Chief’s Briefs - USC Edition

[Huskybass]

Remember when boneyarders were proclaiming the end of Carlton?

Josh went from the odd man out to a very important contributor tonight. We are going to need Josh against bigger front lines.

 

[Chief00]

D looked solid much of the game. Not looking at the stats, but I thought we took care of the ball ok. Got an early season win against a power conf school. We just didn't make a ton of shots.

The season is young. I'll take it.

When you shoot 34% and win, you are doing some things right. But, shooting makes the game easier. The book on UConn is to play a zone against us and cheat on Bouknight. Who’s going to step up on the 3 line? I actually think Gaffney could some but he needs confidence.

 

[bendm]

That sounds like more of an indictment on our SFs.

take it as you like. he's probably our best F too until akok comes back since whaley is more of a C. it's all about matchups and we dont many teams as big as USC was.

 

[djct1999]

Let’s keep it brief. That was as bad a second half as I can remember.

 

[Chief00]

Let’s keep it brief. That was as bad a second half as I can remember.

Not a lot of baskets - but we did win on toughness.

 

[Fatroony5]

Quite frankly, one thing we have learned with the exception of Bouknight other guys are up and down. Especially with Polley not playing well, the book on UConn is to play a zone against them.

We box out and go to the ball well on the defensive boards. A bad trend is giving away foolish fouls and allowing your opponents to tally easy points at the line. We do far too much reaching, taking very bad gambles. Otherwise our defense was decent.

Josh looked thinner and played well early. The Josh and Whaley combination is interesting and shows the value of experience. Whaley played well. Sanogo got in foul trouble and it’s tough to be productive on the bench. While Chief really likes his game he needs to make better decisions on the court.

Unfortunately, Chief hasn’t changed his assessment of Polley. He just isn’t moving well after his injury and is having problems getting in the flow of the game. He got in foul trouble as a result. For a guy who is suppose to be a shooter, he’s displaying very little confidence in his shot.

E Mobley is going to be a great player but other than some foolish fouls on him, we defended fairly well until late.

Chief thought Danny was slow to call a timeout on USC’s run halfway through the second half. Nor did we make any offensive adjustments. Gaffney is a good player but he needs to be much more aggressive offensively. We are very dependent on Bouknight offensively. When he’s out of the game, it shows. Even when he was in the game shooting was cool the second half.

Martin is solid but not the star some posters made him out to be after last game. Jackson did not seem ready.

Chief doesn’t know why refs allow timeouts when the ball is basically being contested on the floor. Those are really jump balls.

We desperately need another scorer. But, we did play tougher than our opponent.

I’ll take the win, but it was certainly ugly. UConn was forced to basically play two bigs the whole game. Tough offensively playing two bigs when they weren’t hitting any perimeter shots. So I agree, the book is out to play zone until they can scheme it up better. Seemed like Hurley was just trying to figure out what guard line up gave him the best chance to win.

All in all, take the win and move in. Do think this game looks a bit different if Akok was playing. Gives you another big body, with a bit more playmaking. Playing Whaley/Carlton was the right move for this game, But having some more flexibility sliding Akok in with either guy would’ve helped offensively. The zone struggles are a bit concerning, gonna have to figure out the right matchups for it.

 

[navery12]

At this point we're going to see a zone every game until we show we can beat it. No reason to think we can't, but hopefully it happens soon

 

[Captbluefin]

Cole needed to pass it to Bouk in the end of game possessions. He has never had to do that before. He is a scorer way more than distributor. That works at Howard it is not going to work here where he is 2-3rd option on the floor

 

[Excalibur]

At this point we're going to see a zone every game until we show we can beat it. No reason to think we can't, but hopefully it happens soon

We picked the zone apart for a good portion of the first half with Whaley and Bouknight at the high post.

 

[djct1999]

Not a lot of baskets - but we did win on toughness.

We won by default. USC missed more wide open shots than we did. Great outcome, brutal 15 mins.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Bouk needs to work on creating his own shot. I feel like we haven't seen much of that this year. Everything is either a good looking 3, an assisted look, or something at the basket. Would like to see his midrange game come together more to help with end of clock situations.

 

[Chief00]

We picked the zone apart for a good portion of the first half with Whaley and Bouknight at the high post.

