Chief’s Briefs - Hartford Edition

[ThabeetDown]

Whaley played like the senior he is. Glad to see it. Without his effort this game gets way out of control. He is invaluable as a point forward when the offense decides to be played through him. No one else on the team can play that role.

Martin needs time to gel, but I like he brings. Kind of reminds of a Shonn Miller-type who does the dirty week and grabs his hard hat and lunch pail when the team needs it.

You've seen both games what Bouk is capable when he plays at 100% effort x 100% focus. He just does not play like this 100% of the time. That's the only thing keeping him from being a Kemba/Shabazz.

Sanogo 8 points in 11 min. I know he can't play with Whaley per say but like come on Danny. He did miss a few shots he was making earlier in the 2H but still. Only two boards though -- Whaley and Martin each grabbing 10 probably had something to do with his lack of playing time in a game where Hartford was rebounding better (which is flat out unacceptable).

Brendan Adams giveth and taketh. 1-7 from the floor, 0-4 from 3. Hurley gave him 24 min and Jackson 5. If his shot aint falling he shouldn't be playing. It's not like his defense (which is usually pretty good) is that much better than Jackson's...Hurley seems a little too obsessed with him (and in all fairness he did deserve it last game but was flat out terrible tonight). If those two are seeing 30 min total, I'd rather see it at 15 each as of now.

Speaking of, Jackson only 5 min, 3 fouls. His effort on D is great (like the charge attempt that was a block by an inch). He'll be just fine but similar to Sanogo the gameplan didn't quite benefit him minutes-wise especially in the second half.

Polley looked real slow out there. Hopefully, it's just 2nd game back from a major injury slow. 0 3P attempts (only 2 shots). He needs to carve out his role quickly with this deep roster.

Gaffney, to me, continues to outplay Cole and is the better facilitator to the offense as a whole. Cole can score better sure, but what Gaffney brings is currently more valuabe. I'd much rather have Cole come off the bench and inject the team with some offense at the under 12.

Honestly disappointed Josh was a DNP. I feel like he could have given some positive, veteran minutes in the post and helped with the boards.

Lack of 3P shooting success is a concern. Hartford was the #1 3P% D in the country last year I believe. In today's game (and especially if you look at Nova) 3P shooting needs to be at least average to be successful. If Polley and Adams aren't hitting em I don't know who is! Vital ain't walking through that door, sadly.

Refs were terrible but Hartford adopted and we didn't, plain and simple. That's on the coaches and the player's mindsets. They got way too cocky after the hot start. It kind of reminds me of the St. Joes game from last year minus the scoreline. These guys needed to be taken down a peg and I think Hurley can get that message across.

At the end of the day, a win is a win. Hartford isn't a pushover like many think they are -- they could definitely win their conference. I think it's a great teaching game, especially with limited practices. On to Vandy.

 

[Lefty2one]

Adams killed us tonight. He is the one player on the court playing hero ball.

Agreed, he's the one guy who doesn't seem to "get it" yet. He makes way too many boneheaded, selfish plays. It really stands out on a team that's otherwise unselfish across the board.

 

[SaeHusky]

Yeah usually like Chiefs Briefs but I think he missed the mark on Martin.. He along with Gaff and Whaley got us the victory. And the #1 Brief should have been "Adams played way too many minutes tonight". Granted we had foul trouble but he didn't have it tonight.

 

[Ajs120102]

This team is almost too deep imo. But the talent is absolutely through the roof. One thing that sticks out, I don’t know if I’m buying into Andre right now. I want to so badly. Sanogo, Whaley, polley, Gaffney Bouk should start next game.

 

[aburks41]

Yeah usually like Chiefs Briefs but I think he missed the mark on Martin.. He along with Gaff and Whaley got us the victory. And the #1 Brief should have been "Adams played way too many minutes tonight". Granted we had foul trouble but he didn't have it tonight.

The problem I have with adams is that when he is cold (like tonight) he tries to shoot himself out of the slump. When he's hot he can take 7-8 shots a game, but when hes not he really needs to limit himself to 5 shots max

 

[huskypantz]

Whaley and Martin won the game for us together imo. The Martin to Whaley run out assist was the nail in the coffin

I had to go back and check the box score after reading Chief’s post. Martin and Whaley were great. Jackson’s minutes should be limited- give him time to acclimate to college ball. The game was a foul fest - you have to just pull your hands back and play d with your legs when that happens.

 

[UCPharma11]

I thought Martin was a good seasoned and deliberate driving player to Jackson who's just a jumping jack all over the place. I'd be surprised to see both on the floor at the same time too often though. Martin (more seasoned offensively) and Jackson (defensive minded and will probably work in specific defensive sets against opponents best offensive 2-3-4).

