Chief’s Briefs - Drexel Edition

[Scrutineer]

The announcers on SNY said UConn had its sixth game of 90 or better already this year while it only had three total for the past two years.

 

[Chief00]

Chief liked the reduction in turnovers and three point shooting. Against a good team I still see vulnerability on the Big switches but the Bigs aren’t exaggeratedly jumping past the screens leaving their man open as often. There have been adjustments with the guards staying with their man more but Chief’s eye still sees holes that a polish and talented team can exploit.
Gilbert’s shot distribution - what’s the right balance between threes, penetrations and mid range? Chief thinks 3’s should be around 35% of his shots. The rest I am still analyzing. He is using the bounce pass more when previous it would end in a tough over penetration attempt. Keep going back to people assuming he played PG in HS due to his size and he didn’t - so it’s realistic to expect lots of improvement if he stays injury free.
#Chief24/7AfterHours

 

[scotty0330]

Glad you noticed Cobb in good spirits even though his role was limited. We need him to be focused on helping out offensively and defensively vs the bigger bodies that we’ll be facing soon. Honestly, a rotation of him and Yakwe could fare well vs just about any team with stronger bigs that we’ll face the rest of the season. Carlton will probably still get the starts and some time/experience, but until he can get tougher, we need to lean on Cobb/Yakwe

I have actually noticed that all season about Cobb. Same could be said for him in Manhattan game where he was cheering on his teammates, doing and impromptu high five trip down the bench and he wasn’t even playing. It’s like the whole Hurley regime is a breath of fresh air and he was able to hit the reset button.

 

[huskyrob1]

Is Cobb though the type of player who can just turn on a switch. True, he played well in 2 of the 4 major games we have played. But can he turn it on after sitting most of the previous game?

I think he can. Offensively he has the skills around the basket to battle with other bigs. If I were Hurley, I'd make him shoot foul shots all day.

 

[August_West]

the wifi must be good

That happens when you are only competing with 4000 other fans.
When XL is full service sucks.

 

[Vancat]

I will echo what others said- was really glad to see Cobb's demeanor.. and MAN, Sidney is electric! My new favorite player!

 

[Peacefrog]

I don’t want to kill the mood of a primarily positive thread but looking at the box score, we allowed offensive rebounds on half of their misses. That’s really terrible. I couldn’t get the game down here, were there a lot of crazy bounces off missed 3’s? Did we get outworked?

 

[Marat]

I don’t want to kill the mood of a primarily positive thread but looking at the box score, we allowed offensive rebounds on half of their misses. That’s really terrible. I couldn’t get the game down here, were there a lot of crazy bounces off missed 3’s? Did we get outworked?

It was like a combination of everything, but I noticed quite a few times they were going for blocks on help (2 defenders) and leaving their man open under the basket.

 

[Palatine]

Missing the early season did Sid no favors. He plays like raw freshman. He needs to grow up fast for us to make noise in conference.

His athletic talent is undeniable.

 

[HanDurley]

Still not sure how I feel about Yakwe. I love his blocking and offensive rebounding ability. It seems that whenever he does get an offensive board, he thinks that he automatically has to go right back up with a rushed contested little hook. Would like to see him kick it out for an added possession. Regardless, the best thing I like about him might be his name, screaming "Yakweeeeee" every time he does something good.

 

[Huskybass]

I don’t want to kill the mood of a primarily positive thread but looking at the box score, we allowed offensive rebounds on half of their misses. That’s really terrible. I couldn’t get the game down here, were there a lot of crazy bounces off missed 3’s? Did we get outworked?

It was a 35 point win. Total domination. Scrutinizing certain statistics in a game that was decided with 15 minutes left to play is essentially pointless.

 

[Peacefrog]

It was a 35 point win. Total domination. Scrutinizing certain statistics in a game that was decided with 15 minutes left to play is essentially pointless.

Why is it pointless? We lost the rebounding battle and got killed on the offensive boards by a lesser team so maybe it wasn't "total" domination but just "partial" domination. Again, I didn't get to see the game and maybe the rebounding performance was an outlier but I would guess a good coach like Hurley wouldn't just brush aside a startling statistic like that. Destroying a bad team doesn't mean there aren't learning/teaching opportunities.

 

[Horatio]

TS looked like a different player tonight, he must have read the BY after the last game

Hold up!!! We have a TS on the team now. Times have definitely changed.

 

[spudzj6]

It was a 35 point win. Total domination. Scrutinizing certain statistics in a game that was decided with 15 minutes left to play is essentially pointless.

As Peacefrog just said, you can still have "teaching points" from a blow out win. Champions are never satisfied with good. In my eyes it wasn't a total domination if you get beat on the offensive boards. Drexel realized that we had 2-3 guys going up to protect the rim on every shot towards the middle of the second half, and started to camp their guys on the weak side for the rebound. You do that vs Nova or in conference play, NOT up 30, you wont win games. Also need to be improving, even in a blow out.

