Gaffney disappointing

[dennismenace]

Stubborness is a key trait in most great and successful people across all walks of life. When others stop or quit or don't see results, the great ones see progress in the process and keep trudging along until there are results. Hurley is hardly the first coach to stay with a rotation or a player who isn't yielding results as quickly as us fans would like.

Stubborness is also a key trait in many who fail. When others see a particular choice as not being successful and not leading to success, they adapt and change while those who are stubborn keep doing the same thing expecting different results.

You become wildly successful or become the definition of insanity.

For Hurley this is where us fans have to trust assistant coaches are giving Hurley the best advice they can and the rest of Hurley's influencers are helping him through this as well.

Thank you for reminding us that he has a very capable staff and they believe in him. Most coaches believe that what happens in practice will bring out what is best in the games. I think this team got "punched in the face" (as Bruce Pearl calls it) from the start to the finish for three days in a row. As Pearl said "you come looking for this to be tested and see what you're made of meaning where your weaknesses and strengths are. Well, a lot was revealed on both counts so there is a lot of thinking, reviewing, reflecting and planning to come out of it. The team came out bloodied and overall I think they showed us something. They are going to have to have to give their all everyday
if they expect to go anywhere. I saw a lot of courage and will to win from many players. I have some fond memories of this tournament. Watching Ajax leaping like he was on a pogo stick jumping over everyone with his head above the rim (14 boards in 33 mins.), Martin showing a warrior leadership as usual and Whaley seemingly "coming back from the dead" and spearheading things at crunch time including a stanchion beatdown. I believe Gaff was overwhelmed and hope he can get back on track. I am trusting the staff can deliver on shoring up the weaknesses shown against pressure defenses one way or the other.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I’ve never been a fan of Gaffney and the more he plays the more irritable I become.

 

[navery12]

Who does Hawkins replace in the starting lineup then? Hurley has made it clear that he likes having AJ start because he is so “disruptive”—even if that means having an anemic offense that is in a five-to-ten point hole by the five minute mark.

It should be Whaley, but I'd expect him to replace Jackson in the starting lineup

 

[Kitaman]

Many of the comments are spot on but its way too early to give up on Gaff. The light bulb clicks on later for some upperclassmen. Gaffney has some tools to work with and be effective and be a strong contributor.

I expect come Conference play, Gaffney will be a contributor and vital part of our team.

I am surprised though with Hurley, and Taliek being point guards, they can't 'fix' him especially after 2+ years. More importantly, not to correct his mistakes (many the same) in-game. To me its equal blame (coaches/player).

 

[Chin Diesel]

Odd fact most fans, myself included, probably wouldn't have guessed.

Gaff leads team in FT attempts this year and is second in FT's made.

Good or bad, he will be on the floor in end of game situations.

 

[8893]

It should be Whaley

I understand where you are coming from, but today’s a helluva day for that sentiment.

 

[RayRay]

I really don't understand these takes on the rotation/Hurley. Maybe he doesn't make changes fast enough for people here, but we have tons of evidence now of him integrating freshman into the rotation throughout the season. And he's been very open about how he's going to do it now that we have enough talent where they don't need to be thrown into the fire right away

It’s really just an observation, none of us are freaking out or panicking over this tournament. Overall it was a successful tournament, and Hurley and staff have been 95% great, but there is always room for an improvement in anything you do, no matter what it is.

That being said, I do believe Hurley doesn’t adapt well in games. We could have/should have won that MSU game had we adapted better. It’s going to be incredibly difficult to win games if we are playing our anemic offensive lineup of Cole-Jackson-Martin-Whaley-Sanogo for long stretches. Clearly this is the lineup that Hurley trusts the most to not make mistakes, but defenses feast on this lineup. Take a look at all the possessions where Jackson caught the ball vs MSU, the defense is literally daring him to shoot, and by playing off him that far, he has nowhere to go. He has no confidence and doesn’t even look for his shot as of right now.
The reason this got brought up in this thread is because unfortunately Gaffney is not going to be the answer, particularly against ball pressure defense, which we will get from most big east/quality opponents. Obviously Hurley knows what he has in Diggins from practice, so hopefully he was just bringing him along slowly and he will give him a good sample sized opportunity against MES and Grambling. I also think Johnson needs to get the same opportunity because he is more than likely going to give us quite a bit more than Akok, especially consistently.

