Chief’s Briefs - St John’s Edition

[AZHuskiePop]

I don’t usually complain about ref’s
But St John’s who was playing a pressure game was allowed liberties in defending.
Playing pressure D without fouling is pretty difficult and typically comes with a price
It then becomes a Big East Rock fight , I’m not a fan but for a few reasons but it’s part of the game.
Except it became a with us defending anything resembling a touch was called that’s incredibly poor officiating.
As consistency is really the Hallmark of good officiating.
You guys may love the Big East but it’s a club and we’re not a member and despite us bringing prestige to the league they hate us for it.
If I were UConn I would seriously consider
moving to a power conference even if it meant keeping football Indy and the price was right. I believe if we continue to invest in football full membership will follow.
As my mother always told me never go where you’re not welcome .

 

[RichZ]

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

Karaban shot well for the most part, but had two shockingly bad plays. The one you mentioned, where he was apparently attempting a pass to someone in the third row, and the other, on defense, completely turning his back on his man, leaving him wide open for a drive and dunk.

 

[husky8273]

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.

he fell trying to quickly reverse direction when AK threw the pass to BM's right when BM was moving to his left

 

[Mets1432]

Malachi was virtually unplayable, he just doesn't look good vs high major opponents.

Danny has to either let Smith figure it out or find some run for Millender over the next few weeks to see if he can offer anything. It might be to late for that though.

This team isn't going deep in the tourney if Silas has to play 35+ minutes a game. He looked gassed by the end of the game last night.

 

[Smp7598]

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 also said AK fouled out!

 

[Tyler2Rings]

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.

2:00 left, game in the balance, perfect time to reminisce about some Ohio State QB not knowing who Joe Montana is

 

[Mr. French]

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.

Funny, I thought 3 was the least important part because it’s not really true. We run Mullins off screens and get him for kick outs the same as other guys. I’m not sure I see the same thing.

 

[Chief00]

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.

Agree we need to take the offense on inbounds plays not be defensive/tentative about them.

 

[Chief00]

Funny, I thought 3 was the least important part because it’s not really true. We run Mullins off screens and get him for kick outs the same as other guys. I’m not sure I see the same thing.

We have a guy who is special per most top basketball experts/coaches/scouts (including from Hurley himself) and we get him the ball “the same as other guys”. You don’t see a problem with that?

 

[gtcam]

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.

you are wrong
over 50% of the time that Read gets the ball under the hoop he wants to dribble that attracts the double team and results in a TO, or an ill-advised shot/pass attempt.
The black hole does exist.

 

[gtcam]

Funny, I thought 3 was the least important part because it’s not really true. We run Mullins off screens and get him for kick outs the same as other guys. I’m not sure I see the same thing.

you don't

 

[alphasigko]

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.

To Reed's credit he did pass the ball out to Mullins for 3 once in the 1st half.

 

[Mr. French]

you don't

If you disagree with me, I know I’m right.

I’m not saying the kid doesn’t deserve the ball, but I also don’t view him as being a decoy in the corner while others are getting sets run for them.

The reason I don’t is because that’s not happening.

 

[Mr. French]

you are wrong
over 50% of the time that Read gets the ball under the hoop he wants to dribble that attracts the double team and results in a TO, or an ill-advised shot/pass attempt.
The black hole does exist.

Oh look, made up stats with a player he can’t even spell right. Point proven!

 

[Husky1972]

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.

√ to both points, espcially the 2nd one. In football , if they're packing the box, a couple successful 25 yard+ passes will take them out of that. I can't unsee Calhoun sending Donny Marshall on post patterns ahead of of the field for dunks off inbounds plays. Once that's on tape, other teams will be a little more hesitant to overplay on inbounds defense. I just don't know if we have anyone who could play Donny's role.

 

[Magic32]

Basically comes down to too many turnovers, poor free throw shooting and lack of points from bench. All 3 issues I did not foresee as a problem as season was about to start.

 

[Chief00]

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.

He used to be pretty good.

 

[Chief00]

Curious what the process is for Officiating reviews by Conference office concurrently and post season. Is there any recourse other than Val?

One member of the crew Breeder is not liked by those associated at other schools on the Big East. He is arrogant, spiteful and a political type - his mentor was head of officiating in SEC - where he also refs. He was on the 2025 F4 list of officials.

 

[gsmooth]

Regarding Demary’s TOs, I felt he was under pressure all night and need more breathers and help from Smith, but Smith struggled so much Hurley had to leave Demary in.

UConn was up something like 16-10 early and Hurley went to the bench and St John’s stormed back and took the lead.

St John's went on a 13-1 run when the bench players for UConn were in the game. IMO, Hurley is going to have to stagger his substitutions more. Easier said than done, I know, but the close to wholesale substitutions really should not happen with this team like it did with the 2023 team.

 

[Slick]

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 🐺 💯!

Mullins is a very unselfish player. He needs to be a little more selfish and drive to the basket. He has a lot of tricks in his bag but he can’t defer to the upper class men.

 

[jibsey]

Mullins is a very unselfish player. He needs to be a little more selfish and drive to the basket. He has a lot of tricks in his bag but he can’t defer to the upper class men.

THIS!

 

[DMIL]

Mullins is a very unselfish player. He needs to be a little more selfish and drive to the basket. He has a lot of tricks in his bag but he can’t defer to the upper class men.

Agreed, he is an X factor no doubt. The head room with him is undeniable. It's time.