Chief’s Briefs - DePaul 2 Edition

[GetTheFacts]

I could not be more impressed with their on-ball perimeter defense. Cole and Adams are both lockdown defenders on the outside, and with Whaley coming up in PnR situations, they are elite. Seriously the best defensive lineup I've seen at UConn since 2014. Only thing is, Whaley gets bullied a little bit inside the paint.

I'm still waiting for Cole to find more of a rhythm on the offensive end. I don't care that it was against lower-competition, the guy still scored 1,500 in two seasons. That is extremely impressive and I'm still optimistic that he will emerge as another viable scoring threat.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hurley's response came kind of late, but it was to get Martin the ball inside the 3 point line. It had a lot of success and I think it's something that we're going to utilize more moving forward, even when Bouknight comes back.

Yes, Martin was effectively our PG the last 3-4 minutes. He brought it up and was in the up top center position. When he's in as a 3 or 4, there's a good chance he can take his man off the dribble, which he did repeatedly. It's a skill Polley doesn't have, and both Cole and Gaff struggle against good perimeter defenders. Out weave is a pointless waste of time, as our our constant ball screens. I think the screens are a net negative most of the time, as they lead to double teams and we rarely get the ball to whoever is open.

The best option is to have our 5 posting up, occupying a defender, then if we penetrate he screens that post defender inside.

 

[Improviser]

Yes, Martin was effectively our PG the last 3-4 minutes. He brought it up and was in the up top center position. When he's in as a 3 or 4, there's a good chance he can take his man off the dribble, which he did repeatedly. It's a skill Polley doesn't have, and both Cole and Gaff struggle against good perimeter defenders. Out weave is a pointless waste of time, as our our constant ball screens. I think the screens are a net negative most of the time, as they lead to double teams and we rarely get the ball to whoever is open.

The best option is to have our 5 posting up, occupying a defender, then if we penetrate he screens that post defender inside.

I agree that the weave wastes time.

I like Polley's handle and I think if he is guarded outside by a 3 or 4, that he can occasionally beat his man off the dribble and drive to the basket. I would like to see him try it.

I also think I have seen him occasionally (after an infrequent rebound) dribble from the backcourt and bring it into the frontcourt. Assuming the other team is not guarding in the backcourt, why not have him dribble the ball into the frontcourt, and then shoot a 3 if he is not closely guarded, or throw a quick pass to a guard who throws it back to him and let him shoot.

Years ago, on a not great UConn team, Gary Custick was a shooting forward who regularly brought the ball into the frontcourt. Polley seems better than Custick if anyone remembers Custick.

Obviously, this strategy will not work if Polley is closely guarded in the backcourt when UConn is trying to bring the ball up the floor from the backcourt.

 

[imno1]

Less Cole and Gaffney together, please.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yes, Martin was effectively our PG the last 3-4 minutes. He brought it up and was in the up top center position. When he's in as a 3 or 4, there's a good chance he can take his man off the dribble, which he did repeatedly. It's a skill Polley doesn't have, and both Cole and Gaff struggle against good perimeter defenders. Out weave is a pointless waste of time, as our our constant ball screens. I think the screens are a net negative most of the time, as they lead to double teams and we rarely get the ball to whoever is open.

The best option is to have our 5 posting up, occupying a defender, then if we penetrate he screens that post defender inside.

I agree that the weave wastes time.

I like Polley's handle and I think if he is guarded outside by a 3 or 4, that he can occasionally beat his man off the dribble and drive to the basket. I would like to see him try it.

I also think I have seen him occasionally (after an infrequent rebound) dribble from the backcourt and bring it into the frontcourt. Assuming the other team is not guarding in the backcourt, why not have him dribble the ball into the frontcourt, and then shoot a 3 if he is not closely guarded, or throw a quick pass to a guard who throws it back to him and let him shoot.

Years ago, on a not great UConn team, Gary Custick was a shooting forward who regularly brought the ball into the frontcourt. Polley seems better than Custick if anyone remembers Custick.

Obviously, this strategy will not work if Polley is closely guarded in the backcourt when UConn is trying to bring the ball up the floor from the backcourt.

