Chief’s Briefs - Marquette Edition

[Chief00]

The Dom Perno years. They were the best of times they were the worst of times…

You aren’t going to lose many games on you’ve got five guys in double figures. Fully agree that when Hawk goes off like that early in the gam, it takes the pressure off of everyone else and let them play loose.

Triple double for Newton again? Man with that kid is hot, he is red hot.

Karaban looked so comfortable and confident out there. And it was terrific to see Allenye put together a solid game. All we need now is for Clingan and Joey C. to rediscover that early-season magic.

Great game. It’s fun to watch one where we lead from wire to wire for a change.

It’s great to execute a game plan to open up with your best offensive guys scoring.

 

[Chief00]

AJ locking Kolek BIG. Wish he had a true J not the flooter.Got to get the J right.
Team confused on defense too much. Terrible FT shooting from a team looking to go somewhere.
Need to play 2 Bigs to reach potential. What is it with DC FT shooting.
Always love your perspective Chief.

I know what I would have the guys doing at the beginning and end of practice - FT’s

I actually think Andre has a soft touch, good arch and backspin on his outside shot. Yet, he shoots 29% from 3. A big part of it is mental and mindset. He needs to simplify his game and he can. Eliminate the no look passes and when he decides to shoot visualize the ball arching over the front of the rim and through the nets. When you are so athletic sometimes there’s too much going on. Simple is better.

 

[Slappy]

You got to go with the guys that you have. Let’s give Tristen credit, he had a triple double.

Remember early season when we didn’t have Hawk or AJax. They were smooth, had confidence. Obv cupcakes but that was fun watching…This is the melding of the return of the studs and the easy play that the guys had. Beautiful bball! Got over some adversity and now we have the experience and maybe the swagger, we will see.

 

[Slappy]

Watching again, they have discipline. They don’t make unnecessary effort plays, they get back on D QUICK, (especially AJax) rather than try to be spectacular. Different team.

 

[Hankster]

I agree that Newton and Clingan are the X factors.

All great comments. However Clingan needs to make foul shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kitaman]

All great comments. However Clingan needs to make foul shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever production freshman can give us is major. I always felt freshman get a pass and transfers don't. Also if Clingan was making foul shots, he may not come back next year.

 

[dogpause]

All great comments. However Clingan needs to make foul shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was better a the line earlier in the season. I get the sense that the team has been focused more on other issues, but now that we're playing better they'll begin emphasizing FTs.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Love Shaka's newest look with the long sleeve shirt under the polo shirt.

Absolutely screams Saturday morning rec ball coach for some 10 year olds.

We are far from the 80's hey day of coaches in the BE especially with Wright retiring but the BE has always had great coaches and personalities. Having Smart, Matta, Miller, McDermott, Cooley, and Hurley continues it. There's a ton of basketball knowledge in those coaches and they're coaches who love to coach.

 

[Husky25]

From my view in Sect 202, I don't think the refs had a great game. Better? Maybe, but that is a low bar to clear. I'll have to re-watch the broadcast at some point to make a better judgement than row S in the second level.

I don't think Clingan is playing enough. On the other hand, I think Hurley has improved his early game substitution patterns. I mentioned this elsewhere as well, but at the tail end of the win streak and at the beginning of the skid, the starters would generally play at least the first 8 minutes and often over 10.

It might be anecdotal, because I haven't dissected (and don't plan to) all of the previous play-by-plays, but it seems the bench is being used earlier. For instance, last night. Clingan and Alleyne came in inside of 6 minutes, followed closely by Joey C. I recall this happening the last handful of games.

I also think that either Jackson or Hawkins (or both) need to be on the court at all times a la Jordan and Pippen. Jackson is not a scorer but he is a prime facilitator.

 

[MTBingNinja]

Newton triple double!

When you control the boards, move the ball on offense, lock them down on defense, and get a relatively fair shake from the refs, good things happen. Add over 50% shooting from FG and 3pt line and we are talking deep into March!!!!

We still flirt with taking our foot off the gas pedal but we mostly had our foot on the pedal.

Still would love to see the Double Big with Clingan back protecting the rim and both playing 25 minutes +. I honestly think if we got good at that, this would be a 30 point blow out win.

Very pleased with the recent progress of Newton and Alleyne. Also, saw some good signs with Joey C’s confidence. Karaban played solid. Sanogo and Hawkins are our best players.

What is clear to me despite all these player improvements, is when both Sanogo and Hawkins go out, things quickly go South.

Chief still thinks our timeouts are a play or two too late. I want a sense of urgency on every play especially with under 10 minutes in the game.

