Frustrated

[tzznandrew]

Not just less attention, but better options, which equals more assists and less turnovers.

Imagine him dishing to Ray or Rashad or AJPrice or Albert Mouring or Daniels rather than to Polley? I mean, I don't mean disrespect to Polley but the talent level is just different.

 

[Towney007]

My point is you look at next year and say we land one of Cockburn or Achiuwa...

You're looking at three LEGIT ***** guys coming out of high school on the team, with a whole mess of interesting, developing **** guys (Bouknight, Wilson) and then a grab-bag of developing *** guys who can make contributions (Diarra, Polley, Carlton, Adams, Vital). That's a tournament team. Not a good one, but absolutely a tournament team talent-wise.

My point being - this is not an overnight fix, but it's not a long term rebuild. But to speed up the rebuild even more, we've gotta recruit out of our heads the next two years.

 

[tzznandrew]

My point is you look at next year and say we land one of Cockburn or Achiuwa...

You're looking at three LEGIT ***** guys coming out of high school on the team, with a whole mess of interesting, developing **** guys (Bouknight, Wilson) and then a grab-bag of developing *** guys who can make contributions (Diarra, Polley, Carlton, Adams, Vital). That's a tournament team. Not a good one, but absolutely a tournament team talent-wise.

My point being - this is not an overnight fix, but it's not a long term rebuild. But to speed up the rebuild even more, we've gotta recruit out of our heads the next two years.

Gilbert and Wilson + a strong recruiting class and some development among the returners was always going to make a good team next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up with the same record as this year's team in the end (lots of youth) but with a much high ceiling.

Keeping Jalen meant that this year they might be able to gut out wins, and it meant that he could actually hold some players accountable for bad play. This team has a low ceiling, but it getting wins helps next year immensely--lots of these guys had no experience winning. By the end of this year, they will.

 

[Towney007]

Gilbert and Wilson + a strong recruiting class and some development among the returners was always going to make a good team next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up with the same record as this year's team in the end (lots of youth) but with a much high ceiling.

Keeping Jalen meant that this year they might be able to gut out wins, and it meant that he could actually hold some players accountable for bad play. This team has a low ceiling, but it getting wins helps next year immensely--lots of these guys had no experience winning. By the end of this year, they will.

I mean i'd expect next year's team to be what you said - much higher ceiling and a team that'll get a lot better as the year rolls on. This team? I think what you see is what you're going to get for the most part. I don't anticipate a ton of growth this year.

Next year is more of the same, but with a lot better talent. My target year to be top 10-15 would really be '20-'21. I think that's doable.

 

[Waquoit]

It's hard to say, right? Certainly I'd put him below Gordon and El-Amin and above freshman Lamb.

I won't give you Lamb. Lamb made big shots. Adams had plenty of chances yesterday.

 

[intlzncster]

I won't give you Lamb. Lamb made big shots. Adams had plenty of chances yesterday.

And yet he's made big shots before.

 

[Towney007]

Adams has made some pretty big shots.

He's just good defensively and is prone to totally checking out of games at times.

 

[the Q]

All true. This was a disappointment in that we didn't play smart, but there's enough talent to win some of these games right now. Our guards need to figure out that when they drive they need to have their heads up right up to the point of releasing the shot. Kick it out? Lay it off to a big? Pull up with a floater? Finish the drive? All are options, except 90% of the time they choose #4. Yakwe should be a foul trouble fill in, unless the opponent is playing a post-up 4 man. And then maybe, it should be Whaley, who is longer.

The guards need to learn either the tear drop or the jump stop. They don’t have to shoot every time, but it puts them in a position that must be defended.

 

[8893]

With Alterique, Tarin and Christian all playing poorly yesterday, there was a lot more pressure on Jalen.

 

[superjohn]

I was hoping when the team is struggling Jalen would be able to totally take over games this year but that hasn't been the case. He's a very good player but never reached that superstar level some of us envisioned earlier in his career.

 

[Hoophound]

We definitely need patience but looking at our squad, I certainly see a team that could not only make the tourney, but make a run in it. We need continued improvement from our bigs, and more importantly, our guards and wings (Al and Sid in particular) need to find their place and get into a rhythm. Alterique being fully back and comfortable as an alpha is probably more critical than anything else. If he was decent yesterday, we win. If he played well, we win comfortably.

 

[Hoophound]

I think Jalen’s lack of a smooth, killer jumpshot makes it harder for him. So many times we are on runs that would give us breathing room and Jalen and Christian miss wide open, big threes. Jalen isn’t one dimensional but he just can’t kill you from outside when he has to. A good college SG of his size must have a great jumper to truly dominate.

