Chief’s Briefs - Houston Edition | The Boneyard

Chief’s Briefs - Houston Edition

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Chief00

We were undermanned but competed throughout most of the game. When we maybe overachieve some the first half, and I am also thinking of the Nova game, we have a tendency to come out flat after halftime.

Danny needs to be quicker calling an immediate time out, since we don’t have the octane on offense to make up large deficits. He has a desire to wait for the official timeout at the 16 minute mark of the second half but when we are playing that poorly, 4 minutes is too long. He did finally call a timeout shortly before 4 minutes but the damage was done.

One thing Chief noticed was that Houston made quick decisions with the ball and the ball wasn’t sticky on their offensive end. They penetrated and kicked - knowing where the shooters were. The passes were delivered to the shooter in the triple threat stance and the shots went up in a smooth motion. We need to get better at this but without a penetrator it’s difficult with our current line-up.

Another aspect of the game Chief notice was we don’t make aggressive hard cuts on offense. Too much standing around and several times our spacing was poor. We also need to work at setting fundamental screens - keeping our hands down and body in a powerful stance. Chief would like to see more motion below the foul line and less weave between the foul line and half court.

While improved we still get caught in mismatches with Cobb guarding a guard at the top of the circle while our guards covering a big down low.

I will give credit to Tarin and CV for really making an effort to crash the defensive boards. Over-all we competed on rebounds with a strong and athletic Houston team.

Sid is demonstrating improvement nearly every game and given that we are down our two best players, he needs to get more shots. Of course, he looked clueless on defense at times but he can also make that block out of nowhere on defense, that no one else can make. He is a competitor and despite his slight frame he will mix it up.

I was disappointed with our foul shooting, Josh in particular needs to do much better. At the end of his shot he has a jerky release that needs to be smoothed over. I thought Josh mixed it up on the boards but on several offensive moves he needs to finish with more energy and explosion.

Until late in the game, Tyler had 3 points and maybe 2 rebounds despite lots of minutes. He did hit two late 3’s when we swung the ball like we should but don’t do enough of. It’s so important for Tyler to be ready to shoot before he gets the ball and to receive a clean pass. Our guards need to deliver the ball with the shooting motion in mind.

Now a comment about the fans - It actually turned into a pretty good and loud crowd after late arrivals maybe from Valentines dinners. True, ideally we should have played this game on campus given school is in session. Of course, we also played some games over break on campus, which were sparsely attended. I know the reasons given for this but we need to be more proactive and control our own destiny. There’s are enough of people in the AD dept making good bucks and they should be able to figure it out or we need to find people who can.

I know Danny has complained about the temperature at XL floor level and tonight was no exception. Way too cold. They have the new powerful ice chilling equipment and perhaps the heating system is overmatched? I don’t know if they are treating this like a hockey game, if they are trying to save a few bucks or the system is really ineffective but it’s not really a cold night for February and it was cold at floor level. Unacceptable.
 
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While improved we still get caught in mismatches with Cobb guarding a guard at the top of the circle while our guards cover a big down low.
Kelvin was all over exploiting this. He did it to Carlton twice in the first 3 minutes. The third time Polley rotated over and just in time caught the driver. But it certainly needs to be looked into as the big men are getting caught out deep way too much. The post is vulnerable enough as it is.
 
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Sad times when you can’t fill more than half the XL center for a top 10 opponent when tickets are being sold for $12. I realize we’re not winning but can’t blame the Athletic Department for a half empty arena. I still think it’s funny that many on here think our bankrupt state needs to build a new arena when we can’t even utilize what we have. The only thing that will fix the fans in the seats is winning.
 
C

Chief00

Sad times when you can’t fill more than half the XL center for a top 10 opponent when tickets are being sold for $12. I realize we’re not winning but can’t blame the Athletic Department for a half empty arena. I still think it’s funny that many on here think our bankrupt state needs to build a new arena when we can’t even utilize what we have. The only thing that will fix the fans in the seats is winning.
I agree, Chief was considering going on a rant about the provincial BTBE fans (Back To Big East). They don’t realize the World has changed and we have some potential powerhouse teams in huge growing metro areas. They need to have more of a future vision.
 
