End of January, Where The Team Is At

[Chin Diesel]

Absolutely. Scares the heck out of me going into the post season.

So how did they get in this position?

1). Gaffney's lack of development.
2). Diggins not being ready.
3). Jackson not really being the answer as the 2nd ball handler.
4). Hawkins having an awful handle (a reach since they probably already knew this).

If the coaching staff knew in the offseason what we know now, they never would have put the team in this precarious position.

I'm okay with Jackson as the secondary ball handler.

 

[MTBingNinja]

I do like how AJax can push the ball up and dish it off as opposed to dribbling around the perimeter with no sense of urgency.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Well, I do think of ball handling as putting the ball on the floor. Halfway through his second season I am comfortable with AJ dribbling against opponents second best on ball defender.

Does he have a tight handle? Not a chance. But he covers so much ground when he moves with the ball, defenders have a tough time stopping him. Right now AJ induces more TO's while handling the ball due to his decision making moreso than the defenders taking the ball away from him.

 

[Get a Job]

As far as semantics go, ball handling, per se, has absolutely nothing to do with the ability to find the open man with a pass. Now, someone who is utterly adept at ball handling might be better able to find the open man because he is using up less mental bandwidth on the ball handling itself, but that does not mean passing and vision are part of ball handling.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Outstanding post.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

I always find it interesting when I come across a different understanding of something that has been straight forward to me. @Sphinx , would you consider shooting to be part of ball handling since you have to guide the ball to the basket?

 

[HooperScooper]

We're 5.1 points better on offense and 4.5 points better on defense with Sanogo on the floor

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Surprised to see Cole at -0.4 and Gaffney at 10.0. That one doesn't seem to jive with what I've seen.

 

[driveway]

We've learned that this team has some warts, but when on they are capable of playing with anyone. If a bunch of guys get hot at the same time, they can make a run.

If this team can get some consistency a title run is possible. The talent is there.

 

[husky429]

This isn't my experience, and what you're saying would confuse most basketball players if you were trying to explain a concept to them. When someone refers to "ballhandling" they are referring to their ability to dribble the ball. Nothing more, nothing less. No one says "you have handles" if you can pass the ball.

I actually think the way you think of ballhandling is actually a good thing... it just isn't commonly what people refer to. If I tell a kid to work on his "ballhandling," he isn't going to go into his driveway and practice pocket passes, he's going to practice his dribbling.

If I'm talking about passing ability, I'm going to tell a kid to work on "decision-making"... not his ballhandling.

Footwork is a huge part of ballhandling that tends to get ignored as well.

 

[navery12]

Surprised to see Cole at -0.4 and Gaffney at 10.0. That one doesn't seem to jive with what I've seen.

I think it mainly comes from Gaffney getting very few minutes, and he's being put on the court in sheltered situations to help him succeed. He doesn't play a ton, but he shows up high in a lot of our best 2/3/4 man combos, so the minutes he gets are in lineups that really complement him

 

[Jaydumo20]

Looking at Auburn and the other highly ranked team, I still wouldn't trade our team for any of those teams.

We've got something here and although the painting ain't finished, the picture so far looks really nice.

I like the way you put it. We should really continue to remember how we felt the past 7 years. This is the most fun part about being a fan. Watching your team rise. The least fun is being abysmal, but just as bad is being a top dog and watching in fear of who will knock you off. This is the most pumped I've been for a uconn team in a loooong time. Regardless of outcome tonight they have definitely crossed into greener pastures.

 

[August_West]

I feel like we have found a working identity and I like that. We are poised to make a run. Whether we make that run or fall a bit flat is hard to say at this point, but I like how we have postured ourselves to this point leading into a pretty tough month. It's all right in front of us, right now. Let's grab it and hopefully not piss it away.

 

[ArizonaHsky]

The thing that concerns me is that I think we are easy to scout and that the better coaches, with the right talent, can prepare and execute a game plan that will expose our weaknesses. Namely, cut off the head of the dragon, as Calhoun used to put it when we did it to other teams.

This month should tell us a lot, especially whether we have an answer if teams are able to put RJ on an island.

Agreed, I would defend RJ hard and double Sanoga and let the other guys beat me. The guys not named Cole and Sanoga have been to inconsistent on offense. I see other teams with alot more that 2 offensive weapons but we are who we are and will need to continue to win on defense and rebounding.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

Looking at Auburn and the other highly ranked team, I still wouldn't trade our team for any of those teams.

We've got something here and although the painting ain't finished, the picture so far looks really nice.

cautiously optimistic

 

[Icehawk]

We've had multiple games recently (aside the last) with more than 2 players scoring double digits, I think our O is underrated here to be honest - I get it, it feels bad, but look at the scores of our games most of them are pretty high.

 

[Get a Job]

As others have said, you are using your own (in my opinion perfectly reasonable) definition of ball handling, but no one else (as far as I can tell) uses that definition.

I like the word play, by the way!

 

[MexicoHusky]

I like where we are at. A bunch of tough games coming up, but we have a bit of cushion record-wise. Hopefully we can win 5 of the next 8 or better.

 

[CL82]

Agreed. Without Cole we are a sub .500 team.

It’s funny how many teams would struggle without a point guard.

 

[AdamaNation]

Right now I’d say we are in a heap of trouble with this and DePaul showings and what we are seeing Saturday and after……

 

[WrenchFan69]

About to rattle off a 4-6 game losing streak

 

[AdamaNation]

Absolutely. Scares the heck out of me going into the post season.

So how did they get in this position?

1). Gaffney's lack of development.
2). Diggins not being ready.
3). Jackson not really being the answer as the 2nd ball handler.
4). Hawkins having an awful handle (a reach since they probably already knew this).

If the coaching staff knew in the offseason what we know now, they never would have put the team in this precarious position.

I believe this is the 45th time this has been posed. I believe the answer was and is “ who knows?”

 

[8893]

5?