Dayton Post Game Thread

[Gurleyman]

Clingan is the best defensive player we've ever had and our most impactful player since Bazz.

He looked like the best defensive big man already in the NBA when he was starting before the injury.

He was so good at just making the right decisions - keeping his hands in passing lanes and denying the lob before challenging shots. It was never easy to score on us even if someone got beat.

But he only averaged 10 minutes per game in our first tournament run. That first run was mostly Sanogo locking down the paint with strength and smarts (and we had Andre as a defensive stopper). We weren’t dependent on Clingan yet. Getting Tarris to be a poor man’s Sanogo will be a lofty goal, but one we need to strive for.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Lol we are so talented though right? @superjohn

 

[UCONNFAN179]

I don’t see how we turn it around with this roster. It’s quite clear we don’t have enough athletic ability: You can’t play 3 shooters (Karaban, McNeeley, Ball)) together since none can drive and all are subpar on defense. When you add to that that we have a starting center who can’t post up or rebound or guard without fouling and the fact that we have no experienced starting point guard, you get what we’ve seen.

What is very scary is that we’ve recruited all the same type of players next year,.. all excellent shooters who lack athleticism. Individualply each is very talented and It’s great to have a couple of those guys on the roster but you can’t have your entire roster be like that. You need some athletes!

You can’t be great every year and we have been spoiled. It’s crazy to be complaining, but no one would have thought we would be this bad. it’s pretty obvious this team will struggle all year, and it’s pretty obvious why, We are slow and one dimensional. People still thinking Ross and Ball are pros are crazy. They are college bench players At best .I hope we focus on more time for Nowell, Stewart and Abraham and grab some athletes in the portall for next year. Learn from your mistakes. We are becoming the type of soft basketball team we used to laugh at and dominate

 

[Gutter King]

The big east in general looks like it stinks this year. UConn swept in Maui. Xavier crushed by Michigan tonight. Creighton on a losing streak.

If there ever was a year for the BE to be down, I guess this is it. We may have to get the auto bid. The marquee OOC games we have left are much better than Colorado and Dayton, and they are coming quick. There will be slim pickins for quality W's in the BE. We are in severe trouble.

 

[superjohn]

Lol we are so talented though right? @superjohn

Yes.

The sum is painfully and comically so much less than the parts.

Hurley just started Samson Johnson again over Reed and Samson played 11 more minutes than Reed. He played Tarris 3 minutes in the second half.

 

[todbo]

The season seems to have turned on one moment--Hurley's T in the Memphis game. (He just could not hear me screaming at the TV for him to siddown.) I thought that he was more restrained during the last two seasons, despite his cartoonish facial expressions.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Yes.

The sum is painfully and comically so much less than the parts.

Hurley just started Samson Johnson again over Reed and Samson played 11 more minutes than Reed. He played Tarris 3 minutes in the second half.

We are not a very good team. AT THIS POINT. Just recognize it, amend your previous statements, and pull back. You are smart enough to do so.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Clingan is the best defensive player we've ever had and our most impactful player since Bazz.

He looked like the best defensive big man already in the NBA when he was starting before the injury.

I said all summer he was the most impactful player in college hoops since Anthony Davis. Hurley gave himself and his genius offense all the credit though

 

[superjohn]

We are not a very good team. AT THIS POINT. Just recognize it, amend your previous statements, and pull back. You are smart enough to do so.

No shart, we're a terrible team at this point.

That has nothing to do with our talent.

You think Dayton who just curbstomped us has more talent than we do? Really, you are smart enough to know they don't.

 

[Shabazzkets]

I think this team has enough talent to win. I don’t think we’re seeing some monumental failure of roster construction. There are very talented kids out there. I do think Hurley got a little high on his own BS because threepeat talk was childish. But the team has talent.

I still think they’ll be better by March but, yes, making the NCAA tournament in what looks like a bad conference is going to be difficult. And therein lies the concern - can this staff and these players adjust mentally to being a fringe contender for a tournament spot when they thought they were going to be fighting for a title? What I think we saw out here was terrible defense (obviously) but also a mental struggle to realize what we are and what we need to be. Now we see if they can learn on the fly.