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We were undermanned but competed throughout most of the game. When we maybe overachieve some the first half, and I am also thinking of the Nova game, we have a tendency to come out flat after halftime.

Danny needs to be quicker calling an immediate time out, since we don’t have the octane on offense to make up large deficits. He has a desire to wait for the official timeout at the 16 minute mark of the second half but when we are playing that poorly, 4 minutes is too long. He did finally call a timeout shortly before 4 minutes but the damage was done.

One thing Chief noticed was that Houston made quick decisions with the ball and the ball wasn’t sticky on their offensive end. They penetrated and kicked - knowing where the shooters were. The passes were delivered to the shooter in the triple threat stance and the shots went up in a smooth motion. We need to get better at this but without a penetrator it’s difficult with our current line-up.

Another aspect of the game Chief notice was we don’t make aggressive hard cuts on offense. Too much standing around and several times our spacing was poor. We also need to work at setting fundamental screens - keeping our hands down and body in a powerful stance. Chief would like to see more motion below the foul line and less weave between the foul line and half court.

While improved we still get caught in mismatches with Cobb guarding a guard at the top of the circle while our guards covering a big down low.

I will give credit to Tarin and CV for really making an effort to crash the defensive boards. Over-all we competed on rebounds with a strong and athletic Houston team.

Sid is demonstrating improvement nearly every game and given that we are down our two best players, he needs to get more shots. Of course, he looked clueless on defense at times but he can also make that block out of nowhere on defense, that no one else can make. He is a competitor and despite his slight frame he will mix it up.

I was disappointed with our foul shooting, Josh in particular needs to do much better. At the end of his shot he has a jerky release that needs to be smoothed over. I thought Josh mixed it up on the boards but on several offensive moves he needs to finish with more energy and explosion.

Until late in the game, Tyler had 3 points and maybe 2 rebounds despite lots of minutes. He did hit two late 3’s when we swung the ball like we should but don’t do enough of. It’s so important for Tyler to be ready to shoot before he gets the ball and to receive a clean pass. Our guards need to deliver the ball with the shooting motion in mind.

Now a comment about the fans - It actually turned into a pretty good and loud crowd after late arrivals maybe from Valentines dinners. True, ideally we should have played this game on campus given school is in session. Of course, we also played some games over break on campus, which were sparsely attended. I know the reasons given for this but we need to be more proactive and control our own destiny. There’s are enough of people in the AD dept making good bucks and they should be able to figure it out or we need to find people who can.

I know Danny has complained about the temperature at XL floor level and tonight was no exception. Way too cold. They have the new powerful ice chilling equipment and perhaps the heating system is overmatched? I don’t know if they are treating this like a hockey game, if they are trying to save a few bucks or the system is really ineffective but it’s not really a cold night for February and it was cold at floor level. Unacceptable.
Sid also has an easy thing to remove to improve his free throw shooting, not flipping the ball with spin into his left hand prior to release. Purvis did the same thing, when he eliminated that his percentage spiked dramatically. How do coaches not notice these things and clean up free throw form sooner?
 
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Sad times when you can’t fill more than half the XL center for a top 10 opponent when tickets are being sold for $12. I realize we’re not winning but can’t blame the Athletic Department for a half empty arena. I still think it’s funny that many on here think our bankrupt state needs to build a new arena when we can’t even utilize what we have. The only thing that will fix the fans in the seats is winning.
I was on campus early 2000's when the football team still played there and they could barely draw 3,000 people. When they proposed Rentschler I chuckled. Not disagreeing with you, but I could never wrap my head around that anomaly.
 
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I was on campus early 2000's when the football team still played there and they could barely draw 3,000 people. When they proposed Rentschler I chuckled. Not disagreeing with you, but I could never wrap my head around that anomaly.