One more point to address regarding Hawkins. I honestly think his handle is just fine, and his issue is more of a being sped up issue. I played basketball and sports for the majority of my life, and it’s so common to start your next move and just forget to bring the ball with you. To me it looks like that’s exactly what his issue is. He’s just going so fast and it’s causing him to lose the ball in a few instances. When you watch him take his defender off the dribble on half court offense, he has great handle and nice quick moves. This is an easily correctable thing and Hawk will be just fine imo.

 

[mauconnfan]

Gaff looks good when he’s out there basically being a 2 guard. Problem is that when he comes in & RJ is there, he often has some ball handling duties to let RJ play off ball, and he struggles there. A lot

He didn’t look good with or without Coke in there for 3 days. He’s still the same guy we’ve seen 21/4 years in. We need him and Akok to be much better to make our depth more of an impact. For now both fall short! Hope Diggins gets play next 2, meaningful not garbage, so we can get a feel.

 

[navery12]

It’s really just an observation, none of us are freaking out or panicking over this tournament. Overall it was a successful tournament, and Hurley and staff have been 95% great, but there is always room for an improvement in anything you do, no matter what it is.

That being said, I do believe Hurley doesn’t adapt well in games. We could have/should have won that MSU game had we adapted better. It’s going to be incredibly difficult to win games if we are playing our anemic offensive lineup of Cole-Jackson-Martin-Whaley-Sanogo for long stretches. Clearly this is the lineup that Hurley trusts the most to not make mistakes, but defenses feast on this lineup. Take a look at all the possessions where Jackson caught the ball vs MSU, the defense is literally daring him to shoot, and by playing off him that far, he has nowhere to go. He has no confidence and doesn’t even look for his shot as of right now.
The reason this got brought up in this thread is because unfortunately Gaffney is not going to be the answer, particularly against ball pressure defense, which we will get from most big east/quality opponents. Obviously Hurley knows what he has in Diggins from practice, so hopefully he was just bringing him along slowly and he will give him a good sample sized opportunity against MES and Grambling. I also think Johnson needs to get the same opportunity because he is more than likely going to give us quite a bit more than Akok, especially consistently.

One more point to address regarding Hawkins. I honestly think his handle is just fine, and his issue is more of a being sped up issue. I played basketball and sports for the majority of my life, and it’s so common to start your next move and just forget to bring the ball with you. To me it looks like that’s exactly what his issue is. He’s just going so fast and it’s causing him to lose the ball in a few instances. When you watch him take his defender off the dribble on half court offense, he has great handle and nice quick moves. This is an easily correctable thing and Hawk will be just fine imo.

I think the ball pressure defense is a bit overstated. We'll need to find the answer to beat St John's but I don't think the other teams have the rosters to pull that off against us. Doesn't mean Hurley can ignore it, but I don't think it's an issue that would derail our season.

The posts in this thread were a little more reasonable, but across threads yesterday we had people calling for transfers of just about everyone not getting minutes. That's the type of overreaction I'm talking about when I say people are being a little ridiculous

 

[Giddyup5]

Hurley has said over and over again that players earn minutes in practice. That is not going to change. If you expect Diggins and Johnson to get more meaningful minutes next 2 games you are going to be disappointed.

I think we will see Hawkins get more meaningful minutes at the expense of Ajax at the 2 guard.

Martin is gonna get 30 with Ajax filling in.

Whaley is not going anywhere. And he shouldn’t. He does too much defensively and keeps the ball moving on offense.

I can see Johnson beating out Akok in practice as season progresses.

Cole 30, Gaffney 10
Hawkins 25, Martin 10, Gaffney 5
Martin 20, Ajax 20
Whaley 15, Polley 15-20, Akok 0-5 (Johnson)
Sanogo 30, Whaley 10

 

[RayRay]

Hurley has said over and over again that players earn minutes in practice. That is not going to change. If you expect Diggins and Johnson to get more meaningful minutes next 2 games you are going to be disappointed.

I think we will see Hawkins get more meaningful minutes at the expense of Ajax at the 2 guard.

Martin is gonna get 30 with Ajax filling in.

Whaley is not going anywhere. And he shouldn’t. He does too much defensively and keeps the ball moving on offense.

I can see Johnson beating out Akok in practice as season progresses.

