Chief Briefs - Seton Hall Edition

[connVA]

Not comparing the two, but with Khalid, Chief disliked the noon starts. He though would generally make some big plays after the mid point of the second half.

In contrast, Newton evidently forgot how to inbound the ball in the last ten minutes. Credit to Hurley for not playing with fire and pulling him after the back-to-back five-second violation and turnover under the basket.

 

[Chief00]

We live and die by the 3P shot. Today we shot terrible, but found a way to win. The team rebounding and attack on rim by Hawkins and Jackson were encouraging signs for a team that has scored most of its points via 3 ball and Sanogo post up. I thought Hawkins drives to rim today were his best ever.
When the team is struggling to score I don’t understand why Hurley doesn’t put Clingan in to get offensive rebounds. When we are struggling to run offense and get a good shot, offensive rebounds turn ugly possessions into points.

Good observations. The Clingan minutes mystery, I have theories about but no solid answers.

 

[sdglast]

Also, when defenders inevitably begin adjusting and stepping in front of him on those drives, he needs to make sure the dump to Sanogo (or whoever) is catchable. Avoid decapitating his teammate or throwing the ball into the fifth row.

I agree. He is caught up right now in being a pass first player even when driving to the basket. I also reference back to Jimmy Jackson's comment last week during the Creighton game that UConn too many time allows teams to dictate what shot UConn takes instead of UConn bearing down and getting the shot they want. It's really that simple. Too many times offensively, UConn forces a shot early or takes what appears to be an open shot but his really the other team giving that player the shot. It's what happens to Jackson a lot. He is baited to take 3s and takes the bait. He was 0-4 yesterday. Hurley seemed to reference this in the postgame--Jackson needs to understand where he operates best offensively. Standing outside the 3 point line is not it. I hope he continues to be more aggresive going to the basket and cuts more off the ball on the baseline and down the lane, as it forces his man to actually defend him or risk giving up dunks. Gotta stop playing 4 on 5 when on offense.

 

[gsmooth]

The last point you make echoes what Jimmy Jackson said last week during the Creighton game. UConn does not do a good job valuing offensive possessions (they settle for bad shots at times and don't get the ball to the right people), turn the ball over with especially silly turnovers (not executing fast breaks, forced passes), and lastly committing silly fouls (think the silly reach-ins by Hawkins). That seems to be their mantra in many games turning winnable games into losses or unnecessarily close games. Certainly, some of this is on the coach, but some of it is poor basketball IQ by players as well. Now they are playing a Providence team who will be methodical in their approach (get it to Hopkins and let him work, take good 3s, and play physically on both ends of the floor). UConn cannot commit silly fouls against a team who lives on the free throw line. UConn can't miss easy fastbreak opportunities throwing ill-timed lobs, and UConn must be very efficient offensively getting the ball inside to Sanono and Clingan. Run the game inside out and go hard at Providence. Make them defend you in the low box. They aren't a very big team, so you can put pressure on them down low. Lastly, Jackson has to look to score when he penetrates. Watching his last drive when he made the layup from the straight on look from the opposite end of the floor on TV, you see the Seton Hall defender actually step towards Sanogo and away from Jackson (basically the player did not take Jackson on to defend him). I think players are being coached to think pass first with Jackson even on drives and step into passing lanes rather than play him (heck he got an offensive rebound and had a lane to dunk in the 1st half and actually tried to pass the ball to Sanogo). Jackson needs to attack the rim from the get-go on Wednesday, He does that, the passing lanes will open up more.

Very good post. Correct on Providence. If they can draw some quick fouls on Croswell it will take his aggressiveness away. He is a good aggressive rim runner and rebounder. However, if UConn can cut off penetration from Bynum, Carter, and Hopkins it will drastically reduce Croswell's effectiveness as he grabs rebounds when his defender has to help. He really doesn't have much of a post up game besides crashing into his defender like uncoordinated bull. Hopkins, who is my BEPOY at this point, isn't really a good defender so Karaban should look to drive more.

