did not even hear.

No worries Chief, I always appreciate and look forward to your commentary. Easy mistake.

There's nothing to live down, man!

 

[jdb50]

He brings his hands down. And he will get called everytime until he stops doing that.

Actually no. He has been called for hands straight up in the air a number of times.

 

[Chief00]

Really good win no doubt. Butler played well, was home has some solid tough kids and our kids were absolutely dreadful in the first half on both ends. So all in all they toughed out the first half to keep it within 7 then played a very good 2nd half to finish the deal. This is how it’s going to have to be until we get the big guy back. Foul trouble will also be a thing because neither Samson or Alex know how to stay away from fouling, need to get smarter. And Danny did a bad job not immediately taking Samson out when he got his 3rd he just doesn’t have the ability to back off. Worked out okay but normally we need more than 20 minutes from SJ so shame on the staff for keeping him in.

Diarra was my overall MVP of this game his minutes were tremendous in this win, both ends. I mean he played so well Ball only got 9 minutes.

Karaban looks to have his stroke back which is huge and overall, minus a very stupid 5th foul, he’s playing well on both ends.

Spencer, what can you say about this kid. He gets beat on D on occasion but makes plays, clutch plays, as well as anyone and I love the chip he plays with. I dare to say if we didn’t get him we’d be talking bubble right now he’s that good.

Castle, he’s starting to show who he is. Still needs to understand the importance of caring for the ball but even that’s getting better. Tough tough kid, made some man moves which is great to see. Liked his pull up 12 footer and he needs to do that more with confidence.

Samson was fine minus the fouling. He rebounded better with 6 after a pathetic 1 board versus DePaul. Very impressed with his finishes in tight using the square. Need him to better understand the idea of 25-30 minutes not 20 while DC is out. Again the staff blew it too when he got his 3rd.

Tristen, well we need him back. That’s the worst 17 point effort I’ve ever seen. His defense was mostly lackluster as was his care for some possessions. A couple really w t f passes again but I’m confident we’ll see the real Newton again soon.

Stewie, good to see. Happy for him to get a few minutes and get some meaningful points and rebounds. Played tough as well. Needs to play less robotic on defense and get more athletic guarding off the ball, but this kids got the it. May even see it more before this year ends, maybe a big step last night.

Let’s muck it up again soon!! Lol

Agree, Diarra keeps growing in importance now that he can do 90% from FT. We can have him giving us energy at crutch time.

 

[huskyfan224]

He brings his hands down. And he will get called everytime until he stops doing that.

He may have done that once on his 5 fouls yesterday. They were mostly bullspit

 

[RedStickHusky]

I will never live down that voice to text at a bar picking up fragments of random conversations that I did not even hear.

We may like to kid you but this thread gets plenty of love...

 

[AdamaNation]

I would love to see Newton get a little more arc in his free throws. It looks like it flattened out a bit this year, and stats show

I think his hand is banged up. His offense has been brutal and he’s shooting himself out of AA talk.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I think his hand is banged up. His offense has been brutal and he’s shooting himself out of AA talk.

Yeah, something is going on there. He had a lot of tape on his hand yesterday. It may not be a huge injury, but we all saw what a taped hand could do to AK's shot.

 

[gars44]

Yeah, something is going on there. He had a lot of tape on his hand yesterday. It may not be a huge injury, but we all saw what a taped hand could do to AK's shot.

Hopefully not his wrist. Wrist injury is a killer

 

[jdb50]

I watched the big kid on DePaul-Nelson- ram his shoulder into Samson's chest twice in the first half at Gampel really hard and then made a move and Samson was called for a foul. Some of the stuff allowed is very surprising when the BE refs call ticky tack fouls on our team. Samson has really stepped up after having to watch from the bench last year. He is part of the offense with the up top screens and hand offs, the roll action for dunks and has been converting on in the paint shots as well. He works to rebound but sometimes our guards are the benefit of his actions. When he learns to keep his feet on the floor and not overcommit to trying for the block his D will really improve with less fouls. We are lucky to have him.

 

[Chief00]

I watched the big kid on DePaul-Nelson- ram his shoulder into Samson's chest twice in the first half at Gampel really hard and then made a move and Samson was called for a foul. Some of the stuff allowed is very surprising when the BE refs call ticky tack fouls on our team. Samson has really stepped up after having to watch from the bench last year. He is part of the offense with the up top screens and hand offs, the roll action for dunks and has been converting on in the paint shots as well. He works to rebound but sometimes our guards are the benefit of his actions. When he learns to keep his feet on the floor and not overcommit to trying for the block his D will really improve with less fouls. We are lucky to have him.

