Chief’s Briefs - Butler Edition

[Chief00]

Ball (24 pts), Reed (16 pts) and Mullins (15 points) were our fire power. Demery (11 pts) had 10 assists with just 2 turnovers, after the sloppy 9 turnovers against St John’s.

A big improvement from recent games was Reed going 4-5 from FT. Another gain was 7 assists by Reed. Maybe the beginning of an inside/out game? Again, Reed and Reibe gave us a 70% FG result from our center position. While Reibe gave us only 2 points, he did contribute 2 rebounds/2 assist. However, the big picture is Reibe needs to assert himself more.

Ross and Stewart combined for just 3 points in 23 minutes and just 1 rebound. We need more weakside rebounding prescence but the high hedge defense often puts us out of position to do that. Karaban was quiet but did not force anything with his 3-6 FG attempts made.

We had 7 more rebounds and 1 more assist than Butler but they shot 46%, five percent less than UConn but too good for us to dominant. Butler had 78% more free throws than us (9 to 16) but some how the officiating seemed relatively fair or am I just getting used to the absurd? Last game they gave our opponent twice as many foul shots (31).

What we need to do to improve:
1) We are being grabbed and pushed throughout our offensive sets both with the ball and away from the ball. I suggest a ball handler or cutter when grabbed slap the offending hand/arm to draw attention. We may get a foul called but it is very effective drawing attention onto the fact that we are being grabbed and if the refs don’t want the game tensions to escalate, they need to call the grabbing. Larry Bird and DJ use to do it occasionally and it often achieved the desired result.
2) Regardless of how one feels about the high hedge our Big East opponents have scouted it and now have been exploiting it. This results in an offensive mismatch, less rebounding dominance by us and fouls. Our Bigs should not be beyond the 3pt line at minimum. Additionally, as much as I don’t usually like zones, it is time to switch into one for a series of possessions a couple times a game to screw up the opponents solution in their scouting report. They are now getting too many mismatches with our center covering a guard and our guards covering their center for the rest of the possession.
We may find this will help our defensive rebounding too. A good time to do it would be when Stewart is in the game.

 

[InKembaITrust]

When Solo and Braylon are cooking from beyond the arc in the same game, we'll be hard to beat.

 

[ucp990411]

When Solo and Braylon are cooking from beyond the arc in the same game, we'll be hard to beat.

Has that happened yet this year?

 

[TheShot1990]

Love all of this.
1) Yes, slap hands away and add some drama like Kemba did (throw your head back to show you're being fouled) - I used to hand check during UConn intramurals and when good players would slap it away, I'd do it way less.
2) Stay close to home when hedging and for stretches, no high hedge. Time to mix in a little zone. Zuby, Jones, that guy Duke are all exploiting our paint. Keep em away and force their weaker shooters to force a shot.

 

[TroyHall98]

The rebounding, in out of conference and in conference games so far this year, is very concerning. The positioning issues with regard to the high hedge for our front court players is a valid reason but the lack of rebounding from the perimeter players is standing out. The perimeter players need to rebound better in order to make up for the high hedge. This occurred with great results in 2023 and 2024.

 

[Old Man UConn]

Glad to see The Chief coming around about the off ball holding of possible cutters. This team WILL need more out of Stewart to go anywhere. Ross as well but his defense is usually pretty stout.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Solid points Chief. The clutching and grabbing are simply a staple of the Big East at this point. Only Creighton and Marquette have enough pride not to play that way it seems.

As for the Hedge, while the focus is on Reed "not being good at it" the reality is more that the Hedge puts heavy obligations on the 3 and 4 to defend the paint. Last night we say Mullins standing in the middle of the paint guarding the rim and he just can't so that. Castle was able to, even McNeeley proved capable, but Mullins is a slightly built guard. Teams know how we shift the 3-4, and if they put AKs man outside the 3 shifts inside and then they attack him with cutters.