Cole 30, Gaffney 10
Hawkins 25, Martin 10, Gaffney 5
Martin 20, Ajax 20
Whaley 15, Polley 15-20, Akok 0-5 (Johnson)
Sanogo 30, Whaley 10

I would personally be thrilled with this, and if Diggins/Johnson show more in practice, then they eat up the Gaff and Akok/Polley minutes. But one thing is for certain, Hawk needs to be the starting sg. I don’t see it any other way here unless Jackson suddenly becomes confident and looks to actually shoot. But again, I just don’t see that happening, he passes up so so many open looks.

 

[superjohn]

I would personally be thrilled with this, and if Diggins/Johnson show more in practice, then they eat up the Gaff and Akok/Polley minutes. But one thing is for certain, Hawk needs to be the starting sg. I don’t see it any other way here unless Jackson suddenly becomes confident and looks to actually shoot. But again, I just don’t see that happening, he passes up so so many open looks.

I though Jackson was very aggressive offensively the past two games, his shot just didn't go down. Everything was right on he just had his shots rattle in and out.

He still makes too many mistakes but I really liked the force he played with. He was skying for rebounds and always pushing pace and looking ahead with the pass.

 

[jibsey]

14 rebounds/ 4 assists. Jackson is an essential piece. What if he drives to 15 fee, jumps about 5 feet in the air and shoots? Who is blocking him?

 

[HeGotGame]

Gaffney was horrible in Battle 4 Atlantis no doubt, but he was good before then. Keep in mind they are playing in converted ballrooms where they just lay down a floor and toss up some nets - the lighting/ceiling height/etc. isn't the same as a normal gym so it might just affect some players more than others. If he comes back and stinks over the next 5 games then I think it's time to really worry.

If he cannot be good against CCSU, LIU and Binghamton then he can't be on a BE roster, what happened in Atlantis is what the season will be, not the cupcakes he played at home before.

 

[bendm]

Who does Hawkins replace in the starting lineup then? Hurley has made it clear that he likes having AJ start because he is so “disruptive”—even if that means having an anemic offense that is in a five-to-ten point hole by the five minute mark.

We have a clear top 6 that should all be averaging close to 30 mpg a game. I don’t really care who starts, Hawk just needs to play a lot more. But we don’t need to water down our rotation further we need to tighten it up. Most teams don’t give more than 7 guys significant PT and we’re not as deep as we thought.

Cole 30, Gaff 5, Jax 5
Jax 15, Hawk 25
Martin 30, Jax 10
Whaley 20, Polley 10, Akok 10
Sanogo 30, Whaley 10

30: Cole/AJ/Martin/Whaley/Sanogo
25: Hawk
10: Polley, Akok
5: Gaff

 

[superjohn]

We have a clear top 6 that should all be averaging close to 30 mpg a game. I don’t really care who starts, Hawk just needs to play a lot more. But we don’t need to water down our rotation further we need to tighten it up. Most teams don’t give more than 7 guys significant PT and we’re not as deep as we thought.

Cole 30, Gaff 5, Jax 5
Jax 15, Hawk 25
Martin 30, Jax 10
Whaley 20, Polley 10, Akok 10
Sanogo 30, Whaley 10

30: Cole/AJ/Martin/Whaley/Sanogo
25: Hawk
10: Polley, Akok
5: Gaff

Completely disagree.

 

[bendm]

Completely disagree.

Yeah adding Diggins and Samson for an 11 man rotation will turn us into a final 4 contender…or will more minutes for gaffney, Akok and polley do the trick?

 

[superjohn]

Yeah adding Diggins and Samson for an 11 man rotation will turn us into a final 4 contender…or will more minutes for gaffney, Akok and polley do the trick?

Our depth needs to be used. We're not Nova. We have a bunch of good players and need to be using them. Playing 6 would be beyond stupid with this roster. Most teams don't have a 7 man rotation, you're taking out of your butt.

 

[bendm]

Our depth needs to be used. We're not Nova. We have a bunch of good players and need to be using them. Playing 6 would be beyond stupid with this roster. Most teams don't have a 7 man rotation, you're taking out of your butt.

Uncalled for. I listed 8 guys playing double digit mins that’s plenty deep especially as the season goes on. We don’t have a personnel problem we have an execution problem.

 

[UncleSpliff]

We’re gonna have a serious problem if another ball handler doesn’t step up. The blueprint is out against us. Full court pressure. Gaffney has proven he ain’t the guy and Diggins isn’t ready. Maybe we can get a transfer for the spring semester??

