Creighton Post Game Thread

[Excalibur]

Well he did have several turnovers. I would like to see him not always act like it’s him vs 5 defenders and start some inside out passes.

He turned ball over ALOT last night when he should have passed it so do not agree we “abandoned” him…

He had one turnover last night.

 

[Shabazzkets]

I said in one of the early post-game threads, against a cupcake, that I didn’t see a national championship team here. I got blasted.

It’s game 27 and I still don’t see it. We have problems that the staff can’t fix.

Solo and Alex are poor defenders and Reed is not the type of protector who can cover for this.

Reed is not a reliable low post scorer, is not a dominant rebounder, and plays below the rim. In fairness, he doesn’t get enough help on the rebounding front, either.

We don’t have individuals adept at getting their own shot, aside from Demary and maybe Braylon. That’s ok if we execute offensively at a high level, but we don’t.

We foul too much and don’t hit enough of our own foul shots. Bad combo.

We do lots of things well and have talented players. But the problem areas are too many to really have a shot at the FF.

 

[gsmooth]

I said in one of the early post-game threads, against a cupcake, that I didn’t see a national championship team here. I got blasted.

It’s game 27 and I still don’t see it. We have problems that the staff can’t fix.

Solo and Alex are poor defenders and Reed is not the type of protector who can cover for this.

Reed is not a reliable low post scorer, is not a dominant rebounder, and plays below the rim. In fairness, he doesn’t get enough help on the rebounding front, either.

We don’t have individuals adept at getting their own shot, aside from Demary and maybe Braylon. That’s ok if we execute offensively at a high level, but we don’t.

We foul too much and don’t hit enough of our own foul shots. Bad combo.

We do lots of things well and have talented players. But the problem areas are too many to really have a shot at the FF.

We will see. I am not writing off this team's chances for a Final Four, but they they really have to pick it up. The issues you brought is something I have thought for a while now. I didn't expect UConn to lose to Crieghton last night, but I had a feeling the difference would be in the single digits and close. The issues you pointed didn't just come out of the blue last night. Last night's game was a culmination of these issues throughout the season especially after the Big East games started.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Hurley said he is playing hurt

Maybe that’s true. But he has had these no-show games not infrequently the last 2 seasons. We all have seen it

 

[Deepster]

So, Alex did get kneed in the thigh and he was wearing a full length sleeve last night. That said, the comments from Hurley seemed like there was some of the head coach protecting his guy a little bit. He made shots in warmups and threw up bricks in the game....

 

[gsmooth]

Maybe that’s true. But he has had these no-show games not infrequently the last 2 seasons. We all have seen it

What you said is true-AK has had these games where he disappears and doesn't produce nearly enough. The last 2 games it's undeniable that he is hurt or injured. But my bigger concern or thought is that Hurley did not bench him. AK was doing nothing yesterday. As bad as Alex was, Stewart has not given Hurley and the staff much reason to be confident to take some of Alex's minutes even though he should have played more yesterday. Stewart's lackluster play this year had me annoyed because I wanted Alex to player about 28 minutes a game and instead Hurley is dialing back the bench players' minutes when games are close. AK playing close to 35+ minutes a game in closely contested high leverage situations most certainly has taken a toll on him.

 

[RuffRuff]

Yes, we have those out of conference wins and it's still why we were in position for a 1 seed before last night but we haven't looked anything like that team in a long time and those teams all look like they've inproved a lot minus BYU who isn't deep enough and lost their second best player...

If this was just some one off game against a bad Creighton team we could chalk it up as just being an awful night but we've all seen the way we've been squeaking out wins against bad teams for a while. We've all seen our defense go from looking great to looking horrible...

We're at the point where we need a lineup change and some adjustments in how we play defense because we look like a team that was figured out like a month ago and as other teams are surging we're regressing. If we don't make changes and change our approach we're looking at three more losses before we even get to the NCAA tournament.

