Chief’s Briefs - Marquette Edition

[businesslawyer]

Marquette cannot handle UCONN in the paint. No reason the last 2:14 to not get the ball inside. Even the last play/. Call the damn timeout and get the other big in. They are overmatched in the paint. Start the game and throughout using your size. You can see the last 2:14 that Sango was open and/or they just went away from him. Really baffling and poor decisions from both players and especially coaching.

I’m sorry. It’s beyond irrational to believe that Hurley told the team not to try to get the ball to Sanogo in the last 2:14. Sheesh. Players are given things to look for, but they have to decide if the play is there and, if not, go to the next option;

 

[Palatine]

He took enough of shots but what I was disappointed in was that we did not seem to run stuff to get our star going using good percentage shots.

He had wide open shots especially in the first half against Marquette. He had a poor shooting. Period. It happens.

 

[Punkbo]

The defense was mind blowingly bad, it’s was bad enough thinking we were getting killed on pick and pops, but 1/2 way through the game I realized they weren’t even setting picks. Just replacements , and we were still chasing ball with both players!

Not sure I agree with this. There are certainly a few plays you could point to where we missed assignments and I agree with Chief that we needed to force Kolek to his right, but we only gave up 14 points in the last 14 minutes. We lost the game because we missed open shots down the stretch.

 

[Chief00]

He had wide open shots especially in the first half against Marquette. He had a poor shooting. Period. It happens.

True, but when it does you run plays to get him layups or fouls. Would we have shot 60% from the FT line in a 2 point loss if Hawkins made a few visits there? He had zero (0) foul shot attempts.

 

[Chief00]

I’m sorry. It’s beyond irrational to believe that Hurley told the team not to try to get the ball to Sanogo in the last 2:14. Sheesh. Players are given things to look for, but they have to decide if the play is there and, if not, go to the next option;

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.

 

[JeffConn]

This loss feels too familiar. UCONN fumbled so many opportunities to take over this game. They were certainly out of sync and their defensive effort was inconsistent.

Against the #6 team and the Big East regular season champions they came out flat defensively and played loosing basketball ultimately. The most frustrating thing is that we've had a couple of teams over the last few years that were good enough to win the BET.

AJ and Hawk was the ultimate difference in this loss here in addition to the missed free throws, and a shaky defensive effort.

Dan Hurley's own list is shrinking as it relates to the team goals. A National Championship is all that is left. Let's see if we can get at least 3 wins in the NCAA tournament. The team is good enough. A 3 to 4 seed seems about right for this squad. Let's hope that Hawks and AJ's disappearing act lights a fire in them for the NCAAs.

My Saturday schedule just freed up a bit unfortunately.

Here is my morning after two cents worth of observations:

As others have mentioned, Hawkins and Jackson not playing well really cramped our chance of winning. Jackson, in particular, lacks focus on specific game objectives and falls into dysfunctional playing patterns. While Marquette's defensive strategy to stop Hawkins worked to perfection, Jackson got in foul trouble early while covering Kolek and did not adjust his thinking. In the second half, with 3 Marquette starters on the bench, we could have taken advantage with Jackson finding open players while leading fastbreaks. That's how we made real fast comebacks early in the season against both good and bad teams. But instead yesterday, Jackson was on the bench during a crucial game-deciding time. Fast breaking might have freed up some breathing room for Hawkins to shoot more freely.

Hurley made some good in-game adjustments, but Smart was a step ahead of him most of the game. DH always seems to give Jackson too much playing leeway. With AJ being the straw that stirs the drink and the importance of his being in the game, DH should have settled Jackson down on defense early, once he got his first foul. Also, with the Marquette defensive strategy on Hawkins, Kolek was covering a taller Karaben. As others have mentioned, it might have helped to run more isolation plays down low for Alex to take advantage of his size advantage on Kolek.

I thought in the second half, the zone was initially effective, but with 3 Marquette starters on the bench, I thought DH should have switched sooner back to a man-to-man, primarily because our zone appeared to keep allowing Marquette to run too much time off the clock. Marquette's 3 starters went to the bench in foul trouble with at least 10 minutes left in the game. After that, we squandered too much second half playing time with Marquette's floor general/MVP Kolek and the other 2 Marquette starters on the bench. Such a lost opportunity! We could have sped up the game to play more to our desired tempo. Playing a less familiar zone defense may have also allowed Marquette to have such wide open shots from the side.

With all that said, that last second desperation three by Cam Jones was the difference in this game. Sometimes, being lucky is better than being good!

 

[connVA]

As others have said multiple times here and in that monstrously long post-game thread, Marquette literally could not handle Clingan. He drew fourth fouls on both Iguodaro and Kolek and probably would have fouled out half their team had the trend continued. Clearly the refs were inclined to call Marquette for fouls against him whereas Newton and others were being abused without any calls. He completely changed the complexion of the game during that second half stretch he was in. Why not leave him in?

