Chief - Cleaning up One Thing @ a Time Translates to Winning

[Chief00]

Some progress in areas that Chief has highlighted is very satisfying. It’s not who gets the credit, but it’s the progress the UConn MBB team made that’s important.

So let’s drill down:

• Jackson Jr had 6 Assists/2 Turnovers as his Assist/Turnover Ratio was a very good 3.
• Tactically the coaches worked with Andre to make the simple pass as Chief recommended. Guys easily caught his passes and it often quickly translated into a score. Andre was just as creative but without mistakes. Good job Andre and staff.
• Chief also mentioned using Jackson as a defensive stopper and he played tough/smart defense tonight against a good match-up.
• Sanogo only had 1 foul as Hurley minimized exposing him to the disasterous defensive hedging risks.
• Chief had set 32 to 36 minutes as a target range for Adama and he came in at 34 minutes. Good job staff managing Adama’s minutes. Congrats to Danny for being willing to break up his rotations, putting winning first. Keeping your best player on the floor makes everyone else better too!
• More minutes translated to a 20pt/16 reb game for Adama.
• Interestingly 3 other starters hit that target range too. Only Jackson had under 30 minutes at 29.
• Overall, we closed out pretty good but did make a few mistakes that Chief will highlight to anyone listening LOL! Among them:
• Sloppy footwork by Martin on inbounds, who otherwise played well 16pts/10 Rebs.
• Missed foul shots by Cole and Sanogo at crunch time. Who otherwise played well. FT practice tomorrow!!!!!
• Could have used another ball handler in last 2 minutes. Gaffney?
• Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging.

 

[August_West]

Whelp let’s count that as a win for chief

 

[MexicoHusky]

Some progress in areas that Chief has highlighted is very satisfying. It’s not who gets the credit, but it’s the progress the UConn MBB team made that’s important.

So let’s drill down:

• Jackson Jr had 6 Assists/2 Turnovers as his Assist/Turnover Ratio was a very good 3.
• Tactically the coaches worked with Andre to make the simple pass as Chief recommended. Guys easily caught his passes and it often quickly translated into a score. Andre was just as creative but without mistakes. Good job Andre and staff.
• Chief also mentioned using Jackson as a defensive stopper and he played tough/smart defense tonight against a good match-up.
• Sanogo only had 1 foul as Hurley minimized exposing him to the disasterous defensive hedging risks.
• Chief had set 32 to 36 minutes as a target range for Adama and he came in at 34 minutes. Good job staff managing Adama’s minutes. Congrats to Danny for being willing to break up his rotations, putting winning first. Keeping your best player on the floor makes everyone else better too!
• More minutes translated to a 20pt/16 reb game for Adama.
• Interestingly 3 other starters hit that target range too. Only Jackson had under 30 minutes at 29.
• Overall, we closed out pretty good but did make a few mistakes that Chief will highlight to anyone listening LOL! Among them:
• Sloppy footwork by Martin on inbounds, who otherwise played well 16pts/10 Rebs.
• Missed foul shots by Cole and Sanogo at crunch time. Who otherwise played well. FT practice tomorrow!!!!!
• Could have used another ball handler in last 2 minutes. Gaffney?
• Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging.

Gaff's career is starting to look similar to Omar Calhoun's career. Solid first year. Assumed he'd improve and become a team leader. Obviously that's not happening. Running out of time.

But yes, we need him as a second ball handler and it's not happening.

Saw him enthusiastically cheering from the bench tonight. Maybe he's the next Tor Watts. At this point I'll take what we can get.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Top 10 chief post here

 

[3rdbass]

Some progress in areas that Chief has highlighted is very satisfying. It’s not who gets the credit, but it’s the progress the UConn MBB team made that’s important.