I think with Samson he just needs to not over commit defensively on screens 20 - 25 feet from the basket, which then puts him out of position for defensive rebounds. We miss not having the strongest dude out there every game ( Adama) and the guy we have to try to replace that is out (Donovan). I do feel Castle and Newton combined do help make up the difference with toughness, but just don’t have the length against 6-9 kids. If Adama had come back this season would have been very different I believe in how we handled Donovan’s foot recovery. We don’t really have a Big muscle back up with Donovan out. I guess we are trying to make that happen with Stewart.
One lesson here is on the elite level we need to have the Double Big as either part of our starting lineup or at least key rotations. Without the Double Big scheme if we have two good bigs it is viewed as a zero sum game for playing time.

 

[twiceahusky]

And Danny did a bad job not immediately taking Samson out when he got his 3rd he just doesn’t have the ability to back off. Worked out okay but normally we need more than 20 minutes from SJ so shame on the staff for keeping him in.

I’m super confused… you want more minutes from SJ, so you criticize the staff for leaving him in? That doesn’t actually get SJ more minutes, it gets him fewer.

If Sampson is going to foul every four minutes, he’s dictating that he only gets 20 minutes. Whether the staff pulls him after number three or leaves him in, it’s on him not to foul.

In this specific game, he only had four fouls so you could argue that he could/should have played more. Another reason to keep him out there … perhaps to learn how to NOT foul in critical game situations?

 

[willstafa24]

This team's weakness is its perimeter defense, specifically stopping dribble drive penetration.

That is why Newton, Spencer and Karaban need to be intense fighting through screens. That was the problem with SH and all their strong guards who love to drive. Same was true with Butler and Davis lighting them up. 2nd half they came out and fought hard through screens and stayed physical with their man.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

One lesson here is on the elite level we need to have the Double Big as either part of our starting lineup or at least key rotations. Without the Double Big scheme if we have two good bigs it is viewed as a zero sum game for playing time.

What taught us this lesson ?
We went double big once this season; at Kansas. We went from up 5 to down 4 in about 2:20.
We also went double big the year before last '22 (Whaley and Sanogo). It was OK, but all season we complained about not enough skill on the floor.
Then we went the exact opposite in 2023, and won a National Championship with the single big, 4 out.
I just can't imagine how anyone could have watched UConn play basketball the last few years and come to the conclusion that we aren't using the 'double big' lineup enough.

Not only do i think we didn't learn the double big lesson in the last couple games, but we actually learned that we are pretty decent with the NO-BIG (5-out) lineup. I'm certainly not advocating for many minutes of it, but we were about +8 in the second half of the Butler game alone with it. We won the game by 7.

The double big will work if one of the bigs can dribble, pass, and shoot (have all the qualities of a non-big). The word "big" is misleading here. I would love to put 5 guys who are 6'10"+ on the floor, but 4 of them need to have guard skills. This is the way our offense works, and given the results since the start of 2023, i really don't think we should change it...even if another team beats us in the paint a couple times.

 

[woodchuck68]

What taught us this lesson ?
We went double big once this season; at Kansas. We went from up 5 to down 4 in about 2:20.
We also went double big the year before last '22 (Whaley and Sanogo). It was OK, but all season we complained about not enough skill on the floor.
Then we went the exact opposite in 2023, and won a National Championship with the single big, 4 out.
I just can't imagine how anyone could have watched UConn play basketball the last few years and come to the conclusion that we aren't using the 'double big' lineup enough.

Not only do i think we didn't learn the double big lesson in the last couple games, but we actually learned that we are pretty decent with the NO-BIG (5-out) lineup. I'm certainly not advocating for many minutes of it, but we were about +8 in the second half of the Butler game alone with it. We won the game by 7.

The double big will work if one of the bigs can dribble, pass, and shoot (have all the qualities of a non-big). The word "big" is misleading here. I would love to put 5 guys who are 6'10"+ on the floor, but 4 of them need to have guard skills. This is the way our offense works, and given the results since the start of 2023, i really don't think we should change it...even if another team beats us in the paint a couple times.

I'm not sure that he was advocating for having two bigs play at the same time.. rather, it really comes in handy to have two separate bigs who are talented in case one of them is in foul trouble.