We are still struggling getting away from a 4 out and 1 in mid major mindset. And when we play with one Big he is often 23 feet. Our wins are in the paint and the three line combination. Our Bigs are the paint part of that equation and not beyond the 3 line.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t see Clingan and Sanogo on the floor much with Sanogo at the 4. Sanogo plays with his back to the basket too much.

 

[Excalibur]

I know what I would have the guys doing at the beginning and end of practice - FT’s

I actually think Andre has a soft touch, good arch and backspin on his outside shot. Yet, he shoots 29% from 3. A big part of it is mental and mindset. He needs to simplify his game and he can. Eliminate the no look passes and when he decides to shoot visualize the ball arching over the front of the rim and through the nets. When you are so athletic sometimes there’s too much going on. Simple is better.

Andre's percentage on threes where he hesitates, puts the ball on the floor, and shoots it because he feels like he has to is probably zero. When he catches in rhythm he's probably closer to 35%, which is more than acceptable.

The difference in the offense comes down to one thing -- a commitment to attacking the basket off the dribble. You see it with Newton, Hawkins, and even Karaban and Sanogo (who has done it from the high post and top of the key). During the losing streak, the ball stuck on the perimeter while the defense either switched on all of our off-ball screen action or sagged so far off Jackson that it disrupted that action. We were left to try to force the ball in to Sanogo in the post. All of that changed when we started getting to the basket again. It disrupts the defense, the ball starts moving more crisply, and Sanogo gets easier looks off of that disruption.

 

[Excalibur]

I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t see Clingan and Sanogo on the floor much with Sanogo at the 4. Sanogo plays with his back to the basket too much.

He hasn't been bad in the high post. I don't think that playing them together is the panacea that some here think it is, but it can be done effectively in stretches.

 

[Chief00]

Andre's percentage on threes where he hesitates, puts the ball on the floor, and shoots it because he feels like he has to is probably zero. When he catches in rhythm he's probably closer to 35%, which is more than acceptable.

The difference in the offense comes down to one thing -- a commitment to attacking the basket off the dribble. You see it with Newton, Hawkins, and even Karaban and Sanogo (who has done it from the high post and top of the key). During the losing streak, the ball stuck on the perimeter while the defense either switched on all of our off-ball screen action or sagged so far off Jackson that it disrupted that action. We were left to try to force the ball in to Sanogo in the post. All of that changed when we started getting to the basket again. It disrupts the defense, the ball starts moving more crisply, and Sanogo gets easier looks off of that disruption.

Agree, taking shots in rhythm, taking the ball to the basket, and ball movement are key on offense. In short, making the other team react rather than letting them dictate the same.

 

[Chief00]

I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t see Clingan and Sanogo on the floor much with Sanogo at the 4. Sanogo plays with his back to the basket too much.

The reason I like them together is having a 7-2 rim protector and Sanogo is defending 23 feet from the basket anyways. If he did not have the impossible job of doing both - high hedge craziness and rim protector - he could cover 3’s and 4’s as good and not better than Karaban or Alleyne.
When Sanogo posts, we need another offensive rebounder too. Another huge factor is they shoot Sanogo (59%) and Clingan (68%) - crazy not to ride that.

 

[PAHusky]

This team plays its best when Newton plays well. I wonder if his quiet demeanor means he's taking a little longer to settle in as the bellwether for our team. Some of those passes last night were beautiful.

DH is still struggling to figure out how to play AS and DC/distribute their minutes correctly. I'm getting less critical as the season goes on in that regards, as I'm not really sure there is a good answer (and, strangely enough, I think it's because both are so good they deserve minutes, but don't work perfectly together).

I have been overly critical of Jackson recently but I think he was marginally better offensively last night getting downhill towards the rim (even if he didn't go up strong with it enough times). May be an unpopular opinion, but I really love the idea of bringing him off the bench to lead the second unit. I think he works best with the ball in his hands and surrounded by shooters/a really smart kid in Clingan, and I think when he plays with the starters he and Newton can't both have the ball and that stalls out the offense (neither is comfortable playing off ball).

It's selfish and self-defeating but I get a tiny bit disappointed when Hawkins plays as well as he does game after game - I love him as a player and would kill for another year of him but if he keeps playing like this he's not long for Storrs.

This team is schizophrenic. They can still make a deep run regardless of seed still, but I think getting as easy as possible of a first round NCAAT match up is critical. I think this team runs on pure confidence, and if we get the monkey off our back in the first round I think the ball starts rolling.

 

[Chief00]

DH is still struggling to figure out how to play AS and DC/distribute their minutes correctly. I'm getting less critical as the season goes on in that regards, as I'm not really sure there is a good answer (and, strangely enough, I think it's because both are so good they deserve minutes, but don't work perfectly together).

