Colorado Post Game Thread

[yungdowork]

A lot of mental mistakes put us in really bad spots. The McNeeley pass to Reed that led to Tarris fouling out just shouldn't happen, especially at that point in the game.

I know these tournaments usually have a softer whistle than the Big East but defending without fouling has to be a focal point for at least the next few weeks. Samson simply can't live with the idea of a guy getting a layup and constantly overextends and fouls as a result, and for better or worse, we need him to play meaningful minutes.

 

[aceboon]

for the folks complaining about the whistle, that last non-call on the McNeeley attempted defensive rebound sucked but this team fouls alot, way too much reaching and putting their hands on people and just bad principles flying off their feet for shot fakes. Even last year when "The Athletic" was doing blind scouting reports on tournament teams opposing anonymous coaches were commenting on how much UConn fouls.

 

[That Guy]

Remember 2 years ago when we lost like 6 out of 8 mid season? Relax, Hurley and staff will figure it out. It’s a very long season.

That team destroyed Bama who was the #1 team in the country for most of the year, and won the PK Invitational early in the season. They showed they have what it takes to beat the best.

This team hasn't beat anyone and they're losing to unranked teams.

 

[UCfor3]

I was stunned that that was what was drawn up out of a time out.

I doubt what we saw was what Hurley actually drew.up.

 

[gsmooth]

Hurley needs to behave and not call out refs. Extremely difficult to win with massive foul and free throw disparity. This is same behavior that hiurt team 2 years ago before andrea sat him down. Time for Andrea to sit him down again.

Yup. I am seeing it right here in the stands. He is constantly on the refs every time down the floor and in the timeouts.

 

[ec33]

Is it time we accept that we simply lost way too much talent from last year's team to be able to challenge for a three peat? I don't know what to think right now...

Or we could recall that the 2024 championship team was awful for a good stretch and then -- because January doesn't matter come March -- won a championship.

This team was always going to have some form of ugly stretch (perhaps more than one), before putting it together (if they were to be successful this year).

Ball, McNeeley, and Karaban cannot lead us to a title if they don't get the ball late and if the defense doesn't pull itself together.

 

[upstater]

Offense is terrible this year. McNeeley had terrible passes back-to-back. Caused the loss of Reed. Not sure why Ball never looked to drive until the end of the game. Some big problems, and some appear beyond repair.
Bright spot was Nowell. Maybe time to see Abraham too instead of Ross.

There are players who will learn and get better.

There are others.

Also, I've seen Solo Ball drive plenty of times. It usually doesn't end well. This isn't the kids forte.

He's a mix of Rodney Purvis (driving) and Rashad Anderson (shooting), but he looks like he may eventually be a better defender than both of them.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Anyone complaining about Diarra can go stick their head back in the sand. He single handedly kept us in the game and was the only one most of the time that played with any passion and purpose in the 2nd half.

Encouraged by Ball and Nowell.

That last inbounds play sucked arse. Not a single person open, Diarra catches it moving away from the hoop. No choice but to put up the 3 and leave time for a rebound.

 

[gtcam]

Another blown call against McNeeley aside, it’s awful having Diarra shoot a 3 down by 1 to end it. Wtf was that.

That last inbounds play sucked arse. Not a single person open,

Solo was standing all by himself in the corner with nobody 15 feet near him

 

[Scoe]

Yup. I am seeing it right here in the stands. He is constantly on the refs every time down the floor and in the timeouts.

Battling anxiety has to be a lifelong commitment it's sad to see it let him get the best of him.

 

[housekeys]

I think this season we will have serious cases of Déjà vu. Like right now.

 

[superjohn]

We're just not that talented, it's pretty simple. Thank god we just signed a legitimately talented recruiting class, but this is pretty clearly an 8/9 seed type of team. There's no way we improve enough in season to contend for a final four/natty so everyone should just adjust the expectations, hope Nowell/Ball/Reed develop, and then try again next year.

We are really talented, the sum is way less than the parts right now. We have way more talent across the board than Colorado.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Remember 2 years ago when we lost like 6 out of 8 mid season? Relax, Hurley and staff will figure it out. It’s a very long season.

This feels different to me because we won our first 14 before we fell apart so we knew they had it in them. I am not sure I have seen anything that says this team is any better than a 7 or 8 seed and that might be a stretch.

We are just not athletic enough and I don’t see anything that tells me the roster construction is going to get us there.

Liam may have been a higher recruit than Steph (not sure) but the only thing he does better on the BB court than Steph is shoot.

I really want to be optimistic but it’s looking like this is a transition year.

I hope I am wrong about everything but this is very concerning.

 

[UCfor3]

When you sacrifice defense for 3 point shooting, you better make a lot of 3 point shots. Nobody loves shooting more than me but man we are a bad defensive team. We look small, slow and unathletic.

 

[ec33]

I'm sure we'll have a few imbeciles . . .

They were playing against the UConn defense. Everyone looks good against the UConn defense.

 

[TheHorde]

Interesting stat- Uconn took twice as many 3 pointers as Colorado..hit one or two more then different result

This is also part of the reason why we have a free throw disparity. We are way too happy hoisting up threes, which doesn’t draw fouls. Guys like Castle, Newton, and Spencer were very good at getting into the lane and drawing contact. It’s why I think Nowell needs more time out there, perhaps much more. I did like that Ball put the ball on the floor some today.

 

[jdb50]

Ball had his man stopped late and he left his feet giving up the hoop. Small things in crunch time made the difference. Diarra's drive was another poor decision. Colorado was not Memphis. We blew this winnable game as we were up 5 and did not score.

