Chief’s Briefs- Marquette Edition

[freshler40]

I’d love to hear from the fans of playing 2 bigs exactly how this is going to be done. High/low post? Is there any evidence that either of these guys has the passing skills to play the high post? Or the shooting skills to pop jumpers from the FT line?

Both of these guys are low post players who need room to maneuver inside. As much as I agree that we should play the best talent, I just see these two getting in each other’s way if they’re on the floor at the same time.

And defensively, which of them is going to get out of the paint to chase mobile 4’s likeHopkins or Prosper. The modern game is played out on the 3-point line even by 4’s. Sanogo would have to be the guy who would chase out there, but he doesn’t seem to have the quickness for that assignment.

Perhaps they could go to a 3-2 zone like Syracuse does, but Danny is a man-D guy. So that ends that discussion before it’s even begun.

Help me out. I’d really love to figure out how this could work, but I’m just not seeing it.

Well, unless we try the two bigs, one outside, Santago and Donavan inside we won't know. Many of our combination changes are guard types but mostly non shooting or defensive purposes. Jackson and Joey seem most successful at getting the ball to the bigs. But both need to hoist an occasional shot too.
Donavan is a better passer and alert to opportunities for others to score. Santago is less inclined to pass but did some in the M game.

We have had enough losses at this point to know a change in the lineup is a serious option. We have gotten bogged down in late game situations too often and need a new look so opposing teams also have to change. Jackson at point and the two bigs might be a healthy change. Is Danny holding off this option for later in the season????

 

[giddyup]

This! UConn goes on a 14-0 run with Clingan playing amazingly. Marquette calls a time out and Hurley comes out of the time out with Clingan on the bench and Sanogo back in. WTF!

As soon as we accept that Dan Hurley’s mind works exactly as he behaves, you realize higher level strategic thinking shuts down in the game. He has a terrible sense of what is happening other than in the immediacy of the moment.

 

[Chief00]

I frankly don’t Hinkle these 2 bigs will work well together, regardless of whose job it is. But they should be able to figure out schemes such that when the ball goes into the low post, the perimeter players can make cuts to get free and the big man passes out of the double team and they find the open man. I think that has much greater potential for generating more offense. We’re a good rebounding team. E should be able to take advantage of that, make better outlet passes, and find our perimeter shooters for open 3’s off the break. I thought we were doing more of that earlier in the season.

Jim Calhoun tried it for 2 decades, he did ok! LOL
We all have our opinions, that’s why you try new things rather than endlessly opine about them. It worked well for the 4 minutes this season we tried it, but never repeated it.

 

[JB75]

I’d love to hear from the fans of playing 2 bigs exactly how this is going to be done. High/low post? Is there any evidence that either of these guys has the passing skills to play the high post? Or the shooting skills to pop jumpers from the FT line?

Both of these guys are low post players who need room to maneuver inside. As much as I agree that we should play the best talent, I just see these two getting in each other’s way if they’re on the floor at the same time.

And defensively, which of them is going to get out of the paint to chase mobile 4’s likeHopkins or Prosper. The modern game is played out on the 3-point line even by 4’s. Sanogo would have to be the guy who would chase out there, but he doesn’t seem to have the quickness for that assignment.

Perhaps they could go to a 3-2 zone like Syracuse does, but Danny is a man-D guy. So that ends that discussion before it’s even begun.

Help me out. I’d really love to figure out how this could work, but I’m just not seeing it.

Well it’s worth a shot- especially for small stretches of time in these second halves where teams like providence Xavier and Marquette have taken control. Not saying it will 100% work, but might as well try.

 

[Punkbo]

Tristen Newton has been that guard who can drive to the basket and score. Don't know why it hasn't translated yet to UConn.

It does seem like Hurley believes he can teach point guard skills, and doesn't need to recruit a natural point guard. But the best point guards have a gift that can't be taught.

Newton is the biggest disappointment so far and makes PG our biggest issue. We thought we were getting junior year Newton who shot the ball extremely well and scored at will. Instead, we got sophomore year Newton. His stats this year are eerily similar. I thought if we played him off-the-ball with AJ, he’d get more opportunities. Well, he’s getting those opportunities, but not making the shots. I still think he could be the solution based on our other options, but he better turn it up soon.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Because guys get tired lol. What is this. Our best player in this one was a freshman who weighs like 270. He gets tired.

"Why don't we just leave Clingan out there 30 mpg?"

