Chief’s Briefs - Xavier Edition | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Chief’s Briefs - Xavier Edition

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chief00
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
elmcityboy said:
is it possible to keep the relentless mean-spiritedness and negativity off the board after a win? it makes the boneyard a more enjoyable place to visit...
Expand ...
Was not even remotely mean spirited but fair enough
 
.-.
Working all day at the pharmacy trying to survive the covid driven insanity 😩 so didn't catch the game... how did Andre do? I know he has great energy and upside but last game didn't see like much of a scoring threat.. did he get much run today and how'd he play?
 
Got to give Martin a shout out! He's so steady and never tries to be the flavor of the week. Kid's not scared to mix it up on the inside. Believe it or not he's a good model for AJ. Right now he's our most dependable player.
 
.-.
Huge team win. As someone mentioned elsewhere, perhaps a season saving win. On to the next.

The biggest moment to me in the game was after Xavier tied it at 49 and Martin got the hoop and one, followed by a stop, followed by a Whaley and one. Of further note, did you see our head lunatic react to that Martin play? It was an amazing reaction. I absolute love it when Hurley is that into it.
 
Last edited:
Jackson makes a big difference with his defense and passing. His scoring will come. Boy did he lock up Scruggs..
What is this with the missed free throws in the clutch late in the game.
Remember Kemba, Baz, Boat, CV late in games.
Gafney even missed one. Need Bouk.
 
Last edited:
Chief00 said:
Cole had less ball handling responsibilities and that by itself made him more scoring minded. Gaffney helps in that way. Who else can do that?
Expand ...
I think AJ can potentially do that. Reminds me a lot of DHam but more athletic and not as good of a shooter. He can definitely get Cole the ball in the right spots imo
 
Chief00 said:
Akok and Jackson added energy to the squad, giving the team a good boost from the mid point in the first half. Cole and Martin gave UConn consistent production throughout. Cole was the MVP as a 6th man and had a great scoring game as Gaffney ran the point more. I remember after a recent game Hurley said they win the last two season when Gaffney runs things. We moved the ball on offense better than we have all year.

We started the game with me wondering if
there is a non shooting virus circulating in CT?
We lost the battle of the early 3’s. Do we even have a scouting report? Scant evidence of it when we leave good 3 point shooters wide open. Whatever we are doubling to or hedging to help - it’s not worth it. Throughout the game they leveraged mismatches to take the ball to the basket and create open shots or fouls.

While Whaley had some nice blocks (I counted about 4) he continues to treat the ball like it’s a hot potato bobbling it throughout the game. Most of the time it wasn’t a turnover but impacted the play. He just doesn’t play under control. Even Sanogo did not demonstrate his usual good hands today.

Gaffney reverted to playing within himself today. Rather than shooting he threw a few rushed turnover destine passes. Why can’t he stay confident? He missed at least 2 layups. Even after a recent 20 point game? Chief is stumped on that.

Cole played great coming off the bench giving us much needed points. Cole was clearly our MVP as a 6 man in a big road win with 24 points and a half dozen assists. Polley I thought played well given recent expectations - but now he needs to raise the bar as Cole did today.

The other lesson today is Hurley needs to lose the mindset we need to play slow in the 60’s. We can win in the mid to upper 70’s. - low 80’s.

Late game foul shooting needs lots of work. No excuse for what happened in the last minute.
Expand ...
One more point is heavy work on getting the ball in play and running down the clock. We have struggled doing that all season.
 
.-.
98Uconn said:
Working all day at the pharmacy trying to survive the covid driven insanity 😩 so didn't catch the game... how did Andre do? I know he has great energy and upside but last game didn't see like much of a scoring threat.. did he get much run today and how'd he play?
Expand ...
He’s great. We need to set better screens for him so he can get downhill into the paint. I think he settled for too many outside shots, but his defense, passing, and rebounds were huge.
 
kobebeanbryant said:
andre
Expand ...
Chief sees Andre as a point forward type rather than a pure PG. But, definitely he can help advance the ball and create in the half court. As with others, when you do that, you also have the responsibility to be a good foul shooter under pressure.
Posters can say what they want about Gaffney, much of it is valid. The truth for 2 years, is when he’s gets minutes, somehow they tend to win more. Hurley has made that observation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cole is exactly where he should be - as a microwave scorer off the bench, freed from the shackles of starting and running the offense. Gaffney should be starting at pg and will be asked to do much less with Bouk back, a role he’ll shine in.
 
