Chief’s Briefs - Temple Edition

[Jimdish255]

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

Good point. A lot of guys need to make adjustments there. With Josh I think another year of getting stronger and more confident could solve some of those issues. Foul shooting involves a lot of practice and cleaning up your form. Then it's just focus, relax, repeat what you practiced.

 

[Blaneylover]

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.

They are frustrating, but they are much more fun to watch than last year's team.

 

[Fishy]

They are frustrating, but they are much more fun to watch than last year's team.

Well, so is Ebola.

 

[AdamaNation]

Yeah, we need to feed him more. He is powering up everything now inside. Just needs to hit more of his foul shots like the rest of the team.

His improvements would have helped the one guy who needed an inside presence. JALEN ADAMS. So much pressure off of him and more space with fewer double teams. He hasn’t ever had that luxury save a short period with Rodney. Oh wait he had a concussion that year they were all hurt too

 

[SwingDog]

I didn’t read any of this thread because I watched the game on dvr. I want to know why we can’t shoot free throws? That’s all. I’m done.

VERY frustrating seeing all of those misses from the charity stripe, including front ends of one-and-ones. Coach Hurley talked about the missed free throws in his post game press conference after being asked a question at the 3:14 mark.

 

[cohenzone]

If nobody sees this team becoming generally better, I don’t know what they’re watching. They have big weaknesses, but they are pretty competitive. I don’t care what anyone thinks about Jalen, but teams have to respect him in ways they willl never respect Smith. Then Gilbert went down with a fluke injury that has nothing to do with his shoulder and our chances were cut drastically. Temple took major advantage of his absence. Not many teams look good missing their two best ball handlers. Gilbert going down when it was anybody’s game coupled with lousy FT shooting was a killer. Polley especially you’d hope would be much better at the line. It’s positive that he got to the line. The fast break choices were abominable.

Wilson and Adams play like green players. Carlton has been much more consistent lately than Fishy gives him credit for and is miles ahead of guys like Armstrong at the same career point without the same kind of cast.

This team is watchable. The last three years teams were watchable for about 10 minutes a game. Our nucleus of potential returnees isn’t half bad. Hopefully Gilbert will avoid all the snake bites. If the new guys next year play to their supposed ability we could be pretty good. More decent players could come our way. Of course everyone was excited by Wilson too before he played a minute but I wouldn’t give up on his looking a lot better next year.

 

[intlzncster]

Carlton is way ahead of schedule. He’s an all conference player next season. I thought eventually he maybe could get to that level as a senior.

I've been hard on him. I never thought he'd reach that level. I had him at serviceable (ie replaceable) center as a Sr. And backup to a real starter as a Jr. I might be wrong.

 

[Chin Diesel]

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 Dan Hurley 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

The teaching moment for Vital is conditioning him to embrace coming off the bench next season and being a sniper.

 

[UConnDad]

I think Christian would have started tonight if it wasn't senior night. We'll see vs. ECU.

 

[Hankster]

Nice move not starting Vital again. That’ll teach him! Oh wait, we went down 9-0 and literally started 0 shooters in a game we supposedly wanted to win.

I agree. Strange. I would love to know the strategy behind that.

 

[Hankster]

Carlton is way ahead of schedule. He’s an all conference player next season. I thought eventually he maybe could get to that level as a senior.

I don't know about ahead of schedule. I have been 50-50 with Carlton this year. Yes, he played great last night. Showed some great moves and dunked with a purpose. He gets the rebound and knows exactly what to do with the ball. He is the trigger for fast breaks. Now this was Temple. A very very good team. I was used to see him beat up Tulane, but stink up the joint against a top team. Last night he had me off the recliner pumping fist more than once. He was inconsistent through out the year. Congrats Josh on last night. Well done. But we still need some beef.

