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everyone is improving

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MexicoHusky

MexicoHusky

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Is it me, or is like everyone on the team expanding their games at the same time. Rodney is shooting great and really starting to drive the ball effectively. Omar has suddenly learned how to play guard. DHam is trying to be more of a shoot first guy. Facey has been good all year, but the absence of Brimah is allowing him to shine even more. Miller is starting to take and make threes. Gibbs shot great against Tulane and statistically ran the team pretty well. I also think the 3 point defense has tightened up a bit. I really like the direction we are heading.
 
Tyler Dorsey was the guy I really really wanted all along to add to the 2015 recruiting class. As a Freshman he plays with great confidence and already has the potential to be an Alpha player sooner than later. Not sure if we made it past his final 10 schools. I don't follow recruiting as much as others.
 
It was only a matter of time before the new guys became acclimated to their roles and team chemistry. Gibbs and Miller have been impressive as of lately. Everyone is playing up to their abilities with the exception of a few.

I think the two players that still have a little room for improvement, and haven't played up to their full potential, are Jalen and Hamilton.

Hamilton is such a multi-faceted player that I don't think he even has a definitive role on this team, and without Brimah in the lineup his assists have decreased significantly. Really want to see more catching and shooting from him with off ball screens, and less dribble drives with several pump fakes. Someone on a separate thread mentioned this and that he wants him to play more like RIP back in the day. Couldn't agree more.

Jalen needs time and more tutelage before he takes the reins next year. If he can come in, get a couple fast break transition points, and play solid on-ball defense that's all we need from him right now. At times I feel he tries to do a little too much and rushes things individually. We've seen that come to fruition with a few layups getting rejected at the last minute. Very athletic and talented, come next year he'll be up to speed with the pace of the college game.
 
InKembaITrust said:
It was only a matter of time before the new guys became acclimated to their roles and team chemistry. Gibbs and Miller have been impressive as of lately. Everyone is playing up to their abilities with the exception of a few.

I think the two players that still have a little room for improvement, and haven't played up to their full potential, are Jalen and Hamilton.

Hamilton is such a multi-faceted player that I don't think he even has a definitive role on this team, and without Brimah in the lineup his assists have decreased significantly. Really want to see more catching and shooting from him with off ball screens, and less dribble drives with several pump fakes. Someone on a separate thread mentioned this and that he wants him to play more like RIP back in the day. Couldn't agree more.

Jalen needs time and more tutelage before he takes the reins next year. If he can come in, get a couple fast break transition points, and play solid on-ball defense that's all we need from him right now. At times I feel he tries to do a little too much and rushes things individually. We've seen that come to fruition with a few layups getting rejected at the last minute. Very athletic and talented, come next year he'll be up to speed with the pace of the college game.
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I agree it often takes at least a year for a guy like Adams to get acclimated. Fair point there. Looking forward to seeing him next year also. ;)
 
We are only going to get better as they play more games together. We have some big man defensive and rebound issues but every team has strengths and weaknesses. It just seems like the players are settling into their roles.
Our success or failure is going to end up depending how Gibbs performs and how far Adams comes along by March.
 
Beyond the actual technical abilities many of our guys seem to be learning, i think this is a sign of a healthy team. Last year, Boat was like an NBA vet with a couple years left who's playing for a team that's clearly rebuilding. Our star and our team were in two different places in their careers. This year i think we have much more alignment in that regard. I think the UCONN brotherhood that has fueled our squad will be back in full effect this postseason...crossing my fingers
 
I think the team's faults are glaringly obvious at this point - which sure- you don't want weaknesses, but it's kind of a good thing for these sorts of things to present themselves early in a season so you can learn how to compensate/live with them. What I'd point to would be:

-We obviously lack significant presence in the paint. Brimah will be what he will be - mostly an asset defensively and adequate offensively. Any one of Facey, Enoch or Nolan emerging will help immensely, but i'm not counting on it.

-I also think we really need to work on being able to 1.) finish teams and 2.) not let runs go 15-20 points deep without a response. We've allowed too many teams to hang around and while we've mostly been able to get away with it so far, it's been frustrating to watch games like the other night end up being far more competitive than they have any right to be. Part of that is a chemistry issue I think, but alas - it's a problem now, so worth mentioning.

-I don't believe this team's foul shooting is anywhere near as bad as it's been, so I think that's going to make a significant difference as that begins to climb back up. We're something like 280th in the country or something. That won't last. We ended up making a ton of free throws the other night, so again...

-I also would just like to see them be more aggressive around the rim. Go up with the freaking ball. Drive to the rim. No more floaters and mother of all that is holy - enough with the kick outs. Again though - all growing pains/chemistry type stuff.

