Chief’s Briefs - Marquette Edition

[pj]

It never makes sense to give one of your top 4 players ten minutes. Especially, when he was +10 or +8 when he was in the game.
There is simply no excuse for not being prepared to go double big.

It's so natural to have two bigs. In modern basketball all the shots are 3 pointers or close to the rim. For a big man on offense, the best shooting is from the side, where you can take two angles, either direct to the basket or off the backboard, and if you have one big on each side, the second big is where the rebound naturally goes. On defense two bigs protect the basket well for the same reason. If you have three long, quick, athletic guards who can cover the perimeter, it can work well. If you have enough perimeter depth to play a small lineup on the occasions you want four out, you can use a one-big lineup when you need it.

In college, good big men are so rare, a lineup with Adama and Clingan together could score all game long. Few teams have two bigs who could defend them. If you have three shooters on the perimeter, they wouldn't clog the paint unduly.

It may be that Andre Jackson is the reason they don't play together. You don't want three players who need to be close to the basket.

 

[businesslawyer]

You're not understanding my point.

First off, he, Hurley, "told you" in a way that he wasn't so interested in playing a power inside game by the fact he didn't use the two bigs together even though it was obvious that Marquette was struggling with them defensively, correct?

Secondly, most importantly, I am not arguing with you in regard to Hurley not telling the team to get the ball inside. However I am saying that he probably didn't tell his team to as a number 1 priority to get the ball inside to Sanogo. There is a difference of what you said by saying "don't throw the ball inside" vs what I'm saying of "prioritize getting the ball to Sanogo." .

1--- Anyone can replay the last 2;14 and see that UCONN did not have a priority to get the ball to Sanogo. Around the 2:14 mark that possession notice how Hawkins has the ball while Sango drops from 15-20 feet on right side to the opposite side of the lane. Newton initially goes away from Sango to his right. Then he comes back left. If he takes 2 or 3 more dribbles he hits Hawkins with a pass and then Hawkins has a great angle to get the ball to Sanogo who has somewhat established position on the left side. Instead Newton picks up his dribble and makes a pass that forces Hawkins more toward the middle- away form Sanogo. Then Hawkins does his one-on-one thing and when he goes left instead of looking to pass to Sanogo, Sanogo clears out and then we see what happens; a crummy shot by Hawkins.
If the priority was to get the ball inside then Newton would have made it a point to deliver the ball to Hawkins in a better position so Hawkins could dump the ball to Sanogo. And if that didn't work Hawkins could have dribbled not away from Sanogo but toward him then picked up his dribble (and made the low post entry pass), and the other point is that Sango would never have cleared the lane if he was the #1 priority. He would have held his position so Hawkins could deliver him the ball.

2-- Then . look at the play around 1:00 - 1:15 left. Karaban catches the ball and you can see from the video that Sanogo has the defender pinned on his back. An absolute clear path for Karaban to deliver the ball to Sanogo for a probable dunk. Instead Karaban doesn't even glance half-a-second to Sanogo. As soon as he catches sit he throws it to another perimeter player away from Sanogo.
If Sanogo was the #1 priority then at the very least Karaban would have looked inside. You can see Karaban never had the intent to look inside.

3-- Sanogo and Clingan were 12-17 from the floor. If Hurley was so interested in exploiting this he could have brought in Clingan at the time the crummy ft shooter from Marquette took his one-and-one ft if he didn't want to call a timeout. Or as I stated just call the damn timeout. Instead he chose not to go with the bigs. To not run a play for Sanogo. That tells us combined with the other 2 above that during final 2:14 that the number 1 priority on Offense was not set to get the ball to Sanogo. These are 3 instances in the final 2:14. It’s not what you replied to me with that Hurley told his not to give him the ball. It's that the Offense wasn't #1 intent/priority to give him the ball. That's the issue.

But he was UCONN's best Offensive player last night. And in the final 2:14 whether Clingan is in or not, UCONN didn't give our best player the chance to score. Sure it's on the players to some extent. But it's clear Hurley did not put the #1 top priority to get his best player the ball in a position to score (or to make a pass off a double team) during the final minutes.

I appreciate any post that detailed, and well thought out, explaining what I am misunderstanding and making your point. But we disagree. As good as your analysis is, a coach can say “number one priority is getting the ball inside” and the moment the first player has what they wanted to do taken away from him by the D, or by a mistake, everything goes out the window. I would have kept pushing the ball inside. I’m fully in agreement with you. I’ve just seen enough basketball to not be willing to conclude you can tell what the coach said by virtue of what happens after the players take the court.

