Chief00’s Briefs - Nova Edition

[Chief00]

A quick start, then 4 dead minutes at the end of the half followed by a good jump out of the gate in the second half. Later Villanova went to a zone and that challenged our weakness - hitting outside shots.

The three themes that killed us were allowing open threes after collapsing the defense, poor outside shooting and offensive turnovers. I thought we rebounded and blocked shots well.

Josh looked more fluid today - perhaps his haircut helped? Gilbert played better but CV took over the turnover machine. First half story was 10 UConn turnovers and 5 assists. Our senior guard Vital had 4 turnovers himself. Villanova was 6 for 11 from the 3 point line while UConn shot 16%. The last 4 minutes of the first half was a black hole.

Bouknight wasn’t strong with the ball. We also missed Akok numerous times when he beat his man down court.

Samuels and Gillespie killed us the second half along with good foul shooting. They are more polish and poised than our players. Turnovers consistently take us out of the game at critical times.

We battled hard but mentally did not execute. You can’t often beat good teams with 17 turnovers. We need shooters. Another missed opportunity.

I suppose Hurley will say this is year 2 of a rebuilt - being competitive against a good team but lose late in the game. However, we need to start actually winning games.

 

[k-walk]

Jermaine samuels has been a 24% 3pt shooter all season him going 4/6 today definitely didn’t help

 

[Magic32]

Great summary! UConn definitely missing a knock-down shooter but also missing that player willing to run around through multiple screens without the ball to get open. Villanova moves the ball well on perimeter and hits from outside.
Even though we were owning the lane we were trading 2's for 3's.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Spot on Chief. People harping about one pass are missing the forest for the trees. They shot a very high percentage from 3 and we were dreadful. That’s the game right there. Turnovers hurt us, but I think they came from our efforts to make something happen and force the ball inside.

Gilbert played a strong game and his defense on Gillepsie in the first half was superb.

Akok needs to catch the ball and demand it when he’s open. He vanishes too often. At least Dan finally used him as the screener and kept Josh down low. That helped.

Bouknight is just totally off from outside right now and we need that shooting. As a result he’s forcing things too much trying to get to the rim and defenses are ready for it.

Sid was impactful again. Need to keep letting him play.

 

[HuskyBoi]

josh's haircut lets him see now

 

[AdamaNation]

Jermaine samuels has been a 24% 3pt shooter all season him going 4/6 today definitely didn’t help

Story of our good defense the last 10 years. Let the bad shooter take shots. Unfortunately they make them. Can’t plan for that.

 

[freescooter]

It isn’t illegal to cover a guy at the 3 point line. And why move Carlton outside when he is scoring at will down low?

 

[goskis2018]

Yes, we battled hard, which is an improvement from where we were before Dan Hurley, but we have been brutal towards the end of games all season long. Closing out a game, having a killer instinct, is the hardest part of the game. It's all about mentality, which after years of consecutive losing is unsurprisingly far from where it ought to be. If you can't finish the job and win the game, which is ultimately the goal, you stink. The goal for this team going forward should be to go .500 and hopefully push 20 wins. The NIT would be a successful season and something to build on with the young guys.

 

[Fatroony5]

I think the best thing you said is how poised/polished their players are. It’s very noticeable. Nova players don’t panic, they get to their spots, remain poised, and make key plays when needed. It almost feels like the older players on UConn know they’re gonna mess it up. Games like this show how important it is to have strong upperclassmen leadership, especially at the guard position.

 

[Kenny11]

In 2020 you have to be able to make threes at any basketball level.

question on Gilbert’s third foul: it appeared that he wasn’t even close to Gillespie and got called for a foul. I just saw Gillespie stumble and then ref blew the whistle. Am I wrong? Maybe it was my stream skipping and I missed it.

 

[UconnFanDC]

All these almost games will be winners next year. We see the potential and will have depth, athletes and experience all mixed in next year. Let's just keep grinding this year and get some unexpected wins to build on.

No more Saint Joe's type of loses ever!!

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Jermaine samuels has been a 24% 3pt shooter all season him going 4/6 today definitely didn’t help

Other teams actually guard him when he shoots. Akok barely put a hand up on him.

 

[LIuconn]

We need to learn how to win close games against good teams. This is another dna point for this crew that we don't do that. I'm onto 2020-2021

 

[Kenny11]

Other teams actually guard him when he shoots. Akok barely put a hand up on him.

that’s actually akok’s weakness. He is so conscious of not getting beat off the dribble that he barely contests 3 point shots. He will get more comfortable here.

 

[LIuconn]

Samuels has good form and shoots in rhythm. All his shots look good from release. He made them today. Prob bound to happen

 

[LIuconn]

The foul Akok committed down the stretch (the and 1)...felt like he gave up the lane in order to block the shot. Still gotta stop a driver with the feet, he was probably gassed by then

 

[WrenchFan69]

In 2020 you have to be able to make threes at any basketball level.

question on Gilbert’s third foul: it appeared that he wasn’t even close to Gillespie and got called for a foul. I just saw Gillespie stumble and then ref blew the whistle. Am I wrong? Maybe it was my stream skipping and I missed it.

