Chief’s Briefs - Creighton Edition

[Chief00]

Missing 2 free throws with the game on the line is inexcusable. I don’t care who you are. Can’t happen.

Quite frankly, a teammate of Larry Bird , in the Indiana HS Championship tournament, missed foul shots at the end of the game for a loss. The story is that he never stayed after practice to shoot and Larry never spoke to him again. Not because he missed or that they loss, but because he did not do The Grind that Chief preaches. This is one of the Bird stories Chief likes to tell the young fella’s.

 

[UCDaveD]

Quite frankly, a teammate of Larry Bird , in the Indiana HS Championship tournament, missed foul shots at the end of the game for a loss. The story is that he never stayed after practice to shoot and Larry never spoke to him again. Not because he missed or that they loss, but because he did not do The Grind that Chief preaches. This is one of the Bird stories Chief likes to tell the young fella’s.

There’s a reason they call him Larry Legend!

 

[Chief00]

There’s a reason they call him Larry Legend!

Indeed.

 

[Chief00]

Hurley’s coaching boggles me, or whoever is responsible for this offense. This isn’t a rec league in the 70’s, the weave offense doesn’t fool anyone. You can mix it in, but it should NEVER be the go to. The only reason it looked okay in the early 2nd half was because we have an all american who makes tough shots like its his job.

Gaff and Cole at this point are not players at this level. Gaff literally cannot hit a wide open 3, can barely dribble, and plays matador defense half the time. The only saving grace for Cole is his on ball defense. Missing those two free throws is unforgivable for an upperclassman guard who is supposed to be a shooter. And then at the end of regulation we literally gave up 3 straight point blank layups with no paint help. Martin had no clue what to do down there. Hurley should have put Sanogo down there to at least challenge a shot.

This is how I felt whenever we had a lead when Ollie was coach unfortunately. We just don’t know how to finish out a game. I don’t want to hear about the USC game either, we did not finish that off, we didnt make a shot for something like 8 minutes and USC couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach. Bouk not getting the ball at the end after making like 8 straight free throws is ridiculous. Just a sad game in general.

Chief took a lot of heat in game 2 when I did not go overboard on Martin’s offense. He did have a nice reverse dunk today but he just isn’t a polish offensive player.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Quite frankly, a teammate of Larry Bird , in the Indiana HS Championship tournament, missed foul shots at the end of the game for a loss. The story is that he never stayed after practice to shoot and Larry never spoke to him again. Not because he missed or that they loss, but because he did not do The Grind that Chief preaches. This is one of the Bird stories Chief likes to tell the young fella’s.

I have thought some similar things throughout the KO era. The extra work was missing. Good recruits were not getting better. Jalen Adams is the best example. No excuse for not being a star. UCONN players stopped participating in high profile summer leagues. So far in the Hurley Era we haven't seen that yet either, but the team is getting better. So maybe Hurley needs time.

At the moment I'm a bit dissapointed in Polley. Not a ton growth as a player. Although he's had legit injury reasons. I'm also a bit dissapointed at Gaff as well. Earned the starting role last year. Lost it to a transfer who hasn't exactly lit it up. Gaff looks like the same player from last year. With a rustier shot. I expected Gaff and Bouk to carry the team. Bouk is obviously carrying his weight. At the moment it looks like Gaff will be recruited over in the off-season.

 

[Chief00]

I have thought some similar things throughout the KO era. The extra work was missing. Good recruits were not getting better. Jalen Adams is the best example. No excuse for not being a star. UCONN players stopped participating in high profile summer leagues. So far in the Hurley Era we haven't seen that yet either, but the team is getting better. So maybe Hurley needs time.

At the moment I'm a bit dissapointed in Polley. Not a ton growth as a player. Although he's had legit injury reasons. I'm also a bit dissapointed at Gaff as well. Earned the starting role last year. Lost it to a transfer who hasn't exactly lit it up. Gaff looks like the same player from last year. With a rustier shot. I expected Gaff and Bouk to carry the team. Bouk is obviously carrying his weight. At the moment it looks like Gaff will be recruited over in the off-season.

