Chief’s Briefs - Stony Brook Edition

[Chief00]

I normally get the Briefs out the night of the game - but this time I wanted to sit back and let others posts their ideas.

- We have a real problem with 6-5 guys shooting threes over our undersize guards. We know about the communication issues that leave guys wide open and the lack of focus for the entire shot clock - both of which we can theoretically fix. What we can’t fix is 5-8 or 6-0 not giving a 6-5 guy a clean look.
- There was a major change in our press. Against Colgate we had Polley and Larrier in front of the press. Last night it was the guards who were in front on the press. To my point last week using forwards in front creates size mismatches unfavorable to the defense since the forwards have to transition from guarding guards in the press to forwards in the half court and if that transition doesn’t work well - guards are left still guarding forwards. Looks like Coach Chill heard Chief or recognized it himself and made the adjustment.
- I like Big Dave - best screens I have seen since Jake. What makes it even better is that he takes pride in it and enjoys the contact.
- Larrier and Adams need to stay out of foul trouble this season. They really need to play smart. We score so much better with both of them out there.
- Cobb handles the ball well for his size but he isn’t Magic and shouldn’t be taking the ball upcourt as a PG would. That will produce turnovers and bad offense. Other than that I like his offense and rebounding.
- This is obvious but is worth repeating - we need to get guys in the gym on their own time to improve their shooting.
- True, we used to beat teams like Stony Brook by 25-30 points but I enjoyed our comeback. Hopefully that will motivate us but like Jalen said against the good teams we can’t dig these holes.

 

[UConnSwag11]

larrier needs to start off down on the post. we have size and talent this year to feed the ball inside. we can't have 3 guys on the perimeter dancing with the ball. And Adams needs to play a full 40 hard and attack the rim, no stupid step back threes. We need to smoke BU and get confidence going into Oregon

 

[Kitaman]

Can't draw conclusions or truly evaluate this squad off of two games. The team is so new, inexperienced and still learning their roles.

Just saying the mistakes will take time to reduce, the bad shooting and shot selection some time to improve and defensive play without fouling requires more time. Some of them are playing against Div 1 talent for the first time. Also the necessary early season 'mix and match' affects the chemistry.

I see a team with good size, good hands a lot of quickness and length. I see youth able to play long stretches without tiring giving max effort.

Vital, AG and Jalen will get there shots to fall, they just have to get familiar with their spots. Larrier will be a nightmare for opposition. And our bigs will gain confidence and control the paint (rebounds and putbacks).

Come Janusary we should know what we have but for now we should relax, enjoy and cut them some slack. In other words I hope we are not too critical of this squad this early, even I can't keep up with all of the new player's faces, names and numbers.

Just saying we have options, replacements and some decent depth which makes this squad so promising.

 

[gtcam]

The UConn guards can definitely prove to be problems to the opponents taller shooters. Simply staying closer to them and making it harder for them to catch, set up and shoot. If you can eliminate the set up portion you will be successful more than not. Seldom are you going to confront an effective catch and shoot 3 pt master on most teams

 

[Chief00]

The UConn guards can definitely prove to be problems to the opponents taller shooters. Simply staying closer to them and making it harder for them to catch, set up and shoot. If you can eliminate the set up portion you will be successful more than not. Seldom are you going to confront an effective catch and shoot 3 pt master on most teams

I agree with that. Too often we don’t seem to be in position to do that.

 

[Chief00]

The other thing I was thinking of adding to my initial post is, when do we reduce the rotation to maybe 8 guys? We are a long ways from that right now and I think we won’t get below 9 guys:
- Larrier
- Adams
- Gilbert
- Vital
- Cobb
- Big Dave
- Whaley
- Polley
- Anderson
And against the better more physical teams I could definitely see Diarra. Carlton is our best offensive Big - so tough keeping him out of the picture too.

 

[KodiacKemba]

Ollie said he wants to play a position less brand of basketball so we can alleviate all these open 3’s by switching on the perimeter so guys won’t have open looks at the basket, and these guys have to know who they’re playing , a team who likes to shoot the 3 plays on the perimeter so our guards gotta be aware of that it’s just that simple imo

 

[Chief00]

Does “positionless” mean we don’t have a true 3 ball guy? I would gladly settle for one of those guys vs. another athlete who can’t shoot.

 

[huskiesnyc]

@Chief00 any insights into the new strength and conditioning coach? Whaley seems like a guy that can fill out with a real strength coach and not the Travis sissy

 

[KodiacKemba]

Realistically our 3 ball guy is Larrier who’s an athlete with the length to catch n shoot over guys

 

[MadDogRevival]

I wanted to sit back and let others posts their ideas.

