Chief’s Briefs - MES Edition

[Chief00]

Quite frankly, Chief thought we underachieved tonight. The team isn’t in any smooth flow. Cole was the one guy who brought his game tonight.

Jackson had at least 3 occasions early where he turned down open looks from the 3 line. When he does that a turnover often follows since he knows he should of had the confidence to shoot it. If he would take and hit 3’s, the entry passing lanes would open up as well.

Other than Jackson and Whaley our rebounding was also disappointing. But, give MES credit they scrapped on the boards

Sanogo is once again settling for 10-12 foot jump hooks. The accuracy drops dramatically after 6 feet. Where is the spin move he used earlier in the year? Although admittedly it’s tougher when you are doubled team and playing hurt..

On the plus side, Gaffney showed some improvement both ballhandling, making assists and hitting threes. Polley now has played well in 2 of his last 4 games. He needs to play well 3/4rds of the time.

Pollard, Styles and Phillip played well for MES. Then Menshah played unconscious on his shots towards the end. Give them some credit, they were patient and hit some well defended threes and shots.

Late in the game Whaley made some good defensive plays while Cole put together some offense. Sanogo and Whaley left 6 points on the FT line.

Martin and Sanogo are injury questions marks going forward and without Cole and Whaley’s defense, we would have lost tonight.

 

[Kolumbo]

It's great to move up in the rankings. Let's just remember how soft the schedule has been overall and that 7-1 is really a result of scheduling. I'll take it. But let's not be surprised when Big East play starts.

 

[Kmart]

Gaffney is getting beat too often against the dribble. It’s disappointing that Hurley isn’t giving Akok more of an opportunity.

 

[Chief00]

It's great to move up in the rankings. Let's just remember how soft the schedule has been overall and that 7-1 is really a result of scheduling. I'll take it. But let's not be surprised when Big East play starts.

Very true. We need to adjust the mix next season. We were not in reality after the first 4 cupcake games.

 

[HuskyHawk]

When you come out expecting to win because you are awesome in your own mind, your poop doesn‘t stink and the other team should bow before your magnificence… bad things happen. Like lazy defense and offense. No rebounds, no loose balls and an opponent that starts hitting shots and gets confident. Once they have it, it’s hard to take it away again.

Cole carried us to a W. Everyone else should be embarrassed. Akok played hard. No idea why he was buried on the bench.

I hope we don’t see anything like that again. This team’s identity is made on defense and rebounding. I’m not concerned, they needed the lesson.

 

[jdb50]

Paige Bueckers should take Jackson into the gym and teach him how to shoot 3's in rhythm as no one else on staff has. He hesitates, and looks and passes. And when he shoots it is like a set shot. This is a big problem.

 

[SeattleHoop]

Gaffney is getting beat too often against the dribble. It’s disappointing that Hurley isn’t giving Akok more of an opportunity.

Yeah Gaffney was getting murdered off the dribble tonight. That stuck out to me. He needs to do better

 

[inWV]

UMES had a few insane 3s. UCONN played about as bad as possible and prevailed simply because they have more talent. Missing Whaley for the MSU game, plus Martin's jacked up wrist perhaps have thrown the team into a funk. They'll have to play out of it. On the plus side, with the depth UCONN has, having the kids figure out how to produce when a starter is not available is good. Anyone of these guys could be lost for the season, or stuck on the bench with early fouls.

 

[Ts5034]

Im not trying to be all sunshine and roses, but I think a lot of that was due to a post Bahamas hangover from everyone, coaching staff included, and no Tyrese. We missed his toughness. Cole has been the star of this team so far. But, where is Samson and Rahsool? At some point these guys are going to need to see the floor.

 

[August_West]

Paige Bueckers should take Jackson into the gym and teach him how to shoot 3's in rhythm as no one else on staff has. He hesitates, and looks and passes. And when he shoots it is like a set shot. This is a big problem.

Or maybe Jackson should use the smaller chicks ball?

 

[bendm]

What’s wrong with sanogo ?

 

[CL82]

Paige Bueckers should take Jackson into the gym and teach him how to shoot 3's in rhythm as no one else on staff has. He hesitates, and looks and passes. And when he shoots it is like a set shot. This is a big problem.

Azzi Fudd… she has better mechanics.

