God, This Place is Miserable After a Loss

[Stainmaster]

A few things:

1. Out of all of the actors, I'm most disappointed with Hamilton's performance. And this wasn't a case of the shots not falling -- he kept forcing it when it was obvious he wasn't feeling it, taking a bunch of ill-advised shots with no rhythm or momentum. Yeah, sure he made a couple towards the end. But in a close game, you don't keep firing them up in the hopes you'll catch on fire. If you're a smart basketball player, you'll realize that your teammates offer your team a much better chance at getting and sustaining a lead.
2. One of the most underrated aspects of Brimah's absence is that we now see how he inflated Hamilton's status as a passer. Very rarely did I see him making an effort to find his teammates and pop the ball out to them. There was one play when he had the ball on the break and just tossed the ball up in the general direction of the rim, as if he forgot Brimah wasn't in the game. In the past, I've ridiculed people for saying that the Brimah lobs inflated Hamilton's assist numbers, because it's a great play when it works. But given the role we need Hamilton to play in our offense, we need more from him as a distributor.
3. I'll say this vis-a-vis substitutions: Dunphy did a much, much better job than KO. Each time we went on a mini-run, they were throwing some combination of Aflakpui, Dingle, and Williams in the post. Then, once we had tied the game, Bond and Enechionyia were well-rested and ready to be put back in. Dunphy also cut out the two freshman guards (Alston and Lowe) for the entire second half.
   
4. I haven't been one of Adams' biggest boosters as of late, and he did make a couple of crummy plays, but he was our only player who had any success taking it to the hole in the second half. He should've been in at the end.
   
5. I don't get how Facey can have such a solid game against a taller and bulkier Texas frontline of Big 12-level players, yet fall to pieces against Bond and Enechionyia. He has much more athleticism than either of those two, but for some reason they were getting more elevation than he was the majority of the time, and on the occasions when he did sky up there, he just couldn't hold onto the ball. To quote my 6th grade travel team coach: "This isn't volleyball, boys. Grab that ball."
6. In general, Dunphy is a much better coach than this board will give him credit for. This is not the first time he has taken a team of players with less talent and less hype to our turf and gotten them to a) completely outhustle us for loose balls and b) crash the boards with a ferocity that we haven't seen from our own players in years. This is not like losing to a Donnie Jones or an Ed Conroy.
7. This team will not be fixed by Ollie shouting out profanities with a Boston accent and stomping his feet. I challenge anyone to provide me with measurable proof that it would have any impact on our performance. Same goes for the assistants. Even a pollyanna like me recognizes that there are real issues with this team, but stick to the stuff that will actually make a difference: substitution patterns, adjusting the offense, the stuff that makes an impact on the court. Not the meaningless stuff that does nothing more than satisfy your nostalgia for JC's antics.
   
8. Thankfully I've only seen one "we need to think about firing Ollie" post, but if more come up, could the mods please merge them all into one thread so the rest of us know to avoid the topic?
9. Y'all are a bunch of whiny crybabies.
10. Last but not least, if we have Brimah...a) we win, b) he gets at least 5 blocked shots, and c) he slams home a lob while simultaneously putting his nuts in Josh Brown's mouth.

Have a good night and (still) Go Huskies.

 

[Palatine]

WTF did you expect. Dancing?

He wasn't the problem but Facey could have been the solution.

 

[mauconnfan]

We don't get many lobs against good teams, him not kicking it out is on him and this has been well before the injury. He had oodles of chances tonight as they all collapsed on him and people were wide open, he made bad decisions. Do we miss Ab, for sure, but not on that end.

Agree on Dunphy always a good coach back to his UPenn days.

No one wants Ollie fired and we all love him. But JC does not lose this game given the same situations, I promise that!

