Georgetown Post Game Thread

[dennismenace]

Just such a frustrating team. Starts from the top. AK needs to be better at inbounding the ball. It’s been an issue all year and continues to be without any improvement. It will kill us in tight games.
Tarris is my most frustrating UConn player of all time. His effort level is so inconsistent. When he wants to play, he’s amazing. When he plays lazy basketball, he gives up easy slip screens, rebounds, and silly fouls. At least Reibe plays hard all game.
Good to see Solo stroking it and Silas mostly good on O besides some turnovers but man you can not feel good about this game. I can see why Reed and Hurley have a contentious relationship (by their own admission). Reed is infuriating.

I think Dan Hurley and Tarris need to get this resolved. To me he looks like he lacks motivation or is even being passive aggressive. Maybe he doesn't relate to the Kodiak bear/monster analogies or "Jersey City" "tough guy" approach. I thought it was instructive to hear the announcer yesterday at the St John's/PC game commenting about how Darling was benched in the early season by Pitino and at some point had a sit down with the kid and took a different approach to motivation. He told him not to lose his confidence and in effect that he still believed in him and his ability. Darling has turned his season completely around, has been on a tear and it was really evident in yesterdays game. Kudos to Pitino for straightening this out and Darling for changing his attitude. One size fits all management styles are clearly not always effective with everyone and coping a bad attitude when your feelings might be hurt is counter-productive. Not saying this is what it is all about but it wouldn't be the first time. Team comes first, not the ego.

 

[boog204]

I like it when we win and we’re 24-2 and while we haven’t look good as of late, I still think we are an extremely difficult out.

3 combined rebounds from our centers. It is beyond essential we target a rebounder at the 4 in the portal. Hopefully the Stew starts at the 4 pipe dream is over for some of you.

Silas has become beyond essential. Without him, we are a carbon copy of last year.

Nice to see Solo hit some shots, just don’t need him to take every shot.

Inbounding the basketball…

Reed with a very poor game. But those of you thinking Reibe is the better option or just destroying Tarris are insane. He (like pretty much everyone else) is very inconsistent. But, when on, he’s a dominant big.

The bench… so disappointing to see us basically be a 6 or 7 (sry) man team.

AK - as always, hits huge shots when we need them.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Well at least we don't feel bad when we let Abraham walk.

 

[willie99]

Our team, like our fanbase, maybe even our coaching staff

Needs big games vs big names to play inspired basketball

I'm hoping, read optimistic, they're better in the tournaments

 

[Chin Diesel]

Half the bench played well tonight. Reibe and Stewart were good. The problem is Stewart and Smith played poorly. They are experienced players. They need to be more consistent

This post is as off as the team was last night.
Mixing up Stewart and Ross after three seasons.

Be better.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's getting to the point where I sometimes forget Jaylin is on the team when I'm watching games. He has 2 points total his last three games and he's played a total of 26 minutes over the last three games.

He came in last night, missed a 3, missed two FT's, got beat on defense and had a foul.

And then he never saw the floor again.

If Hurley had a legit 3rd string center he would have done the same with Reed.

Neither Reed or Stewart had any effort or intensity for last night's game.

 

[husky8273]

The national media doesn't view Donovan Clingan as the second coming of Lou Alcindor.

Lew

 

[Chin Diesel]

Stew has odd body language - it sometimes feels like he doesn't care anymore. Getting 4 minutes off the bench 2/3 into your junior year cannot feel great.

It's almost as if he had a choice to stick around this season knowing he would have to play well to get on the floor and stay on the floor. Or, he could have gone to another school where he'd be guaranteed minutes regardless of output.

 

[Inyatkin]

this is dramatic. And on brand.

Every other poster you click on there’s an ignore option. That poster, no ignore option, at least for me. Reading his posts is the price of admission I guess?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Fanta screaming THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING VALENTINES DAY OF MY LIFE was a bright spot in the darkness that was those last 5 minutes

I don’t know to what degree Hurley is stressing the team to keep the fort on the gas. Multiple times over the last couple years, we’ve heard him make outright statements to the media and to the players in huddles to the effect of “we’re just the better team”. I wonder if that’s gotten in the players’ minds but man after losing to SJU and then not having a rebound game against Butler, you’d think the team would be super motivated. Where’s Karaban as the vocal leader on the floor? I think an underrated part of Tristen was his presence as a leader on the court. I hope Silas gets the confidence to be the vocal leader next year; because otherwise, we have a lot of what seem to be fairly passive personalities.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Wow listened to Hurley about the crowd and he was really disappointed in them. Talked about empty seats and how mild the crowd is it’s like a social event. It should be a mad house he said.

This was his longest answer of the interview and you can tell he’s frustrated with the crowds. At BOTH venues.

 

[freescooter]

E very opposing coach is going to put pressure on our inbounding. Do we even practice that? It’s just insane. Foul shooting was better. But I could definitely see this team lose in the NBE tournament. I don’t ever like to lose but that’s one I don’t care much about. Made for tv event if anybody is injured, sit ‘em. I think they lose in the semis. In the NCAA tournament I just don’t know. Doesn’t feel like a championship contender right now but we’ve had several that didn’t but one the whole thing. This team looked like a powerhouse in November and December. It looks like a very good team now.