We can't run the hedge unless we have 3s and 4s that can make it work. Stewart actually had some good reps there and they didn't attack him inside. I don't think we can run a 3 guard lineup, which we start, and hedge. Especially since Danny wants to take away 3s and so our perimeter guys are always playing tight and leaving themselves vulnerable to penetration. If he let them sag a bit it would be less of a problem.

 

[Mets1432]

I don't know where THAT Solo Ball has been over the past 6ish weeks but we need him to play like he did last night to be a legit contender.
His best game of the season IMO.

Still didn't get much from our backup PG position. Going to be a real problem in March.

 

[nomar]

Has that happened yet this year?

No, but that only means we've got room to grow!

I do think we can improve offensively but I am concerned about the defense given how far into the season we are and how many warts we're still seeing. Reed was caught out of position all night (he did have a terrific second half offensively) and our guys get beat off the dribble very easily. Which can be mitigated by great rim protectors, which we've been so spoiled to have. But while Reed is a decent shotblocker, he's not good enough to make up for all the blow-bys.

 

[nomar]

Solid points Chief. The clutching and grabbing are simply a staple of the Big East at this point. Only Creighton and Marquette have enough pride not to play that way it seems.

As for the Hedge, while the focus is on Reed "not being good at it" the reality is more that the Hedge puts heavy obligations on the 3 and 4 to defend the paint. Last night we say Mullins standing in the middle of the paint guarding the rim and he just can't so that. Castle was able to, even McNeeley proved capable, but Mullins is a slightly built guard. Teams know how we shift the 3-4, and if they put AKs man outside the 3 shifts inside and then they attack him with cutters.

We can't run the hedge unless we have 3s and 4s that can make it work. Stewart actually had some good reps there and they didn't attack him inside. I don't think we can run a 3 guard lineup, which we start, and hedge. Especially since Danny wants to take away 3s and so our perimeter guys are always playing tight and leaving themselves vulnerable to penetration. If he let them sag a bit it would be less of a problem.

It's like watching a car crash in slow motion. You see the poor rotations and the opposing players getting free. I don't know why this (fantastic) staff hasn't been able to coach these guys up on this. They don't all need to be Bill Russells and Mo Cheeks out there, but waaaaaaayyyyyyy too many easy buckets.

 

[Mr. French]

Someone in another thread mentioned Reed being a black hole (not necessarily disagreeing) but last night he was not.

Someone also mentioned Ball and Mullins not meshing well - I saw a few plays in a row where they assisted the other for an open 3 - at least last night, they broke that narrative.

Just thought I'd point those things out - I thought they were important points of the game. Our guys are looking for the open man and the best shot.

 

[Coach J]

You can call it a high hedge, or you call it a stupid unnecessary double-team - but IT NEEDS TO STOP! Our opponents get easy looks every single time. If Butler hadn't missed 4 consecutive layups late in the game, there's no telling what we would be talking about today.

What is wrong with playing straight-up man defense with help? Make them beat you before resorting to some gimmick.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Stewart and Ross continue to provide way less than expected performance from two kids with three years each in the program. Yes, each one shows a glimpse or two of production each game, but they are nowhere near where UConn needs them to be for a deep run in the NCAAs.

Two juniors with three years each in the program and plenty of opportunities last season and this season to show something resembling 7-10 ppg off the bench shouldn't be too much to ask.

 

[uchusky32]

Ball (24 pts), Reed (16 pts) and Mullins (15 points) were our fire power. Demery (11 pts) had 10 assists with just 2 turnovers, after the sloppy 9 turnovers against St John’s.

A big improvement from recent games was Reed going 4-5 from FT. Another gain was 7 assists by Reed. Maybe the beginning of an inside/out game? Again, Reed and Reibe gave us a 70% FG result from our center position. While Reibe gave us only 2 points, he did contribute 2 rebounds/2 assist. However, the big picture is Reibe needs to assert himself more.

Ross and Stewart combined for just 3 points in 23 minutes and just 1 rebound. We need more weakside rebounding prescence but the high hedge defense often puts us out of position to do that. Karaban was quiet but did not force anything with his 3-6 FG attempts made.