As for your statements on AJax, 100% and thanks. I have been screaming this from the rooftop. Opponents are playing him to pass to the extreme because it is so easy to see he is like a Ben Simmons and scared to shoot. That's why I was so pumped about his game yesterday, he was really good. That breakaway layup was him being assertive. When defenders look to step in front of him to draw the charge then that is when AJax can do what he does best which is pass (connVA's post #25) but he has to do it under control without spazzing and whipping a fastball from 3 feet away.

 

[alphasigko]

Just caught the last 10 minutes of yesterday's game on a replay on FS-2. It was so hard to watch the last 6 minutes when they were up by 16 and then they went into some sort of a funk which appeared like they had never played together before this game. Up until 1 minute to go they allowed the lead to disintegrate to 6 with 3 Shot Clock violations, 2 or 3 TOs on inbounds passing, silly fouls, TOs, and missed foul shots. It was obvious that there was not one player in charge on the floor, and what was worse, DH appeared to be completely befuddled while he looked on helplessly at what he was witnessing. This inability to finish a game with a large lead in tact must be solved before tourney time.

 

[Chief00]

I don’t even care jackson missed threes. As long as he is getting to the hoop and crashing the offensive boards most of the time.

But it is just not prudent having Andre take the second most threes. Again, the coaches must put them in position to succeed.

 

[Chief00]

Just caught the last 10 minutes of yesterday's game on a replay on FS-2. It was so hard to watch the last 6 minutes when they were up by 16 and then they went into some sort of a funk which appeared like they had never played together before this game. Up until 1 minute to go they allowed the lead to disintegrate to 6 with 3 Shot Clock violations, 2 or 3 TOs on inbounds passing, silly fouls, TOs, and missed foul shots. It was obvious that there was not one player in charge on the floor, and what was worse, DH appeared to be completely befuddled while he looked on helplessly at what he was witnessing. This inability to finish a game with a large lead in tact must be solved before tourney time.

Couldn’t agree more, no one in charge on the court. Newton is too much up and down. Diarra can play uptempo but he needs to improve his foul shooting as a PG late game.

 

[Chief00]

Clingan gave up too many baskets to 2s and 3s. Hall's strategy seemed to be drive to the rim against Clingan, and not when Adama was in. Against Adama it was have a big (try to) back in on him in the paint.



We were horrible closing this game out. Use up the shot clock, then turn it over -- either on a clock violation, or on a desperation pass or drive into the paint, and end up not getting a shot off.

I will grant the exception due to Adama’s illness. But, otherwise this is exactly why we need double Bigs.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

lately, i've been thinking on the essence of our puzzle, and its another one that i lay at dannys feet.
our on court chemistry is highly dissolvable, and i don't know if it's solvable. often, especially on the o, we move around like we're trying to remember a map in our heads. not happy with dannys other transfers, i was very excited when tris came, and thought that he'd be excellent at running a free and easy team, which it was for a time. i noted it then in october, when danny started with the 'maybe, maybe not,' on tris' job. scary.
if this talent had a stable plan, with newt starting the show, everyone else would find a spot, cuz they're talented players and want to win, but to date, there is no real routine, with the good chemistry of that carrying thru thick and thin in a game. 'hey, u got him? i don't! - no problem, he's mine!'
coming up to march, it's still 2 bigs, or not 2 bigs. one routine.
point tris? point ajax? point diarra? another routine.
jax from short? jax from deep? another routine.
adama firing 3's? adama not firing 3's? another routine.
does joey come in to jack 3's? does joey not come in again ever? another routine.
does danny yell at the refs? does he not? another routine. mebbe him not freaking so much lately calmed our 'T' thing down?
i have zero clue on the 'does he or doesn't he' thing with sj. whatever it is, that's another routine, one way or the other.
people got to know where they stand in a well run basketball team, on which they then build cohesion and chemistry. talent ain't everything if it's not deployed with rhythm.
all i got for this season's experiment is that we can catch chemistry in a bottle, and ride it cuz *the field is so lame, it would be criminal to not take advantage of such an opportunity.
folks yammerin on aboot next season, talent, and whatever - how do they know that next year, every team won't have kobe's and mj's all over the place?
think back just 12 months ago, did anyone imagine this to be the roster, 'grid alert' guesses notwithstanding? what will next years group look like?
i don't know, and neither does anyone, including danny.

