Chief’s Briefs - Florida Edition

[Chief00]

When your top two guys off the bench give you a combine 75% shooting (12/16) for 27 points over 39 minutes, you know you have a lot of answers. Donovan Clingan and Joey California did that tonight.

Couple that with solid starter minutes from our Big Three (Sanogo, Hawkins & Jackson) and good defense against poor shooting and we got yet another 20 point type win against a big name school.

A weakness tonight was the realization that we sometimes lack a traditional point guard. Newton had 3 assist but 5 turnovers and nor did he give us much scoring. However, the assists by committee seem to work with Jackson (4 assists, 0 to’s ), Hawkins (3 assists) and Diarra/Joey C (4 assists combined). Compare our 16 assists and 52% shooting against FL paltry 6 assists and 30% shooting and one realizes overall we got the ball to where it needed to go. We also defended. 89% foul shooting is part of a winning formula too.

Sanogo though continue not to have the inside out passing identification that we would like him to have. As Adama had 1 assist and 3 turnovers.

Three positional strengths are clear with this team:
1) Regardless of whatever you want to call Sanogo for draft reasons, with Sanogo and Clingan, we have the top center position in the country. Tonight we had 33 points (72% FG%) , 15 rebounds and 4 blocks combined. In my World that’s huge, no matter how trendy it is to have how many guys play outside. Dominating the paint still wins games!!!

2) Hawkins, Joey C, Newton and Karaban give us either the 3 point threat or production that we have needed to keep defenses honest.

3) Andre Jackson - What do I have to do tonight for us to win? Tonight it was dominant defense FL (30% FG), good ball movement/security (4 assists, 0 turnovers) and even 2 for 5. (40%) from the 3 line. Then who tied tonight for being our top rebounder? Andre Jackson at 8 rebounds.

Going 10-0 tonight on 12/7 and having played and won our top 5 out of conference games, it is clearly time to celebrate our good fortunate as fans following such a unique and successful team. More on that later today.
Good night.

 

[CL82]

Nice game summary Chief. Agree regarding your point about our big man play. Is this the best 1-2 punch we’ve ever had out of the five? Emeka was an amazing dominant player, but the combination of Sanogo and Clingan is inventing and so hard to defend. I have to believe that banging away against each other at practice is making each of them into Into better players.

Jackson going 2-5 from deep is so impactful. How often have we said the Jackson just needs to be good enough from three to force people to guard him. He delivered that last night. His athleticism and court vision allows him to impact the game without scoring, but hitting the open three makes people guard him out to the line, opening up the paint. I love to see him drive by defenders and take it to the hole more.

This x x is a fun team to watch. As long as they keep up the same intensity and focus we are going to be incredibly tough to beat.

 

[Chief00]

Nice game summary Chief. Agree regarding your point about our big man play. Is this the best 1-2 punch we’ve ever had out of the five? Emeka was an amazing dominant player, but the combination of Sanogo and Clingan is inventing and so hard to defend. I have to believe that banging away against each other at practice is making each of them into Into better players.

Jackson going 2-5 from deep is so impactful. How often have we said the Jackson just needs to be good enough from three to force people to guard him. He delivered that last night. His athleticism and court vision allows him to impact the game without scoring, but hitting the open three makes people guard him out to the line, opening up the paint. I love to see him drive by defenders and take it to the hole more.

This x x is a fun team to watch. As long as they keep up the same intensity and focus we are going to be incredibly tough to beat.

Thanks and it is an amazing 1-2 Bigs torture chamber down low. Sometimes people don’t fully appreciate the wind it takes out of the opponents sails. Yes, Andre dails up winning. Having zero turnovers and his 2 threes shows he’s working at areas he needs to improve in.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Given our depth at 2 through 5, we are able to mask our deficiencies at the 1 so far. I believe TN will have more good days than bad. HD has the dawg in him but drives me crazy with his decision making at times. AJ is a quality filler who can run the 1. Waiting for AJ to attack the rim and put down a thunderous dunk. Maybe his early season injury makes him hesitate. JC is a great pick up. He seems to be having a lot of fun out there. I am beginning to wonder if NA fits with this team's chemistry. When SJ is healthy I see him as #10 in the rotation.

 

[Chief00]

Given our depth at 2 through 5, we are able to mask our deficiencies at the 1 so far. I believe TN will have more good days than bad. HD has the dawg in him but drives me crazy with his decision making at times. AJ is a quality filler who can run the 1. Waiting for AJ to attack the rim and put down a thunderous dunk. Maybe his early season injury makes him hesitate. JC is a great pick up. He seems to be having a lot of fun out there. I am beginning to wonder if NA fits with this team's chemistry. When SJ is healthy I see him as #10 in the rotation.

