End Game 101

[Fishy]

When you have a late lead and you’re looking to run the clock and get out with the W, your main goals are hitting your free throws and not fouling to stop the clock. It’s so simple in theory.

UConn, with 1:42 left and an eight-point lead, instead keeps a guy in the game who can’t hit free throws and cannot stop himself from fouling. True to form, that player misses the front end of a one and one and he commits his fourth and fifth fouls which sends USF to the line where they score four points.

By 1:03, that player is on the bench with five fouls and the lead is cut in half.

This is like watching an AAU team.

 

[CTBasketball]

We don’t really resemble a team tho.

 

[Hoophound]

You are underestimating AAU.

 

[Matrim55]

When you have a late lead and you’re looking to run the clock and get out with the W, your main goals are hitting your free throws and not fouling to stop the clock. It’s so simple in theory.

UConn, with 1:42 left and an eight-point lead, instead keeps a guy in the game who can’t hit free throws and cannot stop himself from fouling. True to form, that player misses the front end of a one and one and he commits his fourth and fifth fouls which sends USF to the line where they score four points.

By 1:03, that player is on the bench with five fouls and the lead is cut in half.

This is like watching an AAU team.

It feels more and more like KO was never a guy who had to think about the game in a larger context, but rather only had to think about putting one foot in front of the other as an individual. That meant working hard on the little things, executing everything the coaches said, being a positive role player on the court and in the locker room.

It clearly did not mean mastering the strategic intricacies of the game. Even something as rudimentary as what Fishy described.

We need a new coach.

 

[superjohn]

It feels more and more like KO was never a guy who had to think about the game in a larger context, but rather only had to think about putting one foot in front of the other as an individual. That meant working hard on the little things, executing everything the coaches said, being a positive role player on the court and in the locker room.

It clearly did not mean mastering the strategic intricacies of the game. Even something as rudimentary as what Fishy described.

We need a new coach.

We will have a new coach.

If his coaching wasn't bad enough he might have royally farked us on his way out for good measure.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

All of Vitals missed FTs come in the final 2 minutes of games

 

[Kitaman]

Well perhaps its simply a game situation that is unfamiliar to Ollie (and the players).

 

[Matrim55]

All of Vitals missed FTs come in the final 2 minutes of games

Honestly who cares? He made the ones against Syracuse last year and that loss to us kept them out of the tournament. As far as I'm concerned he gets a free pass on anything/everything that's happened this season.

 

[jibsey]

His theory on DO in the game was we were getting beat on the glass which was true, but why not Carlton? Is he better at FT’s?

 

[Huskybass]

If someone had told you 3 or 4 years ago that we would beat USF at home by 3 points, you would have looked at them like they were crazy.

Now, it's actually cause for minor celebration. This has got to be the lowest basketball IQ I have ever seen from a UConn team. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't being objective.

 

[Robertelamin]

Who is celebrating?

 

[Fishy]

All of Vitals missed FTs come in the final 2 minutes of games

Jalen and Christian are 84% free throw shooters...when they miss three free throws in the final minute, that’s bad luck.

DO is a perfectly symmetrical 50% free throw shooter over his career. He’s made 125 and missed 125....when he misses a free throw in the final two minutes, that’s bad coaching.

Carlton, who managed six rebounds while DO was ‘playing with energy’ and grabbing one rebound, is a 68% free throw shooter and is not a human-fouling machine.

 

[mauconnfan]

When you have a late lead and you’re looking to run the clock and get out with the W, your main goals are hitting your free throws and not fouling to stop the clock. It’s so simple in theory.

UConn, with 1:42 left and an eight-point lead, instead keeps a guy in the game who can’t hit free throws and cannot stop himself from fouling. True to form, that player misses the front end of a one and one and he commits his fourth and fifth fouls which sends USF to the line where they score four points.

By 1:03, that player is on the bench with five fouls and the lead is cut in half.

This is like watching an AAU team.

The sad news is if he didn't foul out one can only assume he still would've been in the game. Painful.

 

[imno1]

If someone had told you 3 or 4 years ago that we would beat USF at home by 3 points, you would have looked at them like they were crazy.