(*the field is so lame. another BoneYard World Exclusive Original. lol.)

 

[Scrutiner]

I have enough thoughts to fill a novel, but I'll try to keep them concise. At the end of the day, they did enough to win the game by 9. But dang that didn't feel like a 3 possession win and doesn't leave me feeling great.

The Good:

1. Clingan impacts nearly every play he's out there. On the plus side, he gets his hand on nearly every rebound when he's out there and alters nearly every shot in the paint. On the down side, he dropped a few easy passes, was 0-2 from the line, and got schooled on pump fakes by Ndefo and Samuel a few times. He needs more reps to refine his game
2. Second half was a foul fest, but we didn't foul much in the first half while also getting some of their key guys in foul trouble
3. Spurtability is how we've been winning games. Went up 11 in the first after 2-3 minutes of great play, and went up 16 in the second after 6 minutes of great play. We nearly blew both of those, but we led for 33 minutes of that game including the entire second half. Ugly, but enough.

The Great:

1. Is Hawkins a driver and dunker now? His three was off (mostly good looks, just didn't hit them) but he drove to the hoop for a handful of layups and monster dunks. Yet another 20 piece
2. Despite Hawkins' 20 piece, Diarra and Andre get MVP. When we looked like we were going to blow it again, they brought unlimited energy and were the spark plugs for the 14-0 run. Diarra's box score doesn't do him justice this game, and Andre took 4 threes too many, but great games from them both
3. We won the boards 37-19, and offensive boards 13-4

The Bad:

1. For most of the game, we played exactly how Seton Hall wanted us to. So many instances of us passing the ball around the perimeter and then just handing it to someone with 5 seconds left to make an iso play
2. Hawk struggled playing defense in the post, and Seton Hall went after him. He did draw 2 charges but didn't get the call for either of them (1 could have been a flop). He gets officiated so uniquely. He gets held and grabbed every possession with no call, gets bumped every time drives with no call, but draws at least 1 foul per game on threes. So weird

The Ugly:

1. Tristen Newton didn't want to play today. Really rough game, but he did ice it at the FT line late
2. Sanogo should have got benched in the last 5-6 minutes. By my count he had 3 turnovers down the stretch, and that doesn't include a stepback airball 3 (?) and a pass to Hawkins 30ft from the hoop with 3 seconds left in the shot clock (might as well be a turnover). But he got us the game saving block so all is forgiven?

Sanogo must have been feeling lingering effects from his ailment as he must have had five turnovers or plays that ended up in empty possessions because he hesitated to take open 3's and ended up taking a terrible shot and handing off after the jab step and no shot.

 

[Scrutiner]

Good points. I'd add that our offense in the last two minutes of close games continues to be a trainwreck. Basically dribbling the air out of the ball until there's 5-6 seconds on the shot clock before initiating the offense, typically leading to a turnover or a desperation shot to avoid a violation. That strategy works if you've got Kemba, Shabazz, or Boatright as a closer. We do not.

Sort of like a trip down memory lane to the Clemson Sweet Sixteen game in the 1990 East Regional. Calhoun was trying to sit on another lead and except for Scott Burrell's pass and Tate's shot it would have been the most disastrous collapse of a Calhoun coached team in his years at UConn.

 

[Scrutiner]

AJ and Hawk both played like absolute monsters tonight. I'm sure they knew they had to kick it into another gear with Adama less than 100%.

So entertaining watching Hawk off-ball. Clear he's gotten more comfortable being chased/shadowed by the other team's best defender. Doesn't even seem to faze him at his point. He's found the perfect balance of when to pull up and when to drive. He's found his flow. The ball should run through him on offense every single time. Kid has a motor. Would love it if someone had a stat on how many miles he's running per game.

If these two play like this the rest of the way with Adama at 100%, I like our chances. Even if Tristen forgets how to play basketball every other game.

Tristen plays some games as if he doesn't believe he belongs here at the Big East level and is unsure of himself. He talked about a lack of confidence in his past and maybe it never left or has reappeared.

