Creighton’s coach is phenomenal

[CheshireCat]

We were 8-26 on threes. We shoot better, we win and you guys would not be so critical.

Funny how that works. So what you’re saying is that when the ball goes in the basket more, we are playing better? What if Creighton shot a little better too? They were 60% from the line. We also got out rebounded. Good teams grind out wins when shots aren’t falling.

 

[businesslawyer]

If it's not a true statement, does that impact the validity of your use of the word "anomoly?"

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/tourney/2017/03/17/rhode-island-rams-upset-creighton-bluejays-ncaa-tournament-march-madness/99326550/QUOTE

Only in reality, but probably not in the Boneyard after a loss.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He did everything you should do against uconn.
1. Left Whaley, Jackson, and Sanogo wide open on the perimeter and packed defense in.
2. Doubled Sanogo in different ways..sometimes delayed..sometimes from the top…sometimes from weak side.
3. Tried very hard to get Sanogo in foul trouble.
4. Avoided Whaley’s hedge like the plague. I don’t think Whaley’s man set one ball screen the whole night.
5. Force RJ to do everything and deny him the ball when our non-shooters have it up top. He was worn down by the end of the game.


I thought Hurley was fine tonight for the most part but creighton’s coaching was just outstanding

Yes. This is what they've done every single time. You missed a few things too, including dragging Sanogo outside or luring him to help then beating him backdoor with Kalkbrenner. Over and over. McDermott knows that Hurley is completely wedded to playing a certain way and he exploits it. The result is 5-0. I said before game, Hurley either needs to change things up on both ends or we lose. He didn't. We lost.

There are ways to beat Creighton. Other teams show how. UConn briefly did the right thing on offense, making diagonal cuts with the ball and without. When defenders are in the lane you have to drive at them and pass out. Then we went back to circling around them, but did use some actual screens for a change. On the defensive end we simply can't chase Kalk. Let the 5 patrol the lane to eliminate the back door plays.

 

[YoungFree]

So agreed...good coach...phenomenal...not sure u can say that.

And when are we going to talk about Hurley and his adjustments. We were down 16, 10 at half, and stormed back to tie it a few times....or is this not attributed to Hurley but the players? (Which would be a double standard because when we lose this board almost consistently denies it was player execution that led to the loss).

I applaud Hurley for his halftime adjustments....wish they had happened sooner. If we had played 2 solid halves instead of 1 then this game would have been totally different.

 

[auror]

So agreed...good coach...phenomenal...not sure u can say that.

And when are we going to talk about Hurley and his adjustments. We were down 16, 10 at half, and stormed back to tie it a few times....or is this not attributed to Hurley but the players? (Which would be a double standard because when we lose this board almost consistently denies it was player execution that led to the loss).

I applaud Hurley for his halftime adjustments....wish they had happened sooner. If we had played 2 solid halves instead of 1 then this game would have been totally different.

It did start earlier. Creighton scored 7 points the last 8 minutes of the 1st half and 3 of them were a banked in 3 by a 25% 3-point shooter.

 

[Nicklo28]

I would love to play Creighton again in Big East tourney. I don’t give a they beat us 5 in a row.

 

[NJHusky]

I saw Kalkbrenner score 20 in the second half on almost all dunks and layups...dead sober.

That prob made it worse. Drinking helps you forget

 

[QDOG5]

UConn is 2-6 when they don't score 70. Uconn starts every game with their best defensive team. Why don't they employ some type of press to up the tempo of the game? Especially if Creighton is minus their point guard. If DH doesn't want to start the game with a press he should realize when the score is 7-2 bad guys at the 15:30 mark that something needs to change. UConn has AJax and Whalley out there turning down wide open looks why don't they flip the script and have those two wreaking havoc defensively in the full court?

