Great win but could’ve put a mental ko on the rest of the Cbb world

[Scrappy3]

Incredible defense first 35 min
I just felt we should’ve been up by 30+ with a really dominant win that would’ve shaken the whole landscape. Just played off on offense at x. Missed a bunch of ez ones among other stuff. When we tighten it uo
It should be scary!!!!!

 

[JMick]

Watching that tape is going to quietly demoralize a lot of teams. We won't lose any game if we come out and play defense like that.

 

[dogpause]

Teams, like fanbases, will always have a false sense of confidence. I like that we left room for improvement while still putting on an incredible performance. Love it that we took pride in being named #1 in the polls.

 

[HuskyCLT]

Taking the foot off the gas when we’re up is something we need to work on if we don’t want to lose needless games. We did it a lot last season and lost some games because of it - and made others way tighter than they needed to be.

In the BET we almost gave up that gigantic led to Providence. It seemed like they learned from that and never let that happen again in the NCAAT - which worked. Let’s do that instead of dribble and wait until 8 seconds to try and initiate any offense to take a bad shot or turn it over.

 

[HuskyCLT]

However I don’t know if it’s possible to play better D. That was amazing to watch, and it felt like we came out and played like we belong as the #1 team in the nation

 

[Punkbo]

I loved the segment where they showed Coach McDermott in the huddle telling his team that they were going to win the game. Not one person believed it, including Coach McDermott.

 

[Edward Sargent]

We weren't off on offense. Creighton is a very good offensive team. We played a team that looked as good or better than any of our final 4