Furman post-mortem

[RipCity]

I agree Mau.

People keep saying Brimah will leave and I believe he will, but I don't think he should. He's not an NBA player at all and needs all the experience he can get before going for it. Good college player, but at this point isn't remotely cut out for the NBA.

 

[80shusky]

The Good:

This team shares the hell out of the ball (20 assists on 32 FG), and have multiple guys who can make plays off the dribble. Today it was Adams's turn, but we've obviously seen Hamilton and Gibbs do the same. Rodney can also make plays when the sea parts, and he did exactly that today.

Miller's ability to rise and finish once he establishes deep post position is exceptional. I'm not sure how well it will translate against better competition, because he doesn't have any actual moves - he just rises waaaaaay up and finishes.

SamIIAm and Enoch, our 10th and 11th guys, both gave good minutes and showed some necessary, specific skills. For Sam it was 3-point shooting and ball-movement; for Enoch it was rebounding and simply having good hands - you can zip him a pass underneath and he's gonna catch it. Kid is gonna be LEGIT next year.

The Bad:

The defense was not there today, save for the first 6-7 minutes. It was especially bad in the 2nd half when Furman shot nearly 50%.

Miller was caught napping a bunch, and plays way too flat-footed when coming out to hedge on the pick and roll. He got benched for it in the first half, and then in the second half. While our defense is clearly better this year than last (and Miller's a big part of that), we clearly have a long way to go.

The smallball lineup (tip of the cap to KO for trotting it out there to see how it works) got murdered on the glass, and gave up a ton of penetration. I think smallball with a true, rim-protecting 5 makes more sense than smallball with Hamilton at the 4 and one of the 4s (Miller or Facey) at the 5.

The Ugly:

Shooting. On the page the numbers really aren't that bad, but a lot of our jumpers were early & forced, and just a little bit out of rhythm. Gibbs in particular struggled.

Finishing at the rim. Amida, Kentan, DHam all had some WTF moments.

------------------

This really wasn't bad for our worst game of the season, but I think it truly was our worst game of the season. Good job by KO making adjustments in the second half, and good on Adams for taking the opportunities that presented themselves and punishing a weak team.

I remain convinced that the difference between us being a good team and a great team will be two things: Hamilton's progress as a shooter, and the team's progress as a defensive unit.

All the other pieces are in place.

UConn at this point given their schedule should be 3-0. UConn is 3-0. Making a lot of assumptions of their performance given they essentially dominated a team they should dominate is over analysis I think. We got the win which we should have and beat a team by 25 points. Regarding the Brimah bashers Furman's coach it appears made a decision to have their bigs pull him away from the basket and shoot threes. I'd be happy to give them that shot all night long. They shot 27% from three. I'm not sure anyone has noticed but Brimah is not Hakeem Olajuwon. He is a NCAA champion though. Legitimate big men on good teams are going to try to do their work in the paint, not pull Brimah to the three point line. If Diamond Stone wants to pull Brimah to the three point line and shoot threes I'd be happy to let him try.

 

[dennismenace]

A lot of very good insights in this thread. Very glad to have discovered the Boneyard. Thanks to all for taking the time
to contribute. Makes great reading if you are a fan and you won't find so many insights in the media. Has changed how
I watch bb.

 

[caw]

It's been bad competition but I don't recall seeing UConn blow teams out like this more than a handful of times over the past few seasons. The most impressive thing is how deep this team is. Sure you may not want to start Adams, Cassell, Calhoun, Facey and Nolan but plugging in two to three at a time with two to three starters and the dropoff is much lower than most teams. Assuming Ollie continues to make solid substitutions UConn will be able to wear out a lot of teams and that will cover a ton of "flaws."

 

[The Funster]

Buckle up boys and girls. They'll take us for a great ride this year.

 

[Huskybass]

This is the deepest UConn team in a long time. At least 10 guys contributed today. KO will shorten the rotation, but it won't be easy. I just wish Omar didn't hoist up so many shots. He rebounds and runs the floor well, but at 25% shooting, he needs to be a bit more selective.

Love Adams game. He is scary good in lots of ways.

 

[joober jones]

How about instead of bashing Brimah or going after Nolan/Calhoun instead, we just support and appreciate all of our players? We are UConn fans after all.