 

[cohenzone]

I don't know about ahead of schedule. I have been 50-50 with Carlton this year. Yes, he played great last night. Showed some great moves and dunked with a purpose. He gets the rebound and knows exactly what to do with the ball. He is the trigger for fast breaks. Now this was Temple. A very very good team. I was used to see him beat up Tulane, but stink up the joint against a top team. Last night he had me off the recliner pumping fist more than once. He was inconsistent through out the year. Congrats Josh on last night. Well done. But we still need some beef.

The thing is, he’s a soph, and his progression isn’t unusual, especially for a big. It would be great if kids came in as finished products, but even a premier HS stud like Drummond wasn’t consistent in his one year with us. Carlton is surprising me, but I can’t remember any of our bigs make such obvious progress during one season and has no front court players with the inside presence to complement him.

 

[Chief00]

If nobody sees this team becoming generally better, I don’t know what they’re watching. They have big weaknesses, but they are pretty competitive. I don’t care what anyone thinks about Jalen, but teams have to respect him in ways they willl never respect Smith. Then Gilbert went down with a fluke injury that has nothing to do with his shoulder and our chances were cut drastically. Temple took major advantage of his absence. Not many teams look good missing their two best ball handlers. Gilbert going down when it was anybody’s game coupled with lousy FT shooting was a killer. Polley especially you’d hope would be much better at the line. It’s positive that he got to the line. The fast break choices were abominable.

Wilson and Adams play like green players. Carlton has been much more consistent lately than Fishy gives him credit for and is miles ahead of guys like Armstrong at the same career point without the same kind of cast.

This team is watchable. The last three years teams were watchable for about 10 minutes a game. Our nucleus of potential returnees isn’t half bad. Hopefully Gilbert will avoid all the snake bites. If the new guys next year play to their supposed ability we could be pretty good. More decent players could come our way. Of course everyone was excited by Wilson too before he played a minute but I wouldn’t give up on his looking a lot better next year.

True, they got totally blown out last season in many games. This season we don’t know how to close out games and throughout the game there’s been some theme issues (poor shooting, unforced turnovers, lack of rebounding, foul shooting (attempts and conversions), winning on the road but we are generally close at the end.

 

[cohenzone]

True, they got totally blown out last season in many games. This season we don’t know how to close out games and throughout the Gabe’s there’s been some thene issues (poor shooting, unforced turnovers, lack of rebounding, foul shooting (attempts and conversions, winning on the road ) but we are generally close at the end.

Yup. Last night were up a deuce can when AG went down. We had momentum. Who knows the outcome if that doesn’t happen to him, but we weren’t the same afterward , especially stopping penetration.

It’s hard to know what this team would’ve been like if Carlton had Yakwe or Diarra banging inside. I don’t know that Polley will ever be more than a stand up gunner with an occasional drive. I think that’s an ok role for him if the other forward is any kind of inside presence. Carlton clearly has progressed to a point where if he’s not doubled, and stays aggressive, he’s tough to defend. If he can improve his passing he’ll be a pretty well round player. Hurley said Josh is pretty good facing from 10 feet and wants him add that.

 

[Rico444]

we had entire stretches of games during '15-'16 and '16-'17 where we would repeatedly go up and down the court bricking layups. Uncontested and contested. we still miss them, but it's not an all game affair like it had been

I don't agree with this. We miss layups every game and fairly consistently.

Who is Terrance?

He's not real, just a myth.

 

[Dove]

I don't agree with this. We miss layups every game and fairly consistently.

I had little faith that Vital's steal and breakaway was going to be successful.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The guards can’t stop anyone.

Gilbert, on occasion, accidentally stays in front of his man, but Vital and Smith are terrible defensive players.

And so often the interior scoring against us comes because Josh or Polley leave their man to help when a guard gets beat. Not that most of the bigs don't have defensive issues too.

I wonder if we remember what it was like when our guards smothered the other team's guards on D. We should, we watch other teams do it to us.

 

[Jaker]

In brief, we suck and it is probably not going to change anytime soon.