You made some good observations about Newton. But, my comments relate to the Double Big issue. How do we know they “don’t work perfectly together”? Putting aside that’s a very high bar (“perfectly together”) but when you have played together maybe less than 15 minutes and when you actually built margins during those brief moments. I guess my frustration is that it is approaching mid February and we have nothing but theories about whether or not a Double Big would work! It is not like during our losing stretch we did not try all kinds of things that failed.
At the end of the day we are splitting 40 minutes for two guys shooting 69% and 58%. Elsewhere after Karaban’s 47% we are dividing up 130 minutes with guys shooting 32% to 42%. That’s 65% of our minutes with on average about 37% shooting. Why not get more 69% shooting on the floor?
Why is this a hard decision?

 

[PAHusky]

You made some good observations about Newton. But, my comments relate to the Double Big issue. How do we know they “don’t work perfectly together”? Putting aside that’s a very high bar (“perfectly together”) but when you have played together maybe less than 15 minutes and when you actually built margins during those brief moments. I guess my frustration is that it is approaching mid February and we have nothing but theories about whether or not a Double Big would work! It is not like during our losing stretch we did not try all kinds of things that failed.
At the end of the day we are splitting 40 minutes for two guys shooting 69% and 58%. Elsewhere after Karaban’s 47% we are dividing up 130 minutes with guys shooting 32% to 42%. That’s 65% of our minutes with on average about 37% shooting. Why not get more 69% shooting on the floor?
Why is this a hard decision?

Comparing the shooting percentages of guards and centers is disingenuous, and going double big would almost certainly mean a lower percentage for both bigs as they see the increased doubles and clogged lanes that would come with it.

I know the call for two bigs is the thing on this board this season but we went 14-0 without it and last night we looked good again. I'm fine to trot it out once in awhile but I don't know why this board thinks DH and his staff haven't already thought through all this and decided against it, for whatever reason.

But even assuming double bigs works, it's an imperfect solution - I'm not sure DC is in good enough shape yet to play huge minutes and playing them together like that, when both are foul prone and the refs seem to call everything against us, means we're risking putting them both in foul trouble with no backup plan at all.

What's your minute distribution look like going double big? What happens if they both end up in foul trouble early on? Who's coming in for them/what lineups are you playing when they're not in?

 

[86.578]

Comparing the shooting percentages of guards and centers is disingenuous, and going double big would almost certainly mean a lower percentage for both bigs as they see the increased doubles and clogged lanes that would come with it.

I know the call for two bigs is the thing on this board this season but we went 14-0 without it and last night we looked good again. I'm fine to trot it out once in awhile but I don't know why this board thinks DH and his staff haven't already thought through all this and decided against it, for whatever reason.

But even assuming double bigs works, it's an imperfect solution - I'm not sure DC is in good enough shape yet to play huge minutes and playing them together like that, when both are foul prone and the refs seem to call everything against us, means we're risking putting them both in foul trouble with no backup plan at all.

What's your minute distribution look like going double big? What happens if they both end up in foul trouble early on? Who's coming in for them/what lineups are you playing when they're not in?

"But even assuming double bigs works, it's an imperfect solution.......playing them together like that, when both are foul prone and the refs seem to call everything against us, means we're risking putting them both in foul trouble with no backup plan at all."

That's the answer to why they don't play together....well said

 

[Chief00]

Newton was a superstar tonight. Ball movement was excellent. I give Shaka credit for pressing us in the second half. It was their only chance to compete. We’ve gotta protect the ball better. Other than that, great energy and great effort.

I agree ball security is a big issue, in particular unforced turnovers. Standing out of bounds before receiving a pass is something we have excelled at this year / LOL. I keep looking down the bench thinking Rodney or Jerome were back helping coach the team.

 

[Chief00]

Comparing the shooting percentages of guards and centers is disingenuous, and going double big would almost certainly mean a lower percentage for both bigs as they see the increased doubles and clogged lanes that would come with it.

I know the call for two bigs is the thing on this board this season but we went 14-0 without it and last night we looked good again. I'm fine to trot it out once in awhile but I don't know why this board thinks DH and his staff haven't already thought through all this and decided against it, for whatever reason.

But even assuming double bigs works, it's an imperfect solution - I'm not sure DC is in good enough shape yet to play huge minutes and playing them together like that, when both are foul prone and the refs seem to call everything against us, means we're risking putting them both in foul trouble with no backup plan at all.

What's your minute distribution look like going double big? What happens if they both end up in foul trouble early on? Who's coming in for them/what lineups are you playing when they're not in?

I would target 50 minutes combined. Currently, it is about a 26/14 minute split for 40 minutes. There is a reason why a good Big will have a higher shooting percentage than a guard. They tend to get better shots and more put backs. I consider those assets not liabilities. Over the years I have seen Double Big play very well together, if they clog the lane on defense it’s a good thing given our issues stopping penetration. On offense I have seen zero indication any of the theories fans put out there actually play out.

