Chief’s Briefs - Temple Edition

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I hate where Polley stands on the free throw line.

Yeah...if he was shooting 80% I’d say “whatever works!” But when you’re in the 60s...time to rethink.

 

[UofCT]

At least the AAC is almost a lock to get 4 teams in now

 

[gtcam]

I know folks are tired of hearing this but it was a tough loss in a winnable game
Josh and Christian had nice games and AG showed why he is so important to this particular team
If Josh can do this on a consistent basis it takes some of the pressure off DH looking for more than 1 quality center and instead get some versatile 4's
JA and AG accidently hurt by the same team - amazing
putting BA on Alston was idiocy
How many games has UConn we lost due to poor FT shooting? - enough to take them out of the .500 season record
Vital should start - what is the teaching moment?
I can hint as to what should be taught and/or practiced ad nausea- FT shooting
Oh well - on to a winless team in the league - please don't give them their first win- that would be a complete disaster

 

[UConnDad]

How is Al?

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Free throws......just no excuse, if we go 19-24 at FT line instead of 13-24 we win. Temple's margin of victory was only because we had to foul at end.

When 2 of your 3 best free throw shooters are out due to injury, it tends to hurt your team FT%. Not an excuse, but a mitigating factor to be sure.

 

[Chief00]

Stop with the great games.

Those two played well, but sorry, not great.

This team is so painfully hard to watch. They get a lead...they immediately give up a 9-0 run because they just can’t string a couple of solid defensive trips together.

They miss free throws and layups at such a clip that I wonder if they have binocular vision.

This is such a bad team. Just so, so bad.

Losing Gilbert was a killer, but let’s be honest - they likely find a way to lose even if he’s in there.

I don’t disagree - “great” was a product of low expectations.

 

[JMick]

When 2 of your 3 best free throw shooters are out due to injury, it tends to hurt your team FT%. Not an excuse, but a mitigating factor to be sure.

it seems like the better josh plays, the worse he shoots on FT's. I wonder if it's an issue of fatigue.

 

[Fishy]

I don’t disagree - “great” was a product of low expectations.

Carlton is as frustrating a player as I can remember. He has two modes - very good and very bad. He uses them both liberally, often in the same possession.

Vital is what he is. Credit to him for not letting this become a tire fire in the first half and for at least being the one cat on the team who wanted to fight all 40 minutes.

 

[zepfan]

Can't win missing so many foul shots, getting out rebounded, and shooting poorly. Oh yeah, and our defense is shaky. If we can land a solid power forward or center next year I will feel good about next year's possibilities. Carlton and CV have improved drastically this year. Has to be Hurley. Not sure B Adams is going to make it here, or maybe it's just going to take a year or two. Gaffney, Bouknight, Akok and one more player should make us competitive next year. Also, Sid and Polley need to develop a mid range game. Need to get a more balanced scoring attack. Can't survive a season relying on one or two guys for offense. Love Carlton's offensive aggressiveness... quite a change from even the beginning of this year. Hurley again.

 

[Dove]

we can rag on missing layups all we want, but it's still so much better than it was the last few years. it's probably the biggest improvement that no one talks about.

Their hustle tonight was amazing. I was very happy with it despite the idiocy displayed at times. They got to loose balls unlike the last few seasons.

 

[UConnDad]

The defense was the problem. Way too many lay ups for Temple even when Josh was in the game. An old bugaboo, getting blown by on the dribble reared its ugly head.

I won't miss Smith. He got huge minutes and contributes almost nothing. We would have been better off giving the minutes to Badams so he could develop.

Unfortunately Brendan makes Tarin look good.

 

[ucawn]

Boy if only we could make some free throws. I’m not upset, once Jalen went down I knew it was going to be rough because Ollie didn’t coach anyone else into a leader role. Hopefully we can make a late push to the NIT but I’m excited for next season

 

[joober jones]

I knew we would lose as soon as the flagrant was called on Adams. I'm right one time and it has to be this?

 

[ucawn]

I remember some commentators talking about 25 from the 5 this season and that’s what needed to get done. Carlton got 28 of those and Cobb 0. Carlton is going to be a major impact player next year as a junior. I expect him to be around for all 4 years but if he continues playing like he has recently, he could get looks from pros after next season.

 

[Chief00]

Carlton is as frustrating a player as I can remember. He has two modes - very good and very bad. He uses them both liberally, often in the same possession.

