Chief’s Briefs - St John’s Edition

[Chief00]

All the things we do wrong in our wins are magnified in a loss. It is tough to win a close game against a good team when the Big East refs under Val Ackerman gift our opponent 31 to 12 or 158% more foul shots. And the foul shots we got, we did not take advantage of. That and 15 turnovers, 9 by Demary were the difference.

True we commit our share of dumb fouls but the inconsistency when we receive contact when shooting vs.them, is pretty amazing.
Granted we shot 42% from FT but without Big East refs St John’s would not overcome a 56% to 50% FG deficit and a 47% 3pt to 26% 3pt deficit. Only two of our guys touched the FT line all night (Reed 2-6) and Demery (3-6). No one else got to the line.

Karaban shot 70% for 17 points and played a smart error free game that many guys failed to play.

Demary was the tale of two cities with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists but 9 turnovers and 50% FT.

We had 3 starters end the game with 4 fouls so it’s hard to explain why certain bench guys did not play more when they did decent while in the game for very limited minutes.

Part of me says work on 5 things:
1) Foul Shooting for guys who go to the line. And avoiding dumb fouls, by playing verticle type defense, which creates tough shots but avoids reaching in.

2) Inbounds plays, they are a problem and need to be an opportunity, for a team who otherwise moves the ball.

3) It is clear that Mullins is still not part of the offense. When he does well it is him by himself making great plays. Our offensive sets seem to use him as a corner spacing decoy more than anything else. Reed and Mullins need to develop an inside out game ASAP. Guys also need to look for him on our version of a fast break rather than a last resort with not shot clock remaining.

4) We got out rebounded 32-26. Our offensive sets seem to stop at the shot and don’t have a weak side rebounder in position. This is one way Ross and Stewart should be contributing. Also the remaining possession long mismatches from switching out on the high hedge needs to stop. We put ourselves out of position for defensive rebounds.

5) How to stop James Breeding and crew from giving our opponents 31 looks at the line vs 12 in a 9 point margin game?

 

[Umami Zen]

Pitino's demeanor last night suggested to me he was pleased with how the game was being called. Play tough physical D until or if they start blowing the whistle. St Johns played with urgency and intention. They were determined not to let Ball and Mullins get catch and shoot opportunities out of our sets. Kept jumping our sets/getting in passing lanes/fighting through screens. Our bench didn't help and we didn't seem to be able to match Darling's disruptive energy.

41% from FT line is not gonna cut it in March. Plenty of material for Dan and staff for film sessions. Sometimes its not a bad thing to get humbled in a game-as long as its not in March. Next

 

[Dave04]

Interesting point about an inside out game but does Reed ever pass the ball out? He’s got great footwork and low post moves but he’s a black hole with the ball. I’m surprised more teams don’t double team him more because it’s almost 100% chance he’s shooting when he gets the ball. It makes the offense much less dynamic than in past years.

 

[homunculus]

Every time we built momentum we threw the ball away. AK wasn’t completely error-free, he fired a pass to a wide open Mullins into the crowd.

Yes St John’s pressed and disrupted, but a good number of our turnovers were just lazily handing the ball away, or slipping on the court. Not sure why that happened so much, and only to us. Do we need new sneakers?

 

[TMB4405]

I am biased for sure and we foul too much. That said it seems impossible we always shoot less foul shots than opponents.

Demary was loose with ball but without him we totally get blown out.

How we dont devise specific plan to get Mullins 12-15 attempts a game aggravates me to no end.

Every team plays us like its the only game they need to win the entire year. Hopefully this will make us better. The team definitely needs to be " tougher". Besides Demary we were not that tough tonight.

In the end I will take our guys in March. May not work out but theres a good chance it will.

 

[uchusky32]

We got 9 rebounds from our starting center and PF. In 69 minutes. Plus poor FT from everyone and that’s the game.

