Chief’s Briefs - St John’s Edition

[shizzle787]

I think the 14-0 was a little deceiving. 6 of those games we win playing with 4 against 5. Yes we beat Alabama and Iowa State but that was in a tournament and those are always suspect given the back to back nature of the event and the early season when teams are still coming together. We have a sub par backcourt. Again. A front court that is at best confused. No semblance of an offensive scheme. A coach who is overmatched game in game out. The refs might be bad, but they are the least of our problems.

Out of 76 teams in the power conferences, Warren Nolan (NET) predicts us to have 60th best (or 17th easiest) regular season strength of schedule. We will play a weaker schedule than 80% of the P6.

 

[freshler40]

The four transfer guards are good players supplying depth, but unfortunately none have emerged from the pack as a stand out. Jackson refuses to shoot except for the occasional toss at the basket. Hawkins, Karajan and Sanogo carrying the offensive load. A good top twenty team, back in the national discussion, but a long shot for final four unless something really changes.

Three (3) of our starters can and do shoot when open. Two (2) starters only pass. Math says that five (5) defensive players can shut down three (3) shooters or in todays case they were the only ones that scored even when counting the minutes of four (4) from the bench. Were easy to defend! Only three (3), maybe four of nine (9) players can score. Easy math indeed. Saint John's had six (6) players in double figures. Go look!

 

[Jalan2121]

We’re all frustrated. I’ve been watch the other Big East teams play for the last two weeks. The league office must have instructed the refs to let the games be physical. That’s ok. Other teams have adjusted.
Fix this team. There is no magic substitution rotation, no miracle defense. It’s been said many times, poor defense, poor positional play, cutters cut for nothing because seldom do they get fed. Undisciplined on offense and defense. Absolutely must focus this team on basic defensive footwork and moving as a team. Make it simple for them! An offense that relies on dribble dribble one on one street ball never works in a tough physical setting.
When compared to other BE teams UConn often starts the offense near mid court… too far out. Wing players need keep it simple. Pass first, shoot second, but be a shooting threat. In practice and games sit players down who “don’t get it”. Toughness comes from discipline. This is a very undisciplined team!

 

[coachn]

So glad the team were fired up from the Ray Allen visit. It looked like they were sleepwalking the entire game.

Ray Allen is bad for this team. Never won a NATY and has his name all over the place. Why do we have him talk to this team?
Did he tell them bring back KO.

 

[coachn]

Yet the coaches know riffing is inconsistent and they waste team fouls and individual fouls using bags with the high screen and running guards off of it.

The play takes part 25' from the hoop and everyone in the arena can watch the play unfold. Any moving or twitching bu the screener is a TO, personal foul and team foul. Three negatives in one play.

May help if we learned how to set a pick and use the roll man in the offense.

 

[connVA]

Two Bigs starting lineup needed. Change the dynamic. Guards are not the strength of our team.

Offensively, having DC at the 5, removing Newton, and putting AJ at the point is at least intriguing. We'd be substituting an offensive liability (Newton) with arguably our second or third-best offensive weapon at this point. But on defense, Sanogo has to defend 4's with multi-level offensive games, AJ and Hawkins have to defend (presumably) the two fastest guards, and Karaban has to defend a wing or guard (in three-guard offenses). I'm not sure that defense would be stopping anything out of Clingon's reach.

 

[joelerg87]

Ray Allen is bad for this team. Never won a NATY and has his name all over the place. Why do we have him talk to this team?
Did he tell them bring back KO.

I hope this is a joke but I’m pretty sure it serious, which then makes it really funny.

 

[Captbluefin]

Offensively, having DC at the 5, removing Newton, and putting AJ at the point is at least intriguing. We'd be substituting an offensive liability (Newton) with arguably our second or third-best offensive weapon at this point. But on defense, Sanogo has to defend 4's with multi-level offensive games, AJ and Hawkins have to defend (presumably) the two fastest guards, and Karaban has to defend a wing or guard (in three-guard offenses). I'm not sure that defense would be stopping anything out of Clingon's reach.

What happens when AJ gets 2 fouls in the first 5 mins?

Like seems to happen in the last two games

 

[Demo Square]

Hey guys,

If I were coaching this "team," I would have stopped the bus after the St. Johns game on the way back to Storrs at The Rent or some other available steep stairs. And I would have had the boys run til they puked! They need something to think about in "earning" their NIL money. Get their attention Hurley. A mini training camp session is a good reminder.

And Hurley should sincerely apologize to these boys for his major role in this terrible loss.

Then start over! Get to work on basic defensive & shooting fundamentals in practice drills, playing together as a team, & making each other better (haven't seen that in several games now - Sanogo is a man apart).

And especially practice essential passing fundamental drills too.

Ask every player where he likes to receive passes on offense. And make sure that Sanogo & AJAX start hitting those spots. Sanogo's rare passes out to open shooters are always out of desperation, way off the mark & kill the advantage.

AJAX often throws every pass from his hip, flat-footed from the point. Newton & Hawkins often throw low bounce passes to 7'2" Clingan in the paint.

AJAX & Sanogo really need to learn the fundamentals of the game of basketball.

Inaccurate passes take away the time when players are open & these two guys are terrible passers. Back to fundamental drills.

And Danny Hurley? Figure out your team already. We ARE deep. But you haven't figured out how to maximize the skill-sets in combo's yet. Nail it down Hurley! Maybe YOU should be running the stairs with the players.

