Chief’s Briefs - Seton Hall Edition

[Chief00]

Lmao so we’re just gonna pretend like this didn’t happen?

Casual IQ

LOL - good point - I will correct that.

 

[BlueDogs]

The game was winnable down the stretch, despite all the rust and negatives. What I can’t figure out is (1) why Carlton wasn’t used to bang on mamu and take him out of his rhythm, (2) why we are walking balls up the court with 2 minutes and doing high screens 32 feet away with token rotations wasting time, (3) why DH can’t feel momentum shifts until it’s too late. DH is a C grade in-game coach. He has got to get that solved by either stepping back or getting his staff to watch the game flow.

 

[SportsFan88]

FTFY

????

 

[EBonz30]

Quite frankly, it’s always a “defensive battle” for us because we can’t shoot. Too many long scoring droughts and strange decisions doubling on defense, leaving the wrong guys wide open for open 3 looks.

If Chief could change four Hurley things:
1) Quicker timeout to not to be lured into acceptable prolong bad offense.
2) End mindless doubling on defense. Double base on scouting report and hot hand.
3) Play Sanogo, Gaffney and Jackson more; Adams and Whaley less.
4) Polley is not a microwave off the bench, that experiment is a failure. He needs to start the game.

Give Seton Hall credit. They took advantage of what an incoherent defense gave them knocking down shots. Their defense was vanilla but that’s the way to play us without Bouknight. No need for unnecessary fouls or doubling guys who can’t shoot. The full court pressure applied at the right time did reverse momentum in the second half. They made 3’s and FT’s.

I don’t think IW in the line-up gets us off to a smooth start. He’s not smooth on offense and on defense while a good shot blocker makes poor decisions.

Am I wrong that 1/2 way though the first half the only time we went to the line was on a 3 point shot? Even being a poor shooting team that means we are not running good offense.

Chief would start the following line-up: Cole, Gaffney, Martin, Sanogo and Polley. Jackson first guy off the bench. Jackson made some nice passes today and good defense in spots. Gaffney is one of a few guys who knows how to get to the line and make FT’s. He showed his athleticism today that Chief has seen in practice.

Sanogo, when he can stay out of foul trouble is a star. Great hands, good footwork and soft touch. I love his patience and reading of the defense.

Team made nice comeback but dug too deep a hole. Again missed key foul shots late in the second half. Also, committed foolish fouls today and did not dominate on the boards. Had big guys 20 feet out on D abd not available for rebounds.

Big picture, this is the game Gaffney and Jackson made their statement for more playing time. Hurley needs to scrap his current rotations and associated playing time. Tough loss and we lost the game in the first half.

Polley is officially useless until he starts to pump fake and go by his defender for a closer jumper, a finish at the rim, & or a open look for another teammate. Right now he pumps fakes and takes a side dribble & then typically makes a poor pass to another player on the perimeter. I am totally shocked that Polley as a senior doesn’t know how to use his skill set (shooting) as an advantage to become a more dynamic player. To be honest, I don’t even want him on the court- the scouting report is out & he’s become the easiest player to guard & shut down over the last few games.

It’s time for Polley to counterpunch & make the appropriate adjustment.

 

[Chief00]

Polley is officially useless until he starts to pump fake and go by his defender for a closer jumper, a finish at the rim, & or a open look for another teammate. Right now he pumps fakes and takes a side dribble & then typically makes a poor pass to another player on the perimeter. I am totally shocked that Polley as a senior doesn’t know how to use his skill set (shooting) as an advantage to become a more dynamic player. To be honest, I don’t even want him on the court- the scouting report is out & he’s become the easiest player to guard & shut down over the last few games.

It’s time for Polley to counterpunch & make the appropriate adjustment.

I can’t disagree, but other teams have 3 point shooters with these limitations who do just fine, because they create spacing. The weave is the worse offensive set for someone like Tyler.
Before his injury wasn’t Tyler considered one of our best defenders?

 

[Chief00]

Starting Polley over Jackson is embarrassing. It's not worth it to get Polley going when you can get an actually dynamic player minutes who is also a way better defender.

Again, Jackson ultimately will start , but for now will play multiple roles being the first off the bench. Truly highlighting how multidimensional he is.

 

[EBonz30]

I can’t disagree, but other teams have 3 point shooters with these limitations who do just fine, because they create spacing. The weave is the wires offensive set for someone like Tyler.
Before his injury wasn’t Tyler considered one of our best defenders?

To me it’s pretty clear why our offense struggles at times- it’s not because poor shooting- look at our 3 point shooting & foul shooting & it’s above average. We do not get enough penetration into the lane with our guards & until yesterday nor Cole or Gaffney showed any ability to get into the lane & or finish at the rim.

