Frustrated

[strivefor5]

todays game was a very winnable game and I was bummed afterwards but only for a few moments because today showed the potential this program has and I believe we are going to be very good in a couple years. then add the fact that recruiting is trending upward. Hurley is creating a buzz around the school and kids are taking notice and want to be a part of it. I am very excited for the future of UConn basketball.

 

[intlzncster]

Reminder: UConn was 14-18 last year and brought in one recruit of note.

I'm as excited as everyone else for the turnaround but let's have a LITTLE perspective. Even for the boneyard.

Thank you.

 

[intlzncster]

What makes you think he’s coachable? Bad habits are his no one else’s fault on his habits time for him to make less mistakes if he wants to be as good as he thinks he is. The only ones to blame for 12 TOs for he and CV are them.

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.

 

[willie99]

AG layed a brick, he'll be fine. Adams was good, he's not going to be perfect all the time. Vitale gives 1,000%, I can't fault in that kid. The bigs were good enough to win.....

I think they may have NOT played within themselves yesterday, I think they wanted it too much and forced things a little too often. They'll grow from this.

There is one thing I don't really get as of now, why does Smith get all the minutes he's getting? The only plausible explanation is that Hurley thinks he can be a star for them when he gets his game together, but I just don't see anything yet.

 

[80shusky]

This is a game UConn should have won. This UConn team isn't a great team. I'm on board with the enthusiasm along with everybody else but we should be introspective here. Yesterday's loss was self inflicted. A good team with a winning mindset wins that game at home. Jalen and CV had something like 12 turnovers between them. That's pretty much the game along with Arizona's 19 made free throws. We hung with them on the boards, badly outplayed their guards but you can't have your experienced guards turn the ball over that much and expect to win against a solid team.
Still I like what I am seeing with the energy level in general and that the feeling of impending doom seems to be lifted this year. I'm truly excited for the games now and feel like we have a chance to win every one.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is a flawed team.

 

[Ewekon]

Smith fouling on the 3 towards the end was such a momentum killer

He won't be 6th man of the year this year.

 

[Excalibur]

Somewhere between being happy with the quick progress given how far the program fell and being upset that we lost a very winnable game, the truth lies . . .

 

[8893]

Somewhere between being happy with the quick progress given how far the program fell and being upset that we lost a very winnable game, the truth lies . . .

Bingo.

For me, the net takeaway was positive, primarily because the energy is palpably improved in all respects. It was a great Sunday afternoon.

I've attended the Iowa and Arizona games so far this season, so I am 0-2. Yet I am looking forward to my next chance to attend a game. It feels good again.

 

[zls44]

I've attended the Iowa and Arizona games so far this season, so I am 0-2. Yet I am looking forward to my next chance to attend a game.

I'm not.

 

[August_West]

Bingo.

For me, the net takeaway was positive, primarily because the energy is palpably improved in all respects. It was a great Sunday afternoon.

I've attended the Iowa and Arizona games so far this season, so I am 0-2. Yet I am looking forward to my next chance to attend a game. It feels good again.

Was going to see if you wanted to go with me Wednesday.

Now Im not. Youre a mush.

 

[8893]

I'm not.

Was going to see if you wanted to go with me Wednesday.

Now Im not. Youre a mush.

Admittedly, my defense, turnovers and free throws were pretty pathetic.

 

[August_West]

Admittedly, my defense, turnovers and free throws were pretty pathetic.

 

[tower1]

Ok can we stop being delusional for two seconds? This team still has habits from Ollie’s years. They aren’t a tournament team over night. I’ve said this from day 1. They can sneak in during the AAC tourney but def not a tournament team. If you’re looking at the “long haul” UConn is gunna be a powerhouse starting next year. The recruits saw how loud XL can get. It wasn’t a blow out so it didn’t turn off recruits. They saw a coach they’d wanna play for. You can’t go from being numb to 30 point losses last year then complain they don’t play well enough. Enjoy the ride. It’s a process. It’s very unfair to the kids on that team to demand immediate NCAA tournament berth after what happened. I’m happy with this team.