Whaley and James did that well early on. We need to do better job adjusting after the other team’s adjusted to us.

 

[Chief00]

Bouk needs to work on creating his own shot. I feel like we haven't seen much of that this year. Everything is either a good looking 3, an assisted look, or something at the basket. Would like to see his midrange game come together more to help with end of clock situations.

I agree to a large extent. The problem is all the analytics today arguing against the mid range game. I don’t think the analytics capture the whole impact. Likelihood of getting fouled, possibility of getting an offensive rebound are two things that often don’t get factored into analytics.

 

[UCPharma11]

I like Martin's decisiveness when the ball is in his hands.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I agree to a large extent. The problem is all the analytics today arguing against the mid range game. I don’t think the analytics capture the whole impact. Likelihood of getting fouled, possibility of getting an offensive rebound are two things that often don’t get factored into analytics.

If you base your game around analytics too much you end up like the Rockets and I HATE their style of play. Once guys get their midrange game perfected it takes their game to another level though. Like with Kemba and Bazz. I think that's the next step for Bouk. He's great off the ball and when he has a good look. But he has to get to the point where he can get his own looks on a more consistent basis.

That possession where Cole got the ball at the end it seemed like Bouk couldn't find the look and had to give it up after turning down the screen. Maybe it could be the zones too though, i dont know. We'll have to see how his game develops over the season.

 

[auror]

I agree to a large extent. The problem is all the analytics today arguing against the mid range game. I don’t think the analytics capture the whole impact. Likelihood of getting fouled, possibility of getting an offensive rebound are two things that often don’t get factored into analytics.

They are factored in, but there are differences between college basketball and the NBA. Offensive rebounding is a major difference. It's a lot more effective in college.

Getting fouled is hugely emphasized in analytics, so your ignorance is showing there.

Long mid range shots are still bad in college. Floaters are okay.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Too early to make anointments and final judgments. 3 games in - there is lot's of improvement and building blocks. This team is learning how to win and that is step 2 after being tough which I think we are. Now the refinement defensively and offensively- individual players have been dow jonesers the first 3 games - some good stretches, some bad stretches. Whaley has been the most consistent as a senior should be. Everyone else, Bouknight included, have shown flashes but need to be more consistent. Without cupcakes, it is hard to get Jackson, Sanogo, etc the experience to get off the launching pad. It is now trial by fire the rest of the way on.

I am happy to be 3 - 0 with lots to work on but glimpses of good things.

 

[HooperScooper]

I actually think Gaffney could some but he needs confidence.

Gaff was very passive in this game. One of the big problems why the offense wasn't better in the 2nd half.

 

[3rdbass]

Quite frankly, one thing we have learned with the exception of Bouknight other guys are up and down. Especially with Polley not playing well, the book on UConn is to play a zone against them.

We box out and go to the ball well on the defensive boards. A bad trend is giving away foolish fouls and allowing your opponents to tally easy points at the line. We do far too much reaching, taking very bad gambles. Otherwise our defense was decent.

Josh looked thinner and played well early. The Josh and Whaley combination is interesting and shows the value of experience. Whaley played well. Sanogo got in foul trouble and it’s tough to be productive on the bench. While Chief really likes his game he needs to make better decisions on the court.

Unfortunately, Chief hasn’t changed his assessment of Polley. He just isn’t moving well after his injury and is having problems getting in the flow of the game. He got in foul trouble as a result. For a guy who is suppose to be a shooter, he’s displaying very little confidence in his shot.

E Mobley is going to be a great player but other than some foolish fouls on him, we defended fairly well until late.

Chief thought Danny was slow to call a timeout on USC’s run halfway through the second half. Nor did we make any offensive adjustments. Gaffney is a good player but he needs to be much more aggressive offensively. We are very dependent on Bouknight offensively. When he’s out of the game, it shows. Even when he was in the game shooting was cool the second half.

Martin is solid but not the star some posters made him out to be after last game. Jackson did not seem ready.

Chief doesn’t know why refs allow timeouts when the ball is basically being contested on the floor. Those are really jump balls.

We desperately need another scorer. But, we did play tougher than our opponent.