We're scoring the ball but as Hurley said our defense is dreadful and a joke. It's all about fixing the defense, if we don't start playing D again the season is lost. He's not a lockdown defender and not the answer but Ross can be some sort of answer to addressing the joke of a defense we've been seeing. Hurley needs to start him and have Solo off the bench as our microwave scorer.

I think you said it in the chat, but it's like this team can't do both well at the same time.

I am ALL for getting Ross starting minutes. A - Solo needs a kick in the @ss. B - it's a more balanced roster and may engage Ross in a way where he really steps up. If he can get a good 20-22 minutes, put in 6-8 pts, play great D, let Mullins rip, it's a better team.

 

[amishboy]

I don’t think people hate Karaban. Just the people that overhype him by saying he’s the best anything in our very legendary and decorated program history.
≠≠≠≠=======
I agree completely; there is nothing on this thread that suggests anyone hates AK.

 

[uconnfan68]

He had one turnover last night.

How many missed 2-3’ shots?

 

[HW611]

I think you said it in the chat, but it's like this team can't do both well at the same time.

I am ALL for getting Ross starting minutes. A - Solo needs a kick in the @ss. B - it's a more balanced roster and may engage Ross in a way where he really steps up. If he can get a good 20-22 minutes, put in 6-8 pts, play great D, let Mullins rip, it's a better team.

One of Mullins or Ball off the bench as instant offense for a spark also just makes a lot of sense.

It never made sense bringing defense in off the bench instead of offense.

 

[aceboon]

What you said is true-AK has had these games where he disappears and doesn't produce nearly enough. The last 2 games it's undeniable that he is hurt or injured. But my bigger concern or thought is that Hurley did not bench him. AK was doing nothing yesterday. As bad as Alex was, Stewart has not given Hurley and the staff much reason to be confident to take some of Alex's minutes even though he should have played more yesterday. Stewart's lackluster play this year had me annoyed because I wanted Alex to player about 28 minutes a game and instead Hurley is dialing back the bench players' minutes when games are close. AK playing close to 35+ minutes a game in closely contested high leverage situations most certainly has taken a toll on him.

Alex "only" playing 25 minutes last night was the equivalent of Hurley benching him with the way he usually rides him heavy minutes

 

[Glastonhusky]

I said in one of the early post-game threads, against a cupcake, that I didn’t see a national championship team here. I got blasted.

It’s game 27 and I still don’t see it. We have problems that the staff can’t fix.

Solo and Alex are poor defenders and Reed is not the type of protector who can cover for this.

Reed is not a reliable low post scorer, is not a dominant rebounder, and plays below the rim. In fairness, he doesn’t get enough help on the rebounding front, either.

We don’t have individuals adept at getting their own shot, aside from Demary and maybe Braylon. That’s ok if we execute offensively at a high level, but we don’t.

We foul too much and don’t hit enough of our own foul shots. Bad combo.

We do lots of things well and have talented players. But the problem areas are too many to really have a shot at the FF.

We'll see. As bad as we played last night, if either Solo or Alex hit their scoring average, we probably win the game. We do have talented players, but because of the problems you identified we just have a thin margin for error.

 

[UConnRock]

So- re: Solo & (lack of) defense.
Can someone explain that to me? I thought defense was all about desire? Is he just too slow? What is it?

good defense is anticipation...not reaction. Solo reacts and is seemingly a 1/2 step behind. Mullins puts himself in similar situations but has more athletic skill to make up for the errors.

 

[formerlurker]

I’m not knocking anyone who still feels the sting of last night. It’s normal and necessary to maintain a rabid fan base. All I’ll say is I’m happy I’m old enough not to let a loss for may favorite team take over my life.

 

[uconnfan68]

We'll see. As bad as we played last night, if either Solo or Alex hit their scoring average, we probably win the game. We do have talented players, but because of the problems you identified we just have a thin margin for error.

Outscored by 16 from the line. We foul shooters too often.

 

[microfich]

Outscored by 16 from the line. We foul shooters too often.

