Chief’s Briefs - CCSU Edition

[Umami Zen]

One thing Chief should add is 19 of our 43 rebounds were offensive. That’s a very impressive mindset to attack the glass. I know the competition was relatively weak, but still it’s an indicator of being much better in that area.
I do agree with a couple of posters, that against a better team a leader needs to emerge? Perhaps, the coaches can influence somewhat, but that’s really up to the players.

Agree with you.. As an example of a team we're familiar with.. Nova and their shooters really put teams away with second chance opportunities off of offensive rebounds..

 

[businesslawyer]

Took a while for Chief’s new Briefs to get filled up, but it was worth the wait. They were great to see — and I can imagine it felt wonderful for Chief to unload in them.

Were you holding that in all offseason?

 

[David 76]

Chief recognizes I was downplaying Sanogo’s upside in the widely popular Briefs

But the question is, will you leave office peacefully?

 

[Husky25]

Mmm, 14 day layoff might have had a bit to do that. What was the final score?

Team D was nowhere near it needs to be. A Hurley coached team with this talent shouldn't allow CCSU to score in 70s and shoot 50%, even considering a 14 day lay off.

 

[Umami Zen]

Team D was nowhere near it needs to be. A Hurley coached team with this talent shouldn't allow CCSU to score in 70s and shoot 50%, even considering a 14 day lay off.

Matador D the first half.. More intensity in second half.. Maybe something was said at halftime..LOL

 

[Chief00]

Thank you for participating in the popular Chief’s Briefs discussion. As I always say, the OP is just the starting point and it takes off successfully from there due to your valuable input. With the next game inside of 4 hours, Chief figures I would close up this Edition and look forward to the next one.

 

[freescooter]

Like UConn, your first few statements were a bit rusty. Like UConn, once you settled in, you finished strong. Seriously though, there was a lot to like about last night. For one, it seems that every returning player put in the work over this long period and got better. Bouknight is the real deal. Everything about his game and the way he moves on the court screams next level. I really liked what I saw from Gaffney as well. Thought he looked much improved. Cole looked every bit the seasoned vet that I expected and is in a perfect role that fits both his skill and our needs. Polley's shot looked smooth. Whaley looked energized. Still think we will need more of Carlton as year goes on. B Adams' game looked really fluid and should help off the bench. Overall, just a really strong night where most guys needed time to shake off the rust. The two freshmen stood out and both seem to have very high ceilings. Loved what I saw from Sanogo on both ends. He has really soft hands, a strong motor on both ends, and disruptive on the boards. I am enamored by AJ and his game. His upside may be as high as Bouknights. I think it will take a few weeks for him to adjust to this level, but once he does watch out. My guess, is by Feb and March, we may be talking about AJ as 1b to Bouk's 1a. This kid will be a stud. Overall, it was a solid night. Nothing spectacular but a lot of positives to take from it. I am also sure there was enough on the tape for Coach to ride them hard today at practice.

Can we calm down about the great talent. Central Connecticut plays in the NEC a league that alternates with the MEAC as the weakest in D1. And are projected to finish 10 in an 11 team league. We played a team that can just barely be considered D1. Probably would have trouble with a top D2 opponent And they shot 50% from the floor and hung with us for 20 minutes.

I think wewill be a tourney team this year assuming nothing strange like we miss 5/6 games due to COVID 19. But I’m not willing to schedule a parade based on a victory over a pretty awful Central Connecticut team. We play this way against Villanova and we’re the ones getting beaten by 25. For whatever reason Hurley’s teams don’t seem to understand that the college game is 40 minutes and the first 20 count. That has been a huge disappointment with his tenure so far. I thought they had started to overcome it late last year but it happened again last night. If it continues it will be a higher problem.

 

[freescooter]

BREAKING NEWS: Team who missed 14 of their first 19 practices of a season struggled defensively in the first 20 minutes of their first game.

It was against one of the worst teams in D1, not 2004 UConn. They played a team that would have a tough time with a top 25 D2 program.

 

[DMIL]

I mostly agree. The strong but soft hands of Sanago stood in contrast to Brown struggling with receiving the ball. When a guy posts he has a responsibility of establishing a target. Sanogo did that well Brown less so. Then the actual catch itself. Sanogo just vacuums up the ball into his hands, while Brown fumbled and bobbled the ball. Brown is very young and he has grown very tall. It’s entirely fair to give his body some time to catch up to all that growth.

Agree with your assessment here. Sanago's talent jump off of the screen and it is really enjoyable to see. We've gotten to a place where talent was taken for granted. That is no more the case. When you see it and have it appreciate it while we can. It's been a long time coming to see a UCONN Men's team that is deep and full of potential. You can see the head room for this team. The hope is that they will be able to pull it all together and based on the personnel along with their shared experiences I don't see why they will not. There was just too much unfinished business from last season with the injuries. The defense will come along and the crazy thing is that they weren't even at full strength. It also feels very nice not to see the division on this board from the past few years and nice we can come back together and dissect a talented UCONN team brewing with all kind of possibilities. They have the look of a real squad, the eye test. It's something we haven't seen since 2015 or so. Solid balance of talent on this team with more on the way for 2021. Hurley has the machine humming right now.

 

[ctkaiser]

Chief, from what I saw you should give Sanogo more credit than just being a big body. We have not had a big guy since Oriakhi who could:
- get off the floor that fast and then go right back up again
- grab every rebound near him
- consistently hit the baby jump hook
- play the low post with the awareness he did once he got comfortable

This young man is already better than Carlton. That to me was obvious. I think we saw glimpses of the best low post big man we have had in a decade, something we have sorely, sorely missed.

That in and of itself is very, VERY exciting!

8 points, 7 boards, 1 block (he actually deserves credit for at least 1 more) AND only 2 fouls in 17 minutes? Now that is the type of low post production we have longed for.

Just keep Carlton away from him.

 

[ctkaiser]

That was CCSU. They look fairly decent for their level, but Big East they ain’t. What strikes me most about UConn is the quality of depth, versatility, speed and strength. When a three year mostly starter sees few minutes and a supposedly key player is unavailable, it’s pretty easy to be optimistic. We need a few games against better teams to get a clear picture. But getting the game back and just in time for a less than ideal Thanksgiving is totally welcomed.

It was only two years ago uconn was struggling to beat Maine and Umass Lowell so I'll take this win as one to grow on.