 

[Rico444]

I'm not sure that he was advocating for having two bigs play at the same time.. rather, it really comes in handy to have two separate bigs who are talented in case one of them is in foul trouble.

Chief has been advocating for two bigs on the floor at the same time for awhile now.

 

[ucp990411]

I think with Samson he just needs to not over commit defensively on screens 20 - 25 feet from the basket, which then puts him out of position for defensive rebounds. We miss not having the strongest dude out there every game ( Adama) and the guy we have to try to replace that is out (Donovan). I do feel Castle and Newton combined do help make up the difference with toughness, but just don’t have the length against 6-9 kids. If Adama had come back this season would have been very different I believe in how we handled Donovan’s foot recovery. We don’t really have a Big muscle back up with Donovan out. I guess we are trying to make that happen with Stewart.
One lesson here is on the elite level we need to have the Double Big as either part of our starting lineup or at least key rotations. Without the Double Big scheme if we have two good bigs it is viewed as a zero sum game for playing time.

Samson is very good with the high hedge and it totally disrupts the opponent's offensive scheme as long as rotations are done properly and we are very good with our rotations. And as far as using the double bigs, Chief you beat this drum all year last year and the season was pretty successful. If we started the double bigs as you suggest, who do you not start?

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I'm not sure that he was advocating for having two bigs play at the same time.. rather, it really comes in handy to have two separate bigs who are talented in case one of them is in foul trouble.

One lesson here is on the elite level we need to have the Double Big as either part of our starting lineup or at least key rotations. Without the Double Big scheme if we have two good bigs it is viewed as a zero sum game for playing time.

He was definitely advocating for the double big (at the same time).
He has been ever since last season.

Even though i think it made almost zero sense last season (especially in hindsight given the result), it still made more sense then than it does now because Adama could stretch the floor a bit. And the lack of foot speed for 2 bigs on the floor would get us killed on the perimeter against any team that had any athleticism at all. Offensively it would clog everything up the way it did when it was Whaley/Sanogo at 4/5.
This isn't even mentioning that we need to have 10 fouls available at the 5, especially in conference.

 

[Chief00]

What taught us this lesson ?
We went double big once this season; at Kansas. We went from up 5 to down 4 in about 2:20.
We also went double big the year before last '22 (Whaley and Sanogo). It was OK, but all season we complained about not enough skill on the floor.
Then we went the exact opposite in 2023, and won a National Championship with the single big, 4 out.
I just can't imagine how anyone could have watched UConn play basketball the last few years and come to the conclusion that we aren't using the 'double big' lineup enough.

Not only do i think we didn't learn the double big lesson in the last couple games, but we actually learned that we are pretty decent with the NO-BIG (5-out) lineup. I'm certainly not advocating for many minutes of it, but we were about +8 in the second half of the Butler game alone with it. We won the game by 7.

The double big will work if one of the bigs can dribble, pass, and shoot (have all the qualities of a non-big). The word "big" is misleading here. I would love to put 5 guys who are 6'10"+ on the floor, but 4 of them need to have guard skills. This is the way our offense works, and given the results since the start of 2023, i really don't think we should change it...even if another team beats us in the paint a couple times.

So you don’t believe we would be better this season with Clingan and Sanogo on the team? Your opposition is based on a 2 minute sample.
You don’t think we would be more cautious with Donovan’s injury if Adama was available?
But the only way we could keep both happy with minute potential was to have Double Big as part of the rotation mix and starting line-up.

 

[Chief00]

I'm not sure that he was advocating for having two bigs play at the same time.. rather, it really comes in handy to have two separate bigs who are talented in case one of them is in foul trouble.

But to do that you do need some minutes together. I don’t see these guys hurting us at all. Quite to the contrary.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

This team's weakness is its perimeter defense, specifically stopping dribble drive penetration.

That is why Newton, Spencer and Karaban need to be intense fighting through screens. That was the problem with SH and all their strong guards who love to drive. Same was true with Butler and Davis lighting them up. 2nd half they came out and fought hard through screens and stayed physical with their man.

I foresee some Newton-Cam/AK-Diarra-Steph-Clingan lineups against quicker teams. Down the stretch it’s gonna be tough to have all 3 of Newton-Cam-AK on the floor against slashing teams. I’m not sure who you sit, but Steph and Diarra are eons better on the ball defensively, and that really is our biggest issue right now.