 

[Huskybass]

Why is it pointless? We lost the rebounding battle and got killed on the offensive boards by a lesser team so maybe it wasn't "total" domination but just "partial" domination. Again, I didn't get to see the game and maybe the rebounding performance was an outlier but I would guess a good coach like Hurley wouldn't just brush aside a startling statistic like that. Destroying a bad team doesn't mean there aren't learning/teaching opportunities.

I watched the game. You didn't. At no point did I ever feel that there were rebounding issues. There are always going to be some areas for improvement, but I doubt anyone who attended or watched the game on TV came away thinking the rebounding was lacking. UConn played very well, especially on defense after the first few minutes. Nitpicking some meaningless statistic after a 35 point win just isn't the same as the analysis of a real tight game.

 

[Peacefrog]

I watched the game. You didn't. At no point did I ever feel that there were rebounding issues. There are always going to be some areas for improvement, but I doubt anyone who attended or watched the game on TV came away thinking the rebounding was lacking. UConn played very well, especially on defense after the first few minutes. Nitpicking some meaningless statistic after a 35 point win just isn't the same as the analysis of a real tight game.

Well, outside of your last sentence, this would have been a perfectly good response to my question. See Marat's response for a little constructive guidance; keep trying. I asked a legitimate question that invited a legitimate response which you did not provide.

 

[Huskybass]

Well, outside of your last sentence, this would have been a perfectly good response to my question. See Marat's response for a little constructive guidance; keep trying. I asked a legitimate question that invited a legitimate response which you did not provide.

It simply was not the "issue" you seem to have concluded it was by simply looking at the box score. UConn won the first half by 15 points and the second half by 17 points. At no time did it appear that UConn's rebounding was inferior to the point where it would impact the result whatsoever. In fact, I'm pretty sure UConn outrebounded Drexel overall. Rebounding was a non issue.

 

[Son of Robert]

Is Cobb though the type of player who can just turn on a switch. True, he played well in 2 of the 4 major games we have played. But can he turn it on after sitting most of the previous game?

I'm betting the coaching staff thinks so otherwise they would be keeping him warm. I think Eric's confidence is high and better yet he's invested this year. There are things Cobb can get better at in the post i.e. rebounding and defense, but I think he can score the ball against any team's bigs. He may struggle with tall, athletic shot blockers down low, but practicing against Akok 2nd semester should help him figure it out.

 

[Peacefrog]

It simply was not the "issue" you seem to have concluded it was by simply looking at the box score. UConn won the first half by 15 points and the second half by 17 points. At no time did it appear that UConn's rebounding was inferior to the point where it would impact the result whatsoever. In fact, I'm pretty sure UConn outrebounded Drexel overall. Rebounding was a non issue.

Sheesh, really? I clearly didn't conclude anything. And you're wrong, UConn got outrebounded in this one. You're coming off a bit casual fan-ish. Casuals only see the superficial end result while the true fan is detail-oriented and nothing escapes their discerning gaze. My first attempt channeling my inner Chief. I hope I pulled it off.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

As Peacefrog just said, you can still have "teaching points" from a blow out win. Champions are never satisfied with good. In my eyes it wasn't a total domination if you get beat on the offensive boards. Drexel realized that we had 2-3 guys going up to protect the rim on every shot towards the middle of the second half, and started to camp their guys on the weak side for the rebound. You do that vs Nova or in conference play, NOT up 30, you wont win games. Also need to be improving, even in a blow out.

You watched that game and in your eyes it wasn't a "total domination"?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Sheesh, really? I clearly didn't conclude anything. And you're wrong, UConn got outrebounded in this one. You're coming off a bit casual fan-ish. Casuals only see the superficial end result while the true fan is detail-oriented and nothing escapes their discerning gaze. My first attempt channeling my inner Chief. I hope I pulled it off.

You did not.

 

[Chief00]

Sheesh, really? My first attempt channeling my inner Chief. I hope I pulled it off.

Agree and no.

 

[pj]

As Peacefrog just said, you can still have "teaching points" from a blow out win. Champions are never satisfied with good. In my eyes it wasn't a total domination if you get beat on the offensive boards. Drexel realized that we had 2-3 guys going up to protect the rim on every shot towards the middle of the second half, and started to camp their guys on the weak side for the rebound. You do that vs Nova or in conference play, NOT up 30, you wont win games. Also need to be improving, even in a blow out.

The problem with this point of view is that a team can always try to win some statistical category other than points. If a team tries to win "offensive rebounds" by sending 5 to the glass and gives up 20 transition points for every 6 points they make off offensive rebounds, then you will gladly let them win the offensive rebounding contest in exchange for you winning the points contest by 32 points.

So, you can't judge performance based on a single secondary stat. It is too strongly impacted by style of play. You have to observe the actual game and judge whether UConn players executed the things they were trying to accomplish. If UConn's strategy was defensive rebounding with 2 guys, having one ready to receive the outlet, and leaking 2 for the fast break, and Drexel's strategy was crashing the offensive glass, then you have to judge the players on whether they executed their strategy well, and the coaches on whether that was the right strategy.

 

[Peacefrog]

Agree and no.

Alas, there is but one Chief.

 

[Chief00]

Alas, there is but one Chief.

Just kidding - Enjoy the Holidays.