 

[mauconnfan]

Polley can’t move his feet on defense yet.
Bouknight and Cole couldn’t stay in front of anyone tonight.
off-game for most of the team.
martin can rebound welll
thank god for Zay aka Porkchop, aka Poppers, aka the wrench, aka the squirrel

Agree with a lot Chief but Martin was really good. If anything thought he could’ve been a little more aggressive on O but was trying to fit in so gave up some shots he could’ve taken. He rebounds the ball on both ends, he and Whaley were the reason we hung on.

Way too much Cole-Gaffney for me and tonight, when Brendan Adams was dreadful way too much Cole-Gaffney-Adams not quite sure what Danny was seeing?

Not easy for him to get everyone minutes but when it’s obvious Sanogo and Jackson aren’t getting enough, and Martin until the 2nd half you wonder what they’re thinking. Long way to go but those lineups will not win a lot of games in the Big East.

 

[mauconnfan]

Polley can’t move his feet on defense yet.
Bouknight and Cole couldn’t stay in front of anyone tonight.
off-game for most of the team.
martin can rebound welll
thank god for Zay aka Porkchop, aka Poppers, aka the wrench, aka the squirrel

Agree but Cole might be a little better than Gaff keeping anyone in front of him. These guys need to get better on D quick and until they do need to split time more.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

First 8 or so minutes I thought Bouk was going to drop a 40 piece and we'd win by 30. My kid and I do addition/subtraction as we're watching but it was tough early on. He said we were up by 21 when it was only 19 so I'm talking to his teacher on Monday.

Foul trouble really took a couple of guys out of their game (Polley, Andre). Refs were brutal but there were some pretty dumb fouls.

Beginning of the game we moved the ball well but we then fell back into too much one on one offense and struggled when UHa started to wake up.

When Cole picked up his 4th foul and had to sit I legit got a little bit nervous. Gaff had a solid game but there is a certain calm that RJ brings.

Sanogo's post moves are really impressive given his age. If he goes to Kareem's Big Man Camp (is that still a thing?) next summer, he might be unstoppable next year.

I almost spit out my jack n Cole when the color commentator said this game was a city rivalry game. Lol

 

[3rdbass]

And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.

However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.

How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.

Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.

Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.

On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.

Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.

Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.

Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.

Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.

Josh DNP.

We have a lot to clean up in practice.

I disagree about Martin. He looked very active today and Jackson looked out of it. Neither is much an offensive player presently but we needed Martin inside today. Jackson will have his time but he looked out of it today and picked up some silly fouls.

 

[Chief00]

Martin was a beast tonight Chief. Did you watch the same game as me?

I want more Sanogo and Jackson vs Adams and Polley right now.

Wouldn't be against some mimutes with Whaley/Sanogo together vs big teams if we're going to shoot like crap anyways.

Martin did play better towards the end but hardly a beast.

 

[Chief00]

How many timeouts would of Calhoun called before hurley called one

Agree.

 

[auror]

Martin did play better towards the end but hardly a beast.

10 boards in 25 minutes. 126 ORTG. 3-1 A:TO. Only 1 foul. Good defense. Hit a jumper off movement. Composed.

 

[superjohn]

Agreed, he's the one guy who doesn't seem to "get it" yet. He makes way too many boneheaded, selfish plays. It really stands out on a team that's otherwise unselfish across the board.

He looks like a guy who is playing to keep his minutes instead of just playing the game. i hated that he went in for the dunk last game instead of just passing it ahead to Sanogo.

 

[UconnU]

And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.

However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.

How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.

Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.

Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.

On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.

Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.

Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.

Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.

Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.

Josh DNP.

We have a lot to clean up in practice.

You’re wrong on Martin. Watch the replay he looked phenomenal; tough, active, should have gotten a few more points had he gotten rolls.

 

[Chin Diesel]

And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.

However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.

How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.

Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.

Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.

On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.

Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.

Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.

Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.

Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.

Josh DNP.

We have a lot to clean up in practice.

This post is more off key than UConn was in the court tonight.

Martin blended in perfectly and did whatever was needed based on who he was playing alongside.

I like Cole better as a scorer than as a distributor. He doesn't have the knack for knowing who needs the ball and when they need it.

On the positive, Whaley showed he can be a difference maker and owned the last ten minutes.

Whaley is also Uconn's only rim protector until Akok returns.

I am definitely not on any Brendan Adams train on offense. Unless he is catching a ball near the rim on the fastbreak, I don't want him shooting.

Polley needs to get open better.

There were a ton of bad breaks or 50/50 balls that all went to UH, sometimes spectacularly.

Refs were just brutal all night.