I think Joey C may be even more of an answer than we think, given our paint domination, which lessens the downside to opponent’s posting him.

 

[ucp990411]

I think we are seeing the evolution of AJ becoming our point guard.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

The 15 TOs need to be cut, but it is tough to complain about much when they still win by 21. They completely controlled Florida from the tip and the game was never in question.

The only other negative I saw last night was the amount of times Jimmy Dykes said "ball." Definitely a good showing by the team when I start to take note of what the announcers are saying.

 

[Kitaman]

It really shows how Clingan is making Sanogo better, especially against taller Centers. Its a luxury for Sanogo to have a Unit to work his post moves on as well as defense. Just saying Sanogo will not be intimidated by size and it showed last night. He was dancing so much with the ball that Castleton was perpetually stuck in mud.

Of course Sanogo got Clingan D1 ready in less than half a season. I don't believe Clingan walked on campus D1 ready. This is really a remarkable situation we have and we are absolute nightmare for opponents to prepare for.

 

[Hoops91]

Good recap @Chief00 . A couple quick things to point out. I typically down make a big deal about the refs but there were so many ticky tack fouls last night. The refs did not help at all. The other point was the lack of replays of those fouls during the broadcast was ridiculous. So many times I wanted a second look at the foul calls and they never showed them.

With Sanago and Clingan on this team, the center position never get hurt by foul trouble - that’s huge and will be an asset all season!

 

[uconn_jack]

Sanogo though continue not to have the inside out passing identification that we would like him to have. As Adama had 1 assist and 3 turnovers.

Even that one kick out assist to Joey took him WAY too long, I was screaming at the TV. Joey had to have been wide open for like five seconds before Adama passed it out, and I can't believe he didn't see him well before that. The only reason he stayed open that long is because teams know he's a black hole once he gets the ball.

 

[Hankster]

Nice game summary Chief. Agree regarding your point about our big man play. Is this the best 1-2 punch we’ve ever had out of the five? Emeka was an amazing dominant player, but the combination of Sanogo and Clingan is inventing and so hard to defend. I have to believe that banging away against each other at practice is making each of them into Into better players.

Jackson going 2-5 from deep is so impactful. How often have we said the Jackson just needs to be good enough from three to force people to guard him. He delivered that last night. His athleticism and court vision allows him to impact the game without scoring, but hitting the open three makes people guard him out to the line, opening up the paint. I love to see him drive by defenders and take it to the hole more.

This x x is a fun team to watch. As long as they keep up the same intensity and focus we are going to be incredibly tough to beat.

What a luxury. "oh no Sanogo to the bench with foul trouble" "oh never mind, here comes Donovan' You can so that with other players also. When your big man goes out it use to be "gasp". Now,, no biggy.

 

[UConnJim]

My high quality concern with this team is that they are crushing opponents right now and they have not had to play a highly competitive game to prepare them for a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Maybe they are so good I shouldn't have to worry, but i would like to see the team compete in a close game to get the team ready. If the game is on the line late, who is on the court? Who takes the shot?

 

[MTBingNinja]

When your top two guys off the bench give you a combine 75% shooting (12/16) for 27 points over 39 minutes, you know you have a lot of answers. Donovan Clingan and Joey California did that tonight.

Couple that with solid starter minutes from our Big Three (Sanogo, Hawkins & Jackson) and good defense against poor shooting and we got yet another 20 point type win against a big name school.

A weakness tonight was the realization that we sometimes lack a traditional point guard. Newton had 3 assist but 5 turnovers and nor did he give us much scoring. However, the assists by committee seem to work with Jackson (4 assists, 0 to’s ), Hawkins (3 assists) and Diarra/Joey C (4 assists combined). Compare our 16 assists and 52% shooting against FL paltry 6 assists and 30% shooting and one realizes overall we got the ball to where it needed to go. We also defended. 89% foul shooting is part of a winning formula too.

Sanogo though continue not to have the inside out passing identification that we would like him to have. As Adama had 1 assist and 3 turnovers.

Three positional strengths are clear with this team:
1) Regardless of whatever you want to call Sanogo for draft reasons, with Sanogo and Clingan, we have the top center position in the country. Tonight we had 33 points (72% FG%) , 15 rebounds and 4 blocks combined. In my World that’s huge, no matter how trendy it is to have how many guys play outside. Dominating the paint still wins games!!!