Now, it's actually cause for minor celebration. This has got to be the lowest basketball IQ I have ever seen from a UConn team. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't being objective.

Or you’d have thought USF had really built their program into a AAC powerhouse haha

 

[Hankster]

Honestly who cares? He made the ones against Syracuse last year and that loss to us kept them out of the tournament. As far as I'm concerned he gets a free pass on anything/everything that's happened this season.

Vital makes mistakes like the rest of the team. I will take him in a heartbeat. He is my favorite player even last year coming off the bench as a freshman playing with the big boys. He charges to the basket, steals, rebounds. Sure I agree he does make some bonehead mistakes. He doesn't stop playing. He makes it his business to try and do it all. He is missing 3 point shots, Huge slump. However how many times this year he went off and played a great game?

 

[Tuna]

If someone had told you 3 or 4 years ago that we would beat USF at home by 3 points, you would have looked at them like they were crazy.

Now, it's actually cause for minor celebration. This has got to be the lowest basketball IQ I have ever seen from a UConn team. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't being objective.

5 years ago we beat them in OT at home.

 

[AdamaNation]

If someone had told you 3 or 4 years ago that we would beat USF at home by 3 points, you would have looked at them like they were crazy.

Now, it's actually cause for minor celebration. This has got to be the lowest basketball IQ I have ever seen from a UConn team. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't being objective.

Freshman med students vs junior or senior? Choose.

 

[Kembacity]

When you have a late lead and you’re looking to run the clock and get out with the W, your main goals are hitting your free throws and not fouling to stop the clock. It’s so simple in theory.

UConn, with 1:42 left and an eight-point lead, instead keeps a guy in the game who can’t hit free throws and cannot stop himself from fouling. True to form, that player misses the front end of a one and one and he commits his fourth and fifth fouls which sends USF to the line where they score four points.

By 1:03, that player is on the bench with five fouls and the lead is cut in half.

This is like watching an AAU team.

WAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[BlueDogs]

Whereas the objective goals in the past were win the conference, good/high NCAA seed, and deep run in Tournament to Elite 8, this year's stretch goal is finishing above .500. That speaks volumes.

 

[Greathusky]

Not that I want Williams in at the end of the game but it pains me to hear KO talk about rebounding woes and have this kid do another DNP.

I know that he is not ready for a lot of minutes but if KO says that DO brings energy and that's why he is getting minutes... well KW shows me that same energy.

 

[Palatine]

Carlton scored 4 with 6 boards in 13 minutes. That would translate to 12 points and 18 boards in 40 (39). Of course, he would foul out long before 40 minutes.

Anyway, KO choose energy over production. I can see doing that early in the season when you are setting a tone but not in February.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

When you have a late lead and you’re looking to run the clock and get out with the W, your main goals are hitting your free throws and not fouling to stop the clock. It’s so simple in theory.

UConn, with 1:42 left and an eight-point lead, instead keeps a guy in the game who can’t hit free throws and cannot stop himself from fouling. True to form, that player misses the front end of a one and one and he commits his fourth and fifth fouls which sends USF to the line where they score four points.

By 1:03, that player is on the bench with five fouls and the lead is cut in half.

This is like watching an AAU team.

Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Sphinx]

It is hard to overstate the travesty of last night's game. In order to eke out a homecourt win over one of the worst teams in D1, we had to sit down all four freshmen in the final minutes -- Carlton, Whaley, Polley and Diarra -- and go with four guys who probably have 7-8 games left to play in a UConn uniform. It's February, remember, our freshmen are no longer "freshmen." They're supposed to be contributing members of the team. Their development is supposed to be a top priority. In a season that's going absolutely nowhere, it's time to win with these guys or go down trying. If it were not laughable to say that KO does anything "systematically," one could say that KO is systematically turning what's left of this season into a total irrelevancy, void of purpose or interest.

 

[Sphinx]

As an added thought, what would be the point of going to the NIT (probably as the lowest-rated team in the field), only to see KO bench his freshmen and go with his four non-returnees in a desperate attempt to win a game or two? Oh, the Dreariness!

 

[Guapo]

I have a working theory that may help explain this

Ok, hear me out...

Ollie is not a great coach.