 

[deedougie]

I'm also selling Ross stock. He gambles far too much on defense and is not fundamentally sound.

He's a walking foul out there. He gets beat and then reacts wildly to try and rectify. It's like he's playing at 110 mph in a 55 zone. There might be some talent in there but until he calms down I don't see him as a positive on the D end.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

My biggest gripe with Hurley is his lack of foresight, vision, or understanding of what’s what.

The man can recruit and motivate like no other. But he has no plan for players once they get here and seeing how he’s been moving post championship runs, he doesn’t seem to understand how they happened.

We were the best team in the country and most physically imposing, yet he doubles down betting on transfers this offseason instead of investing into his physically talented sophomores.

We were the best defensive team in the country the past two seasons. He boasts all offseason about how great our offense is and you can see in the recruiting that that’s the focus.

Hurley is an ELITE defensive coach which is hard to say right now. But he got so obsessed with proving he’s good at something he’s not that he forgot the main thing that makes him a great coach.

 

[deedougie]

Another issue is this team has a lack-of-leadership issue. I thought Karajan would be it but these 3 games makes me think it's not in his character to be that guy. McNeeley is probably the best possibility for that. We need someone to step up and be a leader on the court for this team, holding everyone responsible.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I’m probably insane for this, but I don’t think we’re actually this bad. This team is playing “missing the tournament” level ball right now, and they have way too much talent for that, and a great coaching staff. They’ll figure something out.

 

[3rdbass]

Clingan is the best defensive player we've ever had and our most impactful player since Bazz.

He looked like the best defensive big man already in the NBA when he was starting before the injury.

Don't forget Steph Castle. Did you see his Defence on Steph Curry. Losing both and not replacing them with dccent players has hurt us.

 

[SwingDog]

Did anyone feel confident coming into this tournament? I know I didn't. There was no reason to feel confident based on four wins against subpar opponents and a team having more questions than answers. This tournament was a test and we failed. Now let's see what we can learn and how we can grow from it. I really believe the talent is there to have a decent season.

 

[AllHusky]

Are we not quick enough to defend?
Are we not tough enough to defend?
Do we not know how to defend?

Able to watch a full uninterrupted half for the first time this season. Saw the second half. We were two stops away from taking over the game at 43’s, couldn’t do it and then the roof caved in.

Lots to point to but Defense is it. We make those 2 stops and maybe get something going. Don’t know if we were capable of that though. Why not?

 

[giddyup]

This is now a psychological team problem. No excuses losing tonight except mindset. Invincibility bubble burst Game 1, reinforced loss of confidence Game 2, and mentally defeated Game 3. Team is very flawed, but has enough to be a top 25 squad.

 

[3rdbass]

Another issue is this team has a lack-of-leadership issue. I thought Karajan would be it but these 3 games makes me think it's not in his character to be that guy. McNeeley is probably the best possibility for that. We need someone to step up and be a leader on the court for this team, holding everyone responsible.

I said the same think about Karaban in Chat. Also, I thought Diarra was supposed to be more vocal. He has looked pretty quiet on the court too. It will probably have to be McNeeley.

 

[Candyman]

That was very difficult to watch, but this is still a tournament team. Just one that we should probably be happy to win one game with

I don’t see it right now. Defense can’t guard anyone. Like anyone. The switches which were are bread and butter for last 4 years is so bad. low basketball IQ players minus except Karaban. Bad teams got to the paint and rim at will with us we were lucky we just had much more talent. You could see the defense struggles in the early games.

The sophomores did not make the leap as we we were told they did. Solo can shoot three but he does nothing else good. Ross? Where is this Ross we heard about? Stew is same stew as last year. Some good moments and some bad ones still not there yet.

Mahaney was our big transfer portal win who was going to score a lot for us and be the go to in crunch time. He can’t get by anyone on offense and hasn’t proven he can shoot. Not to mention horrible defense. Big miss on him like Timberlake level bad. Kanas is laughing.

McNeeley can’t guard anyone as well nor rebound good. He had off night from floor which means stew should play.

Karaban to me was never going to be a go to all American type. He’s a very very good role player, who can get hot from three or be cold. How many times does he get his shot punched driving a game.

Reed is very good and should play over Samson but he is lost on switches a lot and slow to get back to his man.