So let’s drill down:

• Jackson Jr had 6 Assists/2 Turnovers as his Assist/Turnover Ratio was a very good 3.
• Tactically the coaches worked with Andre to make the simple pass as Chief recommended. Guys easily caught his passes and it often quickly translated into a score. Andre was just as creative but without mistakes. Good job Andre and staff.
• Chief also mentioned using Jackson as a defensive stopper and he played tough/smart defense tonight against a good match-up.
• Sanogo only had 1 foul as Hurley minimized exposing him to the disasterous defensive hedging risks.
• Chief had set 32 to 36 minutes as a target range for Adama and he came in at 34 minutes. Good job staff managing Adama’s minutes. Congrats to Danny for being willing to break up his rotations, putting winning first. Keeping your best player on the floor makes everyone else better too!
• More minutes translated to a 20pt/16 reb game for Adama.
• Interestingly 3 other starters hit that target range too. Only Jackson had under 30 minutes at 29.
• Overall, we closed out pretty good but did make a few mistakes that Chief will highlight to anyone listening LOL! Among them:
• Sloppy footwork by Martin on inbounds, who otherwise played well 16pts/10 Rebs.
• Missed foul shots by Cole and Sanogo at crunch time. Who otherwise played well. FT practice tomorrow!!!!!
• Could have used another ball handler in last 2 minutes. Gaffney?
• Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging.

I guess Chief it the Boneyard comedy. I don't really pay much attention to your stuff but sometimes it is fun to read just out of boredom.

 

[formerlurker]

Some progress in areas that Chief has highlighted is very satisfying. It’s not who gets the credit, but it’s the progress the UConn MBB team made that’s important.

So let’s drill down:

• Jackson Jr had 6 Assists/2 Turnovers as his Assist/Turnover Ratio was a very good 3.
• Tactically the coaches worked with Andre to make the simple pass as Chief recommended. Guys easily caught his passes and it often quickly translated into a score. Andre was just as creative but without mistakes. Good job Andre and staff.
• Chief also mentioned using Jackson as a defensive stopper and he played tough/smart defense tonight against a good match-up.
• Sanogo only had 1 foul as Hurley minimized exposing him to the disasterous defensive hedging risks.
• Chief had set 32 to 36 minutes as a target range for Adama and he came in at 34 minutes. Good job staff managing Adama’s minutes. Congrats to Danny for being willing to break up his rotations, putting winning first. Keeping your best player on the floor makes everyone else better too!
• More minutes translated to a 20pt/16 reb game for Adama.
• Interestingly 3 other starters hit that target range too. Only Jackson had under 30 minutes at 29.
• Overall, we closed out pretty good but did make a few mistakes that Chief will highlight to anyone listening LOL! Among them:
• Sloppy footwork by Martin on inbounds, who otherwise played well 16pts/10 Rebs.
• Missed foul shots by Cole and Sanogo at crunch time. Who otherwise played well. FT practice tomorrow!!!!!
• Could have used another ball handler in last 2 minutes. Gaffney?
• Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging.

 

[Chief00]

View attachment 73385

Thank you. Finally, some progress on some critical path issues, which are key to our success. Jackson’s passing improvement was amazing. We all knew the exceptional and gifted passing talent was there - but in one game he cleaned up about 60% to 80% of the sloppiness - it just vanished. The efficiency in his passing would have made even perfectionist George Blaney proud.
There is nothing prettier in basketball than an efficient, unselfish pass that leads to an easy basket.

 

[Chief00]

I guess Chief it the Boneyard comedy. I don't really pay much attention to your stuff but sometimes it is fun to read just out of boredom.

Whatever path that gets one to a productive and constructive place works for Chief. Looking forward to congratulating Andre’s family at the Nova game.

It’s a beautiful thing to watch, a switch literally getting turned on right before our eyes for a young gun. Let there be light!

 

[Chief00]

Top 10 chief post here

Thank you, but one thing I failed to mention is Adama showed some signs of identifying the double team and making the pass back outside before the double completely arrived. If Adama can do that consistently it opens up all kinds of things for our offense. Where the opposing defense looks like us against Nova - one step behind the play.
Too early to make a prediction - but my gut is telling me big upset Tuesday at a rocking XL. But, one game at a time.