 

[jleves]

This is the deepest UConn team in a long time. At least 10 guys contributed today. KO will shorten the rotation, but it won't be easy. I just wish Omar didn't hoist up so many shots. He rebounds and runs the floor well, but at 25% shooting, he needs to be a bit more selective.

Love Adams game. He is scary good in lots of ways.

That's odd - I thought Calhoun had made some midrange shots, but I guess that was in the expeditions. He's 0-2 from 2 for the season. Absolutely has to work from midrange and then extend his range. Could be the missing link if he can actually start shooting.

 

[Huskybass]

Omar took more shots than Gibbs today and as many as Hamilton. I would prefer to see those guys and Miller get more shots.

 

[mauconnfan]

I agree Mau.

People keep saying Brimah will leave and I believe he will, but I don't think he should. He's not an NBA player at all and needs all the experience he can get before going for it. Good college player, but at this point isn't remotely cut out for the NBA.

That's my point Rip thank you. So many here would love to think he's so much better than he actually is they don't realize he's just a piece. I've stated many times, which most prefer to forget, he's fine as he is and being our C in college. But others prefer to think he's improving and the NBA is awaiting his decision which they aren't. Right now he looks like he will never play a minute there, never. My point is he's NOT better than last year, like it or not. Hope it all changes and he is the guy to guard the others team big guy and score against him but for now there are match ups in the future that lead me to believe his minutes will become less and less if he does not improve.

 

[James]

That's my point Rip thank you. So many here would love to think he's so much better than he actually is they don't realize he's just a piece. I've stated many times, which most prefer to forget, he's fine as he is and being our C in college. But others prefer to think he's improving and the NBA is awaiting his decision which they aren't. Right now he looks like he will never play a minute there, never. My point is he's NOT better than last year, like it or not. Hope it all changes and he is the guy to guard the others team big guy and score against him but for now there are match ups in the future that lead me to believe his minutes will become less and less if he does not improve.

who thinks he is 'better than he actually is'? literally nobody has said that. youre making up excuses to bash him. why don't you bash calhoun who was a top 25 recruit and is buried on our bench?

 

[mauconnfan]

who thinks he is 'better than he actually is'? literally nobody has said that. youre making up excuses to bash him. why don't you bash calhoun who was a top 25 recruit and is buried on our bench?

That's BS James anyone who has posted he may go or is a 1st rounder thinks he's better than he is and that may be you. I am not bashing him I am saying it as I see it and if you don't see it you're not looking close enough. He's not getting better, period. He's the same "nice piece" at center, a 7 footer who can block a few shots, make a few shots off alley oops and that's pretty much it. What else are you seeing? Sick of you guys calling me out for "bashing" when I'm just telling it like it is. Watch the damn game for more than 1 or 2 highlights for duckk sake!

The same people who bashed Rodney while I watched him get better, all last year have balls to call me out on this guy that's for damn sure. One guy has improved tremendously and the other not at all.

 

[tcf15]

That's BS James anyone who has posted he may go or is a 1st rounder thinks he's better than he is and that may be you. I am not bashing him I am saying it as I see it and if you don't see it you're not looking close enough. He's not getting better, period. He's the same "nice piece" at center, a 7 footer who can block a few shots, make a few shots off alley oops and that's pretty much it. What else are you seeing? Sick of you guys calling me out for "bashing" when I'm just telling it like it is. Watch the damn game for more than 1 or 2 highlights for duckk sake!

The same people who bashed Rodney while I watched him get better, all last year have balls to call me out on this guy that's for damn sure. One guy has improved tremendously and the other not at all.

I see you've come around on Brimah's height

 

[James]

That's BS James anyone who has posted he may go or is a 1st rounder thinks he's better than he is and that may be you. I am not bashing him I am saying it as I see it and if you don't see it you're not looking close enough. He's not getting better, period. He's the same "nice piece" at center, a 7 footer who can block a few shots, make a few shots off alley oops and that's pretty much it. What else are you seeing? Sick of you guys calling me out for "bashing" when I'm just telling it like it is. Watch the damn game for more than 1 or 2 highlights for duckk sake!