Good night everyone I'm not going to sleep but need to try

 

[uconngb]

A few things:

1. Out of all of the actors, I'm most disappointed with Hamilton's performance. And this wasn't a case of the shots not falling -- he kept forcing it when it was obvious he wasn't feeling it, taking a bunch of ill-advised shots with no rhythm or momentum. Yeah, sure he made a couple towards the end. But in a close game, you don't keep firing them up in the hopes you'll catch on fire. If you're a smart basketball player, you'll realize that your teammates offer your team a much better chance at getting and sustaining a lead.
2. One of the most underrated aspects of Brimah's absence is that we now see how he inflated Hamilton's status as a passer. Very rarely did I see him making an effort to find his teammates and pop the ball out to them. There was one play when he had the ball on the break and just tossed the ball up in the general direction of the rim, as if he forgot Brimah wasn't in the game. In the past, I've ridiculed people for saying that the Brimah lobs inflated Hamilton's assist numbers, because it's a great play when it works. But given the role we need Hamilton to play in our offense, we need more from him as a distributor.
3. I'll say this vis-a-vis substitutions: Dunphy did a much, much better job than KO. Each time we went on a mini-run, they were throwing some combination of Aflakpui, Dingle, and Williams in the post. Then, once we had tied the game, Bond and Enechionyia were well-rested and ready to be put back in. Dunphy also cut out the two freshman guards (Alston and Lowe) for the entire second half.
   
4. I haven't been one of Adams' biggest boosters as of late, and he did make a couple of crummy plays, but he was our only player who had any success taking it to the hole in the second half. He should've been in at the end.
   
5. I don't get how Facey can have such a solid game against a taller and bulkier Texas frontline of Big 12-level players, yet fall to pieces against Bond and Enechionyia. He has much more athleticism than either of those two, but for some reason they were getting more elevation than he was the majority of the time, and on the occasions when he did sky up there, he just couldn't hold onto the ball. To quote my 6th grade travel team coach: "This isn't volleyball, boys. Grab that ball."
6. In general, Dunphy is a much better coach than this board will give him credit for. This is not the first time he has taken a team of players with less talent and less hype to our turf and gotten them to a) completely outhustle us for loose balls and b) crash the boards with a ferocity that we haven't seen from our own players in years. This is not like losing to a Donnie Jones or an Ed Conroy.
7. This team will not be fixed by Ollie shouting out profanities with a Boston accent and stomping his feet. I challenge anyone to provide me with measurable proof that it would have any impact on our performance. Same goes for the assistants. Even a pollyanna like me recognizes that there are real issues with this team, but stick to the stuff that will actually make a difference: substitution patterns, adjusting the offense, the stuff that makes an impact on the court. Not the meaningless stuff that does nothing more than satisfy your nostalgia for JC's antics.
   
8. Thankfully I've only seen one "we need to think about firing Ollie" post, but if more come up, could the mods please merge them all into one thread so the rest of us know to avoid the topic?
9. Y'all are a bunch of whiny crybabies.
10. Last but not least, if we have Brimah...a) we win, b) he gets at least 5 blocked shots, and c) he slams home a lob while simultaneously putting his nuts in Josh Brown's mouth.

Have a good night and (still) Go Huskies.

Is there away to DISLIKE a post? If so, I'd like to use it here. Your first 7 points are whines, yet you somehow conclude that everyone else are whiners? The last two games have not been a showcase for our program.....go ahead and refute that. The trend is horrible, our star player refuses to jus drop to the ground and pick up a loose ball at a critical juncture and our coaching staff is completely asleep at the switch. I think those things are all indisputable and cost us this game. So how is that whining? Get off your horse.....it ain't even high.

 

[Stainmaster]

We don't get many lobs against good teams, him not kicking it out is on him and this has been well before the injury. He had oodles of chances tonight as they all collapsed on him and people were wide open, he made bad decisions. Do we miss Ab, for sure, but not on that end.

We got 2 points from post players not named Shonn Miller. On a night where Hamilton and Gibbs were offensive black holes for most of the game, we need people to step up. The long jumper that Enoch clanked late in the first half is one that AB has made consistently this year. Just a thought.

 

[Stainmaster]

Is there away to DISLIKE a post? If so, I'd like to use it here. Your first 7 points are whines, yet you somehow conclude that everyone else are whiners? The last two games have not been a showcase for our program.....go ahead and refute that. The trend is horrible, our star player refuses to jus drop to the ground and pick up a loose ball at a critical juncture and our coaching staff is completely asleep at the switch. I think those things are all indisputable and cost us this game. So how is that whining? Get off your horse.....it ain't even high.

Shut up, jabroni.

