Chief’s Briefs - Morehead State

[Chief00]

Shoulders never really come back 100%. It's just always going to be a worry. Sucks, but that's what it is.

As for the game last night -

What was bad was either habitual/hangover/instinct from last year and entirely fixable. Spacing sucks, too much dribbling, I mean... there's no point in rehashing it, everyone knows it. It was way farther and fewer between last night which is all you can ask for. It's going to take some time to un-Ollie a lot of these kids.

Rebounding is... sorry. It's bad. Boxing out is bad, positioning is bad... we won on the boards last night. When we play a team that's got legit talent we're gonna get plowed. This to me - is the thing that I don't think will fix itself all that easily. We just need bigger, better bodies down low and we don't have that.

Other than those two things, I was mostly pleased for a first game of the season. I want to see some more consistency and focus from Adams. He was fine last night - but he's our best player. He's gotta be more locked in and less sloppy with the fouls. The team needs him really badly. Can't be having that. I mean last night was more his downside - but he's gotta put on the big boy pants and lead a little more is all. I guess I feel a lot of what Hurley does. He's got the potential to be a special college basketball talent and just skirts by on raw ability. And he can do that and help the team - even be its 'best player', but he's just capable of more, I think. I want to see that. His motor just felt a tick down from everyone else's. I see what Hurley's getting at.

Gilbert just looks like a super talented kid who hasn't played much D1 basketball, never mind the injury. I wouldn't worry about him at all.

Absolutely loved everything from Josh Carlton last night. If he can do what he did last night 4 of every 5 nights, we're going to play in a post season tournament for sure.

TSmith is going to be a really solid addition and honestly is a great off the bench piece for just about any college basketball team in the top 50. I'm in on him.

So overall, good start. Win's a win. So many points last night where if this were last year's group, we'd have lost the game. But we didn't. We held dams, hustle and energy is there, showed some derpiness, but that's to be expected. On to UMKC.

So true, we need bigger and talented Bigs. Coaching staff is grinding hard on that for early signing period next week.

 

[CL82]

OT Briefs thought. I love Hurley.

Looks like he bought his suit off the rack without alterations while Taliek and Tom Moore have perfectly tailored suits. LOL - who’s the guy making the big bucks?

Taliek did look sharp, didn't he?

 

[CL82]

Energy from everyone including coach, better than last year, pushing the ball, points in the paint, yet a lot of room for improvement. The defense and boxing out has to be better. While Morehead moved the ball well, they need to work on rotations. If the team team improves over the season, and I am confident it will, we get to 20-22 wins.

No more stink face.

Oh Hurley had some stink face or at least WTF face.

 

[Dogdeacon]

UConn played with energy the entire game and beat Morehead Coach Miller used to give Chief all the reasons we couldn’t run and push the ball, Coach Hurley is totally committed to running, it is becoming the culture of the team.

Just my two cents, try to eliminate the self aggrandizing angle and your posts/contributions will be more authentic not less. And the gratuitous shots within the context of discussing Coach Hurley's Huskies are unnecessary.

As a famous coach once said; I would hope you would support who we are, not who we are not. The commitment and effort deserves and demands your respect. This is your team.

 

[Stinger92860]

This game was only as close as it was because Morehead hit a lot of tough contested threes. That’s kind of random and won’t happen every night

This random excellence by our opponents seems to happen to us a lot.

 

[the Q]

This random excellence by our opponents seems to happen to us a lot.

I would say those contested ones were at worst off set by the wide open looks they got.

Still more concerned with the rebounding, but 3pt d and turnovers are close behind

 

[Lthusker456]

Bingo. I think we had another coach like that - who’s wife probably did his clothes shopping - after awhile though he did have some nice taylored suits for the F4’s.

Tailored *

 

[Chief00]

Taliek did look sharp, didn't he?

Yes he did - he’s a guy so happy being where he wants to be.

 

[Chief00]

And the gratuitous shots within the context of discussing Coach Hurley's Huskies are unnecessary.
.

