Chief’s Briefs - Xavier Edition

[Chief00]

Donovan Clingan is the best player in the Big East not a ridiculous honorable mentioned - LOL! Donovan stayed in the paint and dominated on both ends of the court. He threw outlet passes and beat his man down the court on fast breaks. He shot 75%, got rebounds, assists, points, blocks and impacted other shots.

All 5 starters and Samson Johnson hit double figures in a 27 point win. That group also evenly contributed rebounds, defense and assists. The Greek Freak’s stroke looked outstanding too at the end.

It is going to be a short post season if we come out lackadasical shooting 40% from the FT line and 28% from 3, as we did the first half. We had some stuff to clean-up at halftime and Danny Hurley certainly did.

We came out the second half driving to the basket, which we do when we play our best. Karaban made layups but then settle for a long missed three but then used his 3 ability to his advantage to start a drive.

But, even 5 minutes into the second half, not one of the five guys who attempted foul shots shot over 50% from FT.

When a team shoots 58% from 2 and 33% from 3. We need more shots from 2. Additionally, make the simple pass and not necessarily the spectacular Alley Oop pass. Our winning margin woukd have been 6-10 points higher if we avoided some of those 4 point turnaround type plays.

We led on rebounds by 15 and assists by 16. That has been a season long trend. Diarra and Johnson were great off the bench.

I am probably way to critical today but we are amazing when we play focus as we did for the second half and we should not settle for less. Love this team.

 

[millertime7774]

DC played horrible in the 1st, great in the 2nd. Game.

 

[Waquoit]

No mention of Johnson on the high hedge? Hurley said it changed the game.

 

[gsmooth]

Scores can be misleading at times. UConn won this game by more than the amount of the last Providence game (14 points). But that Providence game was over much sooner. This game with Xavier was still in doubt until the 10 minute mark in the 2nd half.

 

[Shamon30]

It was a little sad seeing Miller give up with 4:30 left to go, but at the same time, I get why he did it.

 

[Citrusdog]

Free throws.

We need to shoot at least 70% as the games get tougher. 10 for 18 - embarrassing. The 2014 team won every difficult game at the FT line. The ‘drive to the hoop’ won’t matter if we make 1 of 2. Just my opinion. 7 of 10 is bare bones minimum.

 

[prankster]

DC played horrible in the 1st, great in the 2nd. Game.

Well, no one posted the U-C-O-N-N, UConn, UConn, UConn! Post this morning.

So there is that.

It is the post season. Everyone has responsibilities!

To quote Frank Costa za, "I got a lotta problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!"

 

[Kenny11]

This team is so good and never seems to choke. Even down 10-0 I don't feel worried whatsoever. We are lucky.

 

[UDann]

Scores can be misleading at times. UConn won this game by more than the amount of the last Providence game (14 points). But that Providence game was over much sooner. This game with Xavier was still in doubt until the 10 minute mark in the 2nd half.

Our depth wears other teams down. Good for tournament time

 

[Spaceman213J]

Clingan had a good work ethic coming into college, but I still think being here with Adama for a year was very beneficial for him. Sanogo did the work in practice and I hope Hurley has kept tape of that to show the young guys who come into the program from here on out.
It was one of the early games, but I remember the announcers telling the story of the opposing coach and his bigs getting ready for practice and his guys started to walk to get water of sit down for a break and he told them to get up. They said no one works has hard as they had been working and he told them Sanogo did, and he wasn't rotating out of the practices. I think DC has the same kind of work ethic when he's healthy.
People assumed his numbers would just increase because of the increased playing time, but the young man has worked hard. They all do, and they play for each other. I love the culture that Hurley has built and I love this team. The way they share the ball reminds me of some of the great women's team that Geno had. It's pretty to watch.

 

[jibsey]

Hurley mentioned the warmup factor for a team playing Wed. Now we warmed up.

 

[RedStickHusky]

way they share the ball reminds me of some of the great women's team that Geno had. It's pretty to watch.

87 points with six players between 10 and 13 is incredible...

 

[GHSWolverines]

DC played horrible in the 1st, great in the 2nd. Game.

And SJ did a great job

 

[AllHusky]

Drive it down their throat, inside out on O

 

[Fan1978]

DC played horrible in the 1st, great in the 2nd. Game.

Agreed, not sure why he refuses to dunk. It appears to me he does not want to dunk it in traffic and land on somebody’s foot and suffer another foot injury . Only viable explanation

 

[Chief00]

DC played horrible in the 1st, great in the 2nd. Game.

