Gilbert is a 4th year PG

[MuchoDogYears]

AG has been here 4 years and has played 38 games. Seen enough to know that he was, is, and will continue to be a liability at PG. His entire career he’s been given the green light to play as if he’s a shooter and a scorer. He’s neither.

Our only hope is that after the St Joes disaster DH shuts AG down. There should be zero tolerance for AG putting up more than 6 shots a game, none of which should be a drive to the basket. Distribute the ball. Work hard to get open shots for other players. Take the occasional 3. Period. If he does more, sit him.

 

[mauconnfan]

AG has been here 4 years and has played 38 games. Seen enough to know that he was, is, and will continue to be a liability at PG. His entire career he’s been given the green light to play as if he’s a shooter and a scorer. He’s neither.

Our only hope is that after the St Joes disaster DH shuts AG down. There should be zero tolerance for AG putting up more than 6 shots a game, none of which should be a drive to the basket. Distribute the ball. Work hard to get open shots for other players. Take the occasional 3. Period. If he does more, sit him.

Until Jalen Gaffney steps it up there aren't many choices. Sucks but it's reality we need AG to just be better or we are in for a ton of hurt. I think he will be better, at least I hope he will.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Until Jalen Gaffney steps it up there aren't many choices. Sucks but it's reality we need AG to just be better or we are in for a ton of hurt. I think he will be better, at least I hope he will.

Totally agree. But I think the key to AG being better is to limit his role on the court to being a pass first, second, and third PG.

The green light to do what he wants (shoot), when he wants (team is down) hasn’t been earned and needs to be shut down for the good of the team.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He's 100% not. That said, He'll play better than he's shown. As he goes, well go this year.

I was going to just Like this because, even if it makes me uneasy, I agree with all three sentences in your post. Then it occurred to me that this may be the 4th year in a row that your final sentence applies.

 

[ucp990411]

the lack of motion off the ball is the biggest issue. There is nobody to pass to, because everyone is standing still. That leads to too much hero ball one on three attempts. And yes, CV and AG take those # 2’s because who will?

I don’t think Gilbert stinks. I think the team offense stinks. It looks like it did 3 years ago. Honestly, I have a new appreciation for Jalen. He had nobody to pass to either but was damned good at going it alone.

I have been saying this. If you compared the offensive sets this year and last year to Ollie’s sets they look remarkably similar. That combined with lack of player development and continued poor defense and rebounding had given me concern about the coach. Can’t blame it all on the players. The coach is accountable. The St Joes game gave me the worst feeling I have ever had about our program.

 

[ucp990411]

I also think it’s time he started employing the Calhoun method for taking players out for dumb plays or lack of effort. If Polley does not try to rebound bench him until he does. CV takes a boneheaded shot, bench him. Carlton spins into a double team bench him, AG dribble penetrates with no plan bench him. Send a message to these guys.

 

[mauconnfan]

I have been saying this. If you compared the offensive sets this year and last year to Ollie’s sets they look remarkably similar. That combined with lack of player development and continued poor defense and rebounding had given me concern about the coach. Can’t blame it all on the players. The coach is accountable. The St Joes game gave me the worst feeling I have ever had about our program.

The defense certainly concerned me. I don’t even care that they were making 3s teams get hot. But every time somebody went out to guard the 3 they had no plan on stopping them going to the basket. The middle of the floor was open as they were spreading the court. Help defense is still an afterthought guys are clueless. No adjustments just watched them embarrass our team.

I have faith in Danny when he has a full roster of “his guys” but until then he needs to coach what we have and adjust as required. The other night he is as much to blame as any player I agree. Quit disagreeing with the refs and make your guys play better.

 

[intlzncster]

I have been saying this. If you compared the offensive sets this year and last year to Ollie’s sets they look remarkably similar. That combined with lack of player development and continued poor defense and rebounding had given me concern about the coach. Can’t blame it all on the players. The coach is accountable. The St Joes game gave me the worst feeling I have ever had about our program.

Not sure what you are looking at there. I mean, damn near every player has gotten better and bigger. It's just that they started off from such a low baseline to begin with. They're still unlearning bad habits (some just won't be able to).

Lot harder to get rid of bad habits than pick up new ones. To learn a system, you might need a year. To unlearn bad habits of prior years, you might need 2+. That's a fact of life.

 

[tzznandrew]

Not sure what you are looking at there. I mean, damn near every player has gotten better and bigger. It's just that they started off from such a low baseline to begin with. They're still unlearning bad habits (some just won't be able to).

Lot harder to get rid of bad habits than pick up new ones. To learn a system, you might need a year. To unlearn bad habits of prior years, you might need 2+. That's a fact of life.

Anyone who can look at Josh Carlton or Brandan and say there's been no player development has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[intlzncster]

Anyone who can look at Josh Carlton or Brandan and say there's been no player development has no idea what they're talking about.

Even guys like Vital aren't as psychotic as they used to be

 

[ucp990411]

Anyone who can look at Josh Carlton or Brandan and say there's been no player development has no idea what they're talking about.

Sorry but I disagree with most about Carlton. I mean he played against a St Joes team that had basically nobody to guard him and he did nothing. Bigger yes, but I see a player who is now slower and gets winded easily. As for Adams ok he may be better, but what about Al, CV, Sid, Tyler Phommachanh - any of them any better?

 

[intlzncster]

Sorry but I disagree with most about Carlton. I mean he played against a St Joes team that had basically nobody to guard him and he did nothing. Bigger yes, but I see a player who is now slower and gets winded easily. As for Adams ok he may be better, but what about Al, CV, Sid, Tyler Phommachanh - any of them any better?