 

[giddyup]

All the things we do wrong in our wins are magnified in a loss. It is tough to win a close game against a good team when the Big East refs under Val Ackerman gift our opponent 31 to 12 or 158% more foul shots. And the foul shots we got, we did not take advantage of. That and 15 turnovers, 9 by Demary were the difference.

True we commit our share of dumb fouls but the inconsistency when we receive contact when shooting vs.them, is pretty amazing.
Granted we shot 42% from FT but without Big East refs St John’s would not overcome a 56% to 50% FG deficit and a 47% 3pt to 26% 3pt deficit. Only two of our guys touched the FT line all night (Reed 2-6) and Demery (3-6). No one else got to the line.

Karaban shot 70% for 17 points and played a smart error free game that many guys failed to play.

Demary was the tale of two cities with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists but 9 turnovers and 50% FT.

We had 3 starters end the game with 4 fouls so it’s hard to explain why certain bench guys did not play more when they did decent while in the game for very limited minutes.

Part of me says work on 5 things:
1) Foul Shooting for guys who go to the line. And avoiding dumb fouls, by playing verticle type defense, which creates tough shots but avoids reaching in.

2) Inbounds plays, they are a problem and need to be an opportunity, for a team who otherwise moves the ball.

3) It is clear that Mullins is still not part of the offense. When he does well it is him by himself making great plays. Our offensive sets seem to use him as a corner spacing decoy more than anything else. Reed and Mullins need to develop an inside out game ASAP. Guys also need to look for him on our version of a fast break rather than a last resort with not shot clock remaining.

4) We got out rebounded 32-26. Our offensive sets seem to stop at the shot and don’t have a weak side rebounder in position. This is one way Ross and Stewart should be contributing. Also the remaining possession long mismatches from switching out on the high hedge needs to stop. We put ourselves out of position for defensive rebounds.

5) How to stop James Breeding and crew from giving our opponents 31 looks at the line vs 12 in a 9 point margin game?

No. 3 is an issue. It’s very subtle and shows in how the offense stalls out. Solo wants the spotlight and Mullins is a threat. You also have AK, a total team player, but also competing to take the same kind of shots Solo wants. I don’t think the team chemistry is what it should be. Dan needs to pull a Herb Brooks.

 

[InKembaITrust]

Anyone else notice how insanely bad Gus Johnson was on the call? My god, you're announcing the most exciting BE game of the year, that everyone has circled, and you flat-out suck at your job and detract from the game. No exaggeration, probably averaged a mistake/blown call every 2 minutes, naming wrong players, assigning fouls to the wrong team, said Silas was chirping at SJ's bench when it was his own bench?, going on mindless tangents unrelated to the game when it was close at the end...what was this guy on?

A better, more professional, listenable announcer would've made the sting of the loss more tolerable. Get this guy out of announcing, at least for UConn games.

 

[Glastonhusky]

No. 3 is an issue. It’s very subtle and shows in how the offense stalls out. Solo wants the spotlight and Mullins is a threat. You also have AK, a total team player, but also competing to take the same kind of shots Solo wants. I don’t think the team chemistry is what it should be. Dan needs to pull a Herb Brooks.

Agree. Don't understand why Mullins didn't get more shots in the 2nd half last night. Maybe i wasn't watching it closely enough, did St John's do something to take him out of the game?

 

[campcalhoun2009]

Interesting point about an inside out game but does Reed ever pass the ball out? He’s got great footwork and low post moves but he’s a black hole with the ball. I’m surprised more teams don’t double team him more because it’s almost 100% chance he’s shooting when he gets the ball. It makes the offense much less dynamic than in past years.

Reed is definitely not a black hole.

He averages over 2 assists a game, good for 2nd in the league for centers. Also, when he gets fed, 90% of the time it’s the right play to go at the basket because he’s so skilled.

He has got caught in some double teams, but generally he is very good about passing out to the weak side shooter.

He gets an absolutely abysmal whistle in league play, which doesn’t help him any. He's mauled on most plays and seems to get at least 2 very ticky tack fouls called on him every game.