Going back to Polley- I still don’t understand how a coach, mentor, or player developer hasn’t shown him how to pump fake & use his body, leg, & lead dribble to get pass his defender- it would open up his whole offensive game & make him that much more valuable- to be honest with his shooting stroke, size, & athletic ability he should be a pro.

 

[Chief00]

The game was winnable down the stretch, despite all the rust and negatives. What I can’t figure out is (1) why Carlton wasn’t used to bang on mamu and take him out of his rhythm, (2) why we are walking balls up the court with 2 minutes and doing high screens 32 feet away with token rotations wasting time, (3) why DH can’t feel momentum shifts until it’s too late. DH is a C grade in-game coach. He has got to get that solved by either stepping back or getting his staff to watch the game flow.

I agree, why don’t we have a sense of urgency when we are behind and it’s under 2 minutes left?

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Gaffney has looked like a different player the last couple games. Even with another layoff he came out and played poised and confident in what he was doing.

Jackson was great to see. I will admit I was down on him at the beginning of the season and expected he would not contribute this season especially after the injury. He proved me wrong. There is still a lot of rawness to his game, but he finally showed he deserves the minutes many have been calling for him to get, and that he did it in his first game back from injury was very impressive.

Polley and Jackson need to come off the bench IMO. I do not like Adams starting and think it is time for Gaffney to take the PG role and move Cole off the ball to start games.

 

[freescooter]

I will add to that, too many times there is little movement on offence. If you move the ball, the opponent has to work on D. Just my opinion.

This 1000 times. Even late in the game down 4 we play hold the ball and wait until 10 on the shot clock and throw up a prayer.

 

[HuskylnSC]

With Bouk and Jackson on the floor and in sync all these negative comments go away. Still time to get it together then have a good showing in the BET and NCAA. This is not a year we were going to challenge for the brass ring and we knew it going in. This is a progress year and on that basis it is accomplishing much. We will be UConn again and this year is a part of the process.

 

[formerlurker]

You get to sit in on practices?

No comment.

Try and tell the truth at least one time today, chef. Baby steps.

 

[Chief00]

Gaffney has looked like a different player the last couple games. Even with another layoff he came out and played poised and confident in what he was doing.

Jackson was great to see. I will admit I was down on him at the beginning of the season and expected he would not contribute this season especially after the injury. He proved me wrong. There is still a lot of rawness to his game, but he finally showed he deserves the minutes many have been calling for him to get, and that he did it in his first game back from injury was very impressive.

Polley and Jackson need to come off the bench IMO. I do not like Adams starting and think it is time for Gaffney to take the PG role and move Cole off the ball to start games.

Thanks, with Gaffney Chief has been saying trust in what he’s shown in practice. Of course, Jackson is a Dam Break/Blaze recruit. As I have said before, he is truly a student of the game and that comes out in his elite passing.

 

[Chief00]

To me it’s pretty clear why our offense struggles at times- it’s not because poor shooting- look at our 3 point shooting & foul shooting & it’s above average. We do not get enough penetration into the lane with our guards & until yesterday nor Cole or Gaffney showed any ability to get into the lane & or finish at the rim.

Going back to Polley- I still don’t understand how a coach, mentor, or player developer hasn’t shown him how to pump fake & use his body, leg, & lead dribble to get pass his defender- it would open up his whole offensive game & make him that much more valuable- to be honest with his shooting stroke, size, & athletic ability he should be a pro.

You have to look at what we shot against good teams. Chief has already provided those numbers.

 

[Chief00]

This 1000 times. Even late in the game down 4 we play hold the ball and wait until 10 on the shot clock and throw up a prayer.

Danny has to get a lot better at adjusting his game plan in flight.

 

[Chief00]

I think Bouk is the missing piece from a shooting perspective. Martin has improved and so has Gaff. Whatever Polley gives us as a shooter is more than offset by negatives in every other phase of the game. I haven’t seen Springs but aside from him, Polley is definitely the least effective player we have.

I don’t want to oversell my point since I agree about your assessment on the other phases of the game. I guess where we differ is I think our shooting against good competition is so bad, especially without Bouknight, that Polley when filling the right role is more of an asset than some one like him normally would be. He is shooting 38.5% from 3. Only Martin is better and with half the attempts.

 

[the Q]

- our top bigs foul too much. Other than that I don’t have many complaints about Whaley and Sanogo. I think Whaley needs to pop a few more of those open jumpers if teams are gonna sag off the way they do.

- I know polley is not a fan favorite, but think about how little shooting this team has Without him on the floor. He needs to move better without the ball and rebound better for sure. He’s also one of our 5 best players per bpm.

- top 5 on team in bpm: bouk, Martin, Whaley, gaffney, polley.