I think Cole is that. He has a great shot but just has to be more aggressive too. It would be nice to have on more shooter on the team whether it is Gaffney or Polley.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My sense is that we are trying to be 2018 Villanova on offense with one reliable outside shooter. Yeah, that isn’t going to work.

The Defense with two bigs was vastly improved. All you people saying Whaley isn't a 4. He sure as hell is on D and if he can hit those elbow jumpers he is offense too. You don’t actually want your 5 hedging on ball screens. As we saw on offense, having a 7 foot shot blocker planted at the rim erases a lot of defensive mistakes. There is a reason even NBA teams play that way.

The answer to zones is to go back to basics. Feed the paint, pass big to big from foul line to post. Kick out of the post as needed and make threes, of of the collapse on the post the guy at the foul line shoots or passes out. It sucks that Daniel Hamilton never had this team to work with. Our Zone buster foul line decision makers are Akok (out) Polley (not good) Jackson (young). Maybe Martin can help but we didn’t use him there. We used Whaley there briefly and it was so-so.

Overall a good win. Cole needs to shoot better. Gaffney needs to get past the deer in the headlights phase. Josh needs to play. Polley needs to play very little unless he can be better. Adams looked tentative after one good and one bad game. Almost rather see him be cocky. It was pretty clear that the bigger lineup was better on D and the boards. If we can figure out how to run, run, run. I don’t care about our zone offense. Transition kills zone teams. Jackson and Akok are the keys to us playing that way.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

We're not going to be seeing too many zones rolling out guys at 7', 6'10, 6'9, 6'8, 6'8, 6'7, 6'6. While it made for a very effective defensive scheme, just by nature of their size, it makes their offense difficult to run. Almost none of those guys outside Eddy are strong ballhandlers. They seem to have something like 5 Tyler Polleys.

So while they could be super-talented and matchup nightmares, their offense sputters because there's little flow and offense generation. They have very a odd roster construction.

This game would have been a big matchup opportunity for Akok.

 

[ThabeetDown]

We essentially sacrificed offense for defense and rebounding tonight. It wasn’t pretty but it worked. That is coaching. Hurley’s best offense is with two guards, two wings and one big aka the starters from the first two games.

You couldn’t roll that out vs the Mobleys. Hurley made a business decision to win the game on the defensive side of the ball with effort and grit and that’s what happened. Sure you want to do well on both sides of the ball, but it’s most important to win even if the path to victory is one-sided.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Everybody altered there shot inside tonight instead of taking it up strong. Hopefully if the other team doesn’t have a top 5 draft pick in the middle our zone offense will be better just from that fact alone.
While I agree we played some tough defense especially in the paint this team missed a lot of wide open looks.
Still getting a win is a good thing and you know this team will be working hard and improving as the season goes on something not all programs will.
I like our chances to right a lot of our wrongs

 

[Watchdog]

Let’s keep it brief. That was as bad a second half as I can remember.

Short memory........

 

[Watchdog]

We picked the zone apart for a good portion of the first half with Whaley and Bouknight at the high post.

6 for 12 on first half three's with good ball movement.
Second half lots of passing around the outside and settling for rushed shots. Where were the passes into the post with kickouts to shooters and where were the short jumpers in the lane or at the elbow by Whaley that he took and made in the first half?

 

[nycscooby]

He just said they will have to gut out victories. Scoring isn't there.

His job is to figure that out. I didn't love much of our O game and lack of adjustments there, still a lot to figure out there and guys need to learn to play together with the newcomers but a previous poster nailed it, we would have lost this December game every year since '14 so I will take the toughness and effort and move on.

 

[BlueDogs]

They are factored in, but there are differences between college basketball and the NBA. Offensive rebounding is a major difference. It's a lot more effective in college.

Getting fouled is hugely emphasized in analytics, so your ignorance is showing there.

Long mid range shots are still bad in college. Floaters are okay.

I think the point is rather you don’t voluntarily take away 30% of the offensive floor because it allows 5 defenders to cover 30% less space. Analytics don’t account for secondary and tertiary effects of opening up the baseline when a wing is forced to come up or a guard must cover down to help, creating space at the arc, baseline or weak side. You have to create scoring threats in the tween space to allow for the other spaces to be less effectively contested. If we saw huge jumps in average scoring, I might think otherwise, but what analytics is giving defensive adjustments takeaway.