Yeah I think that was a bit different as UConn was jumping up to play with the big boys in football and they were investing to stay relevant in college sports. The bet on the future of an arena in Hartford is figuring out if UConn basketball will be relevant for the next 20-30 years. I hope to god we don’t see another brand new facility like Rentchler Field being utilized at a quarter capacity because we’re playing and losing in a non-P5 conference. Let’s just keep in mind that things can turn for the better just as quickly as they turned for the worst. I have faith that Hurley will at very least get us to a point where we finish in the top 2 of this league every year and are consistently a top 15-25 program. I’m less optimistic about the football program, but Edsall has actually reeled in a couple of good recruits after having arguably the worst football team in Division 1 last year. We still have a narrow window to save our athletics and get into a conference where we can make some real media dollars but the window is closing and we need everything to go perfect over the next 3-5 years.
 
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There’s still too much dribbling on offense. We don’t have the playmakers to run an offense off the dribble especially without Jalen or Alterique. That leads to travels, turnovers and forced shots. The glimpses of great passing we see almost always lead to buckets/good shots. Need more of that
 

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Sad times when you can’t fill more than half the XL center for a top 10 opponent when tickets are being sold for $12. I realize we’re not winning but can’t blame the Athletic Department for a half empty arena. I still think it’s funny that many on here think our bankrupt state needs to build a new arena when we can’t even utilize what we have. The only thing that will fix the fans in the seats is winning.
I got mine for 6....... (plus fees)
 
C

Chief00

Yeah I think that was a bit different as UConn was jumping up to play with the big boys in football and they were investing to stay relevant in college sports. The bet on the future of an arena in Hartford is figuring out if UConn basketball will be relevant for the next 20-30 years. I hope to god we don’t see another brand new facility like Rentchler Field being utilized at a quarter capacity because we’re playing and losing in a non-P5 conference. Let’s just keep in mind that things can turn for the better just as quickly as they turned for the worst. I have faith that Hurley will at very least get us to a point where we finish in the top 2 of this league every year and are consistently a top 15-25 program. I’m less optimistic about the football program, but Edsall has actually reeled in a couple of good recruits after having arguably the worst football team in Division 1 last year. We still have a narrow window to save our athletics and get into a conference where we can make some real media dollars but the window is closing and we need everything to go perfect over the next 3-5 years.

I am much more upbeat on the AAC than you or others. Our problem is these teams are beating us. Teams like UCF, Houston and Memphis are just going to get better. If UConn, Cincy and Temple play as they have historically - it can be a good basketball conference.
 
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What might have happened:
-if our guys could pass like Houston, especially the quick interior passes;
-if we shot 70% or better on free throws it would have put pressure on Houston too and you never know who might choke in a close game on the road; and
-if we had a Jarreau or two. His line in 22 minutes: 6 for 10, 2 for 2 on threes, 4 for 6 on FT's for18 points, and also had 7 assists and only 1 turnover.
 
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I am much more upbeat on the AAC than you or others. Our problem is these teams are beating us. Teams like UCF, Houston and Memphis are just going to get better. If UConn, Cincy and Temple play as they have historically - it can be a good basketball conference.
The problem with the AAC is that, no matter how good this conference becomes, UConn fans will always want to get out of it. The grass will always be greener on the other side with the Big Ten and ACC.
 
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I am much more upbeat on the AAC than you or others. Our problem is these teams are beating us. Teams like UCF, Houston and Memphis are just going to get better. If UConn, Cincy and Temple play as they have historically - it can be a good basketball conference.
.

If all that happened it can be a great conference, especially with the historically weaker teams making strides as well.
 
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The problem with the AAC is that, no matter how good this conference becomes, UConn fans will always want to get out of it. The grass will always be greener on the other side with the Big Ten and ACC.
Until the AAC gets 6 teams into the tourney. Ok, I digress, as that's never happening.
 
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We were undermanned but competed throughout most of the game. When we maybe overachieve some the first half, and I am also thinking of the Nova game, we have a tendency to come out flat after halftime.