 

[CL82]

Im not trying to be all sunshine and roses, but I think a lot of that was due to a post Bahamas hangover from everyone, coaching staff included, and no Tyrese. We missed his toughness. Cole has been the star of this team so far. But, where is Samson and Rahsool? At some point these guys are going to need to see the floor.

My best possible spin on Adama and Tyrese being out is that other players step up, get minutes, and improve their games. A little disappointed we didn’t see some of that tonight though.

 

[EnochRoot]

Cole, as a PG has to lead these guys. He's not doing it. Scoring is not a primary trait out of a PG. Dictating tempo and where the ball goes is.

 

[EnochRoot]

What’s wrong with sanogo ?

Hurt lower back/ass/quad.

 

[navery12]

Cole, as a PG has to lead these guys. He's not doing it. Scoring is not a primary trait out of a PG. Dictating tempo and where the ball goes is.

I have no idea how anyone could have watched tonight's game and come away with the impression that Cole was the problem

 

[auror]

I agree pretty much in full.

 

[Chief00]

Paige Bueckers should take Jackson into the gym and teach him how to shoot 3's in rhythm as no one else on staff has. He hesitates, and looks and passes. And when he shoots it is like a set shot. This is a big problem.

Anything is worth a try - his shoot confidence is actually getting worse. Once he passes up the shot - the rest of his game gets caught up- at in between no man’s land.

 

[Chief00]

My best possible spin on Adama and Tyrese being out is that other players step up, get minutes, and improve their games. A little disappointed we didn’t see some of that tonight though.

Very true, that did not happen very much. I was hoping to see Johnson a little - he intrigues me as a player.

 

[Chief00]

I have no idea how anyone could have watched tonight's game and come away with the impression that Cole was the problem

He saved our butts.

 

[UConnRock]

He needs to drive and create if he is passing up the shot. His ability as a distributor is greatly diminished as defenses can just back off and block the passing lanes. He needs to be some sort of scoring threat for his skills to be effective.

 

[August_West]

If Sanogo doesn’t get it soon I’m gonna borrow a nickname for him from a past Uconn legend .
Adama “time” Sanogo. Seemingly never meets a shot he doesn’t like. Very Selvie like in that specific matter. Obviously much more skilled, but this black hole business has to stop.

 

[inWV]

If Sanogo doesn’t get it soon I’m gonna borrow a nickname for him from a past Uconn legend .
Adama “time” Sanogo. Seemingly never meets a shot he doesn’t like. Very Selvie like in that specific matter. Obviously much more skilled, but this black hole business has to stop.

Selvie was very much prone to the hook of JC.

 

[Mooch82]

There was a time about 5 minutes into the game where Sanogo got doubled on the block and Hawkins was WIDE open for an easy kick out, clapping his hands for the ball, looking visibly frustrated. I believe it resulted in a turnover or maybe a wild shot, but definitely didn't result in a score. Sanogo really needs some coaching in terms of what he needs to do when he's doubled, because this tunnel vision is becoming a massive detriment to the team. He can occasionally beat a double if he is close to the hoop, but he's dreadful when he is too far away.

Jackson is frustrating because he passes up wide open threes, and then tried to take a step back in the second half with a man in his face, which missed badly. He then turned the ball over the next possession and was yanked for a while. I don't care if his shot isn't pretty...I still think he can hit at a 30% clip if he just takes those wide open looks...which would at least be enough to make the defense respect it a bit.

Coming off a game where Whaley hit three 3's, I would've liked him to look for his shot a bit more today. I feel like the past couple years he often was open for the 15 footer on the wing, where he earned the "Poppers" nickname. Not sure I've seen him take one of those this year. His back to the basket offensive game is really poor, so he really can only score on jumpers, putbacks, or when he is fed the ball off penetration close to the hoop.

Just in general doesn't seem like we are putting our guys in the right spots lately, which I certainly need to put on coaching a bit. We also need to see what Rahsool and Samson can do. Akok looks lost and we are all of a sudden super thin up front if we aren't playing Samson at all. Gaffney is still not a backup PG...need to get Rashool some time.

 

[cap10dingus]

Gaffney is getting beat too often against the dribble. It’s disappointing that Hurley isn’t giving Akok more of an opportunity.

It's disappointing Akok isn't winning more of an opportunity. Kid is too passive. I am starting to agree with what a few have posted recently, with the youth we have coming in I don't know how much room there is for him going forward unless he turns it on here soon. I think he's at least 50/50 on a transfer candidate at eoy.