Damn magnanimous of you, Chief00!

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Does “positionless” mean we don’t have a true 3 ball guy? I would gladly settle for one of those guys vs. another athlete who can’t shoot.

we havent had a true 3 point sniper since Scottie Haralson

 

[sledog]

what about 'microwave'?

 

[auror]

larrier needs to start off down on the post. we have size and talent this year to feed the ball inside. we can't have 3 guys on the perimeter dancing with the ball. And Adams needs to play a full 40 hard and attack the rim, no stupid step back threes. We need to smoke BU and get confidence going into Oregon

If we structured our offense right, playing Larrier at the 4 but on the perimeter would enable us to create more room for the guards to drive, something that seems like it will be important this year.

 

[Stinger92860]

If we structured our offense right, playing Larrier at the 4 but on the perimeter would enable us to create more room for the guards to drive, something that seems like it will be important this year.

Not against a zone, unless they start hitting some 3's

 

[sportsart]

I normally get the Briefs out the night of the game - but this time I wanted to sit back and let others posts their ideas.

- We have a real problem with 6-5 guys shooting threes over our undersize guards. We know about the communication issues that leave guys wide open and the lack of focus for the entire shot clock - both of which we can theoretically fix. What we can’t fix is 5-8 or 6-0 not giving a 6-5 guy a clean look.
- There was a major change in our press. Against Colgate we had Polley and Larrier in front of the press. Last night it was the guards who were in front on the press. To my point last week using forwards in front creates size mismatches unfavorable to the defense since the forwards have to transition from guarding guards in the press to forwards in the half court and if that transition doesn’t work well - guards are left still guarding forwards. Looks like Coach Chill heard Chief or recognized it himself and made the adjustment.
- I like Big Dave - best screens I have seen since Jake. What makes it even better is that he takes pride in it and enjoys the contact.
- Larrier and Adams need to stay out of foul trouble this season. They really need to play smart. We score so much better with both of them out there.
- Magic Cobb handles the ball well for his size but he isn’t Magic and shouldn’t be taking the ball upcourt as a PG would. That will produce turnovers and bad offense. Other than that I like his offense and rebounding.
- This is obvious but is worth repeating - we need to get guys in the gym on their own time to improve their shooting.
- True, we used to beat teams like Stony Brook by 25-30 points but I enjoyed our comeback. Hopefully that will motivate us but like Jalen said against the good teams we can’t dig these holes.

Outside of you not hitting enter enough times, and outside of Vital's poor shooting numbers, who is it that you are talking about that should hit the gym to improve their shooting?

I mean 51% ain't so bad in my eyes.

 

[auror]

Not against a zone, unless they start hitting some 3's

We still then have 4 shooters and/or Larrier to flash to the FT line. It's our best lineup either way.

 

[Blaneylover]

The other thing I was thinking of adding to my initial post is, when do we reduce the rotation to maybe 8 guys? We are a long ways from that right now and I think we won’t get below 9 guys:
- Larrier
- Adams
- Gilbert
- Vital
- Magic Cobb
- Big Dave
- Whaley
- Polley
- Anderson
And against the better more physical teams I could definitely see Diarra. Carlton is our best offensive Big - so tough keeping him out of the picture too.

I was wondering what the rotation would be. Vital was the fourth guard last night. I guarantee that he ain't too happy about that. HCKO is clearly trying to play as many players as he can at this point. This shouldn't and won't continue. He's almost forcing substitutions.

I like the fact that we will have a ton of fouls to give in the front court against the big teams. There will be games more suited for Carlton and Whaley and others more suitable for Cobb and Big Dave. As the games go on, the hierarchy will sort out.

I would like to get Vital on track. Either Adams or Larrier will be on in every game. 7-10 points per game from Polley will be a home run.

 

[Chief00]

@Chief00 any insights into the new strength and conditioning coach? Whaley seems like a guy that can fill out with a real strength coach and not the Travis sissy

I hope to catch up with him in a couple weeks. I don’t know him and only met him for a very brief handshake/good luck greeting. I love the last line in your post.

 

[Chief00]

Outside of you not hitting enter enough times, and outside of Vital's poor shooting numbers, who is it that you are talking about that should hit the gym to improve their shooting?

I mean 51% ain't so bad in my eyes.

Talking 3 balls. Our % is very poor.