Chief’s Briefs - Villanova Edition

[Greathusky]

Two more nuggets not discussed -

1. Hawkins looked much more confident out there. He put on a quick move to the foul line and buried it and followed up with a quick pass to Sanogo for a lay up.
2. Gaffney's three is a step in the right direction for this young man.

 

[Chief00]

Two more nuggets not discussed -

1. Hawkins looked much more confident out there. He put on a quick move to the foul line and buried it and followed up with a quick pass to Sanogo for a lay up.
2. Gaffney's three is a step in the right direction for this young man.

Totally agree about Hawkins looking both more comfortable and may Chief add tougher. Villanova tried to bully him on drives and was largely unsuccessful.
Chief is in a minority - I still see Gaffney as someone who could really help us in a pg/combo guard role.

 

[Chief00]

I counted 5 of Novas TOs resulted from hard hedge

They had 14 turnovers over-all, so assuming you are correct about (5 during hedging) that doesn’t appear to be a compelling argument t to do something that has all these other drawbacks. Again, Chief is not oppose to using to give a different look but not as our main defense.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Couple more observations...

Sanogo did a better job reversing his layups and using the rim to shield from the defender than any other game I've seen from him. He did it multiple times and it saves him energy from having to power up and through the defender or having his shot blocked. Even better, he did it more than once with the left hand.

UConn, specifically Cole, did a great job preventing Gillespie from posting up in the block. They put a body on him and made Gillespie work his way to the block. And yes, there were some shoulder drops and some head fakes but UConn didn't break down the rest of the rotation. Jackson and I think maybe Hawkins had some time defending Gillespie as well. He didn't abuse UConn with his scoring in the post or passing out of the post for 3.

 

[Umami Zen]

Couple more observations...

Sanogo did a better job reversing his layups and using the rim to shield from the defender than any other game I've seen from him. He did it multiple times and it saves him energy from having to power up and through the defender or having his shot blocked. Even better, he did it more than once with the left hand.

UConn, specifically Cole, did a great job preventing Gillespie from posting up in the block. They put a body on him and made Gillespie work his way to the block. And yes, there were some shoulder drops and some head fakes but UConn didn't break down the rest of the rotation. Jackson and I think maybe Hawkins had some time defending Gillespie as well. He didn't abuse UConn with his scoring in the post or passing out of the post for 3.

All true.. Thought the help defense last night was exceptional

 

[Chief00]

Couldn't agree more. As an example--How many times did we hear Dixon's name called last night??

Agree on Whaley. This is what we want of IW. One cautionary note, an occasional open 3 is great, but let’s be realistic, there’s a reason the defense gave up that open shot. So let’s not try to become a stretch 4.

 

[gtcam]

Great game. Whaley needs to stop making up his mind who he wants to get the ball to. He misses many open players. Ends up hesitating and showing where he wants to deliver the ball.

Nobody has a better bounce pass to the interior - nobody
He hesitates at times because he senses where to go with the ball but the target doesn't have good position.
Without Whaley this team doesn't win a good share of the games
He will be missed tremendously next year

 

[Chief00]

Couple more observations...

Sanogo did a better job reversing his layups and using the rim to shield from the defender than any other game I've seen from him. He did it multiple times and it saves him energy from having to power up and through the defender or having his shot blocked. Even better, he did it more than once with the left hand.

UConn, specifically Cole, did a great job preventing Gillespie from posting up in the block. They put a body on him and made Gillespie work his way to the block. And yes, there were some shoulder drops and some head fakes but UConn didn't break down the rest of the rotation. Jackson and I think maybe Hawkins had some time defending Gillespie as well. He didn't abuse UConn with his scoring in the post or passing out of the post for 3.

Excellent point on the reverse lay-ups by Sanogo. The opposition has been doing it to him, so payback is sweet. Chief loves becoming more efficient and allocating energy to activities with the best payoffs.

Agree, as a team we have become much better not going for head fakes. Chief has been critical about that in the past, so this is satisfying.

