Game thoughts - BU

[RichZ]

1. The first five minutes or so of the game was an exercise in frustration offensively. Thankfully, the defense was stout enough to keep us from getting completely buried early.
2. Vital's reverse layup at 7:20 was thing of beauty and started a personal outburst of 7 straight points to give us back the lead for good.
3. First half would have been pretty dismal without Vital and Anderson. Unless you want to count Larrier as an interior player, we got zero points from our bigs in the first half.
4. Gilbert still overpenetrates. Ends up attempting a lot of shots from right under the rim, but overall he was a lot better after half-time.
5. Terry Larrier going behind the back on a drive in traffic is NOT a good idea at all.
6. DO at 8:40 in the 2nd half! Rebound AND a great move to get the half-hook. Best offensive move by a UConn big this year. Unfortunately, it was Big DaveO's only bucket of the game. Seemed like most of our bigs had one or two smooth looking deals on offense.
7. Bigman Jump scored his first Husky bucket. An off balance putback of a Carlton miss with one foot on the ground. Still no dunktasticness. Funny, but the play-by-play on ESPN.com called it a jumper. JA made a shot from virtually the same spot later in the game, and they called it a layup.
8. Our 3 point defense sucked in the 2nd half. After going 4 of 15 from three in the first half, BU went for 6 of 12 in the 3nd half, and a few of the misses were wide open. Didn't have any effect on tonight's outcome, but definitely not a good sign going forward.
9. Played more than a few meaningful 2nd half minutes with both Jalen and Alterique on the bench and AA and CV handling the backcourt duties. There was a lot of 3 guard lineup, but it' still pretty interesting that AA and CV played as many minutes as JA and AG tonight. The AA/CV combo went off for 41/10/4 combined, while JA/AG went 21/12/9.
10. On the subject of guards, Jalen made a left handed layup at around the 11 minute mark in the 2nd half!
11. Seemed like Ollie took advantage of playing with a lead to experiment with various front court combinations, and was constantly rotating bigs in and out in the 2nd half. 12 points from the combined bigs in the 2nd half wasn't great, but it was a lot better than the big zip in the first half.
12. Not sure when the last time we outrebounded somebody by 20 was, but it's been a while. Not sure if it's troublesome, but it bears keeping an eye on, that 29 of our 52 boards came from the backcourt/perimeter players.
13. Much has been made of us not having a premier shot blocker this year. But 3 games in, we have 14 blocks. Wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't more than last year at this point.

 

[auror]

1. On the subject of guards, Jalen made a left handed layup at around the 11 minute mark in the 2nd half!

Haha I missed this was with the left hand. He used the basket to shield nicely as well. Good note.

 

[conn man]

Good post! Point #8 continues to be a problem; I'm just hoping we can improve slightly by Thursday.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

12. Not sure when the last time we outrebounded somebody by 20 was, but it's been a while. Not sure if it's troublesome, but it bears keeping an eye on, that 29 of our 52 boards came from the backcourt/perimeter players.

13. Much has been made of us not having a premier shot blocker this year. But 3 games in, we have 14 blocks. Wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't more than last year at this point.

12. Last season vs USF(2/8/17). out rebounded them 40-20.

13. Close! Last year we had 16 through the first 3 games. Still much more than I expected us to have this year (ranked 30th in the country in block %).

 

[spudzj6]

There was a lot of 3 guard lineup
Seemed like Ollie took advantage of playing with a lead to experiment with various front court combinations, and was constantly rotating bigs in and out in the 2nd half. 12 points from the combined bigs in the 2nd half wasn't great, but it was a lot better than the big zip in the first half.

Lots of good tidbits of observations, used more facts and less opinion. Thanks for the post!

Combining two of your points - I remember at one point in the game there were 4 Guards on the court. It was AA, CV, AG, and JA. Coach subbed in two or three different guys at the "5" to see what big works the best with a 4 guard lineup. I'll have to go back and watch the replay to see what the stats were during that stretch and which big worked best. Think this is something they will be doing at any point in the season against more adequate opponents?