 

[Kitaman]

I'll admit it was strange seeing Adama playing late in the 1st half.

 

[Chief00]

Gaff's career is starting to look similar to Omar Calhoun's career. Solid first year. Assumed he'd improve and become a team leader. Obviously that's not happening. Running out of time.

But yes, we need him as a second ball handler and it's not happening.

Saw him enthusiastically cheering from the bench tonight. Maybe he's the next Tor Watts. At this point I'll take what we can get.

Good points and Chief is praying a light goes on for Gaffney too. To be an elite team we need that second PG. Teams are going to start denying Cole the ball. While Jackson Jr and Martin handle fine for a 3 position guy they are not the combo or PG type.

 

[Chief00]

I'll admit it was strange seeing Adama playing late in the 1st half.

Indeed and I think I even heard Danny publicly say that he may need to play him with 2 fouls in the first half sometimes.
But, best practice is avoiding the second in the first half and staying on the floor.
34 minutes is beautiful to Chief. Great management win by the staff.

 

[businesslawyer]

The passing as a team last night was the best we have seen. On a night we couldn’t hit shots, and we stayed in the game for a half just by brutalizing them on the boards, the second half was an offense. People moved without the ball and people made the right passes to them. If we play like that more, on days we make shots it’s going to be real fun.

 

[Kenny11]

Seton hall opened the second half playing a zone because of foul trouble and UConn’s cold shooting. Jackson immediately had 3 assists in a row. He’s excellent at passing against a zone

 

[mjmoney23]

2 things:

Agrees with Andre's passing. It's like we had said in the other thread, he has a good eye but makes passes to difficult or flashy. Last night he created and didn't try to make everything a no look pass. Awesome job! We were finally able to see his passing skills in display in a positive light.
Not sure that Tyrese actually committed a turnover on the inbounds. He looked to be out if bounds when he caught the pass from Sango, who also appeared to be out of bounds. Even the announcers were dumbfounded after watching the replay.

 

[Connecticut13]

Gaff's career is starting to look similar to Omar Calhoun's career. Solid first year. Assumed he'd improve and become a team leader. Obviously that's not happening. Running out of time.

But yes, we need him as a second ball handler and it's not happening.

Saw him enthusiastically cheering from the bench tonight. Maybe he's the next Tor Watts. At this point I'll take what we can get.

Sorry, not sure about this comparison. I think you’re forgetting how good Omar was. He was a highly touted recruit who had a big time Freshman year. We all expected that he’d be a future star in the program, but injuries derailed his career. Im not sure we ever saw the true Omar because of these injuries.

Gaffney was not highly recruited and had an “ok” at best Freshman year. He showed some promise last year, but he’s regressed. A better comparison quite frankly is the recent Brendan Adams — not a highly touted recruit, also a bigger combo guard, showed some promise sophomore year, failed to deliver his junior year and fell out of rotation.

 

[Chief00]

The passing as a team last night was the best we have seen. On a night we couldn’t hit shots, and we stayed in the game for a half just by brutalizing them on the boards, the second half was an offense. People moved without the ball and people made the right passes to them. If we play like that more, on days we make shots it’s going to be real fun.

Couldn’t agree more. The second half was an offensive template for us to emulate going forward. It’s great seeing the light switch go on as a team. We made Seton Hall appear one step behind the play, much like what Villanova does to us. I hope we can bottle that unselfish and efficient mindset and make it repeatable.

 

[Chief00]

2 things:

Agrees with Andre's passing. It's like we had said in the other thread, he has a good eye but makes passes to difficult or flashy. Last night he created and didn't try to make everything a no look pass. Awesome job! We were finally able to see his passing skills in display in a positive light.
Not sure that Tyrese actually committed a turnover on the inbounds. He looked to be out if bounds when he caught the pass from Sango, who also appeared to be out of bounds. Even the announcers were dumbfounded after watching the replay.