Does he remotely have the conditioning to do this? Wasn't this a major concern coming into the year and a reason why a 15-20 mpg backup role is ideal? I'll defer to the coaches who see him in practice every day.

 

[NJHusky]

Tristen Newton has been that guard who can drive to the basket and score. Don't know why it hasn't translated yet to UConn.

It does seem like Hurley believes he can teach point guard skills, and doesn't need to recruit a natural point guard. But the best point guards have a gift that can't be taught.

Kinda like Baum @ X?

 

[Chief00]

Our problem on offense is lack of ability to get to the rim and no go to scoring option. How does double bigs solve that? All of you complaining about our spacing and lack of shooting last year want to go back to that now? You play those two with AJax and you have three guys the D knows won’t take a shot from outside 12 feet unless they absolutely have to.

On defense, assuming you don’t go zone, what have you watched from AS this year that makes you think he stays in front of 4’s at all on the perimeter?

You keep going to the same losing well after it has produced 3 straight road loses. What further evidence do you need that perhaps we should try a different approach?

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

Next game start both Clingan and Sanogo. Jackson is the starting PG with Newton coming off the bench. Get your best players on the court. Don’t be a prisoner of failed rotations.

When you have a formula that works game night, it is coaching malpractice not to use it until it doesn’t work. Tonight was a twenty point win that wasn’t.

Stubbornness is never good. What more of a case does Clingan have to make to get 25-30 minutes every game. There’s no excuse for that not to consistently happen based on results. And icing him on the bench doesn’t always mean a repeat performance later in the game.

One striking difference between Sanogo and Clingan was Adama’s 4 first half turnovers vs. zero for Donovan. While Donovan had 4 blocks vs 1 for Adama. Why not play more of the lineup that built the lead? Instead Danny inexplicitly changes things up when he didn’t need to.

I am tired of letting our opponents set the match-ups, let’s play Double Big 10+ minutes a game and let them match up to us. In the second half no excuse for Sanogo not playing with Donovan. Danny has Sanogo playing defense 25 feet away from the hoop anyways.

I thought Jackson played fairly well tonight. Great defense and pretty good offense. He made plays for teammates but had some turnovers too. Karaban did not have a muscle guy to defend, so he was able to play his game and played very well. Marquette did a great job taking Hawkins’ game away. Turnovers killed us and Marquette converted them into points.

Message to Dan Hurley, Newton is NOT a point guard. Time to go a different direction.

I couldn't agree more. I was flabbergasted that Clingon's effort was wasted. In my opinion, Clingon should be starting every night intil Sanogo learns how to send that ball back out when otger teams are packing it in underneath. We went from riches to rags last night, and will continue with this kind of loss until changes you outlined are put into place.

 

[PAHusky]

You keep going to the same losing well after it has produced 3 straight road loses. What further evidence do you need that perhaps we should try a different approach?

Change for the sake of change isn't necessarily the right answer.

You play two bigs last night and Karaban doesn't get the minutes he did. He was our second best player. Does that make sense?

Playing the two bigs together doesn't fix our biggest offensive problems, which are our guards inability to get by anyone at the perimeter/get to the rim and our dismal 3 point shooting. Instead, especially if we play with AJax out there, it kills our spacing. AS is not a good enough passer to make a high/low big game work. Playing with the three of them means we have two guys at most on the court who can shoot from outside 12 feet consistently.

Playing them together on defense also doesn't help. On offense we can't get by anyone on the perimeter; on defense we can't stay in front of anyone. I think the answer is zone. I don't think the answer is asking Sanogo to play out on the perimeter while DC anchors the paint, as I think it will immediately put AS or DC in foul trouble and won't be effective against most BE teams.

Unfortunately, I don't think the solutions to this year's problems are fixable. This team needs a guard who can break the defense down and get a bucket when no one else can. Without that, we're entirely too predictable as everyone is a one trick pony (AS is a black hole in the paint, Hawk shoots 3's or drives straight at the rim, AJax is scared to shoot, Joey C = 3, Newtown is a poor man's Hawk, etc.)

 

[Kitaman]

Hurley's handling Sanogo minutes is delicate. I just think Hurley is doing the 'Clingan minutes' correctly by slowly increasing DC's minutes (resting AS), keeping DC in at critical junctures, and pulling Sanogo when he makes mistakes. I also think Hurley needs to be more strategic with Clingan, recognizing the in-game impact he's making. If our lead is increasing keep him in (bury those M.F......) get Sanogo very rested for
late game when we have to close or need our go to. Just saying have a plan for your two best players.