We had 7 more rebounds and 1 more assist than Butler but they shot 46%, five percent less than UConn but too good for us to dominant. Butler had 78% more free throws than us (9 to 16) but some how the officiating seemed relatively fair or am I just getting used to the absurd? Last game they gave our opponent twice as many foul shots (31).

What we need to do to improve:
1) We are being grabbed and pushed throughout our offensive sets both with the ball and away from the ball. I suggest a ball handler or cutter when grabbed slap the offending hand/arm to draw attention. We may get a foul called but it is very effective drawing attention onto the fact that we are being grabbed and if the refs don’t want the game tensions to escalate, they need to call the grabbing. Larry Bird and DJ use to do it occasionally and it often achieved the desired result.
2) Regardless of how one feels about the high hedge our Big East opponents have scouted it and now have been exploiting it. This results in an offensive mismatch, less rebounding dominance by us and fouls. Our Bigs should not be beyond the 3pt line at minimum. Additionally, as much as I don’t usually like zones, it is time to switch into one for a series of possessions a couple times a game to screw up the opponents solution in their scouting report. They are now getting too many mismatches with our center covering a guard and our guards covering their center for the rest of the possession.
We may find this will help our defensive rebounding too. A good time to do it would be when Stewart is in the game.

Teams are going to start having their big run straight line to the paint on all high hedge rubs. Butler exposed us play after play with this. Yep, puts us in a terrible match up with the switch. And the rotation is to far away.

 

[GHSWolverines]

1. I hope TR takes this game and burns in it into memory. Seven assists from the big man is impressive. He needs to continue reading when the double team happens and dish it out to the open man.
2. Bench contribution concerns me. Even though the offense seems scripted, I do recall Hurley saying that it is about 60% (don't kill me if the percentage is off) and the remaing 40% is on the players making decisions. JR is more aggressive in looking for his shot while JS is not agressive on the offensive side of the ball. It's nice that SD has MS give him some rest but I am wondering about MS. He is very inconsistent and tends to make more riskier decisions.
3. BM made the home town crowd proud. It is nice that he plays some pretty good defense.
4. ER needs to be more assertive on the boards. I think part of it is his positioning for rebounds.

 

[CTBasketball]

Stewart and Ross continue to provide way less than expected performance from two kids with three years each in the program. Yes, each one shows a glimpse or two of production each game, but they are nowhere near where UConn needs them to be for a deep run in the NCAAs.

Two juniors with three years each in the program and plenty of opportunities last season and this season to show something resembling 7-10 ppg off the bench shouldn't be too much to ask.

Our bench is wildly inconsistent and can’t be relied upon.

 

[freescooter]

Stewart and Ross continue to provide way less than expected performance from two kids with three years each in the program. Yes, each one shows a glimpse or two of production each game, but they are nowhere near where UConn needs them to be for a deep run in the NCAAs.

Two juniors with three years each in the program and plenty of opportunities last season and this season to show something resembling 7-10 ppg off the bench shouldn't be too much to ask.

Here’s the ting though. Stewart and Ross were never that good. One or the other had a good game occasionally, but generally neither was more than a slightly below average player.

I have said in jest that Hilton Armstrong was the worst thing to happen to UConn basketball because since he finished everybody expects every meh backup to make the level of improvement a once in a lifetime guy did. These 2 are meh backups. They’ve had 3 years to improve. At some pointbyou need to just accept they are what they are and move on. Unfortunately that should have happened after last year.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Here’s the ting though. Stewart and Ross were never that good. One or the other had a good game occasionally, but generally neither was more than a slightly below average player.

I have said in jest that Hilton Armstrong was the worst thing to happen to UConn basketball because since he finished everybody expects every meh backup to make the level of improvement a once in a lifetime guy did. These 2 are meh backups. They’ve had 3 years to improve. At some pointbyou need to just accept they are what they are and move on. Unfortunately that should have happened after last year.

So your "ting" adds up to telling me that I need to accept that Jayden and Jaylin are what they are and move on...and that I should have done so last year.

