DH Post Game Press Conference 1/15

[Husky68]

I'm up and down on AS's play, but UConn is posting up a guy that is almost always shorter, and in some cases way shorter than his opponent, like he is Wilt. He needs to make 5 fakes so that his shot isn't blocked. Factor in his turnovers (and those of guys trying to get him the ball) and his shooting % is way under 60%.
Offense doesn't work because AJ and Karaban never attack the rim. Several times Karaban turned down drives down the lane, AJ is a chicken on offense, never willing to take the responsibility to get to the basket. Newton takes 8-10 seconds to get the ball down court.
No team gets driven on like UConn, I've seen maybe 50 mostly whole games and probably 100 parts of games and no one, and I mean no, gets beat off the dribble as consistently as UConn. Yeah, it's on the players but as much on the coach as to how they play on man and help defense. Whatever you call what we are doing, it doesn't work.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think AJ's over zealous defense is part of what all is going on.

He looks like he’s really trying, but I don’t think it’s been very successful. He loses his guy a lot, and goes for too many fakes. I always thought he could be an absolute lockdown defender and shotblocker by moving a foot further away.

 

[uconnfan68]

When I hear stories about possible friction amongst a team in the clubhouse, I always refer to a few of the greatest quotes, from one of the greatest coaches, who had what I consider the greatest Hall of Fame speech.
Bill Parcels....just a few of them (I'm sure many here have them memorized), I am a Pats fan but Parcels was my type of coach:

"Now we've got all kinds in this place. We've got white, we've got black, we've got Latin, we've got Asian, we've got Samoans, we've got Tongans, we've got Native Americans. Ladies and gentlemen, I played and coached with them all, and the only thing that made any difference is are you willing to help? And if you are, come on in. If you're not, get the heck out of here."

and

"In the old Giants Stadium, the Giants players will remember that as you walk through the players' entrance, there was a little room to the left that was like a little alcove room and had a couple chairs in it. Wellington took me over to the wall in that place, and on the wall was a little plaque and it had an inscription on it. Coincidentally, that inscription was attributed to the first black player ever inducted into this Hall of Fame, his name was Emlen Tunnell, and he was inducted in the class of 1967. That inscription said, “Losers assemble in little groups and complain about the coaches and the players in other little groups, but winners assemble as a team.”

And I thought the plaque was for Jimmy Hoffa…

 

[REB1094]

I’m curious his shooting percentage in league play, not counting the cup cake games or invitationals.

57-99 (57.6%)

 

[Chief00]

I’m curious his shooting percentage in league play, not counting the cup cake games or invitationals.

Adama has shot 57.6% in Big East play. He consistently shot over 50% in every Big East game. Adama is not the reason for our shooting woes. He needs to take more shots not less. The non Hawkins guards are the issue. The BY Sanogo is our shooting problem, is a BY myth.
13-21 Butler
6-10 Georgetown
3-6 Villanova
9-17 Xavier
5-9 PC
10-20 Creighton
5-7 Marquette
6-9 St John
57-99
57.6%

 

[Chief00]

The bottom line is Clingan and Sanogo shoot over 60% and the rest of the team 40%. We need both of them starting. It is a no brainer.

 

[Chief00]

Clingan has shot 68.9% in Big East play. He needs to start with Sanogo and get more shots.
2-2 Butler
1-2 Georgetown
2-4 Villanova
2-3 Xavier
4-4 PC
1-3 Creighton
8-11 Marquette
0-0 St John
20-29
68.9%

 

[Chief00]

The reason Adama and Donovan were frustrated in the St John’s game was they were a combined 6-9 instead of 18-27, if they got the ball more in the right positions shooting at a 66% clip.
Starting Double Big is such a no brainer this year.

 

[mauconnfan]

He looks like he’s really trying, but I don’t think it’s been very successful. He loses his guy a lot, and goes for too many fakes. I always thought he could be an absolute lockdown defender and shotblocker by moving a foot further away.

Fact is he could be a lock down defender but he's not playing smart defense. He chases and drifts too much, rides his guy way too much instead of keeping him in front of him and suddenly he believes he's a world class shot blocker. He jumps way to much on ball fakes as well. Need him to be better but he likes to be cute rather than just play basketball. Needs to read less clippings and his coach needs to sit him down and have a real man to man with him. How about just playing basketball, smart basketball like we need a real leader to do?

 

[mauconnfan]

If he’s a “black hole”, he is one who shoots 60% FG. What’s the team shooting minus Adama and Donovan? I think Clingan should start too. Let’s get our best players on the court.

You have a point but so does everyone else. How many times can you allow this guy to get the ball too far from the basket and try to make a play? More than a dribble, maybe 2 is either a turnover, a bad shot or just a bad possession for the team. And let's be honest it can't be fun to clear out all the time when coach says "throw it in and let him do his thing" when he can't pass and he takes 10 seconds to make his move(s). He needs to be faster with decisions and needs to be able to understand where the double down is coming from. It's 3 years later, not knowing how and where to pass the ball is really awful. McDermott will not play the same D next time, thats for sure.

 

[jake14mw]

This game was a definite change for me in how I view this team. Some prior games did expose some weaknesses, but this game was different. I saw a lack of fight. It seems like something bigger going on with the "team". When asked if they were still together as a team, that look and the delay in answering by Karaban was interesting. Hawkins didn't answer. The problems I saw today were much deeper than schemes or defenses or substitutions. I don't know who the player leader is on the team, but he has his work cut out for him right now.

Most of these guys have not been together for long. They have run into their first stretch of adversity. They need to band together and take this as a team challenge. We'll see what they're made of coming up here.