 

[upstater]

Good post! Point #8 continues to be a problem; I'm just hoping we can improve slightly by Thursday.

Ollie knows it too. Was one of his main 2 points in the post game interview.

Also said the team took 30 threes, and that was way way too many.

 

[Matrim55]

Much has been made of us not having a premier shot blocker this year. But 3 games in, we have 14 blocks.

All hail Josh Carlton!

Seriously though, the most pleasant aspect of these first three games has been that he doesn't look lost at all defensively, and he certainly looks every bit of the 6-foot-9, 240 lbs he's listed at (and with long arms to boot). What's been great about him is he tends to be able to challenge a shot without completely selling out and leaving gaps for offensive rebounds.

We'll see if he can manage it against better competition, but so far I'm really encouraged by Carlton's play.

 

[RichZ]

All hail Josh Carlton!

Seriously though, the most pleasant aspect of these first three games has been that he doesn't look lost at all defensively, and he certainly looks every bit of the 6-foot-9, 240 lbs he's listed at (and with long arms to boot). What's been great about him is he tends to be able to challenge a shot without completely selling out and leaving gaps for offensive rebounds.

We'll see if he can manage it against better competition, but so far I'm really encouraged by Carlton's play.

I think our best front line looks a lot like Carlton with Larrier and either Polley or Whaley. The back court? Whichever pair of the four guards that are working best at the moment.

 

[Matrim55]

I think our best front line looks a lot like Carlton with Larrier and either Polley or Whaley. The back court? Whichever pair of the four guards that are working best at the moment.

Our best 5 is Jalen, Anderson, Vital, Larrier & Carlton.

 

[superjohn]

Our best 5 is Jalen, Anderson, Vital, Larrier & Carlton.

Maybe when we are playing BU but if we have plans of turning into a very good team, Alterique is absolutely on the court for our best 5.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Gilbert can pretty clearly get wherever he wants to on the floor. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what to do when he gets there.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Gilbert can pretty clearly get wherever he wants to on the floor. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what to do when he gets there.

His finishing at the rim has already been a problem against cupcakes. Against stiffer competition it may be a complete non-starter.

 

[superjohn]

Gilbert can pretty clearly get wherever he wants to on the floor. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what to do when he gets there.

I'm confident he will end up being the best player out of all of them when it's said and done.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

His finishing at the rim has already been a problem against cupcakes. Against stiffer competition it may be a complete non-starter.

I would completely expect that assessment from you but I think it has less to do with the quality of competition and more to do with the fact that he hasn't played competitive games in a year. It's going to take some time for him to figure out the rhythm of the game. We've seen this movie before with UConn guards who have turned out to be great.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I would completely expect that assessment from you but I think it has less to do with the quality of competition and more to do with the fact that he hasn't played competitive games in a year. It's going to take some time for him to figure out the rhythm of the game. We've seen this movie before with UConn guards who have turned out to be great.

I'm not writing him off by any stretch, but he'll have to be smarter and craftier on his drives, whether that's with a pullup jumper, floater, or learning how to deal with the contact from guys a foot taller than him.

 

[Travelman6]

This year, BU is very similar to last year, no? Just with another year of maturity. I say that because, as we all recall, Uconn won that by just two. This year, they fairly easily pulled away starting in the closing minutes of the first half and won by 19 against a BU Team that is improved over last year. I think this is the best possible barometer, SO FAR, of how this years team, flaws and all, is much better than last years team. Oregon, being so different, sadly, will not serve as good of a barometer if being used to compare to last year. But they will serve as a challenge, of course. I hope Uconn steps it up on the road.

 

[zepfan]

Terry Larrier going behind the back on a drive in traffic is NOT a good idea at all.

Great observations about the game. I share your concern about TL. Larrier is a very nice player - particularly his shooting. However, he has trouble staying within himself/his abilities. He needs to learn what he does well and then stick with it. Trying to do too much is a freshman mistake. He doesn't appear to have the court poise, mental discipline that the best players have. I hope this changes as he gets more time on the court. I do like him but would like more disciplined play. If he reduces his mistakes and plays to his strengths he can be a hell of a player.