Your poor writing above cannot be corrected though it can be improved moving forward.

What would you claim as the present day highest possible value of a post like this moving forward?

 

[jibsey]

Here’s the ting though. Stewart and Ross were never that good. One or the other had a good game occasionally, but generally neither was more than a slightly below average player.

I have said in jest that Hilton Armstrong was the worst thing to happen to UConn basketball because since he finished everybody expects every meh backup to make the level of improvement a once in a lifetime guy did. These 2 are meh backups. They’ve had 3 years to improve. At some pointbyou need to just accept they are what they are and move on. Unfortunately that should have happened after last year.

They both show great form on 3’s they make, especially Ross this year but these guys don’t have a lot of rope from Hurley. Solo or Alex goes cold and has full games to get over it, they have a few minutes. They have to defend, rebound and make plays and there are games where they don’t.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Stewart and Ross continue to provide way less than expected performance from two kids with three years each in the program. Yes, each one shows a glimpse or two of production each game, but they are nowhere near where UConn needs them to be for a deep run in the NCAAs.

Two juniors with three years each in the program and plenty of opportunities last season and this season to show something resembling 7-10 ppg off the bench shouldn't be too much to ask.

While I agree with this general statement, in most games, it's gonna be tough for them to get to those numbers because they just aren't a significant part of the offensive sets almost always.

We saw what Ross could bring when they actually ran sets for him to get clean looks from 3 in the Creighton/Xavier games.

Unfortunately, he was mainly a bit-piece last night, getting the ball in parts of sets where there was no expectation of him getting a shot. Then, the set has him drift into a corner as a decoy.

The same happens a lot for JStew, though it seems he has more of a green light to drive and create than Ross.

The other thing that is annoying is that this year's team just doesn't have the passing vision of our 24/25 teams.

Ross was wide-open for a backside dish/slam when the ball got dumped into Reed last night, and Reed totally missed it.

I've seem Silas miss the same kind of cuts by JRoss and JStew in many other instances of games this year.

Is what it is, at this point, I guess.

 

[husky429]

Regardless of how one feels about the high hedge our Big East opponents have scouted it and now have been exploiting it. This results in an offensive mismatch, less rebounding dominance by us and fouls. Our Bigs should not be beyond the 3pt line at minimum. Additionally, as much as I don’t usually like zones, it is time to switch into one for a series of possessions a couple times a game to screw up the opponents solution in their scouting report. They are now getting too many mismatches with our center covering a guard and our guards covering their center for the rest of the possession.
We may find this will help our defensive rebounding too. A good time to do it would be when Stewart is in the game.

I'll bet you a nickel we don't play zone or stop high hedging

 

[Mr. French]

So your "ting" adds up to telling me that I need to accept that Jayden and Jaylin are what they are and move on...and that I should have done so last year.

Your poor writing above cannot be corrected though it can be improved moving forward.

What would you claim as the present day highest possible value of a post like this moving forward?

He didn’t make a mistake, he’s just Patois or from Toronto.

 

[freescooter]

So your "ting" adds up to telling me that I need to accept that Jayden and Jaylin are what they are and move on...and that I should have done so last year.

Your poor writing above cannot be corrected though it can be improved moving forward.

What would you claim as the present day highest possible value of a post like this moving forward?

An obvious typo, but you clearly understood my argument. So it couldn’t have been that bad.

So what is your opinion of Ross and Stewart as players? Please provide data to support your position.

 

[donyell34]

Totally agree with chief on #1 slap their hand away drawing attention to the grabbing. Very disappointed in Stewart thought he had a much higher ceiling but he is what he is. Need more points from the bench.

 

[RuffRuff]

We’re currently 291st in bench point this year. What was supposed to be a strength has landed us in the bottom 20%.

It’s going to be really interesting to see if Ross and Stew come back after this year if they aren’t afforded starting roles. Will their love of the program win out, or finally having a starting role in their final year be the priority? I suppose NIL could factor in.