 

[hoophuskee]

It never makes sense to give one of your top 4 players ten minutes. Especially, when he was +10 or +8 when he was in the game.
There is simply no excuse for not being prepared to go double big.

Hurley sometimes makes some very odd moves/lack of moves. There are times some things are so obvious like last night. I can't understand why he doesn't see it or won't even try it among other things. And I think he said something odd last night that his team wasn't as prepared. I didn't read the full article/content/context. - But odd.

Sanogo was the best offensive player for UCONN. In those last 2:14 how can he not touch the ball in a manner to make a play?

 

[hoophuskee]

I appreciate any post that detailed, and well thought out, explaining what I am misunderstanding and making your point. But we disagree. As good as your analysis is, a coach can say “number one priority is getting the ball inside” and the moment the first player has what they wanted to do taken away from him by the D, or by a mistake, everything goes out the window. I would have kept pushing the ball inside. I’m fully in agreement with you. I’ve just seen enough basketball to not be willing to conclude you can tell what the coach said by virtue of what happens after the players take the court.

I'm saying -- "what the coach didn't say." I think that he didn't say it to have Sanago as number 1 priority. IMO he didn't bring home hard enough to get the ball to Sanago/ nor did i see a play specifically run for him. We can disagree.

I just believe if he was really focused on it, then the last shot of the game he would have had both in or taken the time to run a play for Sanogo. He chose not to play power low post basketball otherwise why isn't Clingan in too?
Add that to we have both felt Sanogo was the best offensive player for UCONN last night - I just didn't see a play really set up for him those last two minutes. Instead one specific play, he actually cleared out.

And Karaban is a heady player. He didn't even glance inside on the play I referenced. I can't believe if Hurley emphasized it that Karkaban would have at least glanced.

It's not one thing - it's the accumulation.

Plus I'm a little bias. I've felt Hurley has done this before - what I posted to chief. A comment Hurley made in a big game a while back was bizarre and forever rings in my mind. I don't normally post here but last night I was very frustrated/disappointed - I guess as we all were. Let me also add that I don't think Hurley stinks. And the are fun and watchable and from what I understand his recruitiing is amazing. SO his style - how he wants to coach it's all very, very good. He's doing very well. Excited ot see Castle (and others) next year. And am excited ot see ofc this year hopefully an excellent NCAA run.

I'm done. I don't want to complain any more.

 

[Chief00]

I'm saying -- "what the coach didn't say." I think that he didn't say it to have Sanago as number 1 priority. IMO he didn't bring home hard enough to get the ball to Sanago/ nor did i see a play specifically run for him. We can disagree.

I just believe if he was really focused on it, then the last shot of the game he would have had both in or taken the time to run a play for Sanogo. He chose not to play power low post basketball otherwise why isn't Clingan in too?
Add that to we have both felt Sanogo was the best offensive player for UCONN last night - I just didn't see a play really set up for him those last two minutes. Instead one specific play, he actually cleared out.

And Karaban is a heady player. He didn't even glance inside on the play I referenced. I can't believe if Hurley emphasized it that Karkaban would have at least glanced.

It's not one thing - it's the accumulation.

Plus I'm a little bias. I've felt Hurley has done this before - what I posted to chief. A comment Hurley made in a big game a while back was bizarre and forever rings in my mind. I don't normally post here but last night I was very frustrated/disappointed - I guess as we all were. Let me also add that I don't think Hurley stinks. And the are fun and watchable and from what I understand his recruitiing is amazing. SO his style - how he wants to coach it's all very, very good. He's doing very well. Excited ot see Castle (and others) next year. And am excited ot see ofc this year hopefully an excellent NCAA run.

I'm done. I don't want to complain any more.

Most successful teams in sports, find a way to put the ball in the hands of their playmakers the last 2 minutes of the game. We failed to do that and we lost. Not a coincidence.

 

[jibsey]

There are going to be 300 plus team’s fans unhappy with their coaches in several weeks. We have a guy who is prepared, has a great staff, puts tremendous effort in, recruits great and gives us a shot if his players do what they are told to do. Unfortunately there are a lot of other teams and players that are equally as good if not better that have something to do with this.

 

[Excalibur]

We are so easy to prepare for. These teams know what we do and we make very few changes to our schemes.

