Evans

[mauconnfan]

Why give his minutes to Giffey? Giffey got enough PT tonight and did little of (positive) impact with it.

What the hell were you watching? He played solid D and rebounded against the bigs.......got fouled twice by Deing in the 1st half w/o a call, hacked to be honest on put backs.....Giffey played well......

 

[Huskies4ever]

You covered him well. And when they pan to the bench he's the guy clapping for the players on the court. His positive energy is his asset.

This has not gone unnoticed by me.

 

[CTBasketball]

Giffey needs to find his three point shot from high school.

 

[Gurleyman]

I don't really consider Giffey and Evans to be competing for many minutes, although there is a little bit of overlap. Evans spells Bazz-Boat as a patchwork backcourt player, Giffey takes Omar's spot or DD's in a small line-up. Omar can't put the ball on the floor yet, so you can't slide him to the 2 much.

We need both. Wolf is obviously not a guy who can play multiple positions, so Evans-Giffey are our backup 1-4.

 

[SJ]

You covered him well. And when they pan to the bench he's the guy clapping for the players on the court. His positive energy is his asset.

I agree with this...he does bring encouragement. Just not having a "love fest!" LOL. I like him enough.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Why are you killing this guy? He's giving it his best shot. He had nothing to do with the loss.

No worse than your posts about our selfish guards not doing enough to involve our offensively prolific front line.

 

[UChusky916]

I agree that Giffey needs to see RJ's minutes.

We dont have a 3rd guard that can handle the ball very well outside of Shabazz and Boat. Giffey is the next best ball handler IMO. Deandre and Omar both don't handle the ball as well has they should and often have bad decision making with the ball in their hands.

Giffey is a threat to score when he DOES decide to pull the trigger and can pass and handle the ball relatively well. He's decent from the line, works hard, and rebounds. That's what this team needs.

 

[Dove]

Why are you killing this guy? He's giving it his best shot. He had nothing to do with the loss.

Waquoit, it's the scorched Earth mentality after a loss. Kill everything.

Next up...the bus drivers.

 

[CL82]

I think his 3 ball needs a little work too. That air ball was pathetic.

Didn't want to like but agree. RJ is what he is. Against top flight guards he isn't effective. Bring it down a notch or two and rests our two primary guys and can make plays.

 

[CTBasketball]

RJ should go see Pasqualoni and help out the offensive line.

Just kidding, but seriously RJ at the hybrid 2-3-4 is not working. He can't shoot and he can't rebound against good competition. Giffey is a pretty good rebounder and can step out and knock down 3's. The choice is pretty clear.

 

[Gurleyman]

RJ should go see Pasqualoni and help out the offensive line.

Just kidding, but seriously RJ at the hybrid 2-3-4 is not working. He can't shoot and he can't rebound against good competition. Giffey is a pretty good rebounder and can step out and knock down 3's. The choice is pretty clear.

This isn't an either/or thing. Playing both gives us an eight-man rotation, and the other bench guy can only play one position.

Now if it was purely an either/or, Giffey would certainly have the edge. He has a more complete skillset, can play the 4 in a small lineup while still defending most guards effectively, and provides a steadying influence. Evans doesn't have a natural position (and won't be a part of the team next year), but what he can do is provide a slashing threat from the wing (maybe the one thing Giff can't do) and can be another option defensively for bigger guards.

Giff will naturally get more minutes anyway (he's backing up Omar and DD, who are more inconsistent), but I'm not sure shortening our rotation is possible.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

He hustles and is a banger(for a guard). That being said I hold my breath when he is in transition with the ball because you know that a charge or turnover is a real possibility.

Need minutes from him because we are not deep. I think he will help against teams like PITT.

 

[willie99]

I imagine this has been said a few times already, but he has lost his confidence. He needs his mojo back

 

[cohenzone]

He air balled a three late in the second half. In my mind he is a 6' 1" Jeff Adrien, which just isn't good enough to compete in this version of the BE. It may be good enough in a few years but there is a reason he was at Holy Cross

Name me a guard who hasn't air-balled a 3 and you win a prize. He is not the reason they lost last night. They lost because UL is just plain better than us. Bazz had a lousy 2nd half and Boat had a bad game. We have won plenty of games this year with Evans playing a part. We have lost games with Giffey playing a part. On that score, he is supposed to be a shooter and his 3 point shooting ain't so hot either. Last night, Giffey played 19 minutes and Evans 7. Honestly, the overreactions to how we lose given how much better than expected this team has been is really out there. I'd be dumbfounded if we aren't blasted by at least a few other teams who have more at stake this season than we do. BTW, while I agree that Evan's foul shooting % sucks, he rarely gets to the line, as 11 shots tells us. Frankly, given what else sits on the bench, we should be grateful that Evans is around to give the lead guards a rest.