Was that intentional on our part or 2 guys not knowing where their feet were regardless if they were both completely out of bounds? At any rate - make it crisper and simple.

 

[formerlurker]

Thank you. Finally, some progress on some critical path issues, which are key to our success. Jackson’s passing improvement was amazing. We all knew the exceptional and gifted passing talent was there - but in one game he cleaned up about 60% to 80% of the sloppiness - it just vanished. The efficiency in his passing would have made even perfectionist George Blaney proud.
There is nothing prettier in basketball than an efficient, unselfish pass that leads to an easy basket.

Chief, I have enjoyed your contributions recently and I posted that simply as a chop buster.

Both domain names are up for renewal in the next month or so and I have no reason to keep maintaining them. They are all yours if you can tell me how to update my message signature on the BY.

 

[Chief00]

Sorry, not sure about this comparison. I think you’re forgetting how good Omar was. He was a highly touted recruit who had a big time Freshman year. We all expected that he’d be a future star in the program, but injuries derailed his career. Im not sure we ever saw the true Omar because of these injuries.

Gaffney was not highly recruited and had an “ok” at best Freshman year. He showed some promise last year, but he’s regressed. A better comparison quite frankly is the recent Brendan Adams — not a highly touted recruit, also a bigger combo guard, showed some promise sophomore year, failed to deliver his junior year and fell out of rotation.

Gaffney has more of a burst than Adams. Chief sees potential in him but granted time is precious and it’s running out. But, great to see positive body language cheering teammates on.

 

[Chief00]

Seton hall opened the second half playing a zone because of foul trouble and UConn’s cold shooting. Jackson immediately had 3 assists in a row. He’s excellent at passing against a zone

Good point. Maybe a zone helps slow things down for him? Or it could be what he often saw in HS since he could blow by or go over most defenders?

 

[Umami Zen]

Thought Andre had a great floor game last night.. Actually could have had a few more assists but ball was moving unselfishly among the guys. IMO--Unsung hero in passing game last night was IW.. If he can continue to build on the last few games as a passer and an occasional foul-line/elbow jumper it would/will really open up floor.

Was one of our more complete team wins. Next.

 

[jdb50]

Gaffney has always been a great team guy, very enthusiastic when he is not in the game. We will need him as the season winds down and i hope he can come through. Just play under control and not try and do too much. As for playing Adama in the first half with 2 fouls I would hate to see it. If the refs are calling it very close the chances of him getting a third are real high. Try and weather the storm and hope others step up.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Couldn’t agree more. The second half was an offensive template for us to emulate going forward. It’s great seeing the light switch go on as a team. We made Seton Hall appear one step behind the play, much like what Villanova does to us. I hope we can bottle that unselfish and efficient mindset and make it repeatable.

Honestly, some of our best ball movement and passing was in the first half, including three times that we got Hawkins a wide open three. He just missed all of them. Doesn't take away from the ball rotating and people movement that freed him up.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Sorry, not sure about this comparison. I think you’re forgetting how good Omar was. He was a highly touted recruit who had a big time Freshman year. We all expected that he’d be a future star in the program, but injuries derailed his career. Im not sure we ever saw the true Omar because of these injuries.

Gaffney was not highly recruited and had an “ok” at best Freshman year. He showed some promise last year, but he’s regressed. A better comparison quite frankly is the recent Brendan Adams — not a highly touted recruit, also a bigger combo guard, showed some promise sophomore year, failed to deliver his junior year and fell out of rotation.

Well... it's not perfect comparison. But I did forget about Omar's injuries

 

[Fairfield_1st]

We all knew the exceptional and gifted passing talent was there - but in one game he cleaned up about 60% to 80% of the sloppiness - it just vanished.

It may be a little quick to make this proclamation. It was only 1 game. If after 3-4 games the numbers stay good, then maybe we can say he's cleaned things up. I'm hopeful.