People don’t want to hear it, and it runs against trainers and surgeons egos and there are guys who break the rules - but Chief’s rule of thumb is the season after the ACL injury you are still on recovery - it may be physical, psychological, timing or a combination. I think that’s the case with Polley.

 

[gtcam]

It was MUCH more than RJ missing the 2 FTs
1. The defensive intensity, defensive execution and the defensive team on the floor during the final 3 Creighton offensive possessions in regulation was horrible
2. There was absolutely zero offensive organization or off the ball movement 90% of the game for UConn. I find it so hard to believe that Dan Hurley, as a former PG, has yet to exhibit any attempt to run plays beyond the basic weave that looks fancy the first 2 minutes of each half. Too much standing and watching by all players who don't have the ball in their hands. Maybe he needs to hire an offensive minded assistant.
3. Substitution patterns are head scratching at best.
4. At least Dan Hurley is consistent at one thing - he loves to get refs pissed at him and put on a sideline show
5. Bouk is an amazing offensive player and is a joy to watch when he decides he wants to be the man - he needs to be more like Bazz and Kemba - demand the ball, keep moving, look at an opportunity to score first or make an effective pass. His defense at times today was really good. The team feeds off of him - he needs to be the leader - not RJ
6. Whalley is getting back to last year's second half season form - his intensity is fantastic. Uconn needs a healthy Whalley who commits less fouls (there were 2 calls on him that were very questionable.) I thought Josh had some very good minutes today.
7. Point Guard - or shall we say what point guard? RJ is not a distributor and Gaff has gotten so slow that I wonder if he has reproduced Josh's junior year issues with too much weight on the chassis.
8. I am so impressed with Sonano - wonder why he wasn't in there when Whalley fouled out
9. Martin is a physical freak and has the intensity needed on this team - if he could just make better basketball decisions.
10. Lastly, I am disappointed in the result but I am encouraged that UConn held Creighton in check and played them evenly after the long layoff. It was not easy to have your first conference game vs, that team.
CONGRATS Bouk on the 40 pts
Happy Holidays to all!!!!

 

[Chief00]

Let’s be fair, I said the other players got their confidence off of James - and that “Josh had some good moments”. Focus on moments.

Quite frankly, if I used a high standard, James would be the only guy, I had anything positive to say about. Yet, we took Creighton to OT.

 

[Chief00]

The was confounding. How the ball isn’t in his hands 80% of the time at the end is beyond me. Just mind boggling how Dan Hurley is so unaware of real time situational basketball.

Fair points. We had the wrong guys playing hero ball at the end.

 

[bendm]

You get to play a number 9 team in conference, right out of the blocks. Welcome back.

so as an unbiased third party, who do you think will finish last in the BE this year? UConn, DePaul, or St. John's? cause after today's embarrassing blowout loss to the likes of Creighton i'd be surprised if we won another game all season.

 

[pj]

Hurley’s coaching boggles me, or whoever is responsible for this offense. This isn’t a rec league in the 70’s, the weave offense doesn’t fool anyone. You can mix it in, but it should NEVER be the go to. The only reason it looked okay in the early 2nd half was because we have an all american who makes tough shots like its his job.

I have a feeling that Hurley like Calhoun focuses on defense in the early-season practices, and the offense doesn't necessarily get into shape until the end of January. Add in the loss of practice time from the COVID stoppages, and it's not too surprising the offense sputtered.

Give them some practice time and things will get better.

 

[Chief00]

I have a feeling that Hurley like Calhoun focuses on defense in the early-season practices, and the offense doesn't necessarily get into shape until the end of January. Add in the loss of practice time from the COVID stoppages, and it's not too surprising the offense sputtered.

Give them some practice time and things will get better.

Given the compressed and unpredictable season, it will be challenging integrating two players back into the mix, who may or may not be ready.