 

[UCfor3]

Gaffney had a bad tournament and he is more of a combo or 2 guard. I'm not under any illusion that he is some huge difference maker. With that said, people are acting like he is just incapable of performing decently against solid competition. I know it's tough these days to think outside the most recent news cycle, but people forget he was borderline our best performer against Maryland last year in the tourney and he has had some decent permormances against Big East teams. Is he consistent? Nope. Is he the answer as a full time PG if Cole got injured. Probably not. That is why people want to see Diggins get some run. Cole is overworked and we need a second point guard to spell him for a few minutes here and there. In this day and age of transfer protocols, I think it's pretty good practice to get your top 60 freshman some playing time here and there. I understand why it doesn't happen in Atlantis but I'd like Johnson and Diggins to play a little more than mop up time against Marland Eastern Shore and Grambling St.

 

[KingAG]

I’m still driving the #6thManGaff train. He’s not being used correctly right now. He’s a 2 man. If we find time for diggins to be the second primary ball handler we’ll see Gaff excel

 

[UCOnions]

One thing that I have not seen anyone bring up yet about Gaffney is his lack of ability to make tough contested lay ups. That is what made our past guards great. Their ability to get into the lane and finish even with contact/getting fouled.

It seems like he has a tough time making them when they aren't contested as well.... He just needs to work on this as well as his handles under pressure.

 

[superjohn]

Uncalled for. I listed 8 guys playing double digit mins that’s plenty deep especially as the season goes on. We don’t have a personnel problem we have an execution problem.

I disagree with you, most teams don't go 7 deep with significant playing time. Our depth is our strength. Playing just 6 guys for the majority of the game with spot minutes for 2 more players would be wasting our advantage. Never playing our 2 top 60 recruits would be a major mistake.

 

[superjohn]

I’m still driving the #6thManGaff train. He’s not being used correctly right now. He’s a 2 man. If we find time for diggins to be the second primary ball handler we’ll see Gaff excel

Playing Gaff at point guard is trying to force a square peg in a round hole. He has a weak handle and just dribbles around the perimeter with no purpose. We never get into any kind of offense when he's forced into playing point. He is what he is. He's a timid player who can make the open three and the occasional drive to the rim.

 

[bendm]

I disagree with you, most teams don't go 7 deep with significant playing time. Our depth is our strength. Playing just 6 guys for the majority of the game with spot minutes for 2 more players would be wasting our advantage. Never playing our 2 top 60 recruits would be a major mistake.

That was a typo. I meant 8 not 7 which is why I listed 8 in double figures for us plus gaff.

And Of course it would have been nice to get digg and Samson in the rotation but given that Hawk is playing and they are not, that tells me what I need to know about their readiness

 

[Huskygamble19]

Seeing Gaffney against tough competition does not give me a good feeling going fwd when Cole needs a blow. My guess is the portal will be used for this purpose in the off season or Diggins will have to grow up real fast.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Gaffney was very good the first couple of games. He's capable of getting the job done.

Granted Boatwright had some different skills, but it was early on in his junior year when it 'clicked' and he became a very good player. Maybe Gaffney will never become consistent and what a top 25 team needs him to be, but I still have some faith in the young man.

That said, he should not have been on the floor at times in the Mich. St. game in the end.

 

[tower1]

I’m still driving the #6thManGaff train. He’s not being used correctly right now. He’s a 2 man. If we find time for diggins to be the second primary ball handler we’ll see Gaff excel

I don't care how he is used but he should be able to make layups !

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

As long as Cole stays healthy, we will get by fine this year and be set up next year at PG... hopefully.

Very happy with the progress so far and the fact we have a sick front court and can, at the very least, be competitive with probably any team in the country.

One one hand, we played some of the elite defenses in the country in Atlantis. And Diggins and Hawkins are still young freshmen, and hopefully will improve throughout the year.

Having said all that, it's pretty inexcusable on the coaching staff's part that we have 2 open scholarships and no one who's ready to play right now who can handle the ball at the point position outside of Cole. This is UConn basketball, playing in the Big East. We have pieces to push for a tournament run.. by redshirting Floyd, not playing Diggins, and Gaffney not being a much-improved ballhandler, we are way too thin in the backcourt. We badly could've used another veteran ballhandling/scoring PG. Gaffney was supposed to be that guy at this point, but his handle is just not there yet. I still think Gaffney has good value to this team as a shooter, facilitator, good athlete and defender, and will improve as the season progresses.