Samson’s played well, but the lead was built when Donovan was in the game.

 

[Scot-e]

Agreed, not sure why he refuses to dunk. It appears to me he does not want to dunk it in traffic and land on somebody’s foot and suffer another foot injury . Only viable explanation

I've wondered why so few dunks as well. IMHO I think the reason he does not dunk as many shots as he could -is because he does not want to leave his feet and risk an injury landing again.

 

[Chief00]

Free throws.

We need to shoot at least 70% as the games get tougher. 10 for 18 - embarrassing. The 2014 team won every difficult game at the FT line. The ‘drive to the hoop’ won’t matter if we make 1 of 2. Just my opinion. 7 of 10 is bare bones minimum.

I agree, and Castle is probably the best driver in the country if he hits 70%+ on his FT’s. Today he was 2-3 (67%), the only other guy above 50% was the Greek Freak (100%).

 

[Chief00]

I've wondered why so few dunks as well. IMHO I think the reason he does not dunk as many shots as he could -is because he does not want to leave his feet and risk an injury landing again.

As long as they go in and 75% shooting today, isn’t bad.

 

[dogpause]

Okay, so we had a slow start, a sub-par first half, and didn't shoot particularly well in winning by 27. Best thing that could've happened?

 

[businesslawyer]

This team is so good and never seems to choke. Even down 10-0 I don't feel worried whatsoever. We are lucky.

At 0-10 I was annoyed. But I was a long way from worrying that X might actually beat us.

 

[uconnfan68]

Agreed, not sure why he refuses to dunk. It appears to me he does not want to dunk it in traffic and land on somebody’s foot and suffer another foot injury . Only viable explanation

He’s leaving points out there by not dunking from 1’ away. He also has a habit of bringing lobs down before going up with them. SJ does aerials, with either or both hands. Love him, but that drives me crazy.

 

[Waquoit]

I've wondered why so few dunks as well. IMHO I think the reason he does not dunk as many shots as he could -is because he does not want to leave his feet and risk an injury landing again.

I think he still rushes a bit when he gets the ball down low.

 

[coachn]

Hard to be critical but defense and free throw shooting have to be lights out If we want to win the next seven.
Tristen Newton is amazing. Built for the NBA. Why wouldn't some NBA team want him?
I agree Donavan Clingan is most impactful player in NCAA.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I think another thing that is overlooked this year and goes back to last is Hurley's growth. He has become better since taking over the HC job and he has learned to push these guys buttons for the most part. He doesn't panic and neither does his team. No one gives up.
I remember the weird stat about the '99 team was they won every game they trailed at the half. I know this team was up by 1 at that half today, but they came out and just dominated.
I am a little nervous about St. John's. They are peaking at the right time. They have lost twice to UConn and an upset for them punches their ticket for sure from what I've read. I think their in as of now, but if some screwy things happen in some of the tournaments, it could be a little harrowing for them to leave it up to the selection committee. Still, I do have faith in Hurley & Co..

 

[Chief00]

He’s leaving points out there by not dunking from 1’ away. He also has a habit of bringing lobs down before going up with them. SJ does aerials, with either or both hands. Love him, but that drives me crazy.

I would rather have Donovan take and make the simple unspectacular shot, especially giving his foot and giving it more time to fully heal.

 

[cohenzone]

How DC should have been recognized by the league can be debated, but on a team where the MVP can be debated too because they really are a team, he makes us unique because his great impact is all over the place.

Free throws were bad but it kind of depends who is doing the shooting even though today even our better foul shooters were going 1 for 2. There really is no way practice can totally guarantee making an individual foul shot i don’t know if anyone took more foul shots than Wilt and he was bad.

 

[Scrutineer]

Hard to be critical but defense and free throw shooting have to be lights out If we want to win the next seven.
Tristen Newton is amazing. Built for the NBA. Why wouldn't some NBA team want him?
I agree Donavan Clingan is most impactful player in NCAA.

I actually hope we win at least the next eight...............

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I think he still rushes a bit when he gets the ball down low.

He definitely does, but he seemed to take his time in the second half yesterday

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Our depth wears other teams down. Good for tournament time

Bingo! Yes, this team and its coaches have so many options with that deep bench. They really do wear teams down. What I’m particularly impressed by is Clingan's continuous improvement game by game, as well as improving play from Castle, Diara, and Samson Johnson. I think the only team that could have a chance against UConn in the NCAA’s is another Big East team. I’d love to see Hurley try Samson Johnson, Clingan, Newton, Castle and Spencer on the floor together. I mean the high low action would be devastating to some teams.