So what they are not a tournament team but that is not an excuse for them lacking discipline. The guards especially Gilbert today where awful. He turned the ball over repeatedly trying to score instead of passing. He cost them this game today. I think Hurley needs to tighten the reins a little bit.

 

[freescooter]

Team is sadly lacking in skill. I agree with those who say Jalen is a role player on the good UConn teams. Nobody else starts. Two guys with possible upsides are Wilson and Gilbert but both need to work hArd to get there

 

[tzznandrew]

Team is sadly lacking in skill. I agree with those who say Jalen is a role player on the good UConn teams. Nobody else starts. Two guys with possible upsides are Wilson and Gilbert but both need to work hArd to get there

On the very best UConn teams, Jalen is the second best player.

Gilbert is the 6th man brought in to change pace and bring Jalen off the ball (a la Kemba 2009).
Wilson the talented rookie who gets spot minutes.
CV is the guy on the bench we bring in to teach a lesson to Jalen/Gilbert/Talented Guard 3.

Nobody else is on the team or sees the floor except maybe Cobb as someone somewhere between Soulemane Wane and Antric Klaiber.

 

[Towney007]

On the very best UConn teams, Jalen is the second best player.

Gilbert is the 6th man brought in to change pace and bring Jalen off the ball (a la Kemba 2009).
Wilson the talented rookie who gets spot minutes.
CV is the guy on the bench we bring in to teach a lesson to Jalen/Gilbert/Talented Guard 3.

Nobody else is on the team or sees the floor except maybe Cobb as someone somewhere between Soulemane Wane and Antric Klaiber.

That's what i'm trying to say to people. On the 'UConn scale' - this team is mostly bench back-fill with 2 or 3 reasonable multi-year pieces.

Great kids who work hard, but yeah. They're not playing much on a good UConn team.

 

[intlzncster]

we should not have lost that game, however it seems as though Hurley is trying to figure out his rotation people played minutes who should not have and some of the lines up didn't make sense. Yakwe and Sid should really never play together ever.

Agreed. He still doing this because Sid was out for 3+ weeks. They'll be even more integrative issues once Diarra comes back, though I'd argue that's a lot easier situation to figure out.

 

[tzznandrew]

That's what i'm trying to say to people. On the 'UConn scale' - this team is mostly bench back-fill with 2 or 3 reasonable multi-year pieces.

Great kids who work hard, but yeah. They're not playing much on a good UConn team.

This team is fun to watch because they work hard. There's not a lot of high end talent, though, and they're going to be a borderline tournament team at best.

There's a reason why both Sagarin and KenPom have us still ranked in the 80s, and it's not just holding onto last year's data. There's also a reason why we've played 3 solid P5 teams have only beaten the team that didn't have it's starting PG. (Not that Howard has been good, tbf, but they're starting to play better now that he's back.)

 

[intlzncster]

There is one thing I don't really get as of now, why does Smith get all the minutes he's getting? The only plausible explanation is that Hurley thinks he can be a star for them when he gets his game together, but I just don't see anything yet.

Because he really wants to play a high energy 3 guard lineup. Can't do it with just 3 guards. Need that 4th.

 

[intlzncster]

Admittedly, my defense, turnovers and free throws were pretty pathetic.

Do better. Drink Rock and eat wings until you puke.

 

[Tenspro2002]

On the very best UConn teams, Jalen is the second best player.

Gilbert is the 6th man brought in to change pace and bring Jalen off the ball (a la Kemba 2009).
Wilson the talented rookie who gets spot minutes.
CV is the guy on the bench we bring in to teach a lesson to Jalen/Gilbert/Talented Guard 3.

Nobody else is on the team or sees the floor except maybe Cobb as someone somewhere between Soulemane Wane and Antric Klaiber.

Apt comparison, consider the last vintage UConn team from 2009.

Jalen Adams = Jerome Dyson
Gilbert = Kemba
Vital = Craig Austrie
Cobb/Carlton = Gavin Edwards/Charles Okwandu
Wilson doesn't really have a comp from that team, but is a smaller and poor man's Stanley Robinson.

We're still missing a starting point guard and a starting frontcourt. Hopefully Gilbert can grow into that role, with Bouknight replacing Adams. And Akok and (hopefully) Cockburn can give us the high-major frontcourt we've been missing since KO took over.