.-.
prankster said:
Big change when Akok came in. He completely befuddled Xavier for a while. Very productive, even beyond his actual game minutes, it seemed.
Expand ...
It showed how important he is moving forward this season and for the future even more so. When he came him, he was paired up with Sanog in the front court. They were down I believe like 9 points 8 min into the ball game. He immediate hits a 3 as the defense sagged off of him. His playmaking at the 4 is such a difference. Seemed to even gave Whaley some confidence too who knocked down a couple big shots. Akok changed the tone of the game completely. I’m fine with Whaley and Sanogo playing together, but if Whaley can just be respectable as a shooter, maybe like 33% from 3 (say 1/3 a game) it creates so much better spacing for our guards, as well as entry passes into the post for Sanogo.
 
I am not a big Tyler Polley fan but I will give him props for something different today. I try to watch the off the ball action and his defense on #0 was outstanding. Don't know if the kid is any threat at all but TP was all over him. He also was effective when switched onto Scruggs a couple of times. Nice effort TP.
 
I thought Akok changed the game for us in several ways. Energy for sure. We have been listless for 2 games now and started that way again. But he also solves so many problems. With Whaley at 4 we lack shooting. With Martin rim protection. Akok is just a matchup problem for every team. He altered several shots when he was in. Making 3s is huge but so was that aggressive move to the hoop. Maybe we forget this guy started from day one as a freshman, and Bouknight didn’t.

Cole was huge today. I think Jackson takes some of the pressure off him by handling the role of passing the ball inside, where Cole struggles. 7 assists and much needed scoring. Martin played angry, and thats when he’s best. Whaley showed flashes of the good Whaley on D and the boards but dropped passes and missed around the rim. Gaff needs to knock off the John Elway act with his passes, and trust his shot. He made several nice moves and then blew it. Jackson needs to remain our starting 3 from now through 2022. Should be set in sharpie. He has a nice looking shot and it’s going to fall. Once it does consistently he will be unstoppable with his ability to attack.

Great win. Badly needed boost for the guys, the staff and all of us.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I thought Akok changed the game for us in several ways. Energy for sure. We have been listless for 2 games now and started that way again. But he also solves so many problems. With Whaley at 4 we lack shooting. With Martin rim protection. Akok is just a matchup problem for every team. He altered several shots when he was in. Making 3s is huge but so was that aggressive move to the hoop. Maybe we forget this guy started from day one as a freshman, and Bouknight didn’t.

Cole was huge today. I think Jackson takes some of the pressure off him by handling the role of passing the ball inside, where Cole struggles. 7 assists and much needed scoring. Martin played angry, and thats when he’s best. Whaley showed flashes of the good Whaley on D and the boards but dropped passes and missed around the rim. Gaff needs to knock off the John Elway act with his passes, and trust his shot. He made several nice moves and then blew it. Jackson needs to remain our starting 3 from now through 2022. Should be set in sharpie. He has a nice looking shot and it’s going to fall. Once it does consistently he will be unstoppable with his ability to attack.

Great win. Badly needed boost for the guys, the staff and all of us.
Expand ...
Lots of good points and you can see the changing of the guard. The Dam Break recruits are gradually taking over.
 
I think Gaffney is getting close to figuring it out to be a consistent contributor. Today he was indecisive which lead to bullet passes at close range the big couldn’t catch. A simple pull-up or floater in those situations and we would be talking about a solid game he had. Mistakes that can be fixed. He will figure it out.
 
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,368
Messages
4,568,486
Members
10,472
Latest member
MyStore24


Top Bottom