Cincy -- A Scheduling Debacle More Than Anything

[Sphinx]

The sum of my point is this: the Cincy game was always a debacle waiting to happen. It was trap game manufactured by the scheduler. You had UConn playing its first true road game after three weeks of exams, holiday break and a home court string of ever-weaker mid-major opponents. It was a scenario that could only foster casual play and a return to sloppy habits. By the time the team disposed of NJIT and headed for Cincy, they had forgotten completely the St. Joes wake-up call that gave us Florida and Charleston. Then, in Cincy, in front of a hostile crowd, they faced a team as unlike a mid-major as you can get -- a team with major size and strength up front.
There was no chance. The trap was sprung.

We might take a lesson from what happened this year to Indiana. The Hoosiers opened their season 8-0 at home, principally against mid-majors. They then went into Wisconsin, a team not unlike Cincy. Wisconsin, usually a powerhouse, was only 4-4, having lost three straight to Richmond, New Mexico and NC State.. They crushed Indiana 84-64. So Indiana then stumbles into MSG to face a UConn team coming off a strong showing in Charleston. Whaddyaknow, Indiana beats UConn. Indiana then beats Nebraska... and Notre Dame. They stand today 11-2, having just lost a close one to 11-1 Arkansas.

Lesson? The Cincy game was a scheduling anomaly and should not be the subject of endless masochistic scrutiny. UConn will play better games against better teams. They have already done so. We saw what happened after St. Joe's. Beginning tomorrow, we shall see what happens after Cincy.

 

[uchusky32]

They beat us at least 7 times in a row. Scheduling better would not have change a thing.

 

[Sphinx]

They beat us at least 7 times in a row. Scheduling better would not have change s thing.

Last year's UConn edition lost to Cincy by 2 in OT and by 4. I'm not trying to explain the loss; I'm trying to explain the no-show -- and to question the wholesale alarm it has generated on this panel..

 

[Bongo Fury]

Gotta see this team win other than at home or MSG

 

[spudzj6]

I’m not one to say the schedule led to the failure, but I will say I asked the question the morning of the game. I’m pretty certain the team didn’t get to Cincy until sometime the day prior and did a hard practice labeled as “shoot around” the morning of the game. Whereas I believe they were already in florida yesterday. The holidays always lead to shortened prep time.

again, don’t think scheduling is to blame for a blow out loss, I’m sure it didn’t do the team any favors.

 

[Husky68]

The no show as you call it is on the coach not the schedulers. Teams play better and worse but within a range of how good they are. The Cincy game showed that after 12 games UConn's "worse" is pretty bad; team looked like they knew nothing about spacing, movement, ability of their teammates (i.e. what is good pass or shot or cut to where for what reason) and no one on the floor knew how to step up (or was capable of stepping up).
AG had a bad shooting game in the "closed practice" and has mostly shown that is who he is and yet we give him the ball and set constant screens up high to get him open; Carlton can't catch/pass or dribble and we give him the ball 30 feet from the basket (also can't shoot), Polley can shot but no plays to get him open (Giffey would have never taken a shot if he had to do it one on one), 2 guys in deep corner never move/cut, etc. - scheduler has nothing to do with that.

 

[auror]

Cincinnati also had 11 days to gameplan against us. There's a reason they were so well scouted defensively against our offense.

Knowing this, we should have been prepared with counters and potential adjustments.

 

[kobe]

been a scheduling debacle 10 of the last 11 times we've played each other i suppose.

 

[Husky68]

been a scheduling debacle 10 of the last 11 times we've played each other i suppose.

Good to see someone who has a sense of humor! This thread post is funny, someone will blame Ollie next.

 

[Travelman6]

You have to beat who is in front of you, plain and simple, no excuses. UConn laid an egg there, nothing else to say.

 

[UofCT]

You have to beat who is in front of you, plain and simple, no excuses. UConn laid an egg there, nothing else to say.

+1

 

[Fishy]

It was a basketball game, not a scheduling debacle.

If we hadn’t seen this same performance over and over during the past four seasons, I might agree with you, but “didn’t show up” has been an option every time out for some of these guys.

 

[HuskyBoi]

been a scheduling debacle 10 of the last 11 times we've played each other i suppose.

its been a debacle seeing how many times cincinnati choke in the round of 32

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Yeah dog not really sure you can call the conference opener vs a team we haven’t beat since Obama was in office a trap game. We just stunk.

USF is not as good as expected but it’s an AAC game in a dark ugly arena in front of no fans. I’m pretty sure we’re like 2-50 in those situations. Also, a lot of 0-2 starts in AAC. I feel like even dating back to calhoun’s last few years we’re always 0-2 in conference play.

USF is a must win.

 

[QDOG5]

So far the Huskies have had 9 scheduling successes and 4 scheduling debacles. Updates to follow.