 

[Dove]

Okay, there’s still “time” to flip a switch, but what makes you think, 24 games in, that we have the ability to do so?!

You have clearly spent too many days manning the plowshare.

UConn has all the parts to succeed. They refuse to lose. They'll never spit the bit.

 

[freescooter]

This was his longest answer of the interview and you can tell he’s frustrated with the crowds. At BOTH venues.

Maybe don’t worry about the crowd. Worry about teaching your team to rebound!

This is just the way it goes. At least hear. Our attendance peaked in 2006 and declined every season after that. Even after 2011 and 2014. It bounced back after the pandemic but it is showing signs of weakening again. There were empty seats in both recent home games. They might have been sold but they weren’t filled.

 

[REB1094]

Another game that mostly went the exact same way as all the other games

The good parts: Carried by great performance from a few guys (Solo/AK/Silas), really fun offensive spurts, Reibe played great while Tarris was in foul trouble

The bad parts: inbounding execution is terrible, half of the bench in Stewart/Mali gave nothing (Hurley is sending a message to Stew - figure it out or don't play), we were in a dogfight against a bottom feeder team, arena tried to get into it during runs but overall was a graveyard

Yet as much as they tried to lose late, once again they found a way to win. This team will be ranked #4 tomorrow, so what can I do other than cheer and enjoy the ride?

My favorite parts of the game: Solo giving himself an intense pep talk after every three, Iwuchukwu launching a three that hit above the square of the backboard and nothing else, Hasheem Thabeet, AK putting the game away late to secure the wins record (but still looking angry after because they almost blew that lead)

Kayvaun Mulready and KJ Lewis made some really difficult shots, they were fun to watch. We were playing fire on that last foul up by three with the new continuation rule. It was the right call (2 shots), but half a second later and that would have been 3 FTs to tie the game

 

[djct1999]

Mullins needs to be much more than just a 3 point chucker. He seems to seldom miss his two point shots but there aren't enough of them.

They don’t run enough sets for him. The offense in general seems to slow to develop and methodical. I hate the tempo this team plays at.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think you meant Ross. He was passible. He still has trouble keeping guys in front of him and falls for the fakes a lot. Lewis was getting by him a lot. I will give you Reibe who I mentioned played well. Still need more from the bench.

By bench I think you mean Malachi. My wish is that he becomes the microwave 3 and D spark we need off the bench. I like him a lot more when he’s taking 3s and disrupting on D. I like him a lot less when he’s dribbling the perimeter and driving into the trees for a TO

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Maybe don’t worry about the crowd. Worry about teaching your team to rebound!

This is just the way it goes. At least hear. Our attendance peaked in 2006 and declined every season after that. Even after 2011 and 2014. It bounced back after the pandemic but it is showing signs of weakening again. There were empty seats in both recent home games. They might have been sold but they weren’t filled.

I hear ya, but the reporter asked a question and he answered it as nicely as possible. I sense that if he answered questions the way he really wants to, there would be a lot of hurt feelings.

 

[Edward Sargent]

We just played St John’s and they didn’t curb stomp us.

Neither did Arizona

 

[TheShot1990]

"Whatever you do, no matter what, do NOT foul the 3 point shooter. Do NOT! Also you have 4 fouls. It is the ONLY way we can possibly lose this game." (my thoughts)

Tarris proceeds to foul the 3 point shooter....and he's a center, 30 feet from the basket.

 

[Dibbie]

They don’t run enough sets for him. The offense in general seems to slow to develop and methodical. I hate the tempo this team plays at.

Think I heard Hurley say our sets work 40% of the time, where they get the desired shot. Maybe the kid isn’t there yet to create his shot when the sets break down?

 

[djct1999]

With all this negativity on here, I will take a stab at the glass half full. Danny is an intense guy who runs hard practices. Most of his teams hit a mid season wall and quickly recover in March. This team seems to have a hit a similar wall to the 23 team. The big difference is either this team is so good or the big east is so bad that this year they are finding ways to win while still grossly underperforming. Last night was much the same. Far from a perfect performance but seriously did anyone doubt the result? Even after they cut it to 4 late, was anyone worried? I wasn’t. People need to chill. This is a very talented team with a high ceiling. They can beat anyone on any night and are very difficult to prepare for. I think for the last month it’s a very big ask to expect these kids to maintain maximum intensity in games they know they will win. Guess what? They have. Let’s see what happens in the rematch vs St. John’s.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You have clearly spent too many days manning the plowshare.

UConn has all the parts to succeed. They refuse to lose. They'll never spit the bit.

Haven't spit the bit, but they are gagging on it right now and regurgitating the bit.

 

[djct1999]

Think I heard Hurley say our sets work 40% of the time, where they get the desired shot. Maybe the kid isn’t there yet to create his shot when the sets break down?

Or Silas doesnt look for him. When those sets breaks down, it usually results in Silas panicking late, looking for Solo for a contested, rushed 3.

 

[Dibbie]

Or Silas doesnt look for him. When those sets breaks down, it usually results in Silas panicking late, looking for Solo for a contested, rushed 3.

Can’t think of one play this year where I thought “damn Silas really panicked there.”