Hurley either wanted players to fight through last five minutes of first half and first 5 of second half or did a horrible job of reading the flow of the game.

 

[UconnU]

 

[NJHusky]

How many timeouts would of Calhoun called before hurley called one

Was thinking the same thing during that 8 min of zero points.

 

[Chief00]

Yeah usually like Chiefs Briefs but I think he missed the mark on Martin.. He along with Gaff and Whaley got us the victory. And the #1 Brief should have been "Adams played way too many minutes tonight". Granted we had foul trouble but he didn't have it tonight.

I wasn’t physically at the game tonight, so there are things I didn’t pick up on while jotting down notes. I should have given Martin more credit towards the end of the game and spiked out Adam’s, who played really poorly -,but the rest of the team did too for long stretches so it blended in LOL.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

He looks like a guy who is playing to keep his minutes instead of just playing the game. i hated that he went in for the dunk last game instead of just passing it ahead to Sanogo.

This struck me as a "reward the big man for running the court" moment that was missed and while I didn't hate it bc Sanogo could have very well dribbled off of his leg out of bounds or something, I was thinking in my head that he could've given it up there. I mentioned last game that he seems to be pressing. He really needs to settle into a John Gwynn/Brian Fair/Rashad spot up shooter type of role. He's trying to be too much of a playmaker so far IMO.

 

[JakeTheDog]

And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.

However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.

How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.

Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.

Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.

On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.

Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.

Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.

Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.

Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.

Josh DNP.

We have a lot to clean up in practice.

Weird take on Tyrese, chief. He was a man among boys at times and his rebounding is excellent. Him and Whaley saved the game for us. Also thought Gaff was solid down the stretch.

 

[Blaneylover]

And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.

However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.

How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.

Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.

Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.

On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.

Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.

Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.

Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.

Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.

Josh DNP.

We have a lot to clean up in practice.

I cannot understand the bucket full of files committed 30 ft plus from the hoop. Bouknight and Cole are going to be our offensive leaders so they cannot take themselves off the floor early on. The referees were consistent. They were calling the hand check files and we didn't adjust.

Polley is going to have games like the other night and he's going to have games like tonight. He just doesn't have the foot speed to play smaller players that far from the basket.

Whalley and Sanogo really make a nice two-headed monster at the five spot. A DNP for Carlton in a game where Akok is not in uniform is telling. As long as our top two centers stay out of foul trouble, we may see a series of DNPs for Carlton.

Gaffney was a real bright spot tonight. There was a time in the second half with both Bouknight and Cole on the bench with four fouls that his offense was essential to holding off Hartford's charge.

Jackson picked up a few silly fouls early, took a very ill advised three-pointer, and then Hurley parked him on the bench. The adjustment to the college game come to different speeds for different freshmen. He did have some nagging injuries which have slowed him. He's going to be a huge contributor this year.

I thought Martin played pretty well. He was somewhat deferential at first but kind of settled in. I think he'll be a very steady contributor. At the risk of drawing some criticism here, I see a lot of Donny Marshall in him.

As good as Bouknight was in the first half, he was as bad in the second half. I think he knows that he is the offensive focal point and tonight he felt the need to try put the team on the back early in the second half and get team going. He forced a couple shots and then committed some silly files after forcing some shots. With that being said, it's going to be so much fun to watch him all season.

All in all, If you told me before the game they were going to hold Harford to 57 points, I would have gladly signed for it. Considering the lack of practice time that they have had, this is a nice 2-0 start. I look forward to next week.

 

[CL82]

Sanogo had 0 fouls. Whaley just played really well. Wouldn't have minded them both on the floor though since Polley wouldn't even try to shoot

Sanogo at the 5 and Whaley at the 4?

 

[Chief00]

This post is more off key than UConn was in the court tonight.

Martin blended in perfectly and did whatever was needed based on who he was playing alongside.

I like Cole better as a scorer than as a distributor. He doesn't have the knack for knowing who needs the ball and when they need it.

On the positive, Whaley showed he can be a difference maker and owned the last ten minutes.

Whaley is also Uconn's only rim protector until Akok returns.

I am definitely not on any Brendan Adams train on offense. Unless he is catching a ball near the rim on the fastbreak, I don't want him shooting.

Polley needs to get open better.

There were a ton of bad breaks or 50/50 balls that all went to UH, sometimes spectacularly.

Refs were just brutal all night.

Hurley either wanted players to beat through last five minutes of first half and first 5 of second half or did a horrible job of reading the flow of the game.

Last game I was criticized for not being upbeat enough on Polley, but some things I saw got more exposed tonight. I am if the school of thought Dan needs to let Sanogo and Jackson play through some mistakes. Heck, he let Adams do it and he quite frankly doesn’t have the upside.