 

[ctchamps]

The defense was mind blowingly bad, it’s was bad enough thinking we were getting killed on pick and pops, but 1/2 way through the game I realized they weren’t even setting picks. Just replacements , and we were still chasing ball with both players!

It was bad until Hurley made adjustments. Then the ten point lead and the momentum clearly going in Marquette’s direction was reduced to a tie with the momentum going in our direction. Until that dagger three with time running out. Kudos to Cam Jones.

We had three opportunities of our own to have a heroic made shot but it wasn’t meant to be.

So yes defense was bad up until a point. And then it was terrific. It was a really tightly contested game at the end and we had several chances to get the W.

Disappointing for certain to lose this way but the degree of angst and recrimination this forum displays at times is not a good look. Not directed at you.

 

[CTBasketball]

Hurley going to zone worked, it pulled us back. That was a nice change of pace lineup too.

But we have to shoot and defend better.

 

[Cheddie]

It was both player and coaching development opportunities, playing the 2 Bigs together and players getting them the ball. That would have opened up the 3 as well. It seems we were still celebrating the PC game rather than mentally adjusting to what we needed to do to win this one. Hopefully, lesson learned, but would have been nice going into this game giving Clingan/Sanogo over 50 minutes a game.
Donovan had an impact tonight and only played 10 minutes!!!!!!!!
When will we learn, it is March 11th.

Playing both bigs together would perhaps allow Clingan to park himself inside. He's not as agile as Sanogo and when he's guarding out by the 3-point line, he can't get back quickly enough to defend at the basket or get optimal rebounding position.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You expect your best defensive player to play defense without fouling. 5 fouls in 15 mins is on him.

There were some bad calls in there but his last one was mind blowingly stupid. Reaching in on a rebounder 90’ away from the damn basket while in the bonus.

Some of this stuff is high school IQ not to do. Like was he not aware that he had 4 and should play it safe??

 

[pj]

Hurley has had a long-standing weakness in the area of roster construction and use of roster. For years he built a limited roster that could only play one way, and teams who matched up well with that and took us out of our game would beat us.

This year he finally built a diverse and versatile roster (though missing the speedy ball handler-distributor, still a more diverse lineup than most college teams have), but he didn't spend enough time building in diversity of styles in play during practice (eg zone and man, a two big lineup and a smaller lineup along with the usual one) so in games he doesn't feel comfortable throwing a new look at the opponent even when the standard look is not working.

It seemed like he started to learn late in the year, put a zone in place, but there was still inadequate ability to mix things up. If you're introducing a zone, try out the two bigs. It wouldn't be right in every game, but in some games it would mess the opponent up.

 

[Chief00]

A lot of angry chatter between the players and bad body language on all of those missed assignments (Sanogo throwing his arms up in the air in frustration, etc., etc.). Four defenders guarding three shooters on one side of the arc while paying zero attention to the fact that there was a single defender trying to guard two shooters on the opposite side, inevitably leading to a Marquette player basically taking a practice 3 from the corner. Repeatedly. From what I could tell, a lot of that ire seemed to be directed at Newton.

Newton is our point guard but he is deficient in various critical skills to be our point guard. It is what it is at this point. We did not have Andre to do the fast break push today because of some bad choices he made early in the game. This is also a game after Newton did not start - coach’s decision.

 

[Chief00]

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.

I agree that Karaban has ice water in his veins. The dude is so poised and calm. He cleans up his deficiencies and you see that the second time he matches up with someone.

 

[Chief00]

It was bad until Hurley made adjustments. Then the ten point lead and the momentum clearly going in Marquette’s direction was reduced to a tie with the momentum going in our direction. Until that dagger three with time running out. Kudos to Cam Jones.

We had three opportunities of our own to have a heroic made shot but it wasn’t meant to be.

So yes defense was bad up until a point. And then it was terrific. It was a really tightly contested game at the end and we had several chances to get the W.

Disappointing for certain to lose this way but the degree of angst and recrimination this forum displays at times is not a good look. Not directed at you.

The other thing was Clingan was taken out of the game not to return.

 

[Son of Robert]

Marquette's man to man defense on the perimeter was exceptional most of the game. It was a main factor in our loss to them in our first meeting also. And they made enough shots to keep their lead and win the game. We had some faults for sure, but I will give Marquette credit for a game well-played.