- I’ll be happy to eat on Martin. He’s taken a huge leap. He would’ve been the second best player on last years team with that bpm. I think, like vital, his rebounding for his size is huge.

- we do not have a real pg on the roster. Diggins should be able to get a lot of playing time early next year if he’s as good as his ranking.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

If Jackson is going to play like he did yesterday and Bouk is good to go we’ve seen the last of Brendan Adams playing significant minutes. I’m sure he’s a great kid and awesome in the locker room but so was Donnell Beverly. Doesn’t mean he got minutes over freshman Shabazz

 

[Marat]

Lots of great points. I will say though what’s been holding Gaffney back is confidence not athleticism / he has that covered. Chief really can’t explain fully though why he hasn’t exhibited it in games. I have always been a big Gaffney guy and it’s very heart warming to see him doing what he’s capable of.

Rod Sellers agrees with you ! From GWHusky podcast, Sellers said that Gaffney probably lost confidence when RJ was awarded the starting role. And it's good to see his regaining that now. It bodes well for his future.

 

[Chief00]

Rod Sellers agrees with you ! From GWHusky podcast, Sellers said that Gaffney probably lost confidence when RJ was awarded the starting role. And it's good to see his regaining that now. It bodes well for his future.

Thanks and I appreciate Rod Sellers. He will always have a special place in Chief’s UConn MBB history.

 

[Chief00]

If Jackson is going to play like he did yesterday and Bouk is good to go we’ve seen the last of Brendan Adams playing significant minutes. I’m sure he’s a great kid and awesome in the locker room but so was Donnell Beverly. Doesn’t mean he got minutes over freshman Shabazz

Facts: Agree it’s time. No disrespect to anyone. I see Jackson taking minutes from Adams, Whaley and Tyler. Not that he will play center but really 2-4 and even some PG. His mom said he had a late growth spurt - so he already developed guard skills. He’s a great kid to talk ball with and knows the history of some of the greats before his time. Chief loves kids that respect the game.

 

[alphasigko]

Quite frankly, it’s always a “defensive battle” for us because we can’t shoot. Too many long scoring droughts and strange decisions doubling on defense, leaving the wrong guys wide open for open 3 looks.

If Chief could change four Hurley things:
1) Quicker timeout to not to be lured into acceptable prolong bad offense.
2) End mindless doubling on defense. Double base on scouting report and hot hand.
3) Play Sanogo, Gaffney and Jackson more; Adams and Whaley less.
4) Polley is not a microwave off the bench, that experiment is a failure. He needs to start the game.

Give Seton Hall credit. They took advantage of what an incoherent defense gave them knocking down shots. Their defense was vanilla but that’s the way to play us without Bouknight. No need for unnecessary fouls or doubling guys who can’t shoot. The full court pressure applied at the right time did reverse momentum in the second half. They made 3’s and FT’s.

I don’t think IW in the line-up gets us off to a smooth start. He’s not smooth on offense and on defense while a good shot blocker makes poor decisions.

Am I wrong that 1/2 way though the first half the only time we went to the line was on a 3 point shot? Even being a poor shooting team that means we are not running good offense.

Chief would start the following line-up: Cole, Gaffney, Martin, Sanogo and Polley. Jackson first guy off the bench. Jackson made some nice passes today and good defense in spots. Gaffney is one of a few guys who knows how to get to the line and make FT’s. He showed his athleticism today that Chief has seen in practice.

Sanogo, when he can stay out of foul trouble is a star. Great hands, good footwork and soft touch. I love his patience and reading of the defense.

Team made nice comeback but dug too deep a hole. Again missed key foul shots late in the second half. Also, committed foolish fouls today and did not dominate on the boards. Had big guys 20 feet out on D abd not available for rebounds.

Big picture, this is the game Gaffney and Jackson made their statement for more playing time. Hurley needs to scrap his current rotations and associated playing time. Tough loss and we lost the game in the first half.

One sad thing is that IW only had 2 points total in 30 minutes of play......

 

[Chief00]

On sad thing is that IW only had 2 points total in 30 minutes of play......

Sanogo was limited due to fouls - guess you move guys around and give more time to Gaffney. Gaffney is an example of the grind paying off for Chief. It gave me the knowledge and feel to have confidence in him.

 

[bendm]

Today we lost because the other team was unconscious from 3...Seton Hall simply made tough shots

Why is no one else recognizing this? Hall looked like the best team in the country those first 10 mins, in particular, and it wasn't because our D was bad they were just making tough shots.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Maybe for this. Have you apologized yet?

View attachment 64344

Bouknight situation and wiseman are completely different. For one he had ncaa penalties and he was already a top 3 pick. Secondly a big man with his size skill is unique there’s a lot more athletic guards/wings that bouk is comparable to.