 

[1999GoodSon]

I don’t think that’s a positive light on AS, almost the entire world knows that he is a black hole with the ball and very high turnover ratio. Any coach worth a salt will scheme to double him.

Adama is a great basketball player, with a work ethic that if it were copied by all his teammates, we'd be rolling. To call him a black hole with the ball is an egregious insult to a great player. His "issues" are a result of being a victim of his own success. He gets doubled and tripled because there's almost always 1 or 2 other starters on the court who are almost a ZERO threat to score. I thought I read in the board's guidelines to not attack individual players? Blaming any individual player for the results the team is getting is not only wrong, but in this case is dead wrong. AS plays his heart out, and I've personally seen him many times be the on-court coach and motivator. He deserved the pre-season honors and the obvious respect he gets from opposing coaches. He should get 100% of our respect too.

The issues with this team are obvious. And the problem isn't with #21. When you resort to saying it's on this guy or that guy, all you're doing is living up to the low expectations of an internet message board. I'm not attacking you personally, but this board needs to recognize that these are young, developing men like our sons - who are all great athletes. We've all witnessed Sango's development and character and given the challenges and adversity he fights through every game, I'm thrilled that he's one of our guys.

 

[jake14mw]

Fact is he could be a lock down defender but he's not playing smart defense. He chases and drifts too much, rides his guy way too much instead of keeping him in front of him and suddenly he believes he's a world class shot blocker. He jumps way to much on ball fakes as well. Need him to be better but he likes to be cute rather than just play basketball. Needs to read less clippings and his coach needs to sit him down and have a real man to man with him. How about just playing basketball, smart basketball like we need a real leader to do?

Yes, I'm seeing the same thing. It's always like he's trying to prove himself or trying to provide a highlight on every play. He wants to play up in everyone's grill defensively, but people are getting on his hip too easily. We know he has the ability to be a great defender, he just needs some small adjustments, just dial it back one small notch to be that lock down guy we need.

 

[Jbirdp5]

This team has clearly lost its confidence. It’s like the bully who gets knocked out. They don’t know how to handle it and they have lost their collective identity. The lack of defensive intensity is mystifying. The way newton and calcaterra now take that nervous pause before shooting is something I wouldn’t have believed a few weeks ago. They need something to pull themselves out of the gutter and start believing in who they are collectively again.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

"Need more intensity" is coach-speak for "I have no idea what to do so I will blame it on the players with a nonspecific criticism that is impossible to rebut".

 

[bendm]

Newton was fine when Jackson was out and when he was coming off the bench.

Newton was led to believe he was coming here to be point.

Hurley was pushing AJ as point guard/forward all off season.

Here lies the problem in my opinion. Only the guys in the locker room know the truth.

Look at the stats and look at the teams results.
There is a problem

I cant explain Newton's dropoff since PKI but it's not because AJ moved back into the starting lineup. AJ is not causing Newton to shoot airballs from 3, to not try on D, to not be able to get by defenders, or in the rare instances that he can get to the hoop, to jump up in the air with no where to go and turn it over.

Newton became overwhelmed by having to run the offense and look to score, so hurley has rightfully put the ball in AJ's hands, which should in theory allow Newton to solely focus on attacking/scoring, which is what we need him more for, but that's not working out either...

 

[Okafour rings]

You have a point but so does everyone else. How many times can you allow this guy to get the ball too far from the basket and try to make a play? More than a dribble, maybe 2 is either a turnover, a bad shot or just a bad possession for the team. And let's be honest it can't be fun to clear out all the time when coach says "throw it in and let him do his thing" when he can't pass and he takes 10 seconds to make his move(s). He needs to be faster with decisions and needs to be able to understand where the double down is coming from. It's 3 years later, not knowing how and where to pass the ball is really awful. McDermott will not play the same D next time, thats for sure.

I've been thinking about how Sanogo is fed the ball down on the block. He is usually down on the right, just outside the lane. If Jackson is the one passing it in to him, Jackson's defender is the one to double AS as they don't fear his outside shot. I'd much rather see Calcaterra, Karaban or Hawkins be the one to pass it in and stay out at the 3-pt line on the same side, with the rest of the players on the other side of the court. Then if they try to double down, Sanogo can kick it back out with a short pass to a dangerous shooter. This would make it very difficult for him to be double teamed.

When an entry pass is attempted from the top of the key, it's usually into the lane where all sorts of defensive help can double Sanogo or deflect the pass. And wherever Sanogo is, there should always be a shooter on the same side to give AS a clear pass back out. The team doesn't seem to look to give Adama a clear pass back out - they just stand and watch him make his moves.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I've been thinking about how Sanogo is fed the ball down on the block. He is usually down on the right, just outside the lane. If Jackson is the one passing it in to him, Jackson's defender is the one to double AS as they don't fear his outside shot. I'd much rather see Calcaterra, Karaban or Hawkins be the one to pass it in and stay out at the 3-pt line on the same side, with the rest of the players on the other side of the court. Then if they try to double down, Sanogo can kick it back out with a short pass to a dangerous shooter. This would make it very difficult for him to be double teamed.

When an entry pass is attempted from the top of the key, it's usually into the lane where all sorts of defensive help can double Sanogo or deflect the pass. And wherever Sanogo is, there should always be a shooter on the same side to give AS a clear pass back out. The team doesn't seem to look to give Adama a clear pass back out - they just stand and watch him make his moves.

It would also be nice to see the guys man who doubles Sanogo just cut to the basket. Especially if it’s Andre.