 

[husky429]

I think his lack of a smooth, killer jumpshot makes it harder for him. So many times we are in runs that would give us breathing room and Jalen and Christian miss wide open, big threes. Jalen isn’t one dimensional but he just can’t kill you from outside when he has to. A good college SG of his size must have a great jumper to truly dominate.

Bazz and Boat missed their fair share of shots. But some of those late-game threes you just *knew* were going in when the ball left their hand. Jalen is not the guy in that sense. He's an amazing guard, but would have been better off paired with another solid guard (what 'Rique was supposed to be by this year if he hadn't been injured...). If he could be the non-primary ballhandler, he could destroy teams attacking closeouts. Doesn't get the opportunity with us very much.

 

[yukonfan4]

after akok's commitment nothing that happened on sunday could spoil the weekend!

now if only kofi would commit the night before the FSU game and precious the night before the Nova game...

 

[the Q]

Bazz and Boat missed their fair share of shots. But some of those late-game threes you just *knew* were going in when the ball left their hand. Jalen is not the guy in that sense. He's an amazing guard, but would have been better off paired with another solid guard (what 'Rique was supposed to be by this year if he hadn't been injured...). If he could be the non-primary ballhandler, he could destroy teams attacking closeouts. Doesn't get the opportunity with us very much.

To be fair, boat shot 37% and 41% from 3 his last 2 years in Storrs

 

[intlzncster]

I was hoping when the team is struggling Jalen would be able to totally take over games this year but that hasn't been the case. He's a very good player but never reached that superstar level some of us envisioned earlier in his career.

With this collection of guys, none of our past guards would dominate. All of them had significant help.

Give him Lamb, Oriakhi, Roscoe, young Bazz etc....and it'd probably be a different story.

Give him Giffey, Boat, Daniels etc....and it'd probably be a different story.

Yes, Kemba and Bazz were better players. No one would dispute that. But the talent Jalen has had to work with is not just 1, but 2 or 3 steps down.

Has he reached a pinnacle I think he should have? No. But I also think that, along with himself, he's been held back by a number of factors (team talent, coaching, etc).

 

[intlzncster]

I think Jalen’s his lack of a smooth, killer jumpshot makes it harder for him. So many times we are in runs that would give us breathing room and Jalen and Christian miss wide open, big threes. Jalen isn’t one dimensional but he just can’t kill you from outside when he has to. A good college SG of his size must have a great jumper to truly dominate.

He has a decent mid range shot, he just never uses it. I have no idea why. He prefers crashing into the trees and throwing up a circus shot instead.

 

[husky429]

He has a decent mid range shot, he just never uses it. I have no idea why. He prefers crashing into the trees and throwing up a circus shot instead.

Mid-range shots are low-effeciency. Hurley is always going to be big on threes and layups: it's his style.

He's also pretty good at those 2's. 48% from 2 last year. 69% this year. I imagine he'll even out to somewhere in the middle as we get into the grind of conference play.

 

[intlzncster]

Mid-range shots are low-effeciency. Hurley is always going to be big on threes and layups: it's his style.

He's also pretty good at those 2's. 48% from 2 last year. 69% this year. I imagine he'll even out to somewhere in the middle as we get into the grind of conference play.

I get that, but you should be able to incorporate the jump stop mid/short range. Kemba style. I'd also count the floater as a midrange shot, as it's not remotely close to a layup. Incorporate that too.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Some guys were allowed to adopt bad habits for years, and unfortunately it takes more than a few months under a new coach to teach it out of them.

This program is headed in the right direction, and we're playing with the right attitude now. But the intricacies of situational play, intelligence, decision-making, is going to take longer, and more bluntly is going to take new blood untainted by the last few years.

Well said!

 

[UconnFanDC]

This game was there for the taking and any time we could have taken it we shot ourselves in the foot. Our guards have a pretty big rep around here but they were hugely disappointing. Alterique had an awful game, as did Vital and Smith but I'm most disappointed with Jalen. He always gets his points but he's a senior and has yet to make the leap. Still the lazy plays, still looks gassed all the time, and just doesn't make the plays when the game is on the line. I love the kid and glad he stayed but I just feel many here overrate him. A bigtime player makes the and 1 at the end, instead we walk away with one point. He wanted no part of that first ft.

The good, we compete. Cobb can score against big teams frontcourts. Sid is the best athlete on the team. Polley can hit big shots.

There was just too much bad for us to win a game that was there for the taking today.

Lol. We will get better. Btw, I wouldn't say Jalen is overrated. He's actually just now being coach and has shown improvement. I hope that we can show we are back with a FL State and/or Nova win(s).