Danny needs to be quicker calling an immediate time out, since we don’t have the octane on offense to make up large deficits. He has a desire to wait for the official timeout at the 16 minute mark of the second half but when we are playing that poorly, 4 minutes is too long. He did finally call a timeout shortly before 4 minutes but the damage was done.

One thing Chief noticed was that Houston made quick decisions with the ball and the ball wasn’t sticky on their offensive end. They penetrated and kicked - knowing where the shooters were. The passes were delivered to the shooter in the triple threat stance and the shots went up in a smooth motion. We need to get better at this but without a penetrator it’s difficult with our current line-up.

Another aspect of the game Chief notice was we don’t make aggressive hard cuts on offense. Too much standing around and several times our spacing was poor. We also need to work at setting fundamental screens - keeping our hands down and body in a powerful stance. Chief would like to see more motion below the foul line and less weave between the foul line and half court.

While improved we still get caught in mismatches with Cobb guarding a guard at the top of the circle while our guards covering a big down low.

I will give credit to Tarin and CV for really making an effort to crash the defensive boards. Over-all we competed on rebounds with a strong and athletic Houston team.

Sid is demonstrating improvement nearly every game and given that we are down our two best players, he needs to get more shots. Of course, he looked clueless on defense at times but he can also make that block out of nowhere on defense, that no one else can make. He is a competitor and despite his slight frame he will mix it up.

I was disappointed with our foul shooting, Josh in particular needs to do much better. At the end of his shot he has a jerky release that needs to be smoothed over. I thought Josh mixed it up on the boards but on several offensive moves he needs to finish with more energy and explosion.

Until late in the game, Tyler had 3 points and maybe 2 rebounds despite lots of minutes. He did hit two late 3’s when we swung the ball like we should but don’t do enough of. It’s so important for Tyler to be ready to shoot before he gets the ball and to receive a clean pass. Our guards need to deliver the ball with the shooting motion in mind.

Now a comment about the fans - It actually turned into a pretty good and loud crowd after late arrivals maybe from Valentines dinners. True, ideally we should have played this game on campus given school is in session. Of course, we also played some games over break on campus, which were sparsely attended. I know the reasons given for this but we need to be more proactive and control our own destiny. There’s are enough of people in the AD dept making good bucks and they should be able to figure it out or we need to find people who can.

I know Danny has complained about the temperature at XL floor level and tonight was no exception. Way too cold. They have the new powerful ice chilling equipment and perhaps the heating system is overmatched? I don’t know if they are treating this like a hockey game, if they are trying to save a few bucks or the system is really ineffective but it’s not really a cold night for February and it was cold at floor level. Unacceptable.

Totally agree on the need for harder cuts; watching many of the inbounds plays is like watching a walk-through in practice, and then we are left with the last option of the long throw towards half court, and the greater possibility of a steal as we saw late in last night's game.

Also like Sid's recognition, and taking advantage, of opportunities. One example: when Sid's player was in the backcourt tying his shoe, and the Houston ball handler crossed half court, Sid recognized the 5 on 4 defensive advantage, and applied a double team on the ball causing disruption of Houston's offense.
 

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I agree, Chief was considering going on a rant about the provincial BTBE fans (Back To Big East). They don’t realize the World has changed and we have some potential powerhouse teams in huge growing metro areas. They need to have more of a future vision.
Yeah but it is an issue. I bet we can put more fannies in the seats at MSG against Syracuse than we put in the XL against Houston.
 

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Re: attendance, top 10 or not, fans aren’t building their Valentine’s Day plans around a game with Houston.
 
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Agree that Polley was non existent until his late couple of threes. Josh looked out of synch on offense but played a decent all around game. Houston doubled him up almost every time he touched the ball which caused him problems. I think Sampson had that as part of his game plan because of Carlton’s recent success and because he had little faith in our 3 point shooters knocking the shot down if the ball got kicked back to them.
I counted at least 6 fouls that Carlton drew.
Along with the horrible foul shooting and perimeter D we had trouble with inbound passes again.
But the team fought hard again until the end and I really like what I see in Wilson’s improvement from game to game. I think he’s going to be a special player in the years to come.
 