 

[gtcam]

I totally disagree with your assessment. It’s not that he fouled out - that’s the wrong metric. It is until recently he had been averaging 27 minutes a game when he should have been averaging 33-36 because of those quick outside fouls. Last night we saw what can be done in under a minute. So 6-9 minutes a game is huge; especially for your best player. Never mind he often looks tired late and that reflects in his shot. But, good foul shot last night when it counted.

You must be a little dude because you don’t seem to grasp how difficult it is for a 6-10 240 pd Big defending a point guard in open court.

I don't know what Navery said.
Sanogo is not quick enough to guard outside the key at this time. Yes he has quick footwork in a confined space underneath the hoop but that does not translate into foot speed and agility in a more open space against a quicker opponent. He had a really good game last night but his hedge and outside the lane defense is not a strong point. With more conditioning and targeted workouts he perhaps can improve this area along with gaining a medium range jump shot. He will need to if he goes to the next level.
I did like his discipline on offense last night - it was a huge difference and I think he earned the rightful respect of the Nova players.
I was happy that Kimani rested him for a few in the late stages of the 2nd half - the kid was worn out and needed it but he needs to be on the floor at the very least 32 minutes.

 

[Jbirdp5]

I totally disagree with your assessment. It’s not that he fouled out - that’s the wrong metric. It is until recently he had been averaging 27 minutes a game when he should have been averaging 33-36 because of those quick outside fouls. Last night we saw what can be done in under a minute. So 6-9 minutes a game is huge; especially for your best player. Never mind he often looks tired late and that reflects in his shot. But, good foul shot last night when it counted.

You must be a little dude because you don’t seem to grasp how difficult it is for a 6-10 240 pd Big defending a point guard in open court.

I thought he looked gassed in the second half because he needed a rest at around the 10 minute mark. I dont think it had anything to do with a particular defensive strategy just gassed from playing so hard on both ends.

 

[Chief00]

Nobody has a better bounce pass to the interior - nobody
He hesitates at times because he senses where to go with the ball but the target doesn't have good position.
Without Whaley this team doesn't win a good share of the games
He will be missed tremendously next year

I agree with your comments. He’s also one of the most genuinely liked guys on the team. Chief does think he would benefit from the touch drills that Houston runs, as a recent article that was shared on the BY outlined. Unlike defense, sometimes on offense you need to slow the game down mentally at least , which is not a contradiction to Chief’s love of fast break basketball.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Agree on Whaley. This is what we want of IW. One cautionary note, an occasional open 3 is great, but let’s be realistic, there’s a reason the defense gave up that open shot. So let’s not try to become a stretch 4.

How did you quote me saying something I never wrote? You’re a total clown.

 

[Chief00]

I don't know what Navery said.
Sanogo is not quick enough to guard outside the key at this time. Yes he has quick footwork in a confined space underneath the hoop but that does not translate into foot speed and agility in a more open space against a quicker opponent. He had a really good game last night but his hedge and outside the lane defense is not a strong point. With more conditioning and targeted workouts he perhaps can improve this area along with gaining a medium range jump shot. He will need to if he goes to the next level.
I did like his discipline on offense last night - it was a huge difference and I think he earned the rightful respect of the Nova players.
I was happy that Kimani rested him for a few in the late stages of the 2nd half - the kid was worn out and needed it but he needs to be on the floor at the very least 32 minutes.

Agree on your observations. Adama played 33 minutes last night but looked visibly tired and needed that break. Some don’t seem to appreciate when he gets the ball he’s often doubled or tripled teamed, so that also adds to the energy he must expend. I guess, what’s more important to the team the 20pt abd 10+ rebounds type line or perhaps causing a turnover or two with hedging - offset by fouls? For me it’s an easy decision.

 

[Chief00]

How did you quote me saying something I never wrote? You’re a total clown.

You are right to the extent that was a response to Zen’s post. I had your and his quotes on the same response but decided to respond to him, because you are a loss cause, but deleted the wrong name somehow.