Gillespie was getting worked by Gilbert so he threw his head back. Awful flop, really can't believe the ref standing right there was able to miss it.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Key plays in the Nova comeback we’re back to back push off no calls 2‘s and phantom
Carlton call on the three point shooter. Not unexpected for a road game though
i think we only got to the line once which is interesting because we dominated down low. Guys says the Big East is too physical for us are somewhat delusional.
We need to shoot better and we will do fine.
On our only FT’s Bouknight was knocked down on a three in the open so it was hard to overlook. Give him credit for making all three.
We had a significant rebound advantage until the last couple of minutes.
Our shooting and to a lesser degree TO’s . When your pushing the ball like we have to do to score your prone to TO’s. doomed us .
We had a chance to put the hammer to them but that double whammy caused us to hit a wall.
I was shocked we didn’t pressure more given the Nova weakness with the ball.
One steal is not good when that’s a big part of our offensive identity.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Spot on Chief. People harping about one pass are missing the forest for the trees. They shot a very high percentage from 3 and we were dreadful. That’s the game right there. Turnovers hurt us, but I think they came from our efforts to make something happen and force the ball inside.

Gilbert played a strong game and his defense on Gillepsie in the first half was superb.

Akok needs to catch the ball and demand it when he’s open. He vanishes too often. At least Dan finally used him as the screener and kept Josh down low. That helped.

Bouknight is just totally off from outside right now and we need that shooting. As a result he’s forcing things too much trying to get to the rim and defenses are ready for it.

Sid was impactful again. Need to keep letting him play.

The 3 discrepancy was huge but as a team you absolutely need to attempt more than 3 free throws!

 

[Mister P]

Bouknight wasn’t strong with the ball.

Gets stripped often, loses it himself or has it knocked out of his hands. Sal needs to work with him on his hands and arms.

 

[Kitaman]

It seems we don't take advantage of our strengths, or is it we have no strengths to use to our advantage?

Just saying we shoots 3s when we can't make them, then don't go down low on mismatches or to set a tone with our height. We drive and never kick out, and don't make Carlton pass on double teams when a man is certainly open. Sid is a 5 hour energy drink but sits when the team is lethargic.

Is that coaching or something else?

So many questions with this team and staff.

 

[WrenchFan69]

The 3 discrepancy was huge but as a team you absolutely need to attempt more than 3 free throws!

What more could we do? We had 40 points in the paint. They got multiple block/charge calls wrong against us on drives in the first half. CV and Gilbert split the top of their zone, drew reaches from both players up top, and still didn't get a call. I really don't see how they could have done more to draw fouls. Refs just weren't having it today.

 

[Kenny11]

Gillespie was getting worked by Gilbert so he threw his head back. Awful flop, really can't believe the ref standing right there was able to miss it.

he only had success against Gaffney in the second half and when he pushed off on gilbert. I know he’s well respected and his stats are very good but I think he kind of sucks. I’ve said this before and got roasted for it.

 

[WrenchFan69]

he only had success against Gaffney in the second half and when he pushed off on gilbert. I know he’s well respected and his stats are very good but I think he kind of sucks. I’ve said this before and got roasted for it.

He's good for what he is. A decent ball-handling kid who won't make too many mistakes while Nova's actually good players do their thing. Can shoot it some off the ball as well. But he's nothing special

 

[ctchamps]

A quick start, then 4 dead minutes at the end of the half followed by a good jump out of the gate in the second half. Later Villanova went to a zone and that challenged our weakness - hitting outside shots.

The three themes that killed us were allowing open threes after collapsing the defense, poor outside shooting and offensive turnovers. I thought we rebounded and blocked shots well.

Josh looked more fluid today - perhaps his haircut helped? Gilbert played better but CV took over the turnover machine. First half story was 10 UConn turnovers and 5 assists. Our senior guard Vital had 4 turnovers himself. Villanova was 6 for 11 from the 3 point line while UConn shot 16%. The last 4 minutes of the first half was a black hole.

Bouknight wasn’t strong with the ball. We also missed Akok numerous times when he beat his man down court.

Samuels and Gillespie killed us the second half along with good foul shooting. They are more polish and poised than our players. Turnovers consistently take us out of the game at critical times.

We battled hard but mentally did not execute. You can’t often beat good teams with 17 turnovers. We need shooters. Another missed opportunity.

I suppose Hurley will say this is year 2 of a rebuilt - being competitive against a good team but lose late in the game. However, we need to start actually winning games.

Sorry Chief but things went downhill when you made an issue of the dislike button. Never mess with the mojo.