We’ve made multiple changes to our schemes this year. This is just the default criticism for people who want to say “team lost, coach bad”.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

We’ve made multiple changes to our schemes this year. This is just the default criticism for people who want to say “team lost, coach bad”.

what are you talking about...we run a 5 man out offense with hawkins running in circles off of double screens....all season.....marquette shut that down....but i gotta watch diarra dribble for 25 seconds in the shot clock, as he waits for hawkins to run that very same circle, that shaka scouted the hell out of because hurley doesnt switch things up...

...IN GAME adjustments.... like if we are running 5 man out with AJ in there, and kolek or Scheniderman is sagging off him playing one man zone, and taking away the POINT of a 5man out offense (penetration bc inside open), the coach (or his staff) should see that, and just run the flex continuity offense or something else...

.danny is too predictable.... marquette slipped the screen first possessions when we did our double team-hedge... shaka must be a wizard with his extra prep time

 

[yungdowork]

what are you talking about...we run a 5 man out offense with hawkins running in circles off of double screens....all season.....marquette shut that down....but i gotta watch diarra dribble for 25 seconds in the shot clock, as he waits for hawkins to run that very same circle, that shaka scouted the hell out of because hurley doesnt switch things up...

...IN GAME adjustments.... like if we are running 5 man out with AJ in there, and kolek or Scheniderman is sagging off him playing one man zone, and taking away the POINT of a 5man out offense (penetration bc inside open), the coach (or his staff) should see that, and just run the flex continuity offense or something else...

.danny is too predictable.... marquette slipped the screen first possessions when we did our double team-hedge... shaka must be a wizard with his extra prep time

We, like most other teams in the country in 2023, run a 4 out offense. There are about a million ways to run a 4 out offense, and I very much disagree that we have done the same thing all year long. There was a very apparent shift after our losing streak where Hawkins became the go-to guy instead of Sanogo. You can literally see the change just by looking at their respective field goal attempts. We have also experimented a lot having Newton play off ball vs Andre.

We also ran a zone for an extended period of time this game which is a very clear in-game adjustment. Diarra also played 6 minutes this game so I'm not sure where you saw him running the offense for any extended period of time.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

We also ran a zone for an extended period of time this game which is a very clear in-game adjustment. Diarra also played 6 minutes this game so I'm not sure where you saw him running the offense for any extended period of time.

excellent point... as ive mentioned in another thread (and before the mid season swoon), Ive been calling for them to use 2-3 (with two bigs) BUT if we are going to use it in the biggest game of year, wouldnt it have been great to TRY it in blowout games during season? so it was battle tested? We maybe used it 5 minutes all season...

Diarra dribbling away entire shot clock happens at 11 minutes into the first half my friend

 

[ucp990411]

We’ve made multiple changes to our schemes this year. This is just the default criticism for people who want to say “team lost, coach bad”.

I am not one who says “team lost, bad coach”. I actually pay attention to the plays and schemes. Marquette however knew what was coming and with a few minor changes we could have had better looks. It depends on your personnel as well. For example Newton may be able to drive but not dish. Adama is not a guy to run a pick and roll for. I think very highly of Dan Hurley as our coach.

 

[Punkbo]

There are going to be 300 plus team’s fans unhappy with their coaches in several weeks. We have a guy who is prepared, has a great staff, puts tremendous effort in, recruits great and gives us a shot if his players do what they are told to do. Unfortunately there are a lot of other teams and players that are equally as good if not better that have something to do with this.

I agree with this comment. It’s easy to nitpick when you lose games, but I thought the game was well-coached by both Shaka and Dan Hurley. I think both made good in-game adjustments. Our guards didn’t score in the last 9 minutes. This includes our two best pure shooters in Hawk and Joey C. In retrospect, it would have been great if Adama got a few more touches at the end of the game. But we had the ball in the hands of our best shooters and they didn’t make shots. That was the difference in the game.

 

[pj]

Most successful teams in sports, find a way to put the ball in the hands of their playmakers the last 2 minutes of the game. We failed to do that and we lost. Not a coincidence.

From 6:31 to go (when Alex Karaban made a layup), the possessions were:

• Tristen Newton fouled and missed front end of 1-and-1,
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• turnover
• Adama made layup
• turnover
• Nahiem Alleyne missed 3-pointer
• Adama made layup
• Jordan Hawkins missed 3-pointer
• Jordan Hawkins missed layup
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• Jordan Hawkins missed 3-pointer

Marquette was defending the perimeter extremely well, and on 3-pointers we were 7-25 for the game but 0-6 in the last six minutes. Contrariwise, our big men shot a collective 10-15 for the game and 2-2 in the last 6 minutes.

