Chief’s Briefs - UCF Edition

[Chief00]

Jalen played his heart out in the second half. Don’t know if Hurley said something to him but if he comes out with that fire every game from now on he’s gonna put a lot of people on watch

That’s Jalen career so far - bad halves and good halves in the same game. Chief wants him to be better than a talented player on a “bad” team type scorer. He has put together a couple full games this year and can be very good. Danny will tell us he also gets doubled a lot and other teams try to take him out of our offense.

 

[Chief00]

I guess you aren’t as hardcore a fan you make yourself out to be! It was a close exciting game in the second half.

True and I saw a good part of it - my tiredness had nothing to do with the game - lots of work and weather related bad traveling the last couple weeks.

 

[Chief00]

My first thought upon watching was that we always seem to have a team of boys playing against men.

Exactly, that’s why I did not get as excited as some here that criticize Chief. Even when you come close when it’s boys against men - the men can get the 50/50 ball and power up inside when absolutely needed. Sometimes boys against men can be mental too, but in this case both teams made tons of mental errors.

 

[Chief00]

If you look at the box score, UCF did not dominate us by any means. We made 5 more threes than UCF, and 2 more field goals. Rebounding was even, turnovers were almost even, but the real difference once again was the free throw shooting. UCF was 25-36, and UConn 10-13.

Im starting to believe this just comes down to the fact that UCF is just a bigger and stronger team so our guys simply cannot play defense without fouling. This has been the case with so many games this season. The officiating in this league has been terrible and I think we have gotten cheated with a lot of calls as well.

That’s been the key “tell” metric all season - UCF shot 177% more foul shots. How many teams win when they are on the short end of that metric?

 

[the Q]

The team was out of sorts early on without AG with the guards trying to figure it out.

Then jalen took over.

Too many fouls, 2nd chances, and turnovers.

Also frustrating to play 20+ seconds of good d and throw it away.

3 points of techs didn’t help either

 

[Ts5034]

That’s been the key “tell” metric all season - UCF shot 177% more foul shots. How many teams win when they are on the short end of that metric?

It really is unbelievable and frustrating to watch that happen game after game. The coaching staff obviously knows this and thats why I think Hurley has been extra tough on the refs. He probably feels like he has to fight for almost every call because the free throw shooting is where these games are really one sided.

 

[Ewekon]

It sure does seem like there was zero emphasis on weight training the last couple years. Thats why its funny how they hired a strength coach (Alosi) with an NFL background. Shows that Hurley is not messing around and wants us to over power teams like they have been doing to us lately.

How long does it take to kick in?

 

[Friendship]

Jalen played his heart out in the second half. Don’t know if Hurley said something to him but if he comes out with that fire every game from now on he’s gonna put a lot of people on watch

Unfortunately, we have been saying this for four years now. Can't expect anything to change at this point.

 

[uchusky32]

Can't win when you get 4 points from your bench.

We look smaller, weaker at almost every position.

 

[Rico444]

It really is unbelievable and frustrating to watch that happen game after game. The coaching staff obviously knows this and thats why I think Hurley has been extra tough on the refs. He probably feels like he has to fight for almost every call because the free throw shooting is where these games are really one sided.

Bad teams foul more than good teams. That coupled with the fact that teams that drive to the hoop draw more fouls (we settle for 3s way too much and our two best guards avoid contact like the plague in the paint) means we're going to shoot fewer free throws than our opponent in most of our games.

 

[Husker Husky]

I wasn't able to see the first half, so bear with me. With about 5 minutes to go in the game and UConn hanging around, the announcers said something to the effect "This has turned into a good game. The first half was a terrible game. Choppy and messy, and the officiating was horrible". What did they mean?

 

[gtcam]

My first thought upon watching was that we always seem to have a team of boys playing against men.

Yep
I've been saying that on this site for 6 yeays now
We won in 2014 on grit and some unique talent
UConn hasn't had a team of players that match up physically with most AAC, BE and P5 teams in a while
Recruiting preferences need to be addressed - missing out on nearly every big 4 and 5 isn't helping
Need some big farm boys and some junkyard dogs - now!!!

 

[gtcam]

Jalen played his heart out in the second half. Don’t know if Hurley said something to him but if he comes out with that fire every game from now on he’s gonna put a lot of people on watch

Respectfully, I appreciate your observation, Psolo12....BUT That IF should have been a big IF.

JA was being double teamed and trapped the whole 1st half. Dan Hurley probably said nothing but did something that he should have done 5 minutes into the game - he made some adjustments
Not every time that JA has a bad stretch does it mean he needs his head played
Check his game stats this year - he has been putting up numbers but he is not the type to carry a team on his back

 

[JB75]

Still don’t get how every single d-1 team we play has a sharpshooter and a physical guy down low and we have none. How is that humanly possible ???

 

[CL82]

Holy casual.

I finished a brief and had a work call with the game on. Some people just aren’t built for the grind.

Not devoting 100% attention to game?

#casualfan

 

[SwingDog]

I did not think UCF played well either. A very winnable game if we were a better team.

It was a winnable game as it was. Subtract just a few of the numerous unforced turnovers and you end up in the W column.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Not devoting 100% attention to game?

#casualfan

I prefer to look at it as operating at a higher level than most mere mortals.

 

[rip7774]

They scored basically every time throwing it in to 35, polley was overmatched physically, we need a bruiser who can play. #35 was a transfer those guys are out there. Polley would be fine just as a 3 and occasional 4. Carlton shot soft multiple times and passed on point blank looks at least twice. Need him to play with fire. They were so much better at the 4/5. Can’t go into the next season with the same group as we all know. Polley stroke is nice and he can put it on the deck for a dribble or two and look good shooting it, I’m encouraged after seeing him in person offensively, while a little underwhelmed on Carlton playing softer and touch on foul shots and shots in pregame were quite a bit worse than i thought.

BJ Taylor Always underwhelms, just flails arms and legs on every drive, got in a cheap shot on Adams right in front of us, then tick tack foul on next play and CV got t’ed up. Thought #35 and #4 were big in big spots. Dawkins was meh. Tacko bothers every shot. Such a force defensively.

 

[80shusky]

UConn performed their way out of winning that game. Not the first time this year either.

 

[August_West]

I prefer to look at it as operating at a higher level than most mere mortals.

I mean if you can sleep through a game and put out a briefs still you gotta admire the game in some small way.

 

[Chief00]

Still doing the recruiting grind when Chief isn’t working or sleeping. Expect a surprise.

 

[Vancat]

A good surprise, or a bad surprise?

 

[formerlurker]

A good surprise, or a bad surprise?

Yes.

 

[Vancat]

Dam surprises.

 

[Vancat]

Wait, if we are expecting it, it won't be a surprise.