 

[Old Man UConn]

not totally a 31-12 FT advantage that was the only problem. Turnovers and defensive rebounding were critical. The disparage of what is and not a foul is the problem. I have said this before watch away from the ball how we are not allowed to cut and are constantly being held up from moving. Free movement. Nope not going to happen along with hand checking. Only having one ball handler is the another problem.

 

[Palatine]

Every time we built momentum we threw the ball away. AK wasn’t completely error-free, he fired a pass to a wide open Mullins into the crowd.

Yes St John’s pressed and disrupted, but a good number of our turnovers were just lazily handing the ball away, or slipping on the court. Not sure why that happened so much, and only to us. Do we need new sneakers?

I think Mullens fell down on that pass. he slipped as AK was releasing the ball and was on the floor as it went into the crowd.

 

[Dave04]

Reed is definitely not a black hole.

He averages over 2 assists a game, good for 2nd in the league for centers. Also, when he gets fed, 90% of the time it’s the right play to go at the basket because he’s so skilled.

He has got caught in some double teams, but generally he is very good about passing out to the weak side shooter.

He gets an absolutely abysmal whistle in league play, which doesn’t help him any. He's mauled on most plays and seems to get at least 2 very ticky tack fouls called on him every game.

Fair points. His usage rate is high so it seems like he’s not passing out as much but he has doubled his assists this season.

 

[tennmike]

The free throw discrepancy is a thing. Even if St John's had 50% more free throws than UConn...and they shoot their 71% and UConn shoots their 45%, that is a 9 point swing. Tie game.
With as hard as the Johnnies play defense, it's unfathomable how UConn only had 12 ft attempts.

 

[Hoops91]

Fixing foul shooting is not easy. That could certainly be an issue in March.

 

[JungleLobo]

Inbounding has been a problem all season. It surely has been practiced.

If you’re going to have turnovers on finesse lobs anyways: Time to dial up a home run play so the opposing squads get burned for some soul scorching, two handed rim rattling jams.

 

[Chief00]

No. 3 is an issue. It’s very subtle and shows in how the offense stalls out. Solo wants the spotlight and Mullins is a threat. You also have AK, a total team player, but also competing to take the same kind of shots Solo wants. I don’t think the team chemistry is what it should be. Dan needs to pull a Herb Brooks.

Agree, there’s a lack of awareness in my opinion, what your teammates can do well and what they can’t do well.

 

[homunculus]

I think Mullens fell down on that pass. he slipped as AK was releasing the ball and was on the floor as it went into the crowd.

I thought he might have, but the pass was still kind of wild.

This was my other question. We slipped a good 4-6 times in this game at least. St Johns didn’t, at least not that I noticed. Short of claiming the court itself has a bias against UConn (LOL) why would this be? Worn out treads on our soles? Did SJ put a bunch of stickum on their shoes? Pure bad luck?

 

[Chief00]

Reed is definitely not a black hole.

He averages over 2 assists a game, good for 2nd in the league for centers. Also, when he gets fed, 90% of the time it’s the right play to go at the basket because he’s so skilled.

He has got caught in some double teams, but generally he is very good about passing out to the weak side shooter.

He gets an absolutely abysmal whistle in league play, which doesn’t help him any. He's mauled on most plays and seems to get at least 2 very ticky tack fouls called on him every game.

And then do you really want him on the line. I think he crushes his foul shots when he does get them.

 

[mjmoney23]

A few thoughts...

Turnovers- Perhaps the most unforced turnovers I can remember in a game from UCONN. The amount of slips and just awful passes was astounding. Add in the 2 times Silas got his pocket picked and it was a recipe for disaster.

Fouls- Yes, we commit alot of fouls. St John's committed many as well, they just weren't whistled. Also so a few missed travels on st johns. On one step back 3 , the shooter literally took over 2 steps back to get behind the line.

Rebounding- Sloppy boxing out, particularly on the defensive end. A few times I was cheering for the miss only for st johns to get the board and get a second chance basket.