Something for the coaches to think about: First 34 minutes we want 7-19 on 3's for 1.10 points per shot, and 8-13 from the centers for 1.23 points per shot. In the last 6 minutes this shifted to 0.00 points per shot from 3 and 2.00 points per shot from the centers. Maybe when players are tired and the pressure is on, the 3 point percentage falls, but the big man 2 point percentage does not? Would be good to analyze this over more games, and adjust accordingly.

Including Tristen's free throw the guards went 0-8 with one turnover, Karaban had a turnover, and the centers went 2-2 with no turnovers. 4 shots from bench players Joey C/Nahiem and only 2 from the centers seems lopsided. Over the first 34 minutes, Joey C and Nahiem took 12 shots and Sanogo/Clingan took 13, which is still low for the centers and high for the bench guards, but more balanced.

Don't know why we didn't get more shots for Sanogo and Clingan. 30-seconds ought to be enough to try to get them a look, even if it doesn't result in a shot most possessions. Karaban also deserves to be an option in some plays at closing time, and Tristen driving and looking for a foul or pass. Shots for Hawkins are always good, even if he's having an off day.

It does seem like we don't force our shots on the opponent, we often let the opponent dictate what shots we take; and maybe the guards rely too much on 3-pointers under pressure.

 

[Dean Wormer]

This team looked like the indecisive bunch from the last 10 minutes of the PC game, just with a different type of boneheaded play from the day prior. Just a shame they wasted a great offensive performance from the bench. I agree with @Chief00 on foul shooting. It’s so critical in the postseason. The ‘14 team proved that. When Newton missed the front end of the 1-and-1, I had a really bad feeling about the effect on the outcome of the game, even though many minutes remained.

Andre’s play killed this team last night. There’s no denying it. Newton was getting mugged half the game, but there were moments he literally played like he was out to lunch. What sticks in my mind the most is the fact that Karaban simply isn’t getting enough shots. He scored 10 points on five shots. Despite the BS on this board about his lack of athleticism, this guy will go down as a complete scorer when his UConn career ends. The last few games, he had hit clutch shots with time running out in the half. It’s mind boggling that guys didn’t find him at the end of the game AND Hurley didn’t call a time out to run a play for him on that last possession.

Missed opportunity to grab a better seed, but I’m not dwelling on it. Onto next week, where I expect better results than our last two NCAA tournament appearances.

We need to run set plays for AK especially at the end of games. He has the clutch gene that others on this team don't.

 

[SwingDog]

I don't know if anyone touched on it or not, but I don't think it's great look for Marquette to be so tuned in to the media that they're offended that UConn considers MSG to be a home away away from home or that some had the Huskies favored against them. I mean, you had two teams with near matching overall records, similarly ranked, so yeah, in this case I feel UConn had a bit of an edge but they just didn't capitalize when they needed to. Now if the BE tournament had been played within an hour or two of Milwaukee I would have given that slight edge to Marquette. It's not rocket science, but hey, if they used that as motivation, good for them. Clearly, Smart did use it, but it's all kinda fake news or propaganda in my book.

 

[Waquoit]

I agree, but is our two minute offense a guy off the bench jacking up 3’s? I like Joey C but when you have two first team Big East guys, find a way to use them. Sanogo seemed to be open and he was dominating his man.

Sanogo has had plenty of chances in a big spot late. He just doesn't convert. I don't think he's a wartime consigliere. If we run a play for anyone, it should be Karaban. He's ready to make a leap right now. Not next year, now.

 

[SwingDog]

Sanogo has had plenty of chances in a big spot late. He just doesn't convert. I don't think he's a wartime consigliere. If we run a play for anyone, it should be Karaban. He's ready to make a leap right now. Not next year, now.

He doesn't convert? If I'm not mistaken he made the Huskies' final bucket by clearing out space and taking it to the rim, and I'm pretty sure had they gotten the ball to him again in the final sequence the result would have been the same.

 

[Chief00]

From 6:31 to go (when Alex Karaban made a layup), the possessions were:

• Tristen Newton fouled and missed front end of 1-and-1,
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• turnover
• Adama made layup
• turnover
• Nahiem Alleyne missed 3-pointer
• Adama made layup
• Jordan Hawkins missed 3-pointer
• Jordan Hawkins missed layup
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• Joey C missed 3-pointer
• Jordan Hawkins missed 3-pointer

Marquette was defending the perimeter extremely well, and on 3-pointers we were 7-25 for the game but 0-6 in the last six minutes. Contrariwise, our big men shot a collective 10-15 for the game and 2-2 in the last 6 minutes.

