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

[Chief00]

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.

Chief is happy with Adama doing his damage mostly inside of 5-6 feet. He’s very efficient in that zip code.

 

[Chief00]

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 three backdoor plays in the second half were pretty.

It also confirms guys are communicating with each other mentally. A backcut only works if guys are on the same page and send each other non verbal timing cues.

 

[Chief00]

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.

I like the line about free throws being “free”. True, back to the gym on that.

Agree, the 3 line defense seemed negatively impacted by double teams or guys just caught in between on defense. I use to love when Jim Calhoun would give Ricky or Rash a guy to stop and they would just suffocate whoever it was, whereever he went.

I like IW as a person but there’s no player I have been so hot and cold on this season. Last night he played great in the second half. However, I don’t see Isiah as a 3 point solution no matter how many Danny says he hits on practice. But, an occasional bonus 3 is nice. Chief is more comfortable with a Big who knows his limitations. Adama tried 1 three all season. Chief is ok with that.

 

[BlueDogs]

Chief is happy with Adama doing his damage mostly inside of 5-6 feet. He’s very efficient in that zip code.

he just needs to limit his fakes and pivots and either go up strong or kick out faster. He gets tied up and loses the ball holding it too long. He's too big and strong not to go up hard, use his body as a shield and finish.

 

[Okafour rings]

Good game synopsis, Chief...you'd make a good sports reporter!

Whaley hitting the cutters with bounce passes is shades of Gonzaga's offensive game - really beautiful basketball there. Gaffney had a nice assist and it should have been 2 but for a missed bunny.

UConn's offensive sets are starting to produce more good shot opportunities. If the team would pay a little more attention to the shot clock so that they wouldn't have to force last second shot attempts, I'd think you'd see an even more efficient team offense.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The Gaffney comparison to Omar is a little unfair when you consider Omar’s medical problems we’re close to career ending.
I’m not aware of any medical issues with Gaffney.

 

[Husky Alien]

Chief is happy with Adama doing his damage mostly inside of 5-6 feet. He’s very efficient in that zip code.

Totally agree! Now he just needs to learn on how to pass back out when he is double or even triple teamed at times.

 

[Watchdog]

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.

We knew you'd come through when it counts most, Chief.
Keep up the good work and focus on interior passing next.

 

[Watchdog]

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.

Maybe the staff watched the Creighton game the other day. So good on their interior passing and passes to where the recipient "will be" so they catch it in stride and score more easily.

 

[Chief00]

Good game synopsis, Chief...you'd make a good sports reporter!

Whaley hitting the cutters with bounce passes is shades of Gonzaga's offensive game - really beautiful basketball there. Gaffney had a nice assist and it should have been 2 but for a missed bunny.

UConn's offensive sets are starting to produce more good shot opportunities. If the team would pay a little more attention to the shot clock so that they wouldn't have to force last second shot attempts, I'd think you'd see an even more efficient team offense.

Thanks for your kind words. Chief agrees on shot clock management. For starters I would begin the “score” play at 15 seconds rather than the usual 10. Having Gaffney and Cole on the court together would help disperse the defense and give us more points of attack potential.

 

[Chief00]

The Gaffney comparison to Omar is a little unfair when you consider Omar’s medical problems we’re close to career ending.
I’m not aware of any medical issues with Gaffney.

Omar’s dad was a real classy gentleman. Hope they are doing well.

 

[Get a Job]

Omar’s dad was a real classy gentleman. Hope they are doing well.

Jim?

 

[Beaner]

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!

Soooo...you’re going to congratulate Andre’s family for what? I’ll be at that game, as well. I hope I catch that moment. I’m sure they’ll agree that, prior to your sage tutelage, Andre was was floundering. Now the switch has been turned on right before their eyes. Hallelujah, Chief.

 

[Chief00]

Soooo...you’re going to congratulate Andre’s family for what? I’ll be at that game, as well. I hope I catch that moment. I’m sure they’ll agree that, prior to your sage tutelage, Andre was was floundering. Now the switch has been turned on right before their eyes. Hallelujah, Chief.

Andre use to think a fancy pass was the best pass, now he’s starting to get the recognition that the simple, efficient pass is best.

For a guy with those innate passing talents (vision, creative, length, ability to throw different types from different angles including bounce, lob, traffic, full court but most of all unselfish; this gets Chief so excited about the basketball possibilities of helping get everyone on the team better. So often guys miss shots because the pass isn’t ideal.

Chief may have unintentionally confused a few well meaning Casual Fans when talking about a light going off or the turning of a switch. This is something that’s been worked on extensively by Andre and the coaches in the last couple months. Yet, as is often the case with young people little progress seemed to have been made. And then it happened.

If you have kids you might understand exactly what Chief is saying. You may tell your kid something and it doesn’t seem to sink in and then they might hear it from a different voice or have some experience - and then the light goes off. It’s likely cumulative but at the time seems triggered by a singular thing. Great job by Andre, his coaches and his support system. Chief enjoys cheering you all on.