They went by us with ease and no one besides Reed to stop them at the hoop. I'll give Alex a pass if he's been slowed by a kneed thigh, something else or even that scary fall he took last night. That said, without a second protector down low, we'll be seeing a lot more drive and foul situations.

 

[RashadRay11]

Alex must be “circumstantially” on the final Naismith watch list (eye roll).

 

[Scoe]

I hate this crusade. Everything did change when he got here. He is an all time great Husky. No he wasn't good enough to lead us to a 3 peat, but so what. We heard all off season that this team was finally built to slot AK in his natural role. And for God's sake theyve gotten to 24-3. Albeit not always aesthetically pleasing. I'd dare you to ask any of those players you claim have been so disrespected if they think they win those without him. Enough with this AK slander. He had a bad game. But hes averaged 14, 6, and 3 this season approaching 50-40-90. Can we stop pretending he's been some failure of a player. Good grief, we are such an ungrateful fanbase at times.

Are we really upset he's been called captain America? Like come on. He's the most winningest player in the country. He has 2 championship rings. And we're upset over a nickname? What are we doing here?

He's been on this crusade in every game chat. Now he's in his glory so he can have a field day with his anti AK rant.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

So, Alex did get kneed in the thigh

As someone who’s had this happen in a college practice, while it sounds like nothing, it is INCREDIBLY painful. Luckily I didn’t play much in games so it didn’t affect my contribution…. 😂 But for AK, now I get it. It fn hurts…

 

[superjohn]

He's been on this crusade in every game chat. Now he's in his glory so he can have a field day with his anti AK rant.

This is bullcr@p, I've never talked about the over the top AK hype not matching his on court performance in the chat before last night. I do talk about him ghosting when he disappears for the entire first half of games and I talk about his great plays and his poor plays in the chat. I do that for every player.

 

[RuffRuff]

This is bullcr@p, I've never talked about the over the top AK hype not matching his on court performance in the chat before last night. I do talk about him ghosting when he disappears for entire the entire first half of games and I talk about his great plays and his poor plays in the chat. I do that for every player.

It's like the Soshes vs the Greasers around AK.

He's a fine player, a nice functional system guy. No one is going to want to rewind and watch AK highlights. What does that look like - a bunch of threes and head down drives?

 

[RashadRay11]

It's like the Soshes vs the Greasers around AK.

He's a fine player, a nice functional system guy. No one is going to want to rewind and watch AK highlights. What does that look like - a bunch of threes and head down drives?

The mark of a great player is not what their highlight reel looks like. It’s individual production, contribution to team production, consistency, clutch reliability, and wins. All of which Alex has in droves.

 

[RuffRuff]

The mark of a great player is not what their highlight reel looks like. It’s individual production, contribution to team production, consistency, clutch reliability, and wins. All of which Alex has in droves.

True, Alex is a lot of those things. I look at Alex as a nobleman of UConn. High integrity, student athlete, winner, member of 2 NC's. He has been there through the highlight of the program. But I do recall two free throws against Villanova...........

 

[mauconnfan]

I get what you’re saying. I’m not an efficiency metric guy, but all year our 5-best lineups, offensively, have featured Reed, Karaban, Stewart or Ross, Silas, and one of Ball or Mullins. Not both SG’s.

I think offensive rebounding improves with a longer 3. Stew does the little things. Ross is starting to offensively. And if Ross can shoot 30% from 3 while Ball is at 30% from 3, I’ll take Ross all day because of his intangibles.

Fair point because while Ross scares me on every dribble, it’s not a lot better with Solo o mean he had zero assists last night. Solos inability to get better from last year is maybe the biggest issue we have.

 

[RuffRuff]

Fair point because while Ross scares me on every dribble, it’s not a lot better with Solo o mean he had zero assists last night. Solos inability to get better from last year is maybe the biggest issue we have.

What we are seeing now is Solo's ceiling. I'm starting to think the worst thing he could have done was work on this dribble game. I feel like he's the kind of kid that just needs to focus on a couple things. Threes and defense was enough.