 

[Waquoit]

No worse than your posts about our selfish guards not doing enough to involve our offensively prolific front line.

What are you talking about? Of course it's worse, OnCracken. You really think the bench guy deserves the same level of scruitny as the stars? A guy that's bustin', that may just be in over his head a bit versus a star PG that holds on to the ball too long too often? Against the DePaul's that's one thing, against the 'Ville's is another. As we saw yesterday.

 

[businesslawyer]

Evans is somewhat physically limited. He needs to learn what he could do in the Patriot League but won't be able to do against good Big East teams. He seems more than smart and willing enough to learn.

We are only playing 8 men as it is. There is no way we are or should be shrinking the rotation to seven.

 

[Stinger92860]

Tiny sample size. He's 3-11.

But he was a bad FT shooter at HC too, so it won't get much better.

The most glaring weakness last night was lack of speed. We could not play man when he was on the floor. In his defense both boat and buzz where beat off the dribble most of the time.

 

[UConn76]

I think we should start investing a chunk of his minutes into Giffey. Evans should only get 5-10 mpg. Its not like another 5 minutes will wear Giffey down.

Giffey is by far and away the better player. He's really impressed me with his strength on the boards.

 

[UConn76]

The most glaring weakness last night was lack of speed. We could not play man when he was on the floor. In his defense both boat and buzz where beat off the dribble most of the time.

With past UConn editions, our guards could take chances and let the opponents guard's penetrate. When you got past our guards, you found Okafor / Thabeet waiting for you. Now, not so much fear of having your shot thrown back.

 

[freescooter]

I like how hard he plays, but he appears outmatched against Big East talent. Too bad.

You think maybe a guy who played at Holy Cross might not be a Big East calibre guard? I don't know which is stranger, the idea that he wouldn't be over matched by Big East talent or the idea that anyone thought he wouldn't be...

 

[James]

What's so hard to understand ? match ups , against slower footed teams, olander and Evans flourish. Against speed demons they look out of place. There's no excuse for him being such a terrible shooter tho. It's not just the airball his free throws look as though he barely practices offense.

 

[freescooter]

I'm not knocking the guy, and he didn't effect the outcome last night, but he is what he is. A Patriot league guard who in a more normal season wouldn't get into a UConn game without a ticket. Good kid, works hard and all that, but he was brought in to plug a hole for a 3rd guard and because we had a scholarship to give.

 

[CTBasketball]

I'm not knocking the guy, and he didn't effect the outcome last night, but he is what he is. A Patriot league guard who in a more normal season wouldn't get into a UConn game without a ticket. Good kid, works hard and all that, but he was brought in to plug a hole for a 3rd guard and because we had a scholarship to give.

Exactly.

 

[Jerry1714]

What are you talking about? Of course it's worse, OnCracken. You really think the bench guy deserves the same level of scruitny as the stars? A guy that's bustin', that may just be in over his head a bit versus a star PG that holds on to the ball too long too often? Against the DePaul's that's one thing, against the 'Ville's is another. As we saw yesterday.

Both players on scholarship and can be talked about. Boatright tries just as hard Evans, but because Evan's doesn't play as much he cannot be criticized? All people are saying is that Evan's minuets needs to be reduced because he is not good enough to play at this level. They are correct. I am glad he sits on the bench and claps and wants to be here, but so does Brendan Allen, that doesn't mean he should be getting 10 or more min a game.

For every 10 threads about Napier, TO and Boat there is 1 about Evans, people are not giving them the same level scrutiny.

 

[UC990411]

Name me a guard who hasn't air-balled a 3 and you win a prize. He is not the reason they lost last night. They lost because UL is just plain better than us. Bazz had a lousy 2nd half and Boat had a bad game. We have won plenty of games this year with Evans playing a part. We have lost games with Giffey playing a part. On that score, he is supposed to be a shooter and his 3 point shooting ain't so hot either. Last night, Giffey played 19 minutes and Evans 7. Honestly, the overreactions to how we lose given how much better than expected this team has been is really out there. I'd be dumbfounded if we aren't blasted by at least a few other teams who have more at stake this season than we do. BTW, while I agree that Evan's foul shooting % sucks, he rarely gets to the line, as 11 shots tells us. Frankly, given what else sits on the bench, we should be grateful that Evans is around to give the lead guards a rest.

I didn't blame the loss on him, just said he's not good