 

[uconngb]

its been a debacle seeing how many times cincinnati beat uconn yet choke in the round of 32

He'll probably say he'd rather beat us twice in December and January than once in March. Every team has different goals.

 

[superjohn]

been a scheduling debacle 10 of the last 11 times we've played each other i suppose.

Sorry, I had to...
Watch "UConn vs. Cincinnati - 2011 NCAA Tournament - Second Round" on YouTube

 

[Palatine]

Did we have a run of over five points the entire game? We should have been sharper than we showed.

 

[selles]

The sum of my point is this: the Cincy game was always a debacle waiting to happen. It was trap game manufactured by the scheduler. You had UConn playing its first true road game after three weeks of exams, holiday break and a home court string of ever-weaker mid-major opponents. It was a scenario that could only foster casual play and a return to sloppy habits. By the time the team disposed of NJIT and headed for Cincy, they had forgotten completely the St. Joes wake-up call that gave us Florida and Charleston. Then, in Cincy, in front of a hostile crowd, they faced a team as unlike a mid-major as you can get -- a team with major size and strength up front.
There was no chance. The trap was sprung.

We might take a lesson from what happened this year to Indiana. The Hoosiers opened their season 8-0 at home, principally against mid-majors. They then went into Wisconsin, a team not unlike Cincy. Wisconsin, usually a powerhouse, was only 4-4, having lost three straight to Richmond, New Mexico and NC State.. They crushed Indiana 84-64. So Indiana then stumbles into MSG to face a UConn team coming off a strong showing in Charleston. Whaddyaknow, Indiana beats UConn. Indiana then beats Nebraska... and Notre Dame. They stand today 11-2, having just lost a close one to 11-1 Arkansas.

Lesson? The Cincy game was a scheduling anomaly and should not be the subject of endless masochistic scrutiny. UConn will play better games against better teams. They have already done so. We saw what happened after St. Joe's. Beginning tomorrow, we shall see what happens after Cincy.

No excuse obviously, but I agree with your overall counsel of calm. For whatever reason, we've been spectacularly bad at conference openers for a long time. Over the last 15 years going back to 2005-06 @ Marquette (Steve Novak anyone?) we're 3-12 in our opener. That's 0-5 at home and 3-7 on the road, with the only wins against teams we simply weren't capable of losing to (Tulane in 15-16, USF in 11-12, Seton Hall in 07-08 - and in each of those years we either lost our next conference game or 2 of the next 3). We've lost pretty much everywhere - in Connecticut, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas. That's losses from 2 national title and 3 final four teams, losses from Hurley (0-2), Ollie (1-5) and Calhoun (2-5).

The team hasn't looked good in its last 2 big games and no one's happy about it. But it's not time to throw in the towel on specific players, the coach, or the team as a whole just yet.

 

[Tenspro2002]

It's lame to blame the scheduling, but we definitely could have done a better job interspersing the cupcakes.

There's no reason to go 3 weeks between games against legitimate competition.

That said, the coach and players need to have an attitude where they go 100% all the time or at least can turn it on when they need to.

 

[businesslawyer]

I was there that night (the '11 tourney game against Cincy), but I don't remember the game as having been that close throughout. Are we sure that edited version isn't fake news?

On the main point of the thread, we lost last night because we sucked badly, not because of the schedule, but the schedule doesn't do us any favors where our first road game is against an important conference foe.

 

[coachn]

Surprised that the officiating was not a part of this. Maybe we were expecting the officials to call touch fouls and played accordingly.
Have to take each game one at a time and not worry about it.
Play your game and let the chips fall.
Still need to get the young players involved so they can make the difference. Let them play. Looking forward to seeing them develope.
USF is a MUST WIN.

 

[Excalibur]

It was a basketball game, not a scheduling debacle.

If we hadn’t seen this same performance over and over during the past four seasons, I might agree with you, but “didn’t show up” has been an option every time out for some of these guys.

Don't you know this was the worst coached game in the history of games?

 

[don356]

Last year's UConn edition lost to Cincy by 2 in OT and by 4. I'm not trying to explain the loss; I'm trying to explain the no-show -- and to question the wholesale alarm it has generated on this panel..

I'll give you one reason for the differnce vs. last year, Vogt. You could have played that game anywhere the other night and unless Hurley has a plan to stop him they're not winning that game. HIs stats 19/6 80% from the field are great, but up close you could see all the resources he was taking up under the glass. It's one of the reasons the 4 had so many rebounds.

This kind of efficiency can turn a so/so offensive team into a difficult offensive matchup:

"UC junior center Chris Vogt ranks sixth in the nation and first in The American, shooting 68.6 percent (70 of 102) from the field. He has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in 12 of 13 games this season while scoring in double figures in 12 consecutive contests. His field-goal shooting percentage currently ranks first in school history for a single season. "

 

[tcf15]

UConn has only won 3 road games since the 2017-18 season: East Carolina x2 and Tulane. Not really an anomaly - we just suck in road games.