Something for the coaches to think about: First 34 minutes we want 7-19 on 3's for 1.10 points per shot, and 8-13 from the centers for 1.23 points per shot. In the last 6 minutes this shifted to 0.00 points per shot from 3 and 2.00 points per shot from the centers. Maybe when players are tired and the pressure is on, the 3 point percentage falls, but the big man 2 point percentage does not? Would be good to analyze this over more games, and adjust accordingly.

Including Tristen's free throw the guards went 0-8 with one turnover, Karaban had a turnover, and the centers went 2-2 with no turnovers. 4 shots from bench players Joey C/Nahiem and only 2 from the centers seems lopsided. Over the first 34 minutes, Joey C and Nahiem took 12 shots and Sanogo/Clingan took 13, which is still low for the centers and high for the bench guards, but more balanced.

Don't know why we didn't get more shots for Sanogo and Clingan. 30-seconds ought to be enough to try to get them a look, even if it doesn't result in a shot most possessions. Karaban also deserves to be an option in some plays at closing time, and Tristen driving and looking for a foul or pass. Shots for Hawkins are always good, even if he's having an off day.

It does seem like we don't force our shots on the opponent, we often let the opponent dictate what shots we take; and maybe the guards rely too much on 3-pointers under pressure.

Adama 2 successful layup attempts in final 6 minutes. Why not more? So 7 of 12 attempts did not include Adama, Hawkins or Karaban. Also, having Hawkins Jack up threes after missing them all day is not what I am advocating by saying run stuff for him. Thinking screens and drives to get him to the foul line.

 

[Chief00]

I meant bottom wing defensively of expanded matchup 2-3, opposite karaban, similar to syracuse with clingan only one in paint in middle- offensively hes a power forward, karaban can play 3....if you choose to go big

im bothered by the disrespect given to sanogo...he always plays his ass off...and, umm, led league in scoring....i dont think pros value his skill set, so he will be back...should get more support...along with time in game WITH clingan

I agree, and have consistently avoided the “Mutually Exclusive” narrative that some on here preach. Both are great college players

 

[Mike Honcho]

I was at the game so I wanted to watch this game again from home. A few scattered thoughts.

• We sounded LOUD on TV. Loved that. Could distinctly hear the Let's Go Huskies chant that I started with 4 minutes to go in the first half.
  
  
• Naheim Alleyne has become the player we thought he'd be. I didn't love that his foot was on the line for that first 2-pointer but he played a really solid all-around game and has been on a hot streak. He's shooting 54% from the field and 50% from 3 since the 2nd Providence game in 17mpg. He's also been defending well. Near the end of the game he shot an airball (which Tristen rebounded), but this didn't affect his confidence, as he took, and drilled, a mid-range J a couple plays later.
  
  
• As many pointed out, Hawk struggled. He's been ice cold from behind the arc for the past month now, shooting 17 for 60 or 28.3% since the Creighton game on 2/11. Factoring in his two's, he's just 34 for 95 for 35.8% from the field in that same time period. Would love to see him break out of the funk in the NCAAs and climb the draft boards.
  
  
• Even though his shot wasn't falling, this was the aggressive Tristen we've been looking for. He consistently sought to turn the corner and put pressure on the defense. I think he draws more contact than he's gotten credit for. He should be at the line way more often.
  
  
• Adama isn't getting nearly enough kudos as he deserves. He's been so solid over the past month, averaging 16 and 7 on 62.5% shooting in 28mpg. He learned how to adjust to double-teams -- the pass to AJ in the first few minutes of the game was a thing of beauty.
  
  
• It was really bizarre that the refs couldn't figure out who the ball went off of with a little over 2 min remaining, awarding UConn the ball due to the possession arrow. But I guess you can't go to the monitors until sub-2 min.
  
  
• Most of Andre's fouls were bone-headed, except his 4th which was phantom. His fifth was stupid -- him and Karaban had no business reaching in on Ighodaro 90+ feet from the hoop.
  
  
• Hurley definitely had a point -- Kolek should have fouled out with a little over a minute to go reaching in on Tristen. He ended up missing a couple shots to keep us in the game but it would have been a huge momentum swing (the crowd would have really gotten into it) and a free timeout.