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Cole and Gaff

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Other than Bouk, we need our backcourt of Cole and Gaffney to be more aggressive. I honestly thought Cole would be more of a scorer, but he's been hesitant from what I've seen. Hopefully it comes. He's not been bad and hasn't forced things. Teams will be zoning in on Bouk soon, so another backcourt scorer will be needed to keep the pressure off Bouk. Hopefully it happens.
 
I was gonna say this in a post a couple of days ago but didn’t. Our season’s true success depends on Gaffney’s development. He just can’t find his game, he’s so unsure of himself. Whoever started this thread is dead on, Al would be a welcome addition to this years team, because these guards can’t penetrate. He has his flaws but we need penetration.
 
navery12 said:
Plus/minus isn't everything but Cole was +17 and Gaffney was -11 in a game we won by 3 points. This thread is crazy talk
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Are you happy with what either of them have shown thus far?
 
uconnever said:
I was gonna say this in a post a couple of days ago but didn’t. Our season’s true success depends on Gaffney’s development. He just can’t find his game, he’s so unsure of himself. Whoever started this thread is dead on, Al would be a welcome addition to this years team, because these guards can’t penetrate. He has his flaws but we need penetration.
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Lack of penetration against the Trojans- there’s a joke there somewhere...
 
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CardiacAndre7 said:
Are you happy with what either of them have shown thus far?
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Overall, no they've been way too inconsistent. But that applies to every player on the team outside of Whaley and maybe Martin. I think they've both shown plenty in flashes. If people's responses were as reasoned as yours that's one thing but we have people running Cole off the team
 
Cole had 6/5/4 and a steal yet gets bashed in here. Some Gilbert lovers coming for him. I like Gilbert but he would have split the zone and drive into those shot blockers or trip and fall and turn it over. Gaffney handle is still suspect. He still looks like last year just with more muscle.
 
Need to get consistent outside shooting, otherwise nobody is going to penetrate much. They'll see a lot of collapsing zones. I think Hurley realizes this and shows a lot of patience with Polley. If they could get him going, the floor will open up. Whaley hitting the top of key jumper could help as well.
 
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kobebeanbryant said:
we will be stuck in this no man’s land all year between these two.

cole is a small scoring guard miscast as a pg. he is a rich man’s alterique.

gaffney is never really a threat with the ball. but he is naturally deferential so he is more of a “true” pg.

if we could merge them together we would be set.
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Having 2 quarterbacks means you don’t have one good quarterback. Same for PGs??

Imo, Cole is too small to be a lead 2 guard and too slow to be a1 at this level. Gaff needs to be a bit more assertive. I like the odds of Gaff changing his playing style more than Cole getting quicker. We prob could use AG for his on Ball D this year.
 
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We will have to watch the numbers on these guys. As someone said, Cole was +17 and Gaffney was -11. That jives with my gut during the game. We are better with Cole out there. I think that’s primarily because Gaff doesn’t even consider shooting the ball.

There are lots of takes on Cole, too slow, too short, not good enough etc. This guy was double teamed against high major competition while at Howard and put up big numbers. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. Nobody looks very good, yet we are loaded with talent on paper. Some of these guys will break out. We are just a disorganized mess on offense right now.
 
This team lost last season’s principal scorer and playmaker in CV. Then they lost to critical weeks of practice. Because of that they have stretches where we look flat and have no flow. Are the point guards to blame for that? Sure, somewhat, but a lot of our struggles are going to be fixed by more time together.
 
Hoophound said:
We will have to watch the numbers on these guys. As someone said, Cole was +17 and Gaffney was -11. That jives with my gut during the game. We are better with Cole out there. I think that’s primarily because Gaff doesn’t even consider shooting the ball.

There are lots of takes on Cole, too slow, too short, not good enough etc. This guy was double teamed against high major competition while at Howard and put up big numbers. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. Nobody looks very good, yet we are loaded with talent on paper. Some of these guys will break out. We are just a disorganized mess on offense right now.
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Plus/minus is not a useful stat to look at for one game. It can be helpful to look at players’ plus/minus numbers on the season, but there are too many mitigating factors for it to be useful with a one-game sample size.

Gaffney is not the most dynamic player we’ve had, but the offense runs a bit better when he’s out there. My personal preference would be to start Gaffney, Bouknight, and Martin with Cole playing starter-like minutes off the bench (and Adams playing sparingly). But we’ll see - Cole has played a little too well so far to come off the bench, it seems.
 
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Hoophound said:
We will have to watch the numbers on these guys. As someone said, Cole was +17 and Gaffney was -11. That jives with my gut during the game. We are better with Cole out there. I think that’s primarily because Gaff doesn’t even consider shooting the ball.

We are just a disorganized mess on offense right now.
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those +/- numbers don’t factor in who‘s on the court with each. Didnt Cole play more with
Bouk? I know Cole started.

on your second point agree 100%
 
ucp990411 said:
In both halfs the offense slowed to a crawl with Gaffney at the point. They need to push more. Look for quick offense.
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UConn990411 said:
Plus/minus is not a useful stat to look at for one game. It can be helpful to look at players’ plus/minus numbers on the season, but there are too many mitigating factors for it to be useful with a one-game sample size.