 

[Lambeau]

Problem with Diarra as PG is his judgement is often off--drives into traffic and turns it over, or shoots 3's indiscriminately.
I dunno the answer to our biggest problem. But we're too talented to lose like this. Rudderless.

 

[TheHorde]

Problem with Diarra as PG is his judgement is often off--drives into traffic and turns it over, or shoots 3's indiscriminately.
I dunno the answer to our biggest problem. But we're too talented to lose like this. Rudderless.

I can see a path to Nowell starting this season. And at this rate Abraham might get decent minutes later in the season.

 

[willie99]

Too big a foul and free throw disparity in back to back games. We're getting every else's best game, and they're playing way over their heads in terms of shooting percentages. Because we're in deep deep deep foul trouble, we're playing far less aggressive than we need to play.

Hurley looked as if he wanted to take another T in the final minute. I love you Dan, I wouldn't trade you for anybody, but when you feel you're on the short end of the calls, you need to take that T early in the game. Not very late

Did you know? Change two over-the-back plays in the last minute of two games, and we're probably 2-0 instead of 0-2. But you can't give the officials a chance to determine the outcome in the last minute. The games have to be won much earlier.

We just watched Alex's worst game of the year, there will be no close second

These kids have to grow, and we're losing more games this year

 

[444JR]

This feels different to me because we won our first 14 before we fell apart so we knew they had it in them. I am not sure I have seen anything that says this team is any better than a 7 or 8 seed and that might be a stretch.

We are just not athletic enough and I don’t see anything that tells me the roster construction is going to get us there.

Liam may have been a higher recruit than Steph (not sure) but the only thing he does better on the BB court than Steph is shoot.

I really want to be optimistic but it’s looking like this is a transition year.

I hope I am wrong about everything but this is very concerning.

Steph was composite #9 overall. McNeeley was composite #10 overall. Steph’s supporting cast was much better. We didn’t need the sort of contribution from Steph at this juncture of the season that we need from McNeeley.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Fouling is the issue. That is defense and moving feet. 28 free throws for Colorado and 51% shooting.

Hard to win when all you do is foul.

 

[yungdowork]

When you sacrifice defense for 3 point shooting, you better make a lot of 3 point shots. Nobody loves shooting more than me but man we are a bad defensive team. We look small, slow and unathletic.

Seems like the defensive system is a lot harder to execute without a true rim protector. Last season, our guards got beat off the dribble all the time (people were NOT happy with Cam's defense for a while), but we had Clingan in the paint to slow down the opponents. Samson can block shots, but can't stay on the court, and can't really defend stronger bigs who play with their back to the basket. Tarris is strong, but not enough of a shot-blocking presence to bail out guards who get beat.

 

[TheHorde]

I doubt what we saw was what Hurley actually drew.up.

So does someone get punished for that? And maybe not start tomorrow? We shall see.

 

[KingAG]

Too big a foul and free throw disparity in back to back games. We're getting every else's best game, and they're playing way over their heads in terms of shooting percentages. Because we're in deep deep deep foul trouble, we're playing far less aggressive than we need to play.

Hurley looked as if he wanted to take another T in the final minute. I love you Dan, I wouldn't trade you for anybody, but when you feel you're on the short end of the calls, you need to take that T early in the game. Not very late

Did you know? Change two over-the-back plays in the last minute of two games, and we're probably 2-0 instead of 0-2. But you can't give the officials a chance to determine the outcome in the last minute. The games have to be won much earlier.

We just watched Alex's worst game of the year, there will be no close second

These kids have to grow, we're losing more games this year

Going 47-3 over a year and a half stretch creates fans like us who lose touch with reality a little bit. This is really hard. We can’t dominate every year. We have to slow cook this one and hope we peak at the right time

 

[80shusky]

We are scoring enough points to win these games. Last year if we scored 72 the other guys had 59. We aren't guarding without fouling. These guys don't look good enough to guard straight up man without an eraser at the 5. We aren't getting the stops we need to key runs. I'm wondering if some junk defense would help. If we are going to try to just outscore the other guys we need to get some stops and steals, create some chaos and get out in transition. We have the horses for that.

 

[Marbles90]

Team has all sorts of problems. The biggest is we foul constantly. Biting on every pump fake, reaching, crashing into guys. It needs to stop. We're not guarding the perimeter nearly well enough. The defense is an absolute mess. We got picked apart by a dribble drive team of athletes yesterday. We got picked apart by a slow halfcourt team of modest/subpar talent today.

^This

I can’t believe people are blaming refs or even more stupid, think there is some kind of vendetta against UConn and/or Hurley. The defense was horrible. Frankly the refs could have called twice as many fouls as they did. I counted at least 3 on Singare in like two minutes that were not called.

There is plenty of talent here. But ironic to say this about a Hurley coached team, they need to play way better defense.

 

[HCCForever]

Diarra should've pass that back to Karaban. Having him take our last two shots with Ball, Karaban and McNeeley on the floor is criminal.

That turnover on his last drive was the turning point of the game IMO.

 

[blkknight1]

The lack of driving the ball on offense is what is truly driving me crazy. They come off screens and hoist when there is a lane to the basket. The offense last year was predicted on coming off that screen and the guard driving into the lane where he had options take it to the basket. Kick to an open shooter, pass it to a cutter or lob it to the big man. There has been none of this this year. It’s all screen and 3.

 

[Scrutineer]

I think alot of us see that is what will eventually happen. The question is when will Hurley and staff see it for themselves and move on. Nowell's got that Khalid energy.

Maybe he's too stubborn since he brought in Mahaney, and may want to prove it wasn't a mistake to do so.