Gibbs Great, Hamilton Terrible

[CallMeBruce]

Check his stat line. Gibbs also had 7 assists and 8 rebounds. Accounted for 36 of team's total 75 points.

I've found it's easier to just ignore the troglodytes, but godspeed to you, sir.

 

[intlzncster]

Check his stat line. Gibbs also had 7 assists and 8 rebounds. Accounted for 36 of team's total 75 points.

He had a really nice steal and feed (that wasnt converted) at one point too. Two of his purported weaknesses where he looked good.

Bbbbbut he didn't pass the eye test...

 

[CTBasketball]

He had a really nice steal and feed (that wasnt converted) at one point too. Two of his purported weaknesses where he looked good.

Bbbbbut he didn't pass the eye test...

This entire team doesn't pass the eye test either!

 

[auror]

Gibbs gave us enough to win last night and he helped in a lot of ways, but he also made some real bonehead plays that a 5th year player should not make.

When Tulane was making their run, he reached on a missed UConn shot rebound on someone who was not his man. The guy passed it, they went on a break and we were forced to switch in transition and he was last guy down the floor. Tulane moved the ball and somebody attacked the rim and we had to rotate over and drew a foul. The big got the foul and I think it may have been a foul out which is why I remember, but it was really Gibbs' fault for the pointless reach and not getting back.

He also had a few drives going nowhere. He's not tall enough and doesn't jump high enough to finish in traffic, so he threw up a couple prayers and an airball or two if I recall. He was 4-13 from the field (including 0-7 from 2).

That shot clock running down shot was huge though, and he hit another big 3 moving to his right when the game was in the balance. He should probably stick to the perimeter though.

 

[gtcam]

DHam was not the DHam last night in one aspect - he kept driving east/west and leaving his feet with something in mind (I am guessing) and then caught without that option. Don't know if it was him or his team mates. If you are looking for a super emotional DHam - your looking for the wrong thing.
I think he had 19 pts and 9 rbs last night - that was terrible

 

[MexicoHusky]

I think Hamilton is doing great. It looks like he's trying to learn how to be a shoot first guy. There will be some learning pains, but i like what I'm seeing.

 

[MexicoHusky]

In fact, i like what I'm seeing from everyone. Rodney has expanded his game. His driving ability is improving. Omar has been discussed frequently. He's playing well. Miller has done some nice things. I like the three's he's hit lately. His shot is sorta slow, but looks smooth. Facey is playing very solid. Gibbs definitely found his shot last night and he keeps trying to penetrate into the lane. When Brimah went down this is exactly what the optimists hoped for. Better half court defense. Less reliance on the shot blocker to bail them out....so far that's what I'm seeing. I also feel this team has a higher ceiling. Everyone is getting more comfortable. Everyone is expanding their game. It's been great.

 

[UConnStats]

Hamilton turns the ball over, yes. He also has the ball more than anyone else on the team. Just because he made a couple at the end of a shi*show game, doesn't mean he was terrible.

Everyone was complaining about his FTA. Well he had 10 last night and hit 9 of them. DHam also led the team in rebounds again in a game where our bigs were busy playing against the refs and their own stupidity. He attacked the rim way more than I've ever seen him in a single game before. That's a huge positive development if he keeps it going.

 

[pnow15]

Gibbs had his best game. For the first time he seemed to slow down and wait for something to develop rather try to force the action.
DHam always tries hard. He just hasn't come to the realization that defense is just as important as offense. But he has been making efforts to keep his man in front of him and to also double team.

 

[4in16]

Hamilton turns the ball over, yes. He also has the ball more than anyone else on the team. Just because he made a couple at the end of a shi*show game, doesn't mean he was terrible.

Everyone was complaining about his FTA. Well he had 10 last night and hit 9 of them. DHam also led the team in rebounds again in a game where our bigs were busy playing against the refs and their own stupidity. He attacked the rim way more than I've ever seen him in a single game before. That's a huge positive development if he keeps it going.

