Clearly a no, no, no, yes, don't ever do that again play. Sanogo's threes are a vanity project and sub-optimal for UConn's title prospects. His driving from the key is also negative expected value. It's fine against lesser opponents but you hope he has the good sense to not do that against top competition.
I would say given the moment; it was a poor decision that worked out. We'd be killing him had he missed.
I get a little suspicious when a post exhibits shifts in verb forms and pronouns in such a casually flexible manner.
Your first paragraph consisted of 4 sentences anchored in the passive verb "to be," with no defined subject. But then the last sentence closed with, "...you hope..." I do?
I don't necessarily hope what you offered, but it sounds as though you do.
Paragraph 2 gets closer to identifying your writing as your personal take, but slips back into passive voice, before closing with the conclusion, "We'd be killing him if..."
I don't know if that's true; I generally limit my killing to 'convenience eliminations' of bugs in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there's safety in numbers and "we" therefore can 'sound' better, and there's less personal accountability with the passive verb form, therefore many choose it as a safer, softer way to present a strong opinion.
At the time, I didn't form an opinion that it was a designed play. I wondered about the shot. Because it went in, it worked and is recorded as the kickoff to a dominant game close. I admit that it could have gone differently.
I do note that I'd already txted to my sister that Adama had gone to the hoop from both sides, used both shooting hands, used the backboard more, still displays a soft touch on baskets that don't go off the glass, has improved his FG & FT shooting, has shown power & quickness & finesse, had a nice assist, is dunking more, has been capable on breakaways, and made a mid-range shot. I noted all of these as improvements in his game.
We've had at least one thread that discussed the need for or lack of a dominant, take-the-game over player. I witnessed such a performance on Saturday, even though I see that the team is developing well without being star-dominant.
For now, I'm happy to see so many possibilities. If the team reverts to poorly-chosen shots on a widespread basis, I'll reconsider my opinion. For now, I liked seeing such a powerful final 10 minutes.
Newton had another sneaky good foul he drew and it was another example of fouls he has drawn all season.
Butler scored and Jax got T'd up for the elbow in the back giving Butler back to back possessions and giving them some momentum. Crowd started getting in to it.
Next UConn possession Newton went left and forced a foul on Butler. It slowed the game down, forced the ref to blow the whistle and helped to try and rebalance fouls against each team. Newton has been very good at forcing refs to blow the whistle at key points in games to help stabilize flow and momentum.
This is a well-known skill of his. I'd love to see it encouraged, if for no other reason than to build confidence in Tristen that he is the best on the team at this. Additional benefits are points scored via FT shooting, modeling his success for teammates, still retaining the options to dump-off or kickout. Once he's drawing fouls, the team success will grow. Go to the basket please.
EDIT: Ugh, this post is way too overstuffed and reflects post-surgery followup-evaluation (all good) brain. I don't disagree with what I wrote. I just don't have the whatever to edit.