2) Hawkins, Joey C, Newton and Karaban give us either the 3 point threat or production that we have needed to keep defenses honest.

3) Andre Jackson - What do I have to do tonight for us to win? Tonight it was dominant defense FL (30% FG), good ball movement/security (4 assists, 0 turnovers) and even 2 for 5. (40%) from the 3 line. Then who tied tonight for being our top rebounder? Andre Jackson at 8 rebounds.

Going 10-0 tonight on 12/7 and having played and won our top 5 out of conference games, it is clearly time to celebrate our good fortunate as fans following such a unique and successful team. More on that later today.
Good night.

Not a good game by Newton, starting to get worried a bit when he gets the ball. I like what you said though, maybe it’s PG by committee

But if we start falling behind a bit and start playing nervous, who’s the PG who's going to settle the team and help deliver that pass. I would say Action Jackson. Certainly not giving up on Newton, it may take a little time to get used to the speed of these opponents. It took Cole a bit of time. Newtons has the skill set. Winning fixes everything.

 

[Get a Job]

Newton had 3 assist but 5 turnovers and nor did he give us much scoring.

This sentence is an affront to the endeavor of written communication.

 

[CL82]

This sentence is an affront to the endeavor of written communication.

Shrugs, it’s the byproduct of a 15 minute limit on editing.

 

[bluestreak]

Even that one kick out assist to Joey took him WAY too long, I was screaming at the TV. Joey had to have been wide open for like five seconds before Adama passed it out, and I can't believe he didn't see him well before that. The only reason he stayed open that long is because teams know he's a black hole once he gets the ball.

He was not being doubled on that play. It seemed to me that Fla decided to let Castleton take him Mano a Mano and shut down the 3 point shots. Joey was open, but I don't remember seeing how close his defender was. Let's hope AS works toward more of that. I'll bet that is a subject visited in every practice.

 

[jake14mw]

My high quality concern with this team is that they are crushing opponents right now and they have not had to play a highly competitive game to prepare them for a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Maybe they are so good I shouldn't have to worry, but i would like to see the team compete in a close game to get the team ready. If the game is on the line late, who is on the court? Who takes the shot?

That's the crazy part... when we get into a situation where we need a bucket late, we can put 5 guys on the floor that can take that last shot. Most teams have two guys that you have to worry about in that situation.

 

[BIIIG]

My high quality concern with this team is that they are crushing opponents right now and they have not had to play a highly competitive game to prepare them for a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Maybe they are so good I shouldn't have to worry, but i would like to see the team compete in a close game to get the team ready. If the game is on the line late, who is on the court? Who takes the shot?

So now they're winning by too much? This board really will find something to complain about no matter what

 

[Mister P]

I’m hoping Johnson comes back from his injury sooner than later because we need more depth in the front court. Karaban, Sanogo and Clingan each picked up 2 fouls in the first half.
Donovan was inserted back in with 1 foul after Adama picked up his second foul with 5 or 6 minutes remaining in the half. He proceeded to pick up his second foul within a minute and remained in the game. Luckily, Donovan did not pick up a third foul before the half ended.

With league play coming up there will be tough, physical games where we need another big to give up fouls and spell Adama and Donovan.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

My high quality concern with this team is that they are crushing opponents right now and they have not had to play a highly competitive game to prepare them for a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

The team has been challenged. Remember the Alabama game was tied with 8.5 minutes after the Tide made a comeback. Then we outscored them 30-15 the rest of the way

I agree with the poster above that we could ask anyone to step up offensively in a close game. But the Defense is a constant that will almost always give this team the advantage down the stretch

 

[my2cents]

I think Joey C may be even more of an answer than we think, given our paint domination, which lessens the downside to opponent’s posting him.

I agree 100%. Getting the ball to Sanogo down low should be easier. The other team has to help because nobody can stop him 1 on 1. If Hawkins and Joey were on the perimeter on his side, when the help comes, he kicks it out for wide open threes. Pick your poison.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Nice game summary Chief. Agree regarding your point about our big man play. Is this the best 1-2 punch we’ve ever had out of the five? Emeka was an amazing dominant player, but the combination of Sanogo and Clingan is inventing and so hard to defend. I have to believe that banging away against each other at practice is making each of them into Into better players.

The Okafor / Boone 1-2 combo so far were the best shot blocking combination the Huskies have had - and both could score too, but I agree that the Sanago / Clingan is already impressive and so early in the season too. I imagine that they play each other in practice which builds both of their skills and awareness up - what a luxury!