"Wah wah, we're locked in to the NIT! We'll never win another title again! Fire KO and bring back JC!" That's whining that I could do without reading.

 

[mauconnfan]

We got 2 points from post players not named Shonn Miller. On a night where Hamilton and Gibbs were offensive black holes for most of the game, we need people to step up. The long jumper that Enoch clanked late in the first half is one that AB has made consistently this year. Just a thought.

Enoch had 4 rebounds in 7 minutes, that's what Ab averages in 20 almost. He averages 7 pts a game and vs the real good teams not many of those 7. please this loss had nothing to do with him not being there, they should have won! He's not there anyway so who cares.

 

[uconngb]

Shut up, jabroni.

"Wah wah, we're locked in to the NIT! We'll never win another title again! Fire KO and bring back JC!" That's whining that I could do without reading.

Your the whiner buddy.....go back and read the SEVEN whines that you made......then STFU!

 

[Stainmaster]

Your the whiner buddy.....go back and read the SEVEN whines that you made.then STFU!

Gotta love the quality of discourse here! You keep fighting the good fight, buddy.

 

[uconngb]

Gotta love the quality of discourse here! You keep fighting the good fight, buddy.

And you keep denying that you just whined more than anyone on this board.....idiot

 

[Stainmaster]

Enoch had 4 rebounds in 7 minutes, that's what Ab averages in 20 almost. He averages 7 pts a game and vs the real good teams not many of those 7. please this loss had nothing to do with him not being there, they should have won! He's not there anyway so who cares.

This game was winnable without him, yes, but it would've been a much easier win with him.

 

[Stainmaster]

And you keep denying that you just whined more than anyone on this board.....idiot

I hope your sewage tank explodes.

 

[mauconnfan]

Your the whiner buddy.....go back and read the SEVEN whines that you made.then STFU!

Stairmaster made some great points and if you disagree with some go ahead. The guy is staying as positive as he can so if you don't like it, reply and argue or don't reply at all. easy enough but this is BS

 

[uconngb]

I hope your sewage tank explodes.

On your front lawn

 

[Stainmaster]

On your front lawn

Can it wait 8 months? I'm thinking of laying down some grass seed and I could really use the free fertilizer.

 

[BoatShow]

And a ghost town after most wins

 

[nomar]

I think the Yard's reaction is for the most part appropriate, given what happened tonight. That was abysmal.

On the plus side, the Rocky IV training sequence is on right now (AMC).

 

[JimHurley]

This place is miserable and rightfully so. Many of use thought this team was good enough for a deep run in the tourney. Today, we lost to an extremely mediocre team in Temple and we seem to be heading back to the NIT. There's still plenty of time to turn it around but it's not looking good as of right now.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I think the Yard's reaction is for the most part appropriate, given what happened tonight. That was abysmal.

On the plus side, the Rocky IV training sequence is on right now (AMC).

This. Maybe we are whining, but it's because the coach and team we all love had really bad games. This is how the board is after every bad performance.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I think the Yard's reaction is for the most part appropriate, given what happened tonight. That was abysmal.

I'm just not sure what other reaction anyone would have expected.

"Oh well, they played their hardest and that's all that matters." They didn't.

"At least we can see the progress." We can't.

"Temple is a very tough team." They're not.

"They've been playing good basketball so this is an anomaly." They haven't and it's not.

Sure, there are some people diving off a cliff but those people react hysterically to everything. And there are almost enough polyanna's explaining away the loss to balance the first group out.

The rest of the posters seem justifiably disappointed in what is surely the worst result of the season. Brimah's return will undoubtedly prevent some of the layup lines we saw tonight, but this team is way behind where it should be given the talent. I'm not in the camp that's putting them in the NIT on January 5, but if you had asked me on 11/1 if this team was going to miss the tourney I would have laughed at you - now it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable as a possibility. They are just not progressing. It's the same bonehead defensive lapses, same clogged toilet offense. Maybe this is who they are, but it still seems to me that the individual pieces are better than the whole, and ultimately that falls on one guy's shoulders to get right.

 

[caw]

They hit some deep threes, Hamilton missed shots he's made all year, Ollie didn't ask them to foul (or they didn't listen) and they hit a contested game winner. Sucks but hopefully this will light a fire under their butts.