 

[Bomber36]

Quite frankly, one thing we have learned with the exception of Bouknight other guys are up and down. Especially with Polley not playing well, the book on UConn is to play a zone against them.

We box out and go to the ball well on the defensive boards. A bad trend is giving away foolish fouls and allowing your opponents to tally easy points at the line. We do far too much reaching, taking very bad gambles. Otherwise our defense was decent.

Josh looked thinner and played well early. The Josh and Whaley combination is interesting and shows the value of experience. Whaley played well. Sanogo got in foul trouble and it’s tough to be productive on the bench. While Chief really likes his game he needs to make better decisions on the court.

Unfortunately, Chief hasn’t changed his assessment of Polley. He just isn’t moving well after his injury and is having problems getting in the flow of the game. He got in foul trouble as a result. For a guy who is suppose to be a shooter, he’s displaying very little confidence in his shot.

E Mobley is going to be a great player but other than some foolish fouls on him, we defended fairly well until late.

Chief thought Danny was slow to call a timeout on USC’s run halfway through the second half. Nor did we make any offensive adjustments. Gaffney is a good player but he needs to be much more aggressive offensively. We are very dependent on Bouknight offensively. When he’s out of the game, it shows. Even when he was in the game shooting was cool the second half.

Martin is solid but not the star some posters made him out to be after last game. Jackson did not seem ready.

Chief doesn’t know why refs allow timeouts when the ball is basically being contested on the floor. Those are really jump balls.

We desperately need another scorer. But, we did play tougher than our opponent.

So was Bouknight. He only scored 3 points in the second half and had some turnover issues. It’s early. I’ll take the win.

 

[rcarj]

Cole is a bench player. The fact that he plays so much isn’t good.

Gaff needs to be more aggressive.

We need Polley to step up.

PS: Props to Carlton. He was the hero of this game along with Whaley

Maybe a bench player on a team that has a better first option. This team does not have a better option.

 

[Hankster]

I don't think this game is close if Hurley is more flexible as a coach. Hurley pulling 4 guys when we were up 13 was an abysmal coaching move. He missed some obvious timeout opportunities. He needed to ride that momentum as long as possible when we were up. No movement against a basic 2-3 zone is just not okay. I LOVE a lot of what Hurley does, tonight didn't feel like his night on the offensive end to me.

That being said, our D looks very very good IMO. Much better than a week ago, MUCH. I thought our double-teams on Mobley were textbook, even our rotations afterwards to the weak side were pretty darn good too.

We haven't seen enough man D to really know what normal big east play will look like offensively. But man the zone offense...

Bouknight needs to be assertive after the first 5 minutes. He's too talented to float and give the darn ball to Cole in crunch time? WHAT WAS THAT? 5 TOs and 5/15 from the floor is unacceptable. He should be a 20/7/3 on 50% shooting and 35% from 3 guy with maybe 2 TOs every single night.

Whaley looked like Whaley. Smart decision on D. Versatile defending the perimeter. Energetic. Makes plays when we need it. He has looked like the team leader to me so far.

And CARLTON? He wasn't *as* good the second half, but he earned his minutes tonight. Much quicker, good decision making. Proud of him.

Gaffney is slowing down the offense too much but otherwise looked just okay.

Cole looked okay... not great.

Martin continues to impressive. Unbelievably tough on defense. He really needs to work on his finishing and shooting... everything seems to tough and stiff instead of smooth.

Our freshman were not ready tonight. Not ready at all. I'll give them a pass--it was their first high-major game.

This is a game we lose the last 6 years. Happy to see the improvement.

This was no cupcake like the last two games. This was a big time win.

Carlton did well. However I still saw butter fingers and throwing the ball up in the ai under the hoop. Not even close. But good showing.
Whaley doesn't need need to be told what to do. He goes out there with a purpose. He is all over the court. He wants to be involved. Seeing Polley break out last year and now Whaley is a feel good story.

USC had a way better defense than the last two cupcakes. Probably why some think a couple of our guys were absent. Gaff will be alright and so will Cole. Martin is so smooth with his play. Very comfortable out there. NC State up next. Let's see what happens then.