 

[Chief00]

I agree 100%. Getting the ball to Sanogo down low should be easier. The other team has to help because nobody can stop him 1 on 1. If Hawkins and Joey were on the perimeter on his side, when the help comes, he kicks it out for wide open threes. Pick your poison.

The key this year is if Adama has the recognition to pass the ball out to the shooter, while the double is coming but hasn’t arrived yet.

 

[Chief00]

The team has been challenged. Remember the Alabama game was tied with 8.5 minutes after the Tide made a comeback. Then we outscored them 30-15 the rest of the way

I agree with the poster above that we could ask anyone to step up offensively in a close game. But the Defense is a constant that will almost always give this team the advantage down the stretch

With the defensive depth, we won’t have to call off the dogs, if one guy gets in foul trouble. Still though got to avoid foolish fouls.

 

[ThabeetDown]

A weakness tonight was the realization that we sometimes lack a traditional point guard. Newton had 3 assist but 5 turnovers and nor did he give us much scoring.

I think we are seeing the evolution of AJ becoming our point guard.

Not a good game by Newton, starting to get worried a bit when he gets the ball. I like what you said though, maybe it’s PG by committee

But if we start falling behind a bit and start playing nervous, who’s the PG who's going to settle the team and help deliver that pass. I would say Action Jackson. Certainly not giving up on Newton, it may take a little time to get used to the speed of these opponents. It took Cole a bit of time. Newtons has the skill set. Winning fixes everything.

If we look through the lense that Andre is our PG, there really isn't a flaw on this team. Netwon had a rough game -- I actually thought he'd step up like the Oregon game (I view the Ducks and Gators as very similar teams) but it was Joey C the one that stepped up instead (I told friends we needed 12-15 points from one of our guards not Hawk, and Joey C was the man last night). As someone pointed out in another thread, really just need Jackson to get to the rim more -- fine with the 2/5 shooting from 3, but dude needs to be able to score at the hoop to really unlock his game -- because as soon as he starts being able to do that, he'll have the easiest assists of his life to Adama/Cling. Some of his passes last night were NBA quality (not that it's anything new).

There is still a role for Newton on this team -- I think we should take the main distributor role off his plate and let him concetrate on scoring by getting to the hoop and drawing FTs, his biggest strength. If you take a look at the successful UConn teams in the past, Newton could thrive as Bazz to Andre's Kemba or Boat to Andre's Bazz or even Vital to Andre's Gilbert. He can still be a secondary distributor, but the offense needs to run through Andre (which it pretty much is).

Another thing I wanted to chat about was Karaban. Obviously tough game for him with the fouls -- and it's a real shame we don't have Samson (who was still in a boot as of the OK St game btw). Defensively, you are seeing him get exposed against physical teams. Which is normal for most freshman not named Donovan Clingan. (And also like DC he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt as a freshman and gets a lot of meh fouls called on him that in 2 years refs won't call on him. You see this in the NBA with young players and it's just part of officiating in general, baseball too with balls and strikes). Another downside is that he offers pretty limited rim protection, so when paired with Sanogo teams have pretty much a free path to the hoop (which is masked by our elite perimeter D most of the time because guys can't even get to the rim). I think the original gameplan coming into the season of Samson/Adama and Alex/Donovan would be perfect offensive and defensive compliments to each other. If Samson is healthy and able to contribute, it will make us that much more elite on D as he can rim run for Sanogo on D and still stretch the floor on O. When AK is with DC, you have a 7-2 wall if you get beat by your defender.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

I think we are seeing the evolution of AJ becoming our point guard.

If Newton doesn't improve, and he's had three (4?) bad games in a row, I'd hand the ball to AJ as our PG, start Joey C at shooting guard, and sit Newton until he starts playing at the level he's capable of. I still believe he's the long-term answer at PG this year but not currently with the inefficiency and looseness that he's been playing with against P5 opponents.

That lineup would improve both the starting 5's outside shooting and playmaking. D and rebounding would suffer somewhat in return, but I'd expect a net overall positive.

Karaban has hit the freshman wall. Waiting for him to bust through it; think it'll be less games rather than many.

 

[Jaydumo20]

@Chief00 can you shine some light on Alleyne's role with the team? I know we have been saying that he will turn it around but I'm seeing someone who is now scared to shoot or make a mistake. I'm not harping on the 1 weak point, I just know how valuable a 3rd ball handler can be. Especially in tough close games.