 

[superjohn]

With this collection of guys, none of our past guards would dominate. All of them had significant help.

Give him Lamb, Oriakhi, Roscoe, young Bazz etc....and it'd probably be a different story.

Give him Giffey, Boat, Daniels etc....and it'd probably be a different story.

Yes, Kemba and Bazz were better players. No one would dispute that. But the talent Jalen has had to work with is not just 1, but 2 or 3 steps down.

Has he reached a pinnacle I think he should have? No. But I also think that, along with himself, he's been held back by a number of factors (team talent, coaching, etc).

He's very good but not as good a basketball player as AJ Price. I put him at about Boat's level but I've yet to see him have the same motor or desire as Boat. Once upon a time I thought he could be like Kemba or Bazz but it wasn't in the cards. They both were dogs and made their weaknesses stengths, for whatever reasons it just hasn't happened for Jalen.

 

[AllAbout5]

This is what I walked away from today's game thinking. And I think that's gotta be the message everyone takes in walking away from it.

I'd have loved to get the win, but today for me was more of a test to see what we really were - and I think they passed with flying colors *despite not playing a very good game*. Carlton looked lost, Jalen was inconsistent and Gilbert played his worst game to date. And we literally went blow for blow w/ them up until the last 10 seconds. They're bigger, more athletic, well coached, we played bad, one of the referees what out of this world terrible and with all that going on, we still flipping SHOULD have won the game. All things considered, this was a team a year ago who couldn't hang on any level with a respectable Division-1 program. In context, this is about what we are and for a month into the season, i'm pretty much okay with that.

And I also think it's the kind of loss where you really do learn things from. They exposed Vital's poor ball handling. They made Gilbert shoot over longer guards. They absolutely abused our slow big men underneath. They made us pay on sloppy turnovers. They needed Jalen to step up and he couldn't find that fifth gear when he had to. Just lessons all around to be had. At the end of the day - we're just not ready to win these games and that showed today.

But we've also played three NCAA Tournament caliber teams - we beat one, got blown out by one, and probably should have beaten the third. All three are probably as good or a little better than the best of what we'll see in our league this year. We're not going to be losing to Tulsa on the road this year or dropping games to ECU. I think we're arguably the best team in the conference and the tournament is 100% in the conversation at this point. If we're in the NIT, we'd probably be one of the best teams in it.

I think this team is better than Ollie's last NCAA team, FWIW. I think i'm feeling pretty good about making it back this year. I think we're good enough now - and I think we're going to be getting better. Today was a huge indicator of that for me. And i've been really pessimistic/walk before you can run about this group as a whole.

I just think it's important people see the good in today because there was just a ton of it. Enough bad to keep you grounded in reality, but I saw everything I needed to see today.

anything besides 2013-14 is better than ollie’s team

 

[intlzncster]

He's very good but not as good a basketball player as AJ Price. I put him at about Boat's level but I've yet to see him have the same motor or desire as Boat. Once upon a time I thought he could be like Kemba or Bazz but it wasn't in the cards. They both were dogs and made their weaknesses stengths, for whatever reasons it just hasn't happened for Jalen.

You happen to pick a guy there I have a real affinity for. If AJP was not both sick and injured, he would be on the Bazz/Kemba/El-Amin level. I also believe we would have won another title. Kid was more explosive coming out of high school than he ever showed at UCONN. So yeah, AJP is a better bball player as a whole.

I think he has more offensive talent than Boat, and I'm not knocking Boat. I just think Boat's will makes him equal. You could say Boat is the better all around player--he's on Ricky's level defensively-- but he can't really dime like Adam's can (when he wants to). Boat was def a pure scoring (short) two guard. Adam's is not phenomenal at running the point, but def better than Boat imo.

I just think it's a really tough comp to hold all our guards to Bazz/Kemba level. Those guys are GOATs, and made themselves that way by developing. It's kinda rare actually.

I'm also wondering what he'd be like if he had Hurley or JC from Day 1.

 

[mauconnfan]

When you're taught poorly, you learn poorly. It's that simple. When bad habits are allowed to flourish, they become embedded, entrenched. You believe, as a kid, that this is the way. That's why coaching, especially at these young developmental stages, is so damn important. As a coach, you beat the bad habits right out, and the fundamentals right in. These kids ain't pros; kids don't know what they don't know. AAU ain't doing them any favors coming into college either.

Hate to tell you but wrong. He’s too smart and too talented to be living off of the past. He’s on his own now and it’s time to change.... anyone believing this is because of KO never played the game. Man up time for Jalen.