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- Aug 24, 2011
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I guess I felt that watching part of the game again would be slightly less painful than sticking needles into my eyes.
There were a combination of a many things that doomed UConn last night. IMO, the biggest factor was the poor PG leadership that the team needed from Shabazz. He's been very good just about all season long, but last night was just a bad game. With at least 3 of his turnovers the ball seemed to slip out of his hand. I'm not sure if it was illness or injury. He just didn't look as energetic as he usually does, which made me wonder if in addition to some nagging injuries, he might have been sick. There's been a lot going around. The team needed someone to settle them down, instill confidence and get them to play their game. They didn't get that and UConn was a ship w/out a rudder for much of the game.
Last night I felt that the way the game was called had a big impact in the game. But after watching it again, I have to conclude that it was not as big a factor as I had thought. It contributed to SH's early come back. UConn would have been able to stretch their early lead and might not have been even down at the half if the refs didn't swallow the whistle. But what it did do was set up a situation where UConn needed to responded to the adversity and SH pressure, which they responded to poorly. They did not attack the pressure wisely. Our lead guards did a poor job of getting the players into running their sets crisply if at all. There was a lot of standing around throughout the game. Contrast that to how the Pirates went after everything with greater agression than UConn did.
Alex slept walked through another game. Two plays typified Alex's play: One was the rebound that he weakly reached out for while the SH palyer swooped in from the baseline and took it the other way. The other was the turnover at the foul line where it didn't take much for it to be knocked out of his hands. There's little confidence, focus and fire to his game right now. I hope one of the coaches can help him get his head back into the game. I wonder if Bradley will have enough game once healthy to earn some minutes if Alex is not able to turn this around.
I can't tell you how many times I noticed our players failing to put a body on someone when the ball is on the way to the basket or coming off it. Alex and Andre seem to turn and stand there, while the other team's players slip between them for offensive rebounds. It's not like once-in-a-while. It's a consistent problem. After years of hearing about JC's killer rebounding drill, I don't understand why he doesn't make his players accountable for not boxing out. I realize he wasn't on the sideline last night, but I've watched closely the past few years and I keep waiting for him to call one of his instant TOs, get in the face of the player or players who didn't body up their man, and take someone off the bench, even if it's just till the next whistle, to send a message. Many games are won and lost on the boards. It's time the staff makes the players, especially the bigs, accountable for not boxing out. It's BBall 101 we're talking about.
In addition to rebounding poorly last night they also missed a lot of makeable shots that had been falling in prior games. It wasn't any one player. They all missed some wide open shots, though Bazz's 2-12 stands out. Tyler went 3-8, missing at least a couple wide open elbow Js. Daniels, Smith & Boatright all missed some open Js and runners. Credit SH for making UConn work very hard for many of those shots, but it wasn't like the majority of the shots were highly contested ones. It seemed the Pirates made our shooters feel uncomfortable, likely causing them to rush their shots.
It was just an all around bad game and all fixable things. I like our chances of beating them when we play them at home one month from now. They won't be able to pressure UConn with little consequence like they did last night. It was not a bad loss, which some are claiming it to be. The Pirates had a game plan which they've been executing well this season and it worked against our Huskies. Next time they'll be better prepared. Let's see how they respond to the next BE road game. Until I see a string of bad games, I'm not going to worry about this team. I am concerned about a couple of our players, primarily Alex, but also Roscoe. Both have not returned to post season form. They're getting plenty of PT even though they are in competition with more players. It's not like their roles have changed all that much. Even with those two struggling, there is plenty of depth to pick up the slack. Most of that depth is even less experienced, so it will take time for those players and the team as a whole to put this all together. It's only early January, giving them two months to work this out before post season begins.
There were a combination of a many things that doomed UConn last night. IMO, the biggest factor was the poor PG leadership that the team needed from Shabazz. He's been very good just about all season long, but last night was just a bad game. With at least 3 of his turnovers the ball seemed to slip out of his hand. I'm not sure if it was illness or injury. He just didn't look as energetic as he usually does, which made me wonder if in addition to some nagging injuries, he might have been sick. There's been a lot going around. The team needed someone to settle them down, instill confidence and get them to play their game. They didn't get that and UConn was a ship w/out a rudder for much of the game.
Last night I felt that the way the game was called had a big impact in the game. But after watching it again, I have to conclude that it was not as big a factor as I had thought. It contributed to SH's early come back. UConn would have been able to stretch their early lead and might not have been even down at the half if the refs didn't swallow the whistle. But what it did do was set up a situation where UConn needed to responded to the adversity and SH pressure, which they responded to poorly. They did not attack the pressure wisely. Our lead guards did a poor job of getting the players into running their sets crisply if at all. There was a lot of standing around throughout the game. Contrast that to how the Pirates went after everything with greater agression than UConn did.
Alex slept walked through another game. Two plays typified Alex's play: One was the rebound that he weakly reached out for while the SH palyer swooped in from the baseline and took it the other way. The other was the turnover at the foul line where it didn't take much for it to be knocked out of his hands. There's little confidence, focus and fire to his game right now. I hope one of the coaches can help him get his head back into the game. I wonder if Bradley will have enough game once healthy to earn some minutes if Alex is not able to turn this around.
I can't tell you how many times I noticed our players failing to put a body on someone when the ball is on the way to the basket or coming off it. Alex and Andre seem to turn and stand there, while the other team's players slip between them for offensive rebounds. It's not like once-in-a-while. It's a consistent problem. After years of hearing about JC's killer rebounding drill, I don't understand why he doesn't make his players accountable for not boxing out. I realize he wasn't on the sideline last night, but I've watched closely the past few years and I keep waiting for him to call one of his instant TOs, get in the face of the player or players who didn't body up their man, and take someone off the bench, even if it's just till the next whistle, to send a message. Many games are won and lost on the boards. It's time the staff makes the players, especially the bigs, accountable for not boxing out. It's BBall 101 we're talking about.
In addition to rebounding poorly last night they also missed a lot of makeable shots that had been falling in prior games. It wasn't any one player. They all missed some wide open shots, though Bazz's 2-12 stands out. Tyler went 3-8, missing at least a couple wide open elbow Js. Daniels, Smith & Boatright all missed some open Js and runners. Credit SH for making UConn work very hard for many of those shots, but it wasn't like the majority of the shots were highly contested ones. It seemed the Pirates made our shooters feel uncomfortable, likely causing them to rush their shots.
It was just an all around bad game and all fixable things. I like our chances of beating them when we play them at home one month from now. They won't be able to pressure UConn with little consequence like they did last night. It was not a bad loss, which some are claiming it to be. The Pirates had a game plan which they've been executing well this season and it worked against our Huskies. Next time they'll be better prepared. Let's see how they respond to the next BE road game. Until I see a string of bad games, I'm not going to worry about this team. I am concerned about a couple of our players, primarily Alex, but also Roscoe. Both have not returned to post season form. They're getting plenty of PT even though they are in competition with more players. It's not like their roles have changed all that much. Even with those two struggling, there is plenty of depth to pick up the slack. Most of that depth is even less experienced, so it will take time for those players and the team as a whole to put this all together. It's only early January, giving them two months to work this out before post season begins.