 

[intlzncster]

So what they are not a tournament team but that is not an excuse for them lacking discipline. The guards especially Gilbert today where awful. He turned the ball over repeatedly trying to score instead of passing. He cost them this game today. I think Hurley needs to tighten the reins a little bit.

How? By benching Gilbert--our second best player who is unfortunately a frosh on the court? We don't have the personnel to do this.

 

[intlzncster]

Apt comparison, consider the last vintage UConn team from 2009.

Jalen Adams = Jerome Dyson
Gilbert = Kemba
Vital = Craig Austrie
Cobb/Carlton = Gavin Edwards/Charles Okwandu
Wilson doesn't really have a comp from that team, but is a smaller and poor man's Stanley Robinson.

We're still missing a starting point guard and a starting frontcourt. Hopefully Gilbert can grow into that role, with Bouknight replacing Adams. And Akok and (hopefully) Cockburn can give us the high-major frontcourt we've been missing since KO took over.

Vital is closer to a Kromah than Austrie, but I agree with most of those.

 

[superjohn]

On the very best UConn teams, Jalen is the second best player.

Gilbert is the 6th man brought in to change pace and bring Jalen off the ball (a la Kemba 2009).
Wilson the talented rookie who gets spot minutes.
CV is the guy on the bench we bring in to teach a lesson to Jalen/Gilbert/Talented Guard 3.

Nobody else is on the team or sees the floor except maybe Cobb as someone somewhere between Soulemane Wane and Antric Klaiber.

Agreed but on our very best teams the second best player was El-Amin, Ben Gordon, Lamb, and Boatright. Is Jalen as good as them?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Hey, at least we're frustrated because we played well enough to win. AZ made a couple more plays and made their FTs. If Jalens layup rolls in for the and one and it's an entirely different game. We're not getting offense by accident and look like a solid team that needs work. Miles ahead of where we were in March.

 

[Towney007]

GIlbert needs to play as much as humanly possible. He's basically a freshman.

Again - i'm totally baffled by people who thought this guy was going to be El-Amin when he played only part of like 6 or 7 games heading into this year. Talent is through the roof, but he's gotta develop and developing him means dealing with the headaches he gives you.

He's literally the ONLY guy on this team who I think has the potential to be 'a best player on the team' caliber guy. So he can be sloppy all he wants right now. It's part of learning this stuff.

 

[Towney007]

Agreed but on our very best teams the second best player was El-Amin, Ben Gordon, Lamb, and Boatright. Is Jalen as good as them?

He's as good as none of them. But I think he's probably better than just about all of our 'third best' type guys.

If he could play defense at all, he'd be a top 15-20 guy in the history of the program almost effortlessly.

 

[tzznandrew]

Agreed but on our very best teams the second best player was El-Amin, Ben Gordon, Lamb, and Boatright. Is Jalen as good as them?

It's hard to say, right? Certainly I'd put him below Gordon and El-Amin and above freshman Lamb. But circumstances dictate different results. By that I mean that a player who is Option 1 gets treated differently by the opposition--and by your own offense--than Option 2. A Jalen that gets less attention, who has a better player to play off of, probably looks a lot better.

 

[intlzncster]

GIlbert needs to play as much as humanly possible. He's basically a freshman.

Again - i'm totally baffled by people who thought this guy was going to be El-Amin when he played only part of like 6 or 7 games heading into this year. Talent is through the roof, but he's gotta develop and developing him means dealing with the headaches he gives you.

He's literally the ONLY guy on this team who I think has the potential to be 'a best player on the team' caliber guy. So he can be sloppy all he wants right now. It's part of learning this stuff.

And realistically, people are giving him little credit for both coming back from major surgery/injury--and all that entails mentally/physically--and being super rusty after 2+ years off.

 

[intlzncster]

It's hard to say, right? Certainly I'd put him below Gordon and El-Amin and above freshman Lamb. But circumstances dictate different results. By that I mean that a player who is Option 1 gets treated differently by the opposition--and by your own offense--than Option 2. A Jalen that gets less attention, who has a better player to play off of, probably looks a lot better.

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