-Gonna need more consistency from the bench. What was it the other night six points and 63 min.? Gotta have more. I expect them to improve.

So i'm def. glass half-full. These to me though - are the difference makers.
 
It's actually a very good FT shooting team aside from Rodney. I don't have time but I believe it would have to be well above 75% without Rodney.
 
caw said:
It's actually a very good FT shooting team aside from Rodney. I don't have time but I believe it would have to be well above 75% without Rodney.
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78% without him.
 
Towney007 said:
I think the team's faults are glaringly obvious at this point - which sure- you don't want weaknesses, but it's kind of a good thing for these sorts of things to present themselves early in a season so you can learn how to compensate/live with them. What I'd point to would be:

-We obviously lack significant presence in the paint. Brimah will be what he will be - mostly an asset defensively and adequate offensively. Any one of Facey, Enoch or Nolan emerging will help immensely, but i'm not counting on it.

-I also think we really need to work on being able to 1.) finish teams and 2.) not let runs go 15-20 points deep without a response. We've allowed too many teams to hang around and while we've mostly been able to get away with it so far, it's been frustrating to watch games like the other night end up being far more competitive than they have any right to be. Part of that is a chemistry issue I think, but alas - it's a problem now, so worth mentioning.

-I don't believe this team's foul shooting is anywhere near as bad as it's been, so I think that's going to make a significant difference as that begins to climb back up. We're something like 280th in the country or something. That won't last. We ended up making a ton of free throws the other night, so again...

-I also would just like to see them be more aggressive around the rim. Go up with the freaking ball. Drive to the rim. No more floaters and mother of all that is holy - enough with the kick outs. Again though - all growing pains/chemistry type stuff.

-Gonna need more consistency from the bench. What was it the other night six points and 63 min.? Gotta have more. I expect them to improve.

So i'm def. glass half-full. These to me though - are the difference makers.
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An argument could be made that this team just doesn't have the defensive DNA to ever become an elite team. Without looking at stats/#s if you watch enough hoops... very good defensive teams just jump out at you. I could off the top of my head name 4 or 5 without thinking to much. How is this team going to get the requisite 3 kills a game (5 consecutive stops three times a game per KO). Do they even have a prayer at accomplishing that goal even in the AAC? Is there a number cruncher to provide the data?

The good thing is IF we can accomplish that goal we have some of the other pieces to still become an elite team this year.
 
BLUEDOGHOUSE said:
An argument could be made that this team just doesn't have the defensive DNA to ever become an elite team. Without looking at stats/#s if you watch enough hoops... very good defensive teams just jump out at you. I could off the top of my head name 4 or 5 without thinking to much. How is this team going to get the requisite 3 kills a game (5 consecutive stops three times a game per KO). Do they even have a prayer at accomplishing that goal even in the AAC? Is there a number cruncher to provide the data?

The good thing is IF we can accomplish that goal we have some of the other pieces to still become an elite team this year.
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1 defensive kill = 3 consecutive defensive stops (4th paragraph down in this article: http://dailycampus.com/stories/2015/11/14/mens-basketball-block-party).

Definitely doable in this league. We even had three in the Tulane game - 2 in the first half and 1 in the second half.

EDIT:
Just out of curiosity, I checked how many kills they got against our best non-conference games:

5 vs. Texas
4 vs. Ohio State
3 vs. Maryland
3 vs. Gonzaga
2 vs. Syracuse
6 vs. Michigan

4-5 kills a game is what we want.
 
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I thought - at least by their advanced metrics - that they were pretty good.

I know they've had meltdowns and those are obvious and glaring, but in the aggregate they ended up pretty high, right?
 
Towney007 said:
I thought - at least by their advanced metrics - that they were pretty good.

I know they've had meltdowns and those are obvious and glaring, but in the aggregate they ended up pretty high, right?
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By the metrics we're a top 20 defensive team.

By the eye test, I feel like there's a pretty significant gap between us and the best defensive teams in the nation. We're mediocre on the defensive boards and subpar at preventing dribble penetration, and I think we end up getting into situations where we have to scramble well and don't.

Two things to remember:
1. We're all spoiled UConn fans, so teams have a very high bar to hit with regard to what passes the eye test
2. The 2014 team had a lot of early defensive problems as well
 
AtlantaHusky said:
This should do ya !

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LOL Saw the Game of Thrones marathon last week on TV. That nun was annoying ringing that bell constantly saying "shame" I could not concentrate on Lena Heady's gate to the castle. Cannot wait until April. A couple of years ago there was a yarder who commented on GOT always. I assumed he read the books.
 
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