I'll split hairs. The weave isn't a waste of time if done correctly. It's basically some motion to try and get a switch from the defense setting a mismatch for the Huskies offensive sets. They're basically moving around trying to get a switch and then based on the switch run a set to exploit the mismatch.

Problem is what you two have pointed it out. The players aren't running it effectively so the switch/mismatch doesn't occur.

If I'm a betting man, which I'm not, I'd suggest Hurley work on improving the efficiency of the weave rather than going to a new offense.

 

[Rico444]

I'll split hairs. The weave isn't a waste of time if done correctly. It's basically some motion to try and get a switch from the defense setting a mismatch for the Huskies offensive sets. They're basically moving around trying to get a switch and then based on the switch run a set to exploit the mismatch.

Problem is what you two have pointed it out. The players aren't running it effectively so the switch/mismatch doesn't occur.

If I'm a betting man, which I'm not, I'd suggest Hurley work on improving the efficiency of the weave rather than going to a new offense.

Not to mention we played with two bigs on the floor for almost the entire game, which means the lane is more clogged and it's going to be harder to capitalize on a mismatch since it's harder to take your man off the dribble and get an easy layup with the lane clogged.

 

[freescooter]

Alas I missed this game and somehow or other didn’t record it either. But good win if against an awful team. The 3 game road trip was good in that we got 3 wins and Polley emerged as a legit scorer. Last year’s Whaley returned to the lineup. Long road trips can be tough but at least we played 2 pretty bad teams so that made it less challenging The Marquette win was a good one and it was good that we played them first. A tired injured team might not have come back down a bunch... just said let’s get out of town. That game was significant. The other two fall into the category of “should wins” and we did so that was good to see.

 

[UconnU]

A couple more thoughts after watching the replay.

- Martin should just dunk the ball. A lot of these point blank lays at the rim are dunkable for an athlete of his caliber.

- Polley needs to use the shot fake to draw fouls if they’re going to play him this tight.

- we’re still not a super developed team offensively. There are only a handful of sets we run. ie. Martin post ups, Polley/Martin off staggered screen. Teams like Nova and Creighton run plays on every possession in the half court and have a much wider playbook.

- We have to be the best team in the country at deflecting balls. Everyone on our team does it well. Part of it is just our activity level on defense.

- DePaul ran out of gas. I’m talking like stalled in the middle of the highway. They may have had to forfeit had it gone any longer.

- Paulicap was a big loss for them when he fouled out. They don’t have too many options underneath. Game totally changed after he went out.

 

[Husky25]

A couple more thoughts after watching the replay.

- Martin should just dunk the ball. A lot of these point blank lays at the rim are dunkable for an athlete of his caliber.

Same for Carlton. You're 6'-10". Go up strong.

 

[pepband99]

Same for Carlton. You're 6'-10". Go up strong.

The "up" part of that is the issue, not the strong.

 

[Husky25]

The "up" part of that is the issue, not the strong.

True. Outside of Phil Michelson, I've haven't seen an athlete (If you describe Phil as such) so vertically challenged. Particularly at 6'-10".

 

[Dove]

Chief00: "...Martin had a very good game but still needs to work at finishing around the rim. Chief needs to study better the reasons for that deficiency. It’s not readily apparent. He’s strong, has fairly long arms and plays aggressive. It may be a mental matter of concentration..."

Chief getting to work on figuring out Martin’s layup “yips”

This gets an LOL from me, dawg.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Tyrese looked gassed at the end, but he powered through.

He also appeared to have an edge or chippyness with some of the DePaul players - which I loved!

 

[husky429]

- we’re still not a super developed team offensively. There are only a handful of sets we run. ie. Martin post ups, Polley/Martin off staggered screen. Teams like Nova and Creighton run plays on every possession in the half court and have a much wider playbook.

I agree our playbook is definitely not deep enough. Hurley has some fantastic sets, but we don't run the basic, simple stuff with precision very often. But Nova isn't running "plays" every time down the court, they're running actions. Slightly different, but an important distinction and one I'd like to see us steal from a bit.