 

[uconnfan68]

As usual good analysis by Chief.
If we shoot 12-15 from FT we win.
Despite Hawkins having an unusual bad shooting night, and meltdown by Andre we still had 3 or 4 wide open 3s in last 2 minutes that would have won the game.
The loss highlighted the one weakness of this team which is the lack of a player that can find a way to score when nothing is working. I don’t understand why Hawkins can not use how tight teams play him to pump fake and draw fouls. Hawkins needs to get crafty at getting to FT line. Fake a 3, duck under the guy and draw a foul.
Karaban is the least tight player at crunch time. They need to run more plays get him shots at crunch time.
Clingan was on a roll in second half, why did Hurley pull him?
Especially with Andre in foul trouble.
Andre needs to attack rim for his points. I don’t like him as the passer out on perimeter even though it works sometimes. He needs to be on the baseline because it pulls the defense into him to block him dunking, which opens up the outside shot for the teams best shooters. Go inside to Andre and let him pass back out to shooter.
It seems like we regressed to January where Andre was PG hanging out on perimeter and not dunking the ball. It doesn’t work. Every time he dunks, he fires himself up and defense elevates to new level. Every time he misses a 3 he gets depressed and defense sucks. Get that man some dunks and we could win a championship.

UConn is the more talented of these 2 teams, yet we lost 2 out of 3.

Andre needs to figure out how to score when 5-10’ from the hoop. If he can’t, maybe try football.

 

[giddyup]

For us to reach the next level, we have to win highly contested games. There will always be the reasons why we came up short. Excellent teams find ways to win. We just aren’t there yet. At some point it’s on Hurley to win the tough ones.

 

[jorge34]

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.

Not just 2 minute offense…. 6 and a half minute offense.

Guards shot 0-7 with missed front end of 1 and 1 in last 6.34 after karaban tied game at 64.
Only points were sanogo’s 2 layups.

 

[Cheddie]

I agree that Karaban has ice water in his veins. The dude is so poised and calm. He cleans up his deficiencies and you see that the second time he matches up with someone.

He needs to take more that 5 shots in 35 minutes.

 

[jorge34]

The other thing was Clingan was taken out of the game not to return.

That made no sense. At very least he needs to be back in when Jackson fouls out

 

[BarkingDog]

AS was good scoring the ball and rebounding but his defense was atrocious

Adama Sanogo was the best player on the floor for either team last night.

He carried his team on the offensive end but yet instead he is getting dragged on here for his defense.

Sanogo is a tremendous defender, especially guarding players, often bigger than he is, 1v1 in the post. He has great feet , is strong and defends without fouling .

But last night Hurley left him on an island, having him defend smaller players in space. It was a coaching mistake and not fair to Adama.

Then there was the play when kolek blew by Newton, Adama switched and picked kolek up and stayed with him as he kept his dribble alive. Adama forced kolek to the baseline under the basket where he was trapped by a single defender and the end line. Adama, our 245 pound 6-9 center, defended the conference player of the year point guard one on one for about 10 seconds, completely denying him. It was great defense.

Meanwhile, Newton is standing there and watching as kolek picks up his dribble and makes an impossible bounce pass to what had been adamas man for a layup.

Hurley yells at Adama and Newton as they come off the floor. Ok. Fine. Whatever. Sanogo seemed to handle it.

One more thing. Marquette is a top 10 offense and UConn held them to 70 points. The defense, with Sanogo on the floor, shut out MU for the last 4 minutes of the game. The defense is not the reason they lost. One more basket, one more three, a couple more free throws and we’re talking about the upcoming game tonight instead of rehashing last night.

Maybe the guy who was 8-12 from the floor and the game’s leading scorer should have gotten a touch in the last three or four possessions. Adama would have scored or gone to the line. He was deep into the post and had his man sealed and was calling for the ball and well, you know what happened.

On to the national tournament.

 

[ctchamps]

The other thing was Clingan was taken out of the game not to return.

I love Clingan. It's unusual to have a freshman, never mind a freshman big, able to contribute as much as he has over this season.

In those last minutes of the game Adama was not the defensive liability he demonstrated earlier. Had he been I would agree with the individuals who wanted Donovan in the game at the end over Adama.

Let me put it this way. In the last 8 seconds when Adama sealed his player for an open look how many times this season have we seen Donovan successively do that? If Adama gets that pass I have confidence its a basket or made free throws. At this stage I don't with Donovan.

And heads up to the Marquette player who cut off Newton's angle to make that pass. It was clearly Newton's first choice. Precious seconds were lost trying to do that but it was a smart decision that failed not by poor decision making or execution but by a better defensive play.

 

[ucp990411]

He took enough of shots but what I was disappointed in was that we did not seem to run stuff to get our star going using good percentage shots.

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

 

[gtcam]

He took enough of shots but what I was disappointed in was that we did not seem to run stuff to get our star going using good percentage shots.

When the staff starts running stuff I may think something went wrong. Never seen a team who appears to have no specific plays or strategic plans to close games. But then again I don’t get paid $3mill to do so. Telling Hawk to run around while being held and mugged is not going to do it. He is fortunate to have the quickest release. RHam did it but JC had plays and picks with movement by other players helping out. Hawk is on an island by himself. Ridiculous