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We were undermanned but competed throughout most of the game. When we maybe overachieve some the first half, and I am also thinking of the Nova game, we have a tendency to come out flat after halftime.

Danny needs to be quicker calling an immediate time out, since we don’t have the octane on offense to make up large deficits. He has a desire to wait for the official timeout at the 16 minute mark of the second half but when we are playing that poorly, 4 minutes is too long. He did finally call a timeout shortly before 4 minutes but the damage was done.

One thing Chief noticed was that Houston made quick decisions with the ball and the ball wasn’t sticky on their offensive end. They penetrated and kicked - knowing where the shooters were. The passes were delivered to the shooter in the triple threat stance and the shots went up in a smooth motion. We need to get better at this but without a penetrator it’s difficult with our current line-up.

Another aspect of the game Chief notice was we don’t make aggressive hard cuts on offense. Too much standing around and several times our spacing was poor. We also need to work at setting fundamental screens - keeping our hands down and body in a powerful stance. Chief would like to see more motion below the foul line and less weave between the foul line and half court.

While improved we still get caught in mismatches with Cobb guarding a guard at the top of the circle while our guards covering a big down low.

I will give credit to Tarin and CV for really making an effort to crash the defensive boards. Over-all we competed on rebounds with a strong and athletic Houston team.

Sid is demonstrating improvement nearly every game and given that we are down our two best players, he needs to get more shots. Of course, he looked clueless on defense at times but he can also make that block out of nowhere on defense, that no one else can make. He is a competitor and despite his slight frame he will mix it up.

I was disappointed with our foul shooting, Josh in particular needs to do much better. At the end of his shot he has a jerky release that needs to be smoothed over. I thought Josh mixed it up on the boards but on several offensive moves he needs to finish with more energy and explosion.

Until late in the game, Tyler had 3 points and maybe 2 rebounds despite lots of minutes. He did hit two late 3’s when we swung the ball like we should but don’t do enough of. It’s so important for Tyler to be ready to shoot before he gets the ball and to receive a clean pass. Our guards need to deliver the ball with the shooting motion in mind.

Now a comment about the fans - It actually turned into a pretty good and loud crowd after late arrivals maybe from Valentines dinners. True, ideally we should have played this game on campus given school is in session. Of course, we also played some games over break on campus, which were sparsely attended. I know the reasons given for this but we need to be more proactive and control our own destiny. There’s are enough of people in the AD dept making good bucks and they should be able to figure it out or we need to find people who can.

I know Danny has complained about the temperature at XL floor level and tonight was no exception. Way too cold. They have the new powerful ice chilling equipment and perhaps the heating system is overmatched? I don’t know if they are treating this like a hockey game, if they are trying to save a few bucks or the system is really ineffective but it’s not really a cold night for February and it was cold at floor level. Unacceptable.
Wilson's block was monster. I nearly fell off the recliner. I swear he started from the foul line and leaped to block that shot about 5 feet from the basket. My opinion only I swear that was the most exciting block I have seen on UConn in years. He is going to be very special.
 
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I am much more upbeat on the AAC than you or others. Our problem is these teams are beating us. Teams like UCF, Houston and Memphis are just going to get better. If UConn, Cincy and Temple play as they have historically - it can be a good basketball conference.

I’m not negative on the AAC, I just know that the AAC is not going to get any kind of major media contract even though you could make the case that they’ve earned it at this point. Yes the league is getting better, but we’re still on the outside looking in compared to the P5. MAYBE the AAC continues to thrive and compete and becomes the sixth power conference like Aresco is always advertising, but if I had a choice long term of P5 or this conference I’d still go P5 personally. I do t hate this conference, just not convinced it’s out best ticket to future success.
 
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Apparently there is no Marketing Major at UCONN. May be a nice project for some students. We can call it
“Advertise our historic sports programs in any way that isn’t DUMB!”
 
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