 

[auror]

UConn is 2-6 when they don't score 70. Uconn starts every game with their best defensive team. Why don't they employ some type of press to up the tempo of the game? Especially if Creighton is minus their point guard. If DH doesn't want to start the game with a press he should realize when the score is 7-2 bad guys at the 15:30 mark that something needs to change. UConn has AJax and Whalley out there turning down wide open looks why don't they flip the script and have those two wreaking havoc defensively in the full court?

We were high pressure defending their PG all game. You didn't see Cole all over their PG hounding him from the first minute? The announcers mentioned it also.

 

[gtcam]

No. But those pretending we got burned by the same things over and over don't know basketball or weren't watching closely enough. It was a couple offensive rebounds, a slip, a roll, a fast break, a post up, a couple free throws, etc.

We adjusted to Kaluma killing us in the 1st half and Hawkins killing us in the 1st game. We made their 3rd and 4th string PG and Hawkins try to beat us with passes on the move over coverage after we'd been hounding them all game. They did.

I understand that you feel you know basketball above and beyond everyone here on the board and you may very well. I respect your opinions and observations, no matter how narcissistic they may appear to come off from time to time- we all do it at times without meaning it.
I thought McDermott coached a great game - he came in without a PG, he knew UConn would try to exploit and he knew that UConn would key on his Hawkins. So what I see is he tries to get someone else to be the killer and that was Kaluma. It worked because Kaluma took the dare and made it work for almost 20 minutes. He allowed his Hawkins to see if he had his outside game going and if not would still feed him the ball but make him the feeder which his Hawkins did all game with very good results.
McDermott also brought in someone who UConn probably didn't prepare for - the Georgian guard who became disruptive and gave effective minutes. He knew DH would allow Sanogo and Whaley to hard hedge and he used his big man to become a target by going places where UConn bigs weren't going to be able to recover. McDermott coached the game as 2 different halves and won both.
In the end, they hit free throws and UConn didn't - something very few talked about.
UConn is a better team than Creighton but Creighton has been coached to do some of the little things that make a difference in games such as these in a conference like the NBE. Right now, McDermott is a better X's and Os coach at this level than DH. It's experience and something that DH will hopefully gain but there is a noticeable difference in this point of time.
Lets hope UConn rebounds from this, beats DePaul (Whaley and Polley having huge nights on their night) and does some serious damage in the NBE tournament.

 

[NJHusky]

We were 8-26 on threes. We shoot better, we win and you guys would not be so critical.

That’s an easy excuse for any loss. Maybe we r taking bad shots? Good teams win with off shooting nights

Maybe if we keep the center to his season avg we win also.

 

[Kolumbo]

Sanogo was off but I got the sense he had to back off to stay out of foul trouble. That always hamstrings the team. Granted he got burned a few times on D but on offense, were they letting Creighton D up? It was so bizarre watching Sanogo repeatedly miss while Creighton apparently committed no fouls.

 

[ucp990411]

Funny how that works. So what you’re saying is that when the ball goes in the basket more, we are playing better? What if Creighton shot a little better too? They were 60% from the line. We also got out rebounded. Good teams grind out wins when shots aren’t falling.

Are implying we are not a good team?

 

[auror]

McDermott coached the game as 2 different halves and won both.

We were +8 in the 2nd half.

UConn is a better team than Creighton but Creighton has been coached to do some of the little things that make a difference in games such as these in a conference like the NBE. Right now, McDermott is a better X's and Os coach at this level than DH. It's experience and something that DH will hopefully gain but there is a noticeable difference in this point of time. Lets hope UConn rebounds from this, beats DePaul (Whaley and Polley having huge nights on their night) and does some serious damage in the NBE tournament.

I agree that McDermott is a better X's and O's coach. I just don't believe that Hurley got his lunch handed to him. I think it's incredibly impressive that McDermott, a guy known mostly for offense, has taken a team with almost all new players and made them the top defense in the Big East.

We went 1/7 from 3 in the last 9 minutes and if we make 1 more and/or if Kaluma, the 25% shooter, goes 2/5 instead of 3/5 from 3 we probably win the game.