The same people who bashed Rodney while I watched him get better, all last year have balls to call me out on this guy that's for damn sure. One guy has improved tremendously and the other not at all.

not a single person on this forum has said brimah is a sure fire first rounder. facts . isn't strange that you are in a rush to denounce him as pro, but you dont show same zeal when discussing other players on the team?

 

[Matrim55]

He's not getting better, period.

This is pretty clearly wrong. He's grabbing more rebounds, and getting them at their apex. His defensive rotations are also better - faster and smarter.

 

[champs99and04]

@mauconnfan I don't think your commentary on AB is unreasonable. I think your extrapolating of his first three games is a bit extreme, though, especially considering he only played 21 minutes today.

As @Matrim55 points out, we're already seeing signs that he's improving as a rebounder, which would have been far and away the biggest point of concern with him heading into the season. He's at over 10 rebounds per 40 minutes this season - not great, but also not as abysmal as he's been.

And as @James notes, teams are still game planning around his shot blocking. Furman didn't look at the rim today. The fact that Brimah is a long way away from being an NBA player does not mean he's not still an extremely valuable college player. So again, a lot of your criticism is on point, but you take it too far when you stay stuff like, "aside from a few blocks and dunks he doesn't offer much." A lot of his value - on both ends - is not going to be borne out by his individual statistics.

 

[nomar]

Brimah is awful, I fail to understand what people are seeing exactly. I think by conference play he'll see limited minutes and it will be Enooch/Phil or a smaller lineup.

Haha, no. You are the worst. Your "hot takes" stink and it doesn't seem like you actually like UConn.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

I like the depth of this team a lot, but am I the only one who is concerned about both the lack of a true Alpha-type of player, as well as seemingly questionable perimeter defense? I'm not sure who's locking down tough guards on the other team, and I'm not sure who's getting the majority of the looks in the last 4 minutes of any tight game. Those 2 things concern me.

 

[Ts5034]

I like the depth of this team a lot, but am I the only one who is concerned about both the lack of a true Alpha-type of player, as well as seemingly questionable perimeter defense? I'm not sure who's locking down tough guards on the other team, and I'm not sure who's getting the majority of the looks in the last 4 minutes of any tight game. Those 2 things concern me.

Im pretty sure Ollie has said that hes looking for that alpha dog to establish himself on this team. I just think that will come naturally. Face it, we are not going to be playing from 15-20 points ahead every game so we just have to see who that guy is. The competition is going to be a lot tougher in Atlantis so lets see what happens when this team plays the big boys.

 

[David 76]

We won't know who takes the last shot in a close game until we are in one. I think it is more important that the ball to go through Hamilton's hands than who takes the last shot. We could have a trio that shoots that j and two bigs ready to dunk it.
This won't be a Kemba, Bazz, Boat type year

 

[PcketknfNiels]

Im pretty sure Ollie has said that hes looking for that alpha dog to establish himself on this team. I just think that will come naturally. Face it, we are not going to be playing from 15-20 points ahead every game so we just have to see who that guy is. The competition is going to be a lot tougher in Atlantis so lets see what happens when this team plays the big boys.

That alpha has been set from day 1 in each of the championship teams. I do still think we can make a final 4, and I think we'll have a killer regular season record, however I don't think we're built for the tourney at all.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

We won't know who takes the last shot in a close game until we are in one. I think it is more important that the ball to go through Hamilton's hands than who takes the last shot. We could have a trio that shoots that j and two bigs ready to dunk it.
This won't be a Kemba, Bazz, Boat type year

All of our title teams have had that clear alpha dog. And we have the 05-06 and 09-10 teams as evidence that teams built around depth do not work as well.

 

[Stainmaster]

That alpha has been set from day 1 in each of the championship teams. I do still think we can make a final 4, and I think we'll have a killer regular season record, however I don't think we're built for the tourney at all.

Compelling. I'll start digging our grave, you work on procuring the headstone - sound good?

 

[Leebo]

So you can tell, at this point, that we can make it to a Final Four, but we are incapable of winning 2 more games after that?

 

[David 76]

1999 Alpha dog: Rip. But what was KEA?
2004 alpha dog: Ben or Emeka?

We have time to develop our go-to guy(s). I don't see where it can't be Purvis & Hamilton