 

[Scrutiner]

Just caught the last 10 minutes of yesterday's game on a replay on FS-2. It was so hard to watch the last 6 minutes when they were up by 16 and then they went into some sort of a funk which appeared like they had never played together before this game. Up until 1 minute to go they allowed the lead to disintegrate to 6 with 3 Shot Clock violations, 2 or 3 TOs on inbounds passing, silly fouls, TOs, and missed foul shots. It was obvious that there was not one player in charge on the floor, and what was worse, DH appeared to be completely befuddled while he looked on helplessly at what he was witnessing. This inability to finish a game with a large lead in tact must be solved before tourney time.

Your quote is right on the money and TN seems unsure of himself and lacking the confidence to take on the leadership role:
"It was obvious that there was not one player in charge on the floor, and what was worse, DH appeared to be completely befuddled"

 

[REB1094]

Sanogo must have been feeling lingering effects from his ailment as he must have had five turnovers or plays that ended up in empty possessions because he hesitated to take open 3's and ended up taking a terrible shot and handing off after the jab step and no shot.

Yeah, I’m definitely willing to chalk it up to just not feeling 100%. But if he’s too sick to perform, he should rest.

He was his usual dominant self early in the game for a few possessions when he got to go 1v1 in the post. They didn’t really run much for him in the second half, maybe because he wasn’t feeling well. I get Clingan is a FT liability so it’s harder to close with him, but I’d rather send him to the line and hope he makes 1 of 2 than have Sanogo throw the ball away 3 times in a row

All that said, thank you Adama for fighting through illness to try to get us a W, and get well soon!

 

[Chief00]

lately, i've been thinking on the essence of our puzzle, and its another one that i lay at dannys feet.
our on court chemistry is highly dissolvable, and i don't know if it's solvable. often, especially on the o, we move around like we're trying to remember a map in our heads. not happy with dannys other transfers, i was very excited when tris came, and thought that he'd be excellent at running a free and easy team, which it was for a time. i noted it then in october, when danny started with the 'maybe, maybe not,' on tris' job. scary.
if this talent had a stable plan, with newt starting the show, everyone else would find a spot, cuz they're talented players and want to win, but to date, there is no real routine, with the good chemistry of that carrying thru thick and thin in a game. 'hey, u got him? i don't! - no problem, he's mine!'
coming up to march, it's still 2 bigs, or not 2 bigs. one routine.
point tris? point ajax? point diarra? another routine.
jax from short? jax from deep? another routine.
adama firing 3's? adama not firing 3's? another routine.
does joey come in to jack 3's? does joey not come in again ever? another routine.
does danny yell at the refs? does he not? another routine. mebbe him not freaking so much lately calmed our 'T' thing down?
i have zero clue on the 'does he or doesn't he' thing with sj. whatever it is, that's another routine, one way or the other.
people got to know where they stand in a well run basketball team, on which they then build cohesion and chemistry. talent ain't everything if it's not deployed with rhythm.
all i got for this season's experiment is that we can catch chemistry in a bottle, and ride it cuz *the field is so lame, it would be criminal to not take advantage of such an opportunity.
folks yammerin on aboot next season, talent, and whatever - how do they know that next year, every team won't have kobe's and mj's all over the place?
think back just 12 months ago, did anyone imagine this to be the roster, 'grid alert' guesses notwithstanding? what will next years group look like?
i don't know, and neither does anyone, including danny.

(*the field is so lame. another BoneYard World Exclusive Original. lol.)

I understand the desire to give Newton the keys, but with that comes responsibility and the maturity to be consistently ready to do the job.

 

[Husky25]

I will add that the BE officiating today was again consistently inconsistent....

Freaking Bouknight.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I understand the desire to give Newton the keys, but with that comes responsibility and the maturity to be consistently ready to do the job.

I think he has it, I think he's shown it. Unfortunately, Hurley keeps taking the keys and giving them to Jackson. It doesn't work. For all the complaints about Newton not being a PG, he's a very good PG. What he isn't is a good off guard. Hurley seems to want him to do that with Jackson being on ball, and it doesn't work. He'll pop a 3 now and then, but the driving, drawing fouls and scoring at the rim goes away.