 

[freescooter]

Well, next year we will have Clingan and Sanogo. But in game and pre-game coaching needs to improve. Too predictable and nonadjustable. That's what "timeout" is for. We were down 7-0 and still no timeout. That has to be nipped in the bud. They looked totally out of sync.

We are in year 4. Way past nipping anything in any bud.

 

[freescooter]

I’ve said since early in the year that Sanogo is the key to our success. When he plays well we win, when he struggles we struggle. Georgetown doesn’t count obviously. And I would say generally that when the opponent has big strong 5 he is going to struggle.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I know people keep telling me how well we defend the rim, and how good UConn's overall 2pt FG% is. We hold teams to .429 on the season, 5th best in the country. But look at the losses in league play. They mostly come when we give up too many layups.
Creighton .535 (Kalk shot 77%)
Xavier .564
Nova .605
Creighton .386 (we shot even worse, bad offensive game)
Seton Hall .591
PC .419

 

[QDOG5]

We were high pressure defending their PG all game. You didn't see Cole all over their PG hounding him from the first minute? The announcers mentioned it also.

That is one on one pressure. Cole had zero steals for the game. UConn went down 16 points during that hounding. I'm talking about 5 on 5 defending full, three quarter, half court. Get some offense from our defense. The announcers mentioning it is meaningless.

 

[Kenny11]

We were +8 in the 2nd half.

I agree that McDermott is a better X's and O's coach. I just don't believe that Hurley got his lunch handed to him. I think it's incredibly impressive that McDermott, a guy known mostly for offense, has taken a team with almost all new players and made them the top defense in the Big East.

We went 1/7 from 3 in the last 9 minutes and if we make 1 more and/or if Kaluma, the 25% shooter, goes 2/5 instead of 3/5 from 3 we probably win the game.

Kaluma also banked a three in at 40 mph. Luck is a part of every game but when things like that happen on the road in a close game it usually makes a difference

 

[navery12]

That is one on one pressure. Cole had zero steals for the game. UConn went down 16 points during that hounding. I'm talking about 5 on 5 defending full, three quarter, half court. Get some offense from our defense. The announcers mentioning it is meaningless.

It's really hard to play that type of press when you only have a 7 man rotation and one of those 7 in Gaffney is behind glass that says only break in case of emergency

 

[navery12]

Kaluma also banked a three in at 40 mph. Luck is a part of every game but when things like that happen on the road in a close game it usually makes a difference

That 3 and the Hawkins 3 from about 8 feet behind the line were killers

 

[Frank06830]

Simple? Not the way you've presented it incompletely and without correct facts.

Hurley is 1-5 against McDermott, and has never defeated him while he has coached UConn.

I've just made your point for the second time, both with greater accuracy & clarity than your attempts.

You are wonderful Hans. Thank you

 

[QDOG5]

It's really hard to play that type of press when you only have a 7 man rotation and one of those 7 in Gaffney is behind glass that says only break in case of emergency

Agreed. Also, hard to full court press off of a missed shot. I'm not suggesting 40 minutes of hell. It just seems to me there are games we start extremely slow offensively and some pressure D might help our tempo. When you have two starters actively looking not to shoot it puts a lot of pressure on the other three. Btw, don't talk about Gaff like that to @Chief00. He's on a mission to get him in the starting lineup.

 

[CheshireCat]

Are implying we are not a good team?

I should have said “great teams”. We are a good team. Talent wise, I don’t think we had any business losing to Creighton missing their starting point guard.

 

[OkaForPrez]

UConn is 2-6 when they don't score 70. Uconn starts every game with their best defensive team. Why don't they employ some type of press to up the tempo of the game? Especially if Creighton is minus their point guard. If DH doesn't want to start the game with a press he should realize when the score is 7-2 bad guys at the 15:30 mark that something needs to change. UConn has AJax and Whalley out there turning down wide open looks why don't they flip the script and have those two wreaking havoc defensively in the full court?

He was, you have to score to press.