Chief’s Briefs - UNC Edition

[Chief00]

Spencer was impressive, Karaban and Clingan are still injury impacted. I was impressed my everyone’s grit. Proud of these guys fight with injury adversity. Donovan was a presence on defense, which was huge.

Karaban made amazing crisp cuts and had 18 points and 9 rebounds despite 3 point woes. . Spencer overcame last game’s injury and led UConn with 23 points. Sol Ball had a break out game

Our rebounding was solid and by committee, everyone got their hands dirty and we led UNC by about ten rebounds.

Karaban found ways to contribute by rebounding and cutting to the basket but his finger injury has made a mess of his 3 ball shot.

Lots of bad calls again and almost all of them against us. The defending NC gets no respect from the stripes. When we do get a rare opportunity we shoot 53% from the line. That needs to improve. However, 51% FG shooting compared to 41% for UNC helped a lot. Our defense was tough.

Sol Ball played with confidence and hit three 3 balls. Tristen played like Tristen Newton double figure points, five rebounds and five assists.

Diarra gave us what we needed from him, good defense, 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

 

[RoderickSpode]

If this team ever gets fully healthy, look out. Even if they get to like 90% there won’t be a lot of teams that can keep up.

 

[selles]

Easily Karaban's best game of the year. He was terrific.

 

[uconntoatl]

Free throw shooting from this team is an enigma.

Never seen a team have so many injuries to start the year—-need to have a chat with the S&C coach.

Solomon Ball made 3 pointers tonight. Dreams do come true.

Great game

 

[Austin316]

Easily Karaban's best game of the year. He was terrific.

In terms of gutting it out and not quitting… yes. He did just that.

 

[Fan1978]

Free throw shooting from this team is an enigma.

Never seen a team have so many injuries to start the year—-need to have a chat with the S&C coach.

Solomon Ball made 3 pointers tonight. Dreams do come true.

Great game

Need serious work finishing fast breaks. Get the bucket, don’t need an alley oop on every play. Lost 6-8 points on ill advised alley oop passes. Even when its good refs allow UConn to be fouled.

 

[GHSWolverines]

SB played an all around good game. It was nice to see SC get a little run. When he is at full strength he is going to make things easier for the rest of the team on the court. Loved the way AK crashed the boards.
Nice job by DC and SJ limiting Bacot in points and rebounds.

 

[Chief00]

We have wins against Indiana, Texas and UNC - Scheduling Gonzaga in the same time period is overkill with a lot of travel . 2 of the 5 games are away and the other 3 are neutral. Thankfully we have won all 3 MSG games.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Need serious work finishing fast breaks. Get the bucket, don’t need an alley oop on every play. Lost 6-8 points on ill advised alley oop passes. Even when its good refs allow UConn to be fouled.

HD contributed to 2 of those

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Solomon Ball the gold standard of the freshman class. Forget Castle. . . . unless he uses this as a motivation and his play proves he is top dog. High tide raises all boats, but Ball is looking strong. He and Castle in tandem . . . a bright future for UConn guards.

 

[REB1094]

Our offense is very vulnerable to switches for teams that can get away with it, but man it is beautiful. So much fluid motion, cutting, and screening. Nobody is ever just sitting around waiting for something to happen

Karaban had a guard switched onto him a lot from all that movement. Would love to see him take the little guy into the post after they get the mismatch. He can get a three whenever he wants

 

[Chief00]

Need serious work finishing fast breaks. Get the bucket, don’t need an alley oop on every play. Lost 6-8 points on ill advised alley oop passes. Even when its good refs allow UConn to be fouled.

I agree especially with our injuries alley oop passes are turnover risks and we can get a better unspectacular shot!

 

[Kitaman]

Ball was the star tonight!

 

[HHusky]

Castle obvious on a minutes limit. Give it time
and he'll be back to full go
soon.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Shout out to Samson Johnson who held his own against one of hte better bigs in the country. He is the real deal. He is a huge piece that makes this team deep and talented at the center spot.

 

[Kmart]

Castle will be the top dog soon. Team is stacked

 

[Excalibur]

Shout out to Samson Johnson who held his own against one of hte better bigs in the country. He is the real deal. He is a huge piece that makes this team deep and talented at the center spot.

The “Samson can’t play defense” crowd has been very quiet. Huge improvement just in the first 9 games.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Imagine what this team is gonna look like when we’re shooting better than 30% from three. KlingConn and Castle gets it going. It could look a lot like last year boys.

 

[MrSec224]

We have wins against Indiana, Texas and UNC - Scheduling Gonzaga in the same time period is overkill with a lot of travel . 2 of the 5 games are away and the other 3 are neutral. Thankfully we have won all 3 MSG games.

It did feel like a lot but If we go to conference play at 10-1 with wins over Indiana, Texas, UNC, and Gonzaga then we will be in very good shape.

 

[Deepster]

Easily Karaban's best game of the year. He was terrific.

I’ll say this. With his 3 pt stroke off, he reminded me a little of Larry Birds style of game to impact it everywhere else.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I agree especially with our injuries alley oop passes are turnover risks and we can get a better unspectacular shot!

I am ok with trying it with SJ right now DC just does not have the lift he had last year and those plays can be stressful on the feet when landing, especially if you get bumped in the air. They should lay off the alley oops to DC until he is moving better.

 

[Spaceman213J]

It was an impressive win.

Karaban was impressive and it was nice to see a three go down. I was nervous for him in the first half and he was being backed down and scored on. His defense was much better in the second half, especially the last 10 minutes.

Love how Newton is using his body this year to get shots off. Aside from one 'where were you' open 3, he made Davis earn his points for the most part. HIs defense was pretty good.

All the guards were tough. Love Spencer's game.

Hopefully, after Gonzaga, the break will get everybody healthy.

Nice game by ball. Castle and Newton on the floor makes UConn an incredibly tough rebounding team. Looking forward to seeing the team get healthy.

Finally, loved how Johnson stayed tough on defense even after getting in a bit of foul trouble.

 

[jibsey]

Foul discrepancy second half it was 5-0, but just a great win against a current top 10 team. We have a very intelligent and gutty team, a great coach and staff. And we were a missed 3 away from beating Kansas at their home.

 

[GameTime]

I’ll say this. With his 3 pt stroke off, he reminded me a little of Larry Birds style of game to impact it everywhere else.

Exactly. That man did just that. He just willed his way to be an impact player tonight. Likely why DH said AK was the least of his worries. Lots of heros tonight, but this guy is not about losing.

 

[HCCForever]

Ball was the star tonight!

Ball wasn't the solo star. I would add Cam too. But breakout game for Ball.