The good news is that DC doesn't seem to mind coming off the bench, and of course he's a freshman. Next year there better be a co-existing court solution if Sanogo returns. As for now Sanogo starts, especially now that we are in conference play. His experience is invaluable. I also see Clingan eating up more and more minutes (from Sanogo and hopefully others).

 

[MuchoDogYears]

At this point, having a lineup of Jackson, Calcaterra, Hawkins and two of Karaban, Sanogo, or Clingan is the way to go.

Yes. With Ajax at PG and Joey C shooting guard.

 

[auror]

With a huge opportunity available at pg and the amount of options available in the portal, ultimately choosing to go with a mis-cast sg to fill that role is looking like the critical error for this season.

Imagine we had gone after a player like Boum or Kolek instead?

Kinda like Baum @ X?

Boum is also a combo guard. Newton has a higher assist rate on the year (and higher than any year of Boum's career) and is a much better defender. Boum has been a better shooter. But he's not a natural PG.

 

[Chief00]

Change for the sake of change isn't necessarily the right answer.

You play two bigs last night and Karaban doesn't get the minutes he did. He was our second best player. Does that make sense?

Playing the two bigs together doesn't fix our biggest offensive problems, which are our guards inability to get by anyone at the perimeter/get to the rim and our dismal 3 point shooting. Instead, especially if we play with AJax out there, it kills our spacing. AS is not a good enough passer to make a high/low big game work. Playing with the three of them means we have two guys at most on the court who can shoot from outside 12 feet consistently.

Playing them together on defense also doesn't help. On offense we can't get by anyone on the perimeter; on defense we can't stay in front of anyone. I think the answer is zone. I don't think the answer is asking Sanogo to play out on the perimeter while DC anchors the paint, as I think it will immediately put AS or DC in foul trouble and won't be effective against most BE teams.

Unfortunately, I don't think the solutions to this year's problems are fixable. This team needs a guard who can break the defense down and get a bucket when no one else can. Without that, we're entirely too predictable as everyone is a one trick pony (AS is a black hole in the paint, Hawk shoots 3's or drives straight at the rim, AJax is scared to shoot, Joey C = 3, Newtown is a poor man's Hawk, etc.)

Unlike other top Big East teams, Marquette doesn’t have a physical guy that matches up with Karaban. I like the kid and he’s a good shooter but if you think he’s the answer to what PC and Xavier matched up against him - you are greatly mistaken.

 

[Chief00]

Hurley's handling Sanogo minutes is delicate. I just think Hurley is doing the 'Clingan minutes' correctly by slowly increasing DC's minutes (resting AS), keeping DC in at critical junctures, and pulling Sanogo when he makes mistakes. I also think Hurley needs to be more strategic with Clingan, recognizing the in-game impact he's making. If our lead is increasing keep him in (bury those M.F......) get Sanogo very rested for
late game when we have to close or need our go to. Just saying have a plan for your two best players.

The good news is that DC doesn't seem to mind coming off the bench, and of course he's a freshman. Next year there better be a co-existing court solution if Sanogo returns. As for now Sanogo starts, especially now that we are in conference play. His experience is invaluable. I also see Clingan eating up more and more minutes (from Sanogo and hopefully others).

You got to get your two best players on the court and not in a strictly mutually exclusive way. It’s a no brainer. Calhoun did that for decades and made people play our game not theirs.

 

[Chief00]

I couldn't agree more. I was flabbergasted that Clingon's effort was wasted. In my opinion, Clingon should be starting every night intil Sanogo learns how to send that ball back out when otger teams are packing it in underneath. We went from riches to rags last night, and will continue with this kind of loss until changes you outlined are put into place.

Start them both.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

Boum is also a combo guard. Newton has a higher assist rate on the year (and higher than any year of Boum's career) and is a much better defender. Boum has been a better shooter. But he's not a natural PG.

Fair, I don’t really know Boum’s game well.

I’ll amend and say we could’ve gotten a stronger natural pg / someone with ability to penetrate (Newton only drives with the intent of getting bailed out with a foul, doesn’t have the ability to consistently finish at the rim).

Maybe Dan thought Newton would be that guy, and it was just a missed eval.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Newton playing like a mid-major PG. That doesn’t cut it in the Big East.