Inbounding- Continues to be a problem. While better than last year it is still below what it needs to be.

Silas- had a rough game with the TOs but was our best player. He passed on a few 3s he needs to take. In the pecking order of letting them fly from downtown, he and Mullins should be the first 2 options, not Solo. Speaking of, Solo took some very bad shots from deep that can be considered chucks. If they don't go in, they are awful shots.

AK - very good game for him overall I though, especially offensively. Please though, no more forced close range shots, they never go in. If theirs no path for a layup, kick it out or dribble through if possible.

Overall- Not happy about the result but we didn't play great. We were right in it until the end so there is definitely room for improvement. Cut down the turnovers make our few free throws we take and get a few more boards and we win in Hartford in a few weeks. I already expect a free throw differential favoring St John's so I won't opine on that being part of the winning formula.

 

[NJHusky]

I don’t think the team chemistry is what it Dan needs to pull a Herb Brooks

Y want the team doing gassers on ice skates??

Nice Olympics ref on the opening weekend btw!!

 

[nomar]

Anyone else notice how insanely bad Gus Johnson was on the call? My god, you're announcing the most exciting BE game of the year, that everyone has circled, and you flat-out suck at your job and detract from the game. No exaggeration, probably averaged a mistake/blown call every 2 minutes, naming wrong players, assigning fouls to the wrong team, said Silas was chirping at SJ's bench when it was his own bench?, going on mindless tangents unrelated to the game when it was close at the end...what was this guy on?

A better, more professional, listenable announcer would've made the sting of the loss more tolerable. Get this guy out of announcing, at least for UConn games.

He's lost a step. Two moments that stood out to me were thinking Solo had been called for a foul on that block (although, to be fair, we were called for a foul on virtually every other possession) and when he said Demary was talking trash to the SJU bench, which was on the other end of the court.

 

[DMIL]

The bottomline here is that Rick Pittino, a Hall of Fame coach, had his team ready to play at home in a game that was a must win for them. As a great coach should, he had the guys, the talent to exploit all of our well know weaknesses, the issues we've been balking about the entire season.

23 games into the season, I'm not sure how much of our issues can be fixed at this point or to a level that produces a confidence level we are accustomed to with our past championship teams.

In March, you have to have elite point guard play on both sides of the ball. If a good to great team decides to take focus on taking our point guards away, the rest of the team must make them pay. Smith was not ready for the moment and Silas negates his great shot making and assists with 9 turnovers and poor free throw shooting. These guards is all that we got so ultimate success of this team based on our expectations will be driven them along with the effectiveness of our bench.

This is not a bulletproof squad and the potential to become that is fading which is o.k. I also agree that Mullins should become a more primary focus of our offensive sets and I love the prior points about improving our inside out game. These are areas that can be addressed pretty quickly.

Our guys played tough but the Johnnie's wanted it more and it showed as the game progressed. The best lessons are taught through failure and loss. It's what is necessary for men to become men. We are all here for the journey and let's see how the team responds. I'm sure our coach is sick of losing to Pittino. 3 in a row is a tough 💊 to swallow. We should see the Johnnie's another 2 times and let's hope their rankings ascend before we meet them again. I feel good about our prospects for success. One game at a time.

Go Huskies 🐺 💯!

 

[NEforceUConn]

I'm not going to rag about how the game was called, although St John's got to the line waaay tooo many times.

I am going to rag about no ref blowing the whistle on Silas' foul shot with the St John's guy in the lane. I mean how blatantly obvious was that! Curious, could any ref have blown the whistle or just one?

It isn't a minor point; if Silas awarded another shot and makes both it's a different ball game.

 

[Palatine]

He's lost a step. Two moments that stood out to me were thinking Solo had been called for a foul on that block (although, to be fair, we were called for a foul on virtually every other possession) and when he said Demary was talking trash to the SJU bench, which was on the other end of the court.

He has lost more than one step. He thought an out of bounds was a foul. He misnamed players. It's like he can't see what is happening. Even my wife thought he was bad.