 

[wheelerdog]

Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging

I noticed this at the first SH timeout. Good sign

 

[gtcam]

IW had a heck of a game looking for the cutters and Sanogo down low - his passing skills are so underrated - Plus he hit a 3! Nice game from IW - again
I agree that AJ was much more under control and can only remember him throwing away one pass - like a gentleman who sat behind me said, if only the kid knew how to score - one thing at a time
Sanogo had a nice game but he still gets caught clueless when surrounded with the ball and has picked up that bad habit of wanting to dribble the ball instead of going up strong- JC would have his head!
Cole looked a little banged up but was his typical warrior self - wonderful Euro hop on one drive in the 2nd half
Martin again proved to be a spark when needed but it was not his best overall game
Hawkins played better 1 on 1 defense and was aggressive off the boards . He was open due to his movement in the half court sets but so many times Cole or AJ just never got the ball to him
FREE throws - this team needs to learn the meaning of free - don't give them away - its going to haunt them in a big way. When was the last time Sanogo hit both during a trip to the line to shoot 2? PRACTICE
The 3pt line defensive is really bad again - too many double teams when I don't feel it was needed
This was a game this team could not lose. There was no point in the 2nd half that I felt UConn was going to lose the game but the final score should not have been as close as it was.
The game Saturday is also a game UConn cant lose - win Saturday and vs DePaul the following week and I feel good about a 3rd place finish.

 

[Husky25]

Whelp let’s count that as a win for chief

Every game, I'm sending telepathic signals to Luke and Taliek from my couch...except Georgetown...I was in the building for that one...that UConn should run some backdoor motion. After all, Holy Cross is a 4x (and counting) National Champion powerhouse using those plays on the PS3 (Blake Griffin on the cover).

They finally did it more regularly, and the credit is all my own.

The passing as a team last night was the best we have seen. On a night we couldn’t hit shots, and we stayed in the game for a half just by brutalizing them on the boards, the second half was an offense. People moved without the ball and people made the right passes to them. If we play like that more, on days we make shots it’s going to be real fun.

The three backdoor plays in the second half were pretty.

 

[Frank06830]

Some progress in areas that Chief has highlighted is very satisfying. It’s not who gets the credit, but it’s the progress the UConn MBB team made that’s important.

So let’s drill down:

• Jackson Jr had 6 Assists/2 Turnovers as his Assist/Turnover Ratio was a very good 3.
• Tactically the coaches worked with Andre to make the simple pass as Chief recommended. Guys easily caught his passes and it often quickly translated into a score. Andre was just as creative but without mistakes. Good job Andre and staff.
• Chief also mentioned using Jackson as a defensive stopper and he played tough/smart defense tonight against a good match-up.
• Sanogo only had 1 foul as Hurley minimized exposing him to the disasterous defensive hedging risks.
• Chief had set 32 to 36 minutes as a target range for Adama and he came in at 34 minutes. Good job staff managing Adama’s minutes. Congrats to Danny for being willing to break up his rotations, putting winning first. Keeping your best player on the floor makes everyone else better too!
• More minutes translated to a 20pt/16 reb game for Adama.
• Interestingly 3 other starters hit that target range too. Only Jackson had under 30 minutes at 29.
• Overall, we closed out pretty good but did make a few mistakes that Chief will highlight to anyone listening LOL! Among them:
• Sloppy footwork by Martin on inbounds, who otherwise played well 16pts/10 Rebs.
• Missed foul shots by Cole and Sanogo at crunch time. Who otherwise played well. FT practice tomorrow!!!!!
• Could have used another ball handler in last 2 minutes. Gaffney?
• Hurley’s sideline demeanor was more focused and business like as Chief has been encouraging.

I will take last night’s production by Sanogo every game, Am I being too harsh though; he consistently misses a shots (9-17) he shouldn’t?. He’s greatly improved throwing out quickly when double teams.