 

[businesslawyer]

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.

No. He's an undersized 5 and not nearly athletic enough to be a 4. Hopefully he keeps improving and becomes a consistently good college 5 next year, but this is not an NBA player.

 

[UofCT]

In brief, we suck and it is probably not going to change anytime soon.

This is not fair. It's changing. Look at Carlton for crying out loud. What an improvement! We have a depleted roster with injuries and guys who quite frankly shouldn't be playing competitive D1 basketball yet we are playing competitive D1 basketball. Good times ahead.

 

[JMick]

I don't agree with this. We miss layups every game and fairly consistently.



He's not real, just a myth.

You're forgetting how bad it was, then. We are much improved in this area compared to the last several

 

[Rico444]

You're forgetting how bad it was, then. We are much improved in this area compared to the last several

I don't think so...

 

[SwingDog]

Yup. Last night were up a deuce can when AG went down. We had momentum. Who knows the outcome if that doesn’t happen to him, but we weren’t the same afterward , especially stopping penetration.

It’s hard to know what this team would’ve been like if Carlton had Yakwe or Diarra banging inside. I don’t know that Polley will ever be more than a stand up gunner with an occasional drive. I think that’s an ok role for him if the other forward is any kind of inside presence. Carlton clearly has progressed to a point where if he’s not doubled, and stays aggressive, he’s tough to defend. If he can improve his passing he’ll be a pretty well round player. Hurley said Josh is pretty good facing from 10 feet and wants him add that.

Polley did show a little promise last night with some versatility on offense. Earlier in the season he was more inclined to catch and shoot, and specifically look to be close to the 3-point line. Last night there were 2 or 3 occasions where he dribbled in closer to the basket and got a better shot.

 

[Waquoit]

I think Christian would have started tonight if it wasn't senior night. We'll see vs. ECU.

Why would he? He seems to be coming around in his new role.

 

[goskis2018]

No. He's an undersized 5 and not nearly athletic enough to be a 4. Hopefully he keeps improving and becomes a consistently good college 5 next year, but this is not an NBA player.

Agree that Josh isn't an NBA player but is 6'10 really that undersized?

 

[UConnDad]

Why would he? He seems to be coming around in his new role.

Cause we like to sit down before the first TV timeout.

 

[businesslawyer]

Agree that Josh isn't an NBA player but is 6'10 really that undersized?

You think he's really 6'10"? I know everyone exaggerates height, but he doesn't seem as tall as other players who are listed as 6/10".

 

[intlzncster]

And so often the interior scoring against us comes because Josh or Polley leave their man to help when a guard gets beat. Not that most of the bigs don't have defensive issues too.

I wonder if we remember what it was like when our guards smothered the other team's guards on D. We should, we watch other teams do it to us.

Conversely, guards were able to do this because they had someone inside who was going to cleanup regardless.

We don't have the guards outside, nor the guys inside, to do this. Hence we suck on D.

 

[intlzncster]

Agree that Josh isn't an NBA player but is 6'10 really that undersized?

He's closer to 6'6-6'7, maybe 6'8. 6'9. With zero athleticism.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

No. He's an undersized 5 and not nearly athletic enough to be a 4. Hopefully he keeps improving and becomes a consistently good college 5 next year, but this is not an NBA player.

I would add stops were a lot harder to come by without Gilbert pressuring the ball. We did finally adjust but we were already down 5-6..
That was a huge turning point in a game we were on the verge of winning..
FT shooting sucked but it was basically misses by the young kids which is not that unusual
Wilson stroke is awful but (it’s his defensive potential that intrigue me) however Carlton and Polley will become better FT shooters with experience.
Adams was overmatched in this game and using him in a tight game was costly.
Carlton will be all AAC by his senior year. Not an NBA guy unless he grows a couple of inches but who cares . That’s a still a long way from the 18 year kid that showed up here in 2017.