9 of 9 counted the lane violation as the miss.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah "terrible" is way over the top for DHam and I was guilty of it too. The thing is he was "terrible" during the time we needed him most to be our best player. It comes with the territory unfortunately and he will need to be better when everyone else is helter skelter. He had TO's, quick quick shots with no one under the basket and such. We do need more out of him in these situations, a calming force rather than lighter find, hopefully he learns from it. But you'd be crazy not to add the big rebounds later on and the ice in his veins at the FT line.

 

[James]

The one thing that stood out as terrible to me was the errant double teaming philosophy KO had installed for this game, really really dumb stuff by the staff. I understand wanting to be aggressive and force turnovers ( uconn is one of the worst turnover forcing teams out there), but turning the half court defense into a hellish scramble is not the answer.

good double teams come when the defense (the poor passing big) least expects it, theyre called 'opportunity doubles'. there were three to four horrible double teams on a post player in the 17-0 run that were mind boggling. Many times hamilton or another guard could have just 'scrapped down' on the post player to make them uncomfortable, instead of sending enochs full body over there and making purvis/calhoun guard a big crashing the glass.

there was also a crap ton of penetration with no plans , But i can't harp on that because A) gibbs looked crazy explosive coming off the pick n rolls so thats cool, and B) hamilton did make some really nice plays at his sweet spots in the paint. Uconn played horribly when tulane went on that run, it wasn't just the refs. ( after going back and watching i noticed).

 

[Mr. French]

Wow, you guys are awfully sensitive... He played pretty well and made a few huge shots...he wasn't great. But I guess every now and then speaking an opinion based on knowledge of the sport gets 50 inflammatory responses. His biggest shot of the game was a desperation 3 that was a great shot off of a poor possession, mostly due to him dribbling nowhere.

Sorry I mentioned that he didn't play a GREAT game. But I've watched plenty of GREAT. I didn't bash him or even bash his game yesterday. It just wasn't great, to me. I don't think one player played great, but we gave up a 28-7 run to Tulane and almost blew the game...

 

[Leebo]

You said he played below average. I'm not sure what average you're talking about, but it wasn't below his or most other players' average.

If you'd like to change your position to "pretty well," rather than "below average," I think that would ruffle fewer feathers, but then again, we might might be knowledgeable enough for you.

 

[Matrim55]

The one thing that stood out as terrible to me was the errant double teaming philosophy KO had installed for this game...

It hasn't just been this game. I love KO, but remain unconvinced by his defensive scheming over the last two years. Stuff like having Brimah hedge hard in the pick and roll drives me nuts - why are you running your rim protector 25-30 feet from the hoop?

I think he has a little too much of the NBA in him with what he wants from these kids. It probably helps them improve in the long run, but in the short run it causes a lot of vulgarity in my living room.

 

[mauconnfan]

Wow, you guys are awfully sensitive... He played pretty well and made a few huge shots...he wasn't great. But I guess every now and then speaking an opinion based on knowledge of the sport gets 50 inflammatory responses. His biggest shot of the game was a desperation 3 that was a great shot off of a poor possession, mostly due to him dribbling nowhere.

Sorry I mentioned that he didn't play a GREAT game. But I've watched plenty of GREAT. I didn't bash him or even bash his game yesterday. It just wasn't great, to me. I don't think one player played great, but we gave up a 28-7 run to Tulane and almost blew the game...

"Honestly, I thought Gibbs played below average."

Agree no one was GREAT. But Gibbs also wasn't what you said in your post. Not close to below average.

 

[Mr. French]

Ok, I'll say his play as the PG and floor leader wasnt great, that's what I meant in saying below average. I wasn't overly impressed, but I didn't mean to say his stats were bad, or he's bad, or he wasn't huge for us by making a few shots.

I'd still say that about his floor game, because I'm not simply looking at his stat line. But the reaction seemed more pointed towards me saying he wasn't great, if I misread that tone my bad.

There's certain qualities I like to see in a PGs game to deem it a great game, and despite him making some big shots I didn't see that. While watching the game I was not overly impressed with how he played. Just my opinion, which despite not having 5,000 posts here, is based in a lot of UConn, college hoops and general hoops viewing and knowledge.

Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers, I like Gibbs' game, just leaves me wanting more as a floor general so far. I think he'll get there.

 

[James]

@Mr. French I think gibbs in a uconn jersey has been a work in progress, theres a lot to love and some things you hope improve as the season progresses. He has fantastic shooting mechanics, great catch n shoot guy. I said it above he looks physically the best i've ever seen him, really explodes around the court ( off a screen, or that steal late in the first half in the backcourt). Defensively he has also gotten better, although he still has a tendency to get lazy and call for a switch, which completely throws the rhythm of his teammates off.

The main thing i hope he gets better at game by game is the over penetration when there are like 3 defenders sitting in the paint. He touches the paint and really wants to score, instead of a simple pass to the corner or 'above the break'. he's not the only one, hamilton does it a bunch too.

 

[Mr. French]

Agreed James.

Didn't want to bash him, that wasn't my intention. He looks the part, and he's very smooth, but maybe all of our insanely good pure PGs have spoiled me, but his "floor generaling" is what leaves me wanting more. I know he can score, and we need that, but his running of our team, thus far, has me disappointed.

But like I said, I think he can get there this year. It could be him as a player, or it could be the situation and gaining comfort through the year. That's my hope, because I like his game. It's just an intangible sort of feel as a PG controlling the game that I haven't seen so far from him. Despite his mistakes, I've seen it from Jalen more.

 

[aceboon]

Can't like this post enough, I have no idea what KO is doing with this dbl team the post nonsense, our guys were scrambling all night trying to recover after the ball was reversed, against a good team they will get carved up if they continue with this strategy. I'm praying he tosses this to the waste side because I don't see the point of it, just play straight up.

The one thing that stood out as terrible to me was the errant double teaming philosophy KO had installed for this game, really really dumb stuff by the staff. I understand wanting to be aggressive and force turnovers ( uconn is one of the worst turnover forcing teams out there), but turning the half court defense into a hellish scramble is not the answer.

good double teams come when the defense (the poor passing big) least expects it, theyre called 'opportunity doubles'. there were three to four horrible double teams on a post player in the 17-0 run that were mind boggling. Many times hamilton or another guard could have just 'scrapped down' on the post player to make them uncomfortable, instead of sending enochs full body over there and making purvis/calhoun guard a big crashing the glass.

there was also a crap ton of penetration with no plans , But i can't harp on that because A) gibbs looked crazy explosive coming off the pick n rolls so thats cool, and B) hamilton did make some really nice plays at his sweet spots in the paint. Uconn played horribly when tulane went on that run, it wasn't just the refs. ( after going back and watching i noticed).

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Can't like this post enough, I have no idea what KO is doing with this dbl team the post nonsense, our guys were scrambling all night trying to recover after the ball was reversed, against a good team they will get carved up if they continue with this strategy. I'm praying he tosses this to the waste side because I don't see the point of it, just play straight up.

He definitely gets a little too cute with some of his defensive schemes. They doubled Okafor the same way last year, which makes sense. But with or without Brimah, that strategy didn't need to be deployed with Dylan Ostenkowski.

His other move that needs to go away is the zone defense deployment for one possession - where they inevitably give up an open look and they switch right back to man-to-man the next possession.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Hamilton is young and still trying to figure out how to lead this team. Sometimes he tries to do too much, like driving into the lane and taking an off-balance shot rather than dishing it back out. Sometimes he does too little, like when he gives up the ball when he has an open look from 3. Part of maturing as a player is knowing when to take over the game and when to get your teammates more involved. In the meantime, he's going to be uneven, and that's okay. He's young and talented.

I can easily see him having a Deandre-like breakthrough around March, which would benefit us tremendously, though we don't have a comparable player to Shabazz, unfortunately.

 

[nomar]

Someone asked if there's been a Husky with his level of talent who played so lackadaisical (dare I say passionless) than DHam. Rudy Gay?

Seriously?

 

[Inyatkin]

Seriously?

Of course he's serious. All our best posters know Rudy Gay was the worst. Just like Daniel Hamilton.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I think Dham has been trying to become a shoot first guy. We need him to do this and I think we will see some growing pains.