Need to keep Andre along the baseline for those cuts, lobs and dunks, and get the ball mostly out of his hands. We started the game with Andre having the ball up top for several possessions, and I knew then it would be a rough game for Tristen.

 

[Chief00]

I think he has it, I think he's shown it. Unfortunately, Hurley keeps taking the keys and giving them to Jackson. It doesn't work. For all the complaints about Newton not being a PG, he's a very good PG. What he isn't is a good off guard. Hurley seems to want him to do that with Jackson being on ball, and it doesn't work. He'll pop a 3 now and then, but the driving, drawing fouls and scoring at the rim goes away.

Need to keep Andre along the baseline for those cuts, lobs and dunks, and get the ball mostly out of his hands. We started the game with Andre having the ball up top for several possessions, and I knew then it would be a rough game for Tristen.

I prefer Andre on the baseline too. I just don’t know if Newton will have the consistency and maturity to run a team. I hope he does but I am skeptical since it is late February and we have only seen glimpses of it.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I understand the desire to give Newton the keys, but with that comes responsibility and the maturity to be consistently ready to do the job.

nonsense. here is what i was hoping/expecting to be the tris story here.
everything was lined up for the possibility.
my fav story this year for 'take the dang keys and go do ur thing.'
Jalen Pickett College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
currently, and trying like heck to bring his team across the finish line,
19/7.5/7 on way less 3's this season than ever taken. i guess he too, cares a lot aboot winning, and not his 'stats.' still, like 80 points in his last two games.
similar size, similar stats before going to the new team. they're having one of their better seasons in years.


oops, my bad, as i forgot that there are no other players/teams/leagues in the country according to many here.
actually, there are a lot. his previous squad was Siena. no dropoff playing in the big bad 10. and speaking of the 10, anybody here ever heard of Northwestern? 2nd. bueller? bueller? yup -no other players/teams/leagues. got it.
how on earth could danny take such potential, and totally screw it up with constant 'look at me! look at the curler/cutter! look at everything other than your natural game!- and remember, the program! the system!'
oh, right, right, right ....... donno.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

more tris 'data.'
there is not much different in his current season profile, %'s and etc, different from his past, except career lows in minutes per, 2s taken, and 3s taken, and career highs for games finished with a sore neck from constantly swiveling over to danny. i think jalen gaffney spent last summer in traction to try and fix that. he did.
i don't get it.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

here's another transfer whose coach wasn't dumb enough to try and change his possibility- Bryce Hopkins.
35 mpg, 17/9, 40% 3's.
or, 'how not to screw up a good player.'

 

[Chief00]

Sometimes, if you are looking for a guy to lead your team, it goes beyond the things you mentioned.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I prefer Andre on the baseline too. I just don’t know if Newton will have the consistency and maturity to run a team. I hope he does but I am skeptical since it is late February and we have only seen glimpses of it.

I think he's probably the most "mature" guy on the roster. He's calm, poised and makes very few mistakes (yes the inbounding Saturday was a problem). Jackson plays like the least mature guy we have, way too emotional. As for consistency, I fault the yo-yo role he's been given for that. Some guys can do it. Jalen Adams could do it. He needs to be told he's the PG and he'll play like it.

 

[gtcam]

I think he's probably the most "mature" guy on the roster. He's calm, poised and makes very few mistakes (yes the inbounding Saturday was a problem). Jackson plays like the least mature guy we have, way too emotional. As for consistency, I fault the yo-yo role he's been given for that. Some guys can do it. Jalen Adams could do it. He needs to be told he's the PG and he'll play like it.

CV could do it but both he and JA had the personality to take the keys and run
Newton is the type you have to beg and back pat him first, those types rarely are consistent

 

[Chief00]

I think he's probably the most "mature" guy on the roster. He's calm, poised and makes very few mistakes (yes the inbounding Saturday was a problem). Jackson plays like the least mature guy we have, way too emotional. As for consistency, I fault the yo-yo role he's been given for that. Some guys can do it. Jalen Adams could do it. He needs to be told he's the PG and he'll play like it.

I hope the “maturity”, “consistency” and “stability” is there with Tristen to run a team, as you say it is. That would be great.