Father Demo

PS: Very knowledgeable & passionate comments here from all you Husky fans & hoops addicts. - FD -

 

[Tiamat7]

Big East officiating is a mess and in crisis. Saw things in the first half I have not seen in 30 years, including an out of control ref going after a fan 50 feet from the court then trying to toss a fan for saying rabbit ears at end of first half from 30 feet away. It is not in the Security handbook how to handle an out of control ref who should be the one tossed. The inmates are running the asylum. Time for a new league commissioner.

Not much to say about the first half other than Hawkins shot over 60% from the field and 100% from the FT while the rest of the team shot about 30% FG and 50% from the line.

In the second half Karaban and Sanogo contributed as well. Jackson was saddled with 4 fouls.

We need to play much better and losing at home is terrible. We are neither defending or exhibiting ball movement. The refs were terrible and Hurley behaved. This 4 out offense doesn’t work. Our best defense today was that early zone. We had 38% more fouls.

I usually devour the Chief's Briefs and appreciate the detailed analysis. Only crumbs this time.

 

[hookshot]

Newton and the other guards are struggling so badly that our starting line-up is returning to the 3-on-5 problem in the half-court that we had last year- (smart) coaches only need to worry about Sanogo, Hawkins, and Karaban and can effectively ignore AJ and Newton while collapsing the second or third man on Sanogo or sending help at Hawkins. Last year the issue was AJ and Whalley (both had a three pointer but needed their own zip code worth of space to get it off).

With regard to AJ, he could be an active participant in the offense but remains too timid about his shot. There seem to be at least one or two instances every game where he gets the ball outside the arc with -5 seconds on the shot clock and plenty of space and, instead of taking shot, passes it off to (effectively) a non-shooter like Diarra or Alleyne (for a bad miss or clock violation) or a well-covered Calceterra or Karaban (for a contested shot or clock violation).

because he has no confidence that his shot will go in, and who is to say that he is wrong

 

[Chief00]

Yeah, three Purvises today (stepping on end line) was brutal.

That means you lack court awareness. Not a good sign guys having no clue where they are.

 

[Chief00]

The Solution: Chief would start Clingan, Sanogo, Karaban, Hawkins and Jackson. The transfer guards can't stop the ball by staying in front of their man / so plan B is to have Clingan back there protecting the rim. It puts our 2 best shooters and 3 best rebounders out there. Also, our best assist guy.

 

[Chief00]

Hate the 4 out! It only works if you have guards that can both shoot and create off the dribble. Neither of which our guards can do consistently. It’s going to be a long rest of the season if this continues. Lack of team confidence is apparent and it’s up to Hurley to fix it.

Bingo.

 

[Chief00]

Jackson saddled himself with four fouls. It was the worst game I have seen him play. He brought nothing today. Although his nifty dribbling 35 feet away from the basket was a pleasure to watch.

The last one I believe was a bad call but I agree the early one were poor risk/reward decisions.

 

[Chief00]

I closely witness the bizarre incident as the ref was leaving at half time. However, I was not as close to what happened behind the basket on the UConn end when the same ref during a timeout lost his cool and tried to go after a fan. Did anyone here see what happened up close?

 

[connVA]

What happens when AJ gets 2 fouls in the first 5 mins?

Like seems to happen in the last two games

Exactly. Yet another reason why it would be a major roll of the dice defensively. AJ's on-ball defense isn't (nearly) good enough to deal with quick guards and he ends up committing those Freshman fouls by trying to strip them from behind or going for highlight reel blocks after they blow by him.

 

[dtrumpet]

Offensively, having DC at the 5, removing Newton, and putting AJ at the point is at least intriguing. We'd be substituting an offensive liability (Newton) with arguably our second or third-best offensive weapon at this point. But on defense, Sanogo has to defend 4's with multi-level offensive games, AJ and Hawkins have to defend (presumably) the two fastest guards, and Karaban has to defend a wing or guard (in three-guard offenses). I'm not sure that defense would be stopping anything out of Clingon's reach.

Clingan, Sanogo, Jackson, Karaban and Hawkins could be a nasty 2-3 zone. All sorts of length and pretty quick. A nice offensive combo as well.

 

[connVA]

because he has no confidence that his shot will go in, and who is to say that he is wrong

I feel for him but, if he wants to be our point forward or whatever, he needs to get comfortable shooting that with a defender sagging 5 feet off of him vs passing it to Alleyne for a desperation airball or Karaban being so tightly covered that he can't even get a shot off.

 

[Kolumbo]

Winning is easy. UCONN was up 16-8 because Hawkins had 14 points in 6 minutes 24 seconds. Guys gotta step up and make shots and then play solid smart defense. They get out of their game too easily and then sheet the bed.

Hawkins 3, 3, 2, 1-1-1, 3

 

[wheelerdog]

How much would it cost to get Ollie back?

Thank you for making me laugh.

 

[gsmooth]

because he has no confidence that his shot will go in, and who is to say that he is wrong

This goes back to last year. When he plays he would rather do everything else in basketball than shoot.

 

[MTBingNinja]

Going to post this in every thread possibly, How many dribbles are we going to give up?

Oooops. How many dribble drives are we going to give up?!

 

[Billy Jack]

You can draw a straight line from the 21 turnovers to today’s result. None of the rest would matter much if we weren’t giving them so many extra scoring opportunities and depriving ourselves of a chance to score both in the same play.

 

[Sportsfan71]

How did every one of these things disintegrate? It’s a legitimate question.

Can anyone provide any redeeming perspective? Is there some silver lining I’m missing like the team will get better in March? They look absolutely abysmal.

Honestly put, some players have clearly quit playing and they need to sit or be released. Play Clingan and AS together or sit AS and let him come off the bench.