On the plus Adams and Enoch looked good at times and Miller is still a beast. It also appears that nobody deserves to be leaving early which means next year could be awesome.

 

[The Funster]

Not ready for prime time. We'll see where they are in late February.

 

[UConnSwag11]

A few things:

1. Out of all of the actors, I'm most disappointed with Hamilton's performance. And this wasn't a case of the shots not falling -- he kept forcing it when it was obvious he wasn't feeling it, taking a bunch of ill-advised shots with no rhythm or momentum. Yeah, sure he made a couple towards the end. But in a close game, you don't keep firing them up in the hopes you'll catch on fire. If you're a smart basketball player, you'll realize that your teammates offer your team a much better chance at getting and sustaining a lead.
2. One of the most underrated aspects of Brimah's absence is that we now see how he inflated Hamilton's status as a passer. Very rarely did I see him making an effort to find his teammates and pop the ball out to them. There was one play when he had the ball on the break and just tossed the ball up in the general direction of the rim, as if he forgot Brimah wasn't in the game. In the past, I've ridiculed people for saying that the Brimah lobs inflated Hamilton's assist numbers, because it's a great play when it works. But given the role we need Hamilton to play in our offense, we need more from him as a distributor.
3. I'll say this vis-a-vis substitutions: Dunphy did a much, much better job than KO. Each time we went on a mini-run, they were throwing some combination of Aflakpui, Dingle, and Williams in the post. Then, once we had tied the game, Bond and Enechionyia were well-rested and ready to be put back in. Dunphy also cut out the two freshman guards (Alston and Lowe) for the entire second half.
   
4. I haven't been one of Adams' biggest boosters as of late, and he did make a couple of crummy plays, but he was our only player who had any success taking it to the hole in the second half. He should've been in at the end.
   
5. I don't get how Facey can have such a solid game against a taller and bulkier Texas frontline of Big 12-level players, yet fall to pieces against Bond and Enechionyia. He has much more athleticism than either of those two, but for some reason they were getting more elevation than he was the majority of the time, and on the occasions when he did sky up there, he just couldn't hold onto the ball. To quote my 6th grade travel team coach: "This isn't volleyball, boys. Grab that ball."
6. In general, Dunphy is a much better coach than this board will give him credit for. This is not the first time he has taken a team of players with less talent and less hype to our turf and gotten them to a) completely outhustle us for loose balls and b) crash the boards with a ferocity that we haven't seen from our own players in years. This is not like losing to a Donnie Jones or an Ed Conroy.
7. This team will not be fixed by Ollie shouting out profanities with a Boston accent and stomping his feet. I challenge anyone to provide me with measurable proof that it would have any impact on our performance. Same goes for the assistants. Even a pollyanna like me recognizes that there are real issues with this team, but stick to the stuff that will actually make a difference: substitution patterns, adjusting the offense, the stuff that makes an impact on the court. Not the meaningless stuff that does nothing more than satisfy your nostalgia for JC's antics.
   
8. Thankfully I've only seen one "we need to think about firing Ollie" post, but if more come up, could the mods please merge them all into one thread so the rest of us know to avoid the topic?
9. Y'all are a bunch of whiny crybabies.
10. Last but not least, if we have Brimah...a) we win, b) he gets at least 5 blocked shots, and c) he slams home a lob while simultaneously putting his nuts in Josh Brown's mouth.

Have a good night and (still) Go Huskies.

Bc more than half the posts are from people who never post on this board. They come out to get their jollies about uconn losing. The main posters are ridiculous too but not as bad

 

[Waquoit]

He wasn't the problem but Facey could have been the solution.

He wasn't going to be a solution this game. He was awful on both ends of the floor. Enoch was the one who could have made a difference, he was doing pretty well. When he came out at about the 13 minute mark, I just assumed he was getting a blow. KO never put him back in, instead he went to a cold Nolan who was worse than normal. What was that all about?

 

[polycom]

No one wants Ollie fired and we all love him. But JC does not lose this game given the same situations, I promise that!

This quote is ridiculous JC coached 40 years as a HC ...Ollie has coached for what 3 years+....Ollie is still a new coach at a great program to compare him even in the least to JC is crazy.