I like Nowell but he is just a freshman.

Johnson can’t rebound and never gets good position also boxed out. Sure he had some nice baskets but he is a liability out there and sets the worse screens I ever seen. He also try’s to block every shot that hurts us. Needs to come off bench.

Don’t see us in the tourney unless drastic defensive philosophy changes. More emphasis on driving to the paint less relying on the three ball. Hurley thought we can just out shoot teams from three

 

[UCONNFAN179]

I guess that’s if we truly felt we were a top 2 or 3 team in the nation at the start the season. The first 4 games showed me we had no dominating player, and the hype fell into the polls.This team just doesn’t come close to passing the eye test right now, and didn’t to start the season either.

But this looks like a very normal underclassman led team. Karaban is still not showing he’s physical enough, and we haven’t done anything good in terms of giving him(or anyone) spacing down low to go to work…

I expect it to look very different by January/February…the question is, will it be too late?

Why do you expect it to look very different? It is so obvious that this roster is painfully slow and unathletic. No amount of good shooting can overcome that.

we obviously have to get Karaban and McNeeley their minutes but get Nowell, Abrahamp, Stewart, and Reed as many minutes as possible for next season. This season is hopeless. Solo is a good bench piece. Ross, Singare and Mahaney are not UConn level players. Better work the portal too since all our highly ranked recruits are not super athleti. We are seeing right now what a full roster of “shooters“ without athleticism looks like

 

[CardiacAndre7]

No shart, we're a terrible team at this point.

That has nothing to do with our talent.

You think Dayton who just curbstomped us has more talent than we do? Really, you are smart enough to know they don't.

Again, what does talent matter? I don’t understand you.

 

[UofCT]

Why do you expect it to look very different? It is so obvious that this roster is painfully slow and unathletic. No amount of good shooting can overcome that.

we obviously have to get Karaban and McNeeley their minutes but get Nowell, Abrahamp, Stewart, and Reed as many minutes as possible for next season. This season is hopeless. Solo is a good bench piece. Ross, Singare and Mahaney are not UConn level players. Better work the portal too since all our highly ranked recruits are not super athleti. We are seeing right now what a full roster of “shooters“ without athleticism looks like

Chill

 

[Robrio89]

Maybe if we were sold a rebuild year and not the quest for a 3-peat…

The expectations were set WAY too high for this team and I really think that is a part of what is happening here. We need to be the underdog again. Maybe there is a silver lining in all of this…

Our team doesn’t look like a team right now. Everyone is out of place. Mahaney is in the wrong role. Karaban played a great role in both NC but I don’t know that he can be relied upon as the leader of this team, just doesn’t have the personality for it. Samson Johnson I thought gained weight and developed better post moves, but instead we are watching a 4 year player who doesn’t look like he has developed much. Older fans may remember Hilton Armstrong growth from Junior to Senior year, and that was what we should have with SJ. Diarra should be a leader on this team, and maybe he is in the locker room, but we need someone doing that on the floor. Hard to win without leadership on the floor.

There is a lot of talk on here about talent. Every one of these guys arrived here with a resume and their talent thoroughly evaluated. We weren’t the first to evaluate them and all of them came with a top 150 assessment. I don’t think we have a recruiting issue or a talent issue. I think we have a bench team with a returning starter, some promising freshman and a couple of transfers that are struggling to adjust. No synergy because there isn’t a team yet. That will take time and the patience that some in our fan base apparently don’t have much of. Everyone here who was singing praises about Hurley up until last week, who is now doubting his abilities at this point, should really stop watching sports entirely.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

When/ Will Danny see that we don’t have athleticism overall or height at guard to defend no help man in your face which Hurley wants to play. He needs to tone down HIS defensive identity and get it to fit our roster construction. Mahaney was able to play defense for 2 yrs at St marys.

You have to adjust as a coach. We can get taken 1 on 1 at every spot every game if we leave lesser athletes on island without Clingan behind them. We arent a defensive man lockdown team and wont be this year with our roster. Press some? Sag off our men? Play help D? Zone some? If you give up athleticism for BbIQ you have to fit your personnel. Concerns me with next years recruits athleticism as well if we don’t adjust.