Chief’s Briefs - USF

[Candyman]

You can't crash the boards with a Larrier at the 4. They use the Big up top to set a screen then spread out Vital, Anderson, and Larrier on the outside and Adams drives pull up jumper and no one under neath. Even when they use Whaley at 4 it would just be Whaley battling 3 guys for an offensive board.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I just looked at the box score and Larrier took one shot the entire second half! How does that happen when he was the leading scorer in the first half??? The one shot was a made 3 at the top of the key at the end of the shot clock and DO set a moving pick to free him.

 

[Edward Sargent]

You can't crash the boards with a Larrier at the 4. They use the Big up top to set a screen then spread out Vital, Anderson, and Larrier on the outside and Adams drives pull up jumper and no one under neath. Even when they use Whaley at 4 it would just be Whaley battling 3 guys for an offensive board.

And they didn't crash the boards with Mama at the 4 either judging by the goose egg he and Whaley put up for rebounds

 

[Mr. French]

Yep, potential off. rebounders are taking photos. DO, all 6'9" 260 plus DO, plays scared. For the life of me, I will never understand why he refuses to pursue the rebound, whether offensively or defensively. Play Diarra, at least he's aggressive. DO is out there just running up and down in a never-ending suicide drill.

I have that problem with our 15 year old 2020 5 man... seems some guys never figure that out.

It’s a weird thing that some guys don’t have, being able to seek the ball on the rebound.

Sounds so simple and obvious, and it is, yet you actually see good, productive players that don’t get the idea of going AFTER and UP FOR a rebound.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

You can't crash the boards with a Larrier at the 4. They use the Big up top to set a screen then spread out Vital, Anderson, and Larrier on the outside and Adams drives pull up jumper and no one under neath. Even when they use Whaley at 4 it would just be Whaley battling 3 guys for an offensive board.

Which is one reason why I hate the 3 guard look, unless you're protecting a lead in the late stages and you want ball-handling and foul shooting. Anderson isn't a kick-out threat. Give me Larrier/Polley at the 3 and 2 of Whaley/Carlton/Diarra/Williams/Onourah inside, preferably in that order.

 

[CL82]

It’s a weird thing that some guys don’t have, being able to seek the ball on the rebound.

IMO the problem isn't failing to seek the ball; it is failing to box out. Good rebounding isn't just getting the ball, it is keeping your man from being able to get the ball. Box first, wait for the shot to cross your shoulder then release and seek the ball. This is middle school stuff.

 

[Pudge]

Enoch is better than any Big we have.

You can't make a kid give effort. I was one who said this often: Enoch moves great for his size and has great hands. But, he disappointed me so very often with getting beat like a rug. He seemed not to care on Defense.

We need our bigs to develop now. And, I am confident that a 4 year career from Carlton, Whaley, Diarra will gain us at least 2 productive kids maybe all 3. With Enoch, I am afraid he may never get over his head.

 

[CL82]

Somebody needs to be dumping this in Whaley's water bottle:

 

[The Funster]

What a mess. I never liked the way that JC forced KO onto the program but I never expected any of this would happen. It's a disaster.

 

[HooperScooper]

I saw this in the New Haven Register game article.

But when Stephan Jiggetts scored on a drive with 13:01 left, UConn’s lead was 41-39. With 6:25 left, Collins broke away for a layup. The ball rotated around in the rim for a few seconds before falling in, but even if it had rolled out, Collins would have easily grabbed the rebound since no UConn player had hustled back on the play.

If it was just 1 play I wouldn't care that much. But this seems emblematic of the season.

 

[Captbluefin]

On several missed shots both offensive and defensive you could see on TV players watching and not even taking a step towards the rim.

They should be crashing the moment the ball leaves shooters hands.. Instead they hope for someone else to rebound so they can get in transition in hope of a highlight play.

 

[borninansonia]

I saw this in the New Haven Register game article.

But when Stephan Jiggetts scored on a drive with 13:01 left, UConn’s lead was 41-39. With 6:25 left, Collins broke away for a layup. The ball rotated around in the rim for a few seconds before falling in, but even if it had rolled out, Collins would have easily grabbed the rebound since no UConn player had hustled back on the play.

If it was just 1 play I wouldn't care that much. But this seems emblematic of the season.

Lack of hustle for this not-highly-talented group is perplexing.
I was almost always one of the least talented kids playing basketball. But I out hustled everybody, it was the only reason I got selected to play. If I didn't try to outwork everyone, I didn't play.

I guess these kids know they'll play whether they hustle or not?

 

[businesslawyer]

Enoch is better than any Big we have.

How good Enoch is today none of us know. Enoch of last year was no better than Carlton is now.

 

[businesslawyer]

- We don’t move the ball on offense, and take quick shots that lead to scores down the other end.

I generally do read your game analysis, so please don't take this too harshly. But that observation is right up there with realizing that the morning always follows the night.

 

[AdamaNation]

Quite frankly, I think I can only remember once all year that we scored directly off an inbounds pass. Running a set for 20 seconds may be another matter but I don’t consider that an “inbounds play”. I am open to be wrong about this, if someone can pull up some video clips.

By early on I meant in his career as UConn hc

 

[Chief00]

I generally do read your game analysis, so please don't take this too harshly. But that observation is right up there with realizing that the morning always follows the night.

Not offended at all. I always say basketball is a simple game, if played correctly, so my observations should reflect that simplicity. My Furious Five in the original post further illustrates that.

 

[Chief00]

You can't make a kid give effort. I was one who said this often: Enoch moves great for his size and has great hands. But, he disappointed me so very often with getting beat like a rug. He seemed not to care on Defense.

We need our bigs to develop now. And, I am confident that a 4 year career from Carlton, Whaley, Diarra will gain us at least 2 productive kids maybe all 3. With Enoch, I am afraid he may never get over his head.

I think on defense Enoch failed to process things mentally at game day speed. I also think UConn Bigs have lacked coaching since George left. It wouldn’t shock me, if he made it to The League some day. Not based on what you have seen to date, but what I think he can grow into.

 

[alfonse]

This team is awful. What else is there to say. This is Uconn we won 4 national championships and smashed opponents in the best conference ever in the sport. Now in a mediocre conference we are 500 2/3rds of the way through the season. The worst teams in the conference we beat by 3 at home. One of our mediocre teams from the 90's would be 28 and 7 in this conference. This ship has sailed and I don't expect some new coach to come in and start dominating anytime soon. On top of it College basketball in its current state is a broken sport. The NCAA is a complete joke. If you are not on the inside you are on the outside and we are most DEFINITELY on the outside. Teams on the inside hold fake classes for decades and that is fine. Our guys get bad grades and we suffer immensely for it. Now they are after us again for some other ticky tac thing and teams like Lousiville and Arizona are being investigated by the FBI for outright PAYING players. Nothing to see here this is an amateur sport, no money involved at all....... Happy Friday!