Sanogo still trying to throw up shots when he’s triple teamed in the post. He needs to learn to find the open guy(s) and pass it out. Teams are simply collapsing on him now so he needs to adjust. But we also need to make shots.

Jackson is our best ball handler and playmaker obviously. I was giddy on the one play where he took it strong to the hole and laid it in. If he did this more often, he’d be an unstoppable rebel force.

Love Joey C’s energy but he’s come back to earth a bit. Hopefully his shot returns because he can provide some daggers late in games.

All in all I think we’re still a Top 10 team. It’s just been a rough part of the schedule. I’m still hopeful even though I find myself wanting to throw things at the TV occasionally. The last several years have been swamped with misery so it gives me a tingle in my loins to compare where we were to where we are now. Still a work in progress but good things to come.

 

[Mets1432]

Is there a place to find the full replay for this game?

At one point in the 2nd half, Jackson dropped the ball off to Sanago and ran to the other side of the court, we had our 4 "shooters" all on the right side of the court and Sanago then gets doubled down low and can't physically pass it as all of his shooters were cross court.

I would love to see the replay to confirm. The offensive "set" didn't make any sense. He needs a shooter or 2 on his side to kick out to.

 

[MU in MKE]

I think you guys are jumping all over Hurl

Change for the sake of change isn't necessarily the right answer.

You play two bigs last night and Karaban doesn't get the minutes he did. He was our second best player. Does that make sense?

Playing the two bigs together doesn't fix our biggest offensive problems, which are our guards inability to get by anyone at the perimeter/get to the rim and our dismal 3 point shooting. Instead, especially if we play with AJax out there, it kills our spacing. AS is not a good enough passer to make a high/low big game work. Playing with the three of them means we have two guys at most on the court who can shoot from outside 12 feet consistently.

Playing them together on defense also doesn't help. On offense we can't get by anyone on the perimeter; on defense we can't stay in front of anyone. I think the answer is zone. I don't think the answer is asking Sanogo to play out on the perimeter while DC anchors the paint, as I think it will immediately put AS or DC in foul trouble and won't be effective against most BE teams.

Unfortunately, I don't think the solutions to this year's problems are fixable. This team needs a guard who can break the defense down and get a bucket when no one else can. Without that, we're entirely too predictable as everyone is a one trick pony (AS is a black hole in the paint, Hawk shoots 3's or drives straight at the rim, AJax is scared to shoot, Joey C = 3, Newtown is a poor man's Hawk, etc.)

I totally agree with this. Bigs are NOT the problem, it's the guard play. If Hurley plays two bigs last night, Omax and team would have had an even bigger field day. This was just a matchup problem for both teams and it was MU that figured something out in the second half. Notice both Sanogo and Clingan was drawn out a lot more and MU stopped trying to shoot over him in the paint.

I'll use example of MU vs Purdue, because even though the box score from the MU/Purdue game didn't show it, they played very similar game last night to how they played Edey - where for most of the game had Edey shut down pretty well until 1. he played outside his normal game style and 2. the guards really showed up. That's what needed to happen last night and Hurley gave the team a shot at it by trying to give Sanogo more time and trying every guard lineup he could conceive of. It's just that no one was able to overcome and stand out to close the deal. (Being an MU guy, I'm just going to chalk it up to our tenacious D* guys though)

UConn is a GREAT team and one of the very best of the best this year. I wouldn't get down over a few road games against the top of the Big East on the road. This isn't the American anymore!


*not at all related to anything music

 

[Scottobot]

There are lots of comments on our offensive woes and Danny Hurleys coaching. I thought Hurley made a good adjustment in playing Clingan more, and he is improving at making in game adjustments. While our guard play on offense was disappointing, Clingan and Karaban more than made up for it. 76 points was enough to win this game. We lost this game on defense. In particular when Clingan was out of the game they scored at will in the paint. I think if Hurley can fix the defense we will be fine.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Also, Dan Hurley doesn’t call timeouts when we could use one. When teams start making runs or cutting into our runs, he just lets em play. In all of our losses I can find spots where a timely timeout would have worked wonders.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

UConn was up 31-20 and in complete control at that point in the 1st half only to give up a 9-0 run see the lead cut to 4 at the half. Why Clingan did not start the 2nd half and have the ball fed to him is extremely confusing. Especially after Hurley said Marquette had no answer to him before heading to the locker room.