For example, in broken plays 'Nova is ridiculously disciplined with their secondary cutters when a driver gets stopped around the foul line--the always know exactly who is required to cut. It manifests itself looking like a "set play" but it's really just reactions to what the ball does.

 

[Improviser]

I have a question on the portion of the comment , that I never considered before.

"Polley needs to use the shot fake to draw fouls if they’re going to play him this tight."

Is a foul on a shot fake, considered "in the act of shooting," meaning is the fake itself considered" being in the act of shooting?"

In other words, must the ball actually be out of the hands of the shooter or is the fake enough even though the ball never leaves his hands?

 

[UCSouth]

Glad you put in your 2 cents!

I think that he needs a refund.

 

[UCSouth]

The weave is driving me crazy. Someone explain to me where the shots are supposed to come from? There are no cutters, no screen and roll to the basket, no screening away. Big men catch the ball up top never square up to the basket. Occasionally we'll get a slip screen from Whaley but the ball rarely gets passed to him. It seems like it is designed as an equal opportunity offense but no one ever seems to be in position to take advantage of it. I know a lot of teams start with some screening action up top, ours just seems to last for the majority of the shot clock. Btw, I'm happy we won the game.

It's a hypnosis thing. They're trying to put the other team to sleep.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I have a question on the portion of the comment , that I never considered before.

"Polley needs to use the shot fake to draw fouls if they’re going to play him this tight."

Is a foul on a shot fake, considered "in the act of shooting," meaning is the fake itself considered" being in the act of shooting?"

In other words, must the ball actually be out of the hands of the shooter or is the fake enough even though the ball never leaves his hands?

'in the act of shooting' is a zebra judgement call. so, the only correct answer is 'yes, no, maybe.' im guessin if the ball is above the players shoulders when the hack occurs, the chances for calling a shooting foul are higher. if it's on a drive, prolly less so.

 

[Get a Job]

I have a question on the portion of the comment , that I never considered before.

"Polley needs to use the shot fake to draw fouls if they’re going to play him this tight."

Is a foul on a shot fake, considered "in the act of shooting," meaning is the fake itself considered" being in the act of shooting?"

In other words, must the ball actually be out of the hands of the shooter or is the fake enough even though the ball never leaves his hands?

I don't know nothing about nothing, so, firstly, I don't know the answer to your question (although I think if the ref thinks it's a fake, it would not be an act-of-shooting foul). But secondly, I think the OP was referring to using a shot fake to get the defender up in the air, and then shooting, thus drawing a foul that is unquestionably during the act of shooting.

 

[Husky25]

I have a question on the portion of the comment , that I never considered before.

"Polley needs to use the shot fake to draw fouls if they’re going to play him this tight."

Is a foul on a shot fake, considered "in the act of shooting," meaning is the fake itself considered" being in the act of shooting?"

In other words, must the ball actually be out of the hands of the shooter or is the fake enough even though the ball never leaves his hands?

Most players at this level know to let go of the ball and act it up on a hack even if they intended to fake in an attempt to draw the shooting foul. At the end of the day, it is at the ref's discretion.

 

[Improviser]

I don't know nothing about nothing, so, firstly, I don't know the answer to your question (although I think if the ref thinks it's a fake, it would not be an act-of-shooting foul). But secondly, I think the OP was referring to using a shot fake to get the defender up in the air, and then shooting, thus drawing a foul that is unquestionably during the act of shooting.

Okay. If the shooter tried to sell it by complaining to the Ref, "He won't let me get a shot off," maybe that will help.

Interesting answer, though.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Martin had a very good game but still needs to work at finishing around the rim. Chief needs to study better the reasons for that deficiency. It’s not readily apparent. He’s strong, has fairly long arms and plays aggressive. It may be a mental matter of concentration.

It seems a lot of his shots bounce on the rim a couple times before falling either in or out. I believe these shots that are a little of line are the result of inadequate focus. Players shooting at the rim in a general way instead of picking a spot at which to aim. Also i believe it's more common with front rim shooters than back rim shooters.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Secondly, they need to cut down on unnecessary turnovers/possessions in transition. If a layup isn’t there, we need to hunt Polley for 3s, he’s deadly in transition. All in all, take the win and move on. Certainly happy to get another win.