LMAO crazy take. dude was voted Most Improved Player in the conference last year. By objective evaluators. That was no accident.

CV may not be a great player,but he massively Improved from the complete black hole head case as an under classmen, to a fairly efficient upperclassman who still tries to do a bit too much.

Really now.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Sorry but I disagree with most about Carlton. I mean he played against a St Joes team that had basically nobody to guard him and he did nothing. Bigger yes, but I see a player who is now slower and gets winded easily. As for Adams ok he may be better, but what about Al, CV, Sid, Tyler Phommachanh - any of them any better?

1)You’re welcome to disagree and be wrong.
2)Those guys have improved for the most part or it’s too early to tell. Please refer to answer number 1).

 

[ucp990411]

1)You’re welcome to disagree and be wrong.
2)Those guys have improved for the most part or it’s too early to tell. Please refer to answer number 1).

Believe me I hope I am proven wrong. Just haven’t seen much improvement yet this year

 

[olehead]

Even guys like Vital aren't as psychotic as they used to be

This is funny and true.

 

[uconnfan68]

Someone please stop AG from killing us.

 

[HooperScooper]

Someone please stop AG from killing us.

I'm wondering if his shoulder is still bothering him. He's had a bad shooting start to the season. Really bad. But I do think he ran the offense well and had some good passes. Especially feeding the post.

 

[Pudge]

Everything starts with Gilbert.

If he is not here next year, we might not have the spark to get some of these kids into offensive flow. Don't just look at his shooting. Look at how easy he gets in the lane & how the other kids get going. Look at his quick feet against PG after PG ... he is a disruptor.

I think he is damaged & has yet to fully recover. But that kid is crucial to us getting better.

 

[browndog319]

the lack of motion off the ball is the biggest issue. There is nobody to pass to, because everyone is standing still. That leads to too much hero ball one on three attempts. And yes, CV and AG take those # 2’s because who will?

I don’t think Gilbert stinks. I think the team offense stinks. It looks like it did 3 years ago. Honestly, I have a new appreciation for Jalen. He had nobody to pass to either but was damned good at going it alone.

I never understood all the Jalen hate. He had to deal with all the upheaval and garbage that the team went through with the Ollie debacle. He was one guy who had a ton of potential that went undeveloped. And he only had a year with Hurley. People like to talk about how Ollie convinced Bazz to stick around after Calhoun retired; but at least Ollie was a UConn guy and has been around the program. Hurley was brand new and his coach had been fired. And Jalen was being deposed in the lawsuits and investigations surrounding it.

 

[buddy]

Everything starts with Gilbert.

If he is not here next year, we might not have the spark to get some of these kids into offensive flow. Don't just look at his shooting. Look at how easy he gets in the land & how the other kids get going. Look at his quick feet against PG after PG ... he is a disruptor.

I think he is damaged & has yet to fully recover. But that kid is crucial to us getting better.

I have always been one of his biggest critics and I believe that you are correct. Without him in the game, the offense lost today.

 

[mauconnfan]

Overall he was real good on both ends if he made open shots we win easily though. He hit a big one though. He was fast and all over on D.

 

[uconnfan68]

Overall he was real good on both ends if he made open shots we win easily though. He hit a big one though. He was fast and all over on D.

I think he missed more foul shots than he made. He really needs to tighten that up.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Everything starts with Gilbert.

If he is not here next year, we might not have the spark to get some of these kids into offensive flow. Don't just look at his shooting. Look at how easy he gets in the land & how the other kids get going. Look at his quick feet against PG after PG ... he is a disruptor.

I think he is damaged & has yet to fully recover. But that kid is crucial to us getting better.

He had "3 no-NO-NO-YES" plays: two baskets, and the last one that foul out Blackshear.
He had 2 six-point-swing 3-pointer attempts.
He missed 3 free throws.

All of this feeds the narrative of those who've been sour on him.

However, in the first half, he was more notably a pass-first PG, and his defense was good throughout, including the game-icing steal.

If coach wants him to keep shooting and has confidence that he'll find his groove, I'll go along for now, but I'd sure like it if Bouknight develops into someone else AG can distribute to, as well as if today's non-scoring bench players can get & make open looks.

NOTE: I edited to remove an ampersand and make some other touchups after receiving @ClifSpliffy's Like

 

[browndog319]

I'm wondering if his shoulder is still bothering him. He's had a bad shooting start to the season. Really bad. But I do think he ran the offense well and had some good passes. Especially feeding the post.

I don’t know if it’s that his shoulder is still bothering him so much that maybe it’s psychological- you know, like maybe he’s worried about hurting it again?
Clearly not an elite athlete but I dislocated my ankle in 2015 and have permanent damage from it. I finally got an all clear to ski again but didn’t last season even though that’s what I wanted. I didn’t hurt it skiing. I’m just afraid. Like what if I really hurt myself MORE and they can’t fix it.
I feel like he’s playing tentatively.

 

[Husk04ies]

I don’t know if it’s that his shoulder is still bothering him so much that maybe it’s psychological- you know, like maybe he’s worried about hurting it again?
Clearly not an elite athlete but I dislocated my ankle in 2015 and have permanent damage from it. I finally got an all clear to ski again but didn’t last season even though that’s what I wanted. I didn’t hurt it skiing. I’m just afraid. Like what if I really hurt myself MORE and they can’t fix it.
I feel like he’s playing tentatively.

Looks like some of it is definitely psychological. He posted this today....