Guys need to start knocking down shots again. Clingan and Sanogo (to a point) are not the problem. Sanogo needs to recognize the double and get rid of it as well as vary his offensive speed. He is methodical in the paint and allows the defense an opportunity to close. If he is not going to kick it out of the double team he needs to start making a quick move immediately upon touching the ball.

 

[Billy Jack]

We have an ability to have a 7'2" guy stand near the rim and deliver lob passes to him, and our two bigs are shooting 70% that way. That's a very efficient offense.

Two bigs might call for a zone. That's the challenge with that lineup.

The problem with you’re suggestion is that they’re shooting 60 and 70% respectively when they’re the only big on the floor. You can’t just assume that they’ll continue to do that with both of them out there at the same time. Either they’ll get in each other’s way or one of them will be forced to take 15’ jump shots from the high post. There’s no evidence that either of them can make those - certainly not at a 60-70% rate.

 

[Billy Jack]

Jim Calhoun tried it for 2 decades, he did ok! LOL
We all have our opinions, that’s why you try new things rather than endlessly opine about them. It worked well for the 4 minutes this season we tried it, but never repeated it.

No, he didn’t.

 

[Billy Jack]

UConn was up 31-20 and in complete control at that point in the 1st half only to give up a 9-0 run see the lead cut to 4 at the half. Why Clingan did not start the 2nd half and have the ball fed to him is extremely confusing. Especially after Hurley said Marquette had no answer to him before heading to the locker room.

You’re ignoring the fact that much of our big run came when Marquette had a lot of their second string players in the game - Gold, Ross, Joplin, and Sean Jones. You can’t just assume that the success against those guys would translate to the same success when Marquette had their entire starting lineup back out there to starting the 2nd half.

 

[bendm]

With a huge opportunity available at pg and the amount of options available in the portal, ultimately choosing to go with a mis-cast sg to fill that role is looking like the critical error for this season.

Imagine we had gone after a player like Boum or Kolek instead?

I’ll amend and say we could’ve gotten a stronger natural pg / someone with ability to penetrate (Newton only drives with the intent of getting bailed out with a foul, doesn’t have the ability to consistently finish at the rim).

Maybe Dan thought Newton would be that guy, and it was just a missed eval.

hindsight is 20/20. we were collectively thrilled to land newton in the portal. he was rated everywhere as a top 10 transfer PG. second team all aac averaging almost 20 ppg and living at the foul line. could not see this regression coming and still dont understand it.

we didnt/dont need a pure pg as much as we needed a cg that could penetrate so he fit the bill perfectly, or so it seemed.

 

[Billy Jack]

You got to get your two best players on the court and not in a strictly mutually exclusive way. It’s a no brainer. Calhoun did that for decades and made people play our game not theirs.

Sorry, but Calhoun did not do that for decades. He did it with specific players on particular teams when it made sense. He didn’t just indiscriminately throw 2 bigs out there at the same time year after year for decades, which is what you’re making it sound like. I don’t see him playing these 2 guys out there together - not when Sanogo would have to play D against mobile 4’s on the perimeter. He has neither the quickness nor the experience to do that.

Whatever Calhoun did is irrelevant. He’s been retired for 10 years, so you’re going back at least 30 years when you talk about what JC did for decades. It’s a different game. And not just compared to what he did 30 years ago. It’s continued to evolve even over the past decade.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

hindsight is 20/20. we were collectively thrilled to land newton in the portal. he was rated everywhere as a top 10 transfer PG. second team all aac averaging almost 20 ppg and living at the foul line. could not see this coming and still dont understand it.

Yes of course my comment was in hindsight (as fans we get the benefit of hindisght, whereas the coaches may not). Understandably they aren’t going to be perfect, but in retrospect it seems like a potential missed eval.

Or maybe we just aren’t utilizing him to his strengths and doing him a disservice.

 

[bendm]

Yes of course my comment was in hindsight (as fans we get the benefit of hindisght, whereas the coaches may not). Understandably they aren’t going to be perfect, but in retrospect it seems like a potential missed eval.

Or maybe we just aren’t utilizing him to his strengths and doing him a disservice.

i agree with the second point. he shouldnt be our PG anymore it should be AJ. move newton off ball and if he doesnt start putting his head down then he can sit until he gets the message.

he's 6'5 he should be able to draw contact at the rim or at least try i dont care if he gets his shot blocked 4x a game