I am hardly alone making comparisons to the last few years - that’s how you differentiate what has changed.
If I compared this team to some of Cslhoun’s It wouldn’t be fair to them - I am focused on improving both performance, attitudes and wins.

 

[SwingDog]

There was one sequence in the first half that told me all I needed to know about this team and this coach, compared to last year:
The play started on the block w Carlton who kicked it out to the wing on the baseline perimeter. The ball then was quickly passed around the entire 3 point key, with crisp passes, and ended with AQ taking 1 step in, nothing but net. The teamwork, the ball movement, the pace were all a breath of fresh year. Without even looking at the box score, the result, or even the opponent, last night was a huge win for the future of men's basketball. We looked like a team, we played like a team, and thank god, we never just stood at the top of key dribbling the shot clock down to 10 to only hoist up an ill advised shot with no time left.

Agreed! All great points and observations. There was a freshness, energy, and hustle that I don't remember seeing at all last year.

 

[UConn Esq]

I was most impressed with Tarin Smith. I felt the team was completely different when he was grooving.

Also, would have loved to see Whaley for a full game. His energy and rim protection in just 7 minutes was exciting to watch. He helped them push pace.

The biggest difference with this team is they actually looked cohesive. Ollie preached that brotherhood stuff but how many times per game did you get that Jalen Face of his obvious disappointment, which echoed to every player on the court. This team moved the ball, they spread it around, they looked like they were having fun, and they were actually communicating with each other in a way that wasn't based solely on frustration. These players look like they have been coached finally in a way I have not seen in years.

 

[Waquoit]

No thanks - there are other drills.

NC winning drills? Drills that produced FT shooters so good a HOF coach decided it wasn't worth fouling good? Better than those?

 

[Ewekon]

Bingo. I think we had another coach like that - who’s wife probably did his clothes shopping - after awhile though he did have some nice taylored suits for the F4’s.

Ed Mitchell's in Westport

 

[browndog319]

Good post. I am still very concerned about Gilbert’s shoulder holding up. He is much shorter than Jalen Adam’s and has much shorter arms and because of his shoulder situation doesn’t have the strength to finish strong or ability to extend his arms like Jalen to get a shot off. His height and short arms makes it difficult not to get swallowed up by big dudes inside and see his teammates. He is very quick though off the dribble and Gilbert’s improving outside shot makes him more difficult to defend.

How tall is Gilbert? It’s the first time I saw him live and he is a lot smaller than I realized.

 

[intlzncster]

Oh Hurley had some stink face or at least WTF face.

When you space it out a bit...it's actually effective. Who knew?

 

[CL82]

When you space it out a bit...it's actually effective. Who knew?

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Hurley's is a little different than Calhoun, but yeah.

FWIW, I loved the simmering fire in Calhoun's expression all game long. Miss that man.

 

[intlzncster]

FWIW, I loved the simmering fire in Calhoun's expression all game long. Miss that man.

Leading to a few well placed massive blowups. It's like soccer, the tension builds and builds and builds until it's released with a goal.

 

[UConnRock]

Morehead is at Syracuse tomorrow. Good early season barometer on Uconn’s 10 point win

 

[Devland]

With the new NCAA rating system, which replaced the RPI, 10 points is the maximum win margin. In other words a 10 point win counts the same as a 50 point win. So Hurley has the benefit of being able to grab the players attention about the small victory margin without it costing the team in the NCAA ratings.

 

[husky429]

How tall is Gilbert? It’s the first time I saw him live and he is a lot smaller than I realized.

I'd guess 5'7. He's smaller than boat. I'm 5'10 and hes noticably shorter.

Makes his dunking ability that much more impressive. Gotta be in the 40s for his approach vertical

 

[UConn Esq]

How tall is Gilbert? It’s the first time I saw him live and he is a lot smaller than I realized.

He's listed at 6'0" on the UConn Athletics website... maybe shrinkage?

 

[huskyrob1]

We

Was AkAk there?

AkAk died a hero in WW2, but yes Akok was there.