 

[Chief00]

If we look through the lense that Andre is our PG, there really isn't a flaw on this team. Netwon had a rough game -- I actually thought he'd step up like the Oregon game (I view the Ducks and Gators as very similar teams) but it was Joey C the one that stepped up instead (I told friends we needed 12-15 points from one of our guards not Hawk, and Joey C was the man last night). As someone pointed out in another thread, really just need Jackson to get to the rim more -- fine with the 2/5 shooting from 3, but dude needs to be able to score at the hoop to really unlock his game -- because as soon as he starts being able to do that, he'll have the easiest assists of his life to Adama/Cling. Some of his passes last night were NBA quality (not that it's anything new).

There is still a role for Newton on this team -- I think we should take the main distributor role off his plate and let him concetrate on scoring by getting to the hoop and drawing FTs, his biggest strength. If you take a look at the successful UConn teams in the past, Newton could thrive as Bazz to Andre's Kemba or Boat to Andre's Bazz or even Vital to Andre's Gilbert. He can still be a secondary distributor, but the offense needs to run through Andre (which it pretty much is).

Another thing I wanted to chat about was Karaban. Obviously tough game for him with the fouls -- and it's a real shame we don't have Samson (who was still in a boot as of the OK St game btw). Defensively, you are seeing him get exposed against physical teams. Which is normal for most freshman not named Donovan Clingan. (And also like DC he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt as a freshman and gets a lot of meh fouls called on him that in 2 years refs won't call on him. You see this in the NBA with young players and it's just part of officiating in general, baseball too with balls and strikes). Another downside is that he offers pretty limited rim protection, so when paired with Sanogo teams have pretty much a free path to the hoop (which is masked by our elite perimeter D most of the time because guys can't even get to the rim). I think the original gameplan coming into the season of Samson/Adama and Alex/Donovan would be perfect offensive and defensive compliments to each other. If Samson is healthy and able to contribute, it will make us that much more elite on D as he can rim run for Sanogo on D and still stretch the floor on O. When AK is with DC, you have a 7-2 wall if you get beat by your defender.

I think as time moves further away from his finger surgery, you will see him drive more.

 

[Chief00]

@Chief00 can you shine some light on Alleyne's role with the team? I know we have been saying that he will turn it around but I'm seeing someone who is now scared to shoot or make a mistake. I'm not harping on the 1 weak point, I just know how valuable a 3rd ball handler can be. Especially in tough close games.

Good question. Alleyne definitely helps our defense, especially against bigger guards. The season still has a long ways to go.

 

[Husky25]

I didn't mind Sanogo being a black hole last night. He was having his way with Castleton. Even in the early going when it wasn't falling for Sanogo, Castleton was clearly overmatched. He had a bad showing. I am concerned that refs are going to re-discover their rulebook and call 3-seconds on Sanogo as the season goes on.

Clingan is maturing before our eyes, a development from bodying up on Sanogo for the past six months. Jitoboh had that one sequence where he had the baby hook over him, and then taunted down the court, but Clingan was not intimidated and wouldn't let him get handsy either on the other end of the court. Dykes was right on when he alluded to DC as a tall basketball player vs. a big guy who happens to play basketball. He also

Speaking of the rulebook:
1. How did Todd Golden avoid getting T'ed up?
2. Clingan is 7'-2" and Sanogo is a beast, but that doesn't mean that the hacks need to be proportionately harder, Shaq-style, in order for a foul to be call.
3. Castleton's reputation preceded him, but unless there are no other centers in the SEC, he did not show why he is 1st team All-SEC last night.
4. OTOH, the non-call on the Jackson block and stare down was an obvious makeup. Then again, the game was mostly in hand.

Minute distribution was much better than Thursday, but some of that was obviously out of necessity. Karaban needs to put on some weight and control his body better against bigger frontcourt players. He's gotten muscled the last two games, but fouls were called last night. He's only a freshman, but looking ahead, he's sort of a tweener in a Kevin Freeman fashion. Lucky for him, he can shoot. Lucky for UConn and fans alike, he hit the trey that swung momentum back to UConn for good.

What can be said about Calcaterra? Diarra and Alleyne might be better defensively, but offer next to nothing at the moment offensively. Cal's D is more than adequate, given his offense. Nine guys played significant minutes, but only seven scored. I hope Diarra and Alleyne aren't getting skittish. They have to keep their heads up.

I have a real concern at the 1. UConn does not have a true point guard. They have a few people who can bring the ball up vs. token pressure, but the offense runs through Jackson, a 6'-6" wing. They need to find a secondary ball-handler who can facilitate the offense and give Jackson a blow more often. Calcaterra is UConn's 2nd best ball handler right now.