 

[uchusky32]

Nobody has a better bounce pass to the interior - nobody
He hesitates at times because he senses where to go with the ball but the target doesn't have good position.
Without Whaley this team doesn't win a good share of the games
He will be missed tremendously next year

I didn't say anything but he needs to fix that. I didn't even say if he had a good or bad game. Yep he was a major factor in most of our wins.

 

[Hurleyman216]

You are right to the extent that was a response to Zen’s post. I had your and his quotes on the same response but decided to respond to him, because you are a loss cause, but deleted the wrong name somehow.

Lol, ok you’re officially a clown but everyone already knew that. Move along.

 

[connVA]

We are living with the new paradigm. UConn is under the microscope.
Early in the game one ref instructed the bench who were merely standing and cheering in a fairly normal way to move back and there was literally no place they could go without knocking their chairs over.

I just worry that Hurley’s now developing a reputation among officials and those guys who have no problem making the game about themselves (way too many it seems) are going to come into these games ready to “take a shot at the title” even before the jump. He needs to reign it in and focus on the team rather than every perceived bad call. Handing out 2-4 free points a game isn’t a recipe for success.

 

[Chief00]

Lol, ok you’re officially a clown but everyone already knew that. Move along.

That’s what happened - Chief responds to multiple questions on a Brief’s thread and I did a quote got interrupted before sending and came back to do another response before realizing I had a half completed one - that landed in the same post - - then I manually deleted.
You must have some myopic complex to think the above process was designed to leave your name over what someone Else said. Why would I care who said it? I was answering the question, but in a rush with all thumbs deleted the wrong name

 

[Chief00]

I just worry that Hurley’s now developing a reputation among officials and those guys who have no problem making the game about themselves (way too many it seems) are going to come into these games ready to “take a shot at the title” even before the jump. He needs to reign it in and focus on the team rather than every perceived bad call. Handing out 2-4 free points a game isn’t a recipe for success.

The pretext for the quick T’s and I would say an unfair one, was Danny set the environment for Bouknight’s thinking what he did was going to be ok. But, after last night try to convince the league or the refs that’s not the case. It’s going to be a point of emphasis for the Big East refs with UConn the rest of the season. Fair or unfair.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

You must be a little dude because you don’t seem to grasp how difficult it is for a 6-10 240 pd Big defending a point guard in open court.

Just gonna throw out there that Luka Doncic is 6'7" 260...maybe that's why he defends like James Harden?

 

[MTBingNinja]

Chief is in a minority - I still see Gaffney as someone who could really help us in a pg/combo guard role.

“Could” is the operative word. I certainly hope he does, this would add another level to the team. We just can’t depend on him just yet.

 

[The Viking]

We are living with the new paradigm. UConn is under the microscope.
Early in the game one ref instructed the bench who were merely standing and cheering in a fairly normal way to move back and there was literally no place they could go without knocking their chairs over.

I was at the Marquette game and the ref in that game did the same to us several times. I dont think this has anything to do with Bouknight or Hurley incidents.

 

[uconn1999]

The best thing they did last night defensively was to not fall for the nova pump fakes. G1 we looked like pop corn kernels popping. Huge improvement, obviously coaches have been emphasizing this in practice and lesson learned.
kudos!
And the opening play, a backdoor lob to AJ, I‘ve wondered all year, why this doesn’t happen 1-2 times a game.

 

[Chief00]

Actually, English is his fourth language, and he only started speaking it after coming to the US at age 15.

That’s correct, I should have said English wasn’t his first language - and that would have been more precise. Of course, my point was it’s pretty amazing what he learned in such a short time, given whoever is teaching him isn’t communicating in his primary language.

 

[August_West]

They had 14 turnovers over-all, so assuming you are correct about (5 during hedging) that doesn’t appear to be a compelling argument t to do something that has all these other drawbacks. Again, Chief is not oppose to using to give a different look but not as our main defense.

The first law of holes……….