 

[my2cents]

It was MUCH more than RJ missing the 2 FTs
1. The defensive intensity, defensive execution and the defensive team on the floor during the final 3 Creighton offensive possessions in regulation was horrible
2. There was absolutely zero offensive organization or off the ball movement 90% of the game for UConn. I find it so hard to believe that Dan Hurley, as a former PG, has yet to exhibit any attempt to run plays beyond the basic weave that looks fancy the first 2 minutes of each half. Too much standing and watching by all players who don't have the ball in their hands. Maybe he needs to hire an offensive minded assistant.
3. Substitution patterns are head scratching at best.
4. At least Dan Hurley is consistent at one thing - he loves to get refs pissed at him and put on a sideline show
5. Bouk is an amazing offensive player and is a joy to watch when he decides he wants to be the man - he needs to be more like Bazz and Kemba - demand the ball, keep moving, look at an opportunity to score first or make an effective pass. His defense at times today was really good. The team feeds off of him - he needs to be the leader - not RJ
6. Whalley is getting back to last year's second half season form - his intensity is fantastic. Uconn needs a healthy Whalley who commits less fouls (there were 2 calls on him that were very questionable.) I thought Josh had some very good minutes today.
7. Point Guard - or shall we say what point guard? RJ is not a distributor and Gaff has gotten so slow that I wonder if he has reproduced Josh's junior year issues with too much weight on the chassis.
8. I am so impressed with Sonano - wonder why he wasn't in there when Whalley fouled out
9. Martin is a physical freak and has the intensity needed on this team - if he could just make better basketball decisions.
10. Lastly, I am disappointed in the result but I am encouraged that UConn held Creighton in check and played them evenly after the long layoff. It was not easy to have your first conference game vs, that team.
CONGRATS Bouk on the 40 pts
Happy Holidays to all!!!!

you took the words right out of my mouth

 

[Zissou]

so as an unbiased third party, who do you think will finish last in the BE this year? UConn, DePaul, or St. John's? cause after today's embarrassing blowout loss to the likes of Creighton i'd be surprised if we won another game all season.

UConn played pretty well against a good Creighton team. I think the predictions for UConn at the beginning of the season at fourth or fifth is about right.

DePaul gets the bottom pick until they prove anyone wrong.

 

[Chief00]

UConn played pretty well against a good Creighton team. I think the predictions for UConn at the beginning of the season at fourth or fifth is about right.

DePaul gets the bottom pick until they prove anyone wrong.

The thing that hurts us right now is bad shooting.

 

[Chief00]

Your last sentence says it all. We can't depend on James to get 40 for us every game. I hope Polley gets back to last years form soon.

It was one of those games, that was ours to win in regulation and to lose in OT. As bad as Cole’s two missed foul shots were the unmolested layup was worse. I understand the desire not to foul but a more experience team would understand the objective is to slow them down bringing the ball up the court. Maybe, we just don’t have the guys this year, who could do that?
The other thing Chief noticed, was how much an inability to shoot is holding back Jackson’s minutes.

 

[mauconnfan]

I've watched multiple college games and time and time again I see teams struggle against the zone. Not saying we should play a lot of it at all, just saying with our guards not being able to keep themselves between their man and the basket, they put too much pressure on our big men to leave and defend a guard also relating to their foul trouble. The occasional call for zone would be a nice thing to see just for a change, and it may even work here and there.

 

[Zissou]

The thing that hurts us right now is bad shooting.

And bad timing for the bad shooting.

There is also an intangible for winning in crunch time. UConn teams had that with JC. It’s a struggle for young teams to find that. I trust Dan Hurley is building that intangible.

You can play a better ranked team even until the final stretch, but that final hurdle of having game winners is critical.

 

[BParkDog]

This is one of the Bird stories Chief likes to tell the young fella’s.

That diacritical mark that you keep using. I do not think it means what you think it means.

@Hans Sprungfeld

 

[Chief00]

That diacritical mark that you keep using. I do not think it means what you think it means.

@Hans Sprungfeld

I will defer to you dudes on diacritical marks. That topic did not come up often where Chief grew up.