On the other hand, we need to force it to Polley less in transition. There was one sequence where we had a 4 on 3 break, Cole or Gaffney was obviously trying to set up a handoff to Polley instead of attacking the rim, gave it to him with a defender all over, rushed the 3, missed, and DePaul came down and hit a 3 of their own for a 5-point swing.

Kickouts to Polley need to come in the flow of the offense, not through "hunting" shots.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I get the impression people think Martin a much better caliber of athlete than he actually is.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This board is so freaking weird.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Hope we run more O by throwing it to the elbow/top of the key. They did this w/ Bouk & then a few times with Martin at the end of the game. These sets seems to be where we get all our penetration from. If we can get in the lane and kick out to shooters like Martin did to Cole, hopefully we’ll be able to get better looks.

 

[Umami Zen]

This board is so freaking weird.

I'm hearing your noise Ern.. I really am

 

[HHusky]

I have to say that some of the difference between DePaul game 1 and DePaul game 2 is probably the adjustments made by our own and now Depaul's Dave Leitao. He got them to outshoot us from the field and stripe and outboard us. They definitely were way better than game 1. Shout out to Dave!

 

[gtcam]

1. The defense tenacity of this team is impressive
2. The PG play is horrible. Yeah Cole hit a big 3 but overall his game reflected what most here slewed AG without a decent handle and occasional great vision. Would love to know how he averaged 20 pts p/g at Howard. Maybe Dan Hurley should turn down Dad's advice once in a while. Gaff is too slow and looks very unsure of himself.
3. Don't know how much longer the team can survive without Bouk, however, at least developing all these role players will pay dividends over the long haul
4. Polley saw what a bit of attention does to his game. He needs to become mobile on the offense and drive to the hoop more. His D and rebounding needs work- that hasn't changed.
5. Martin is a banger and it is important that UConn has a player of his size with speed and hops. He does miss bunnies but makes up for it- I was a bit unsure of him at the start but not now.
6, This team CANNOT afford to play Gaff and Cole at the same time. When Dan Hurley plays that lineup everything slows down offensively- way too much east/west movement and opposing guards drive to the hoop effectively on them. I don't understand why Dan Hurley can't see this.
7. Why is UConn saving Time Outs? Can they cash them in for cash at the end of the season?
8. Whalley is essential and needs to stay out of foul trouble - the game changes to the bad when he is sitting. 9. It was an ugly win - but - there are going to be a lot of these in the NBE
10. This 7 day layoff will help the team, especially Bouk
Too many worry about rankings - too early for that - I look for improvement and when March rolls along this team can be dangerous

 

[Chief00]

1. The defense tenacity of this team is impressive
2. The PG play is horrible. Yeah Cole hit a big 3 but overall his game reflected what most here slewed AG without a decent handle and occasional great vision. Would love to know how he averaged 20 pts p/g at Howard. Maybe Dan Hurley should turn down Dad's advice once in a while. Gaff is too slow and looks very unsure of himself.
3. Don't know how much longer the team can survive without Bouk, however, at least developing all these role players will pay dividends over the long haul
4. Polley saw what a bit of attention does to his game. He needs to become mobile on the offense and drive to the hoop more. His D and rebounding needs work- that hasn't changed.
5. Martin is a banger and it is important that UConn has a player of his size with speed and hops. He does miss bunnies but makes up for it- I was a bit unsure of him at the start but not now.
6, This team CANNOT afford to play Gaff and Cole at the same time. When Dan Hurley plays that lineup everything slows down offensively- way too much east/west movement and opposing guards drive to the hoop effectively on them. I don't understand why Dan Hurley can't see this.
7. Why is UConn saving Time Outs? Can they cash them in for cash at the end of the season?
8. Whalley is essential and needs to stay out of foul trouble - the game changes to the bad when he is sitting. 9. It was an ugly win - but - there are going to be a lot of these in the NBE
10. This 7 day layoff will help the team, especially Bouk
Too many worry about rankings - too early for that - I look for improvement and when March rolls along this team can be dangerous

Agree with almost all of your points. A quick Bouknight recovery is key.