Vital is what he is. Credit to him for not letting this become a tire fire in the first half and for at least being the one cat on the team who wanted to fight all 40 minutes.

Agree on Carlton, but thankfully his very good mode is appearing more frequently than I thought possible. I like the fact he seems to be able to bang guys now to create space, without losing his balance, before he makes a post move. Josh also finished strong on several moves - something we didn’t see much of earlier in the year.
The missed foul shoots by everyone is totally unacceptable as were the careless turnovers.

 

[uchusky32]

Team played hard. Just not talented enough. Nor wise enough in key moments. We cant continue to have big scoring droughts and have to play from behind. FTs were the difference from a lose to a win. Another example of poor shooting.

 

[Chief00]

I knew we would lose as soon as the flagrant was called on Adams. I'm right one time and it has to be this?

I thought the same, but @Fishy is right we keep reinventing ways to lose.

 

[Dove]

Unfortunately Brendan makes Terrance look good.

Who is Terrance?

 

[auror]

I hate where Polley stands on the free throw line.

I mentioned this in the chat. He's not just offset to line up his right hand to shoot straight, he's so far to the side he's shooting it diagonally. Why are you adding another variable you need to get right on the shot???

 

[JB75]

Some obvious points....
- good lord , how bad was Tarin smith? Almost laughable how bad his game was tonight
-sid hasn’t made a jumper in 3 months, he’s so lost out there hope he improves drastically , but I just don’t see it right now
- Brendan Adams is only a frosh but god he throws up bricks - terrible stretch by him when Alston lit him up too
- I’ve been cautiously skeptical about Carlton , but tonight was the real true first time I said to myself “wow, this kid cud be a player for us”
- Vital was great but will he ever pass the ball or make the right decision on a fast break?
- Polley hit some big threes and I believe was 3 for 3 when he put the ball on the floor - why doesn’t he do that more often ??? And when he’s on line I have no confidence- strange cuz he’s a Three point shooter you figure he’d be decent at foul shooting
-AG - poor Ag. Hurt again. He’s such a warrior

But another loss , now we re in worst case scenario 8-9 game against Tulsa then Houston for aac tourney. Both games at noon next Thursday and Friday. Awful times. People work. Guess I gotta DVR it. Fitting end to a rough season
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[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For you doubting Thomas posters out there...PLEASE if this thread proves anything it is FISHY is NOT Chief. I have been preaching about this since the beginning of time it seems! NO one believed me!

No poster would create multiple monikers to contradict themselves on whether particular players played "great" or not.

I think this is something Stainmaster and Whaler11 can agree on. Maybe the only thing but it is a start. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...Good Night.

 

[superjohn]

Only 5 players in the scoring column. We really are undermanned and miss Jalen tremendously. Thankfully, Vital and Carlton brought their game tonight.

We sucked with Jalen and we suck without him. With him and without him we get down, come back, take leads and whenever the game is on the line we always come up short. Sign of a bad team who doesn't know how to win. It doesn't change with Jalen, it changes with getting some new players in here and getting rid of all our bad habits and aversion to winning.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

One more win to beat last seasons total. Then we will have more tangible evidence for THE CASUAL FAN how much better this team is than last.

Otherwise go watch football as Hurley alluded to. Rome wasn't built in a day. Hurley flips houses like hmmm..hmmm like the 80's oh whatever Rothstein claims.

 

[Mister P]

We sucked with Jalen and we suck without him. With him and without him we get down, come back, take leads and whenever the game is on the line we always come up short. Sign of a bad team who doesn't know how to win. It doesn't change with Jalen, it changes with getting some new players in here and getting rid of all our bad habits and aversion to winning.

Agree with everything however we could use his 15+ points a game. We are a better team with him than w/o him.

 

[Chief00]

We sucked with Jalen and we suck without him. With him and without him we get down, come back, take leads and whenever the game is on the line we always come up short. Sign of a bad team who doesn't know how to win. It doesn't change with Jalen, it changes with getting some new players in here and getting rid of all our bad habits and aversion to winning.

As Chief has said since First Night, recruiting is the number one priority. I also think Danny has changed the culture getting us to play hard and generally compete. But, it’s true the culture change only goes so far - we still have a losing culture. More talent will help, however it’s also a mindset that needs to change.