Back in the Calhoun days we used to call it gang rebounding and we always thought that was a positive. I really think it’s a miss opportunity when we have two very talented Bigs, that we don’t take advantage of the mismatches and dominant the game.

Clingan playing with Jackson on a good night are both game changers defensively. That rare to have two D game changers on the same team. Pared them with some shooters and good things will happen.

 

[HHusky]

We can only hope that Hurley is holding back on 2 big use. Maybe, just maybe, he's got a box of tricks for the BET and NCAA and by not overexposing these tricks he can spring them when the time comes. He's got the 3/2 and 2/3 zones in the box. Multiple pressure defenses and man to man adjustments in the box. Especially in the NCAA he can surprise some coaches who aren't prepared for the box.
Maybe.

 

[PAHusky]

I would target 50 minutes combined. Currently, it is about a 26/14 minute split for 40 minutes. There is a reason why a good Big will have a higher shooting percentage than a guard. They tend to get better shots and more put backs. I consider those assets not liabilities. Over the years I have seen Double Big play very well together, if they clog the lane on defense it’s a good thing given our issues stopping penetration. On offense I have seen zero indication any of the theories fans put out there actually play out.

Back in the Calhoun days we used to call it gang rebounding and we always thought that was a positive. I really think it’s a miss opportunity when we have two very talented Bigs, that we don’t take advantage of the mismatches and dominant the game.

Clingan playing with Jackson on a good night are both game changers defensively. That rare to have two D game changers on the same team. Pared them with some shooters and good things will happen.

"Pair them with shooters and good things will happen".....exactly the point here. Playing those two with Sanogo means you have only two shooters tops on the floor at the same time. Two bigs with a wing who can't shoot is not a recipe for a good offense.

Gang rebounding has nothing to do with two bigs and more to do with making sure everyone on the team - especially guards - goes after it. Basic stuff.

Centers tend to have higher percentages not because they're shooting "better" shots, but because they're shooting from closer in. Not going to go through the whole 3 v 2 pointer thing and why a higher fg % isn't necessarily indicative of a more productive offensive player (though I do agree UConn has become too reliant sometimes on the three ball, it's fundamental basketball analytics here - and they looked good from downtown last night).

None of that really addresses what I was saying earlier though. Do you think DC is up for it conditioning wise playing that many minutes? What happens when they're in foul trouble? Who are you playing around them to create any sort of offensive spacing? Outside one or two nice passes (AS last night!), what from either big has shown you that they should be running a high/low post offense?

 

[pj]

I would target 50 minutes combined. Currently, it is about a 26/14 minute split for 40 minutes. There is a reason why a good Big will have a higher shooting percentage than a guard. They tend to get better shots and more put backs. I consider those assets not liabilities. Over the years I have seen Double Big play very well together, if they clog the lane on defense it’s a good thing given our issues stopping penetration. On offense I have seen zero indication any of the theories fans put out there actually play out.

Back in the Calhoun days we used to call it gang rebounding and we always thought that was a positive. I really think it’s a miss opportunity when we have two very talented Bigs, that we don’t take advantage of the mismatches and dominant the game.

Clingan playing with Jackson on a good night are both game changers defensively. That rare to have two D game changers on the same team. Pared them with some shooters and good things will happen.

There are two sides to the basket, the ball usually bounces to one side and the basket is a barrier to traversing between sides meaning one big can't cover both sides, so a two-big three-perimeter lineup is very natural in basketball. It needn't clog the offense if the bigs are mobile and good screeners, or can shoot from away from the basket.

It could have been done, but it's getting late in the season to try new things. Chalk it up to Hurley has his way and we'll do it Hurley's way. Last night Hurley's way worked.

 

[Scottobot]

I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t see Clingan and Sanogo on the floor much with Sanogo at the 4. Sanogo plays with his back to the basket too much.

They have really only done it, two times that I remember, the Providence game and DePaul game. Both times I thought the team looked good in that lineup. Bigs do a lot more than score on offense. Their screens are equally important. While Clingan sets screen for shooter on perimeter , Sanogo can post up and the defender can’t help on both the shooter and Sanogo.

The only weakness I see of the double big is covering 4 3P shooters on defense. For teams like Seton Hall and St John’s that can’t shoot from perimeter I think this lineup would be fantastic.

 

[Captbluefin]

I do not see how you play the two big with Jackson on the floor.

You effectively have 3 guys out there who can’t really shoot from the perimeter. In that case teams will pack the inside.

You will have Hawk and Newton outside. Jackson left alone and the two bigs getting in each others way.