Gaffney is not the most dynamic player we’ve had, but the offense runs a bit better when he’s out there. My personal preference would be to start Gaffney, Bouknight, and Martin with Cole playing starter-like minutes off the bench (and Adams playing sparingly). But we’ll see - Cole has played a little too well so far to come off the bench, it seems.
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I don’t at all disagree on the plus/minus sample size. Just saying, I felt in my gut what the numbers bore out.

Gaffney isn’t an offensive threat. That makes it harder for everyone else to score. He’s got to be offensively aggressive or Cole will probably continue to produce better plus/minus numbers.
 
He has moved up in class by a lot. That rarely works out. As much as everyone wants to believe, he is small, slow, and is playing against much more talent now than in the MEAC. And there is usually a reason that why some guys get MEAC offers and others get Bug East offers. Honestly if he hadn’t played for Daddy my guess is he either stays in the MEAC or maybe goes to something like the Missouri Valley conference.
 
freescooter said:
He has moved up in class by a lot. That rarely works out. As much as everyone wants to believe, he is small, slow, and is playing against much more talent now than in the MEAC. And there is usually a reason that why some guys get MEAC offers and others get Bug East offers. Honestly if he hadn’t played for Daddy my guess is he either stays in the MEAC or maybe goes to something like the Missouri Valley conference.
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So 4 assists and 5 rebounds with only 1 turnover means he shouldn't be playing at this level? His guy didn't tear things up either so his D was fine. He hits one or two more threes then he has 12/5/4 and your not saying anything.

Its not easy to playmake against a zone. Hurley wanted to go to the middle of the zone and let that person either pass to baseline, swing to a shooter or shoot it himself. Cole and Gaff didnt try to force themsleves into the zone and turn it over as Bouk did like 3 times. Sure thats playing it safe and passive but we won and its only game 3.
 
freescooter said:
He has moved up in class by a lot. That rarely works out. As much as everyone wants to believe, he is small, slow, and is playing against much more talent now than in the MEAC. And there is usually a reason that why some guys get MEAC offers and others get Bug East offers. Honestly if he hadn’t played for Daddy my guess is he either stays in the MEAC or maybe goes to something like the Missouri Valley conference.
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Seton Hall and Alabama were the other schools Cole was considering as a transfer when he chose UConn. Oklahoma State, Pitt, Notre Dame, St. John's, Butler, Virginia Tech, Arkansas Colorado State, Boston College, Washington State & Stanford all reached out to him when he decided to transfer. The Missouri Valley Conference sure looks different than I remember.
 
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freescooter said:
He has moved up in class by a lot. That rarely works out. As much as everyone wants to believe, he is small, slow, and is playing against much more talent now than in the MEAC. And there is usually a reason that why some guys get MEAC offers and others get Bug East offers. Honestly if he hadn’t played for Daddy my guess is he either stays in the MEAC or maybe goes to something like the Missouri Valley conference.
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He was named a honorable mention All American by the AP his sophmore year, but no one would want him outside of the MEAC or Missouri Valley.

Freescooter takes are always fun.

He hadn't played a competitive game in what, a year and a half, coming into the season? Then had a massive amount of practice cancelled. Still shooting 41% from 3 on 6 attempts per game.
 
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One improvement I’ve seen with the guard play from previous years is the disappearance of the crazy drives to the basket. That used to drive me nuts.
 
Double digit scorer and 40% from deep. If anyone thought Cole was going to be a 1 year here & then to the league, that’s on you....also, he’s in his 3rd live game after a year off. Pump the brakes everyone

combined they are like 20 ppg & 40% from deep. What was everyone expecting from them?
 
I don't think we should start Martin. He's the kind of kid who can watch the game and figure out what we need, then come in and supply it. He also has a calmness and confidence about him that could help the team at important moments in the game. He's a very valuable piece. I like the way Hurley is using him.
 
Agree with everything you said. Guys are still figuring out their roles and getting comfortable with each other. We obviously have the talent/ingredients to be a good team, which is half the battle. Once roles are more defined and guys buy in, we’ll be on that upward trajectory. I’m very excited!

edit: I meant to quote @CL82
 
I have to wonder where people are getting “the offense runs better with Gaffney”? It wasn’t the case at all last night, and it wasn’t the case against Hartford.
 
Hoophound said:
Gaffney isn’t an offensive threat. That makes it harder for everyone else to score. He’s got to be offensively aggressive or Cole will probably continue to produce better plus/minus numbers.
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Bingo!

If gaffney isn’t a threat to penetrate/score, then he won’t be creating much offense for the rest of the team. He plays it safe which limits his downside, but puts a ceiling on his upside as well.

We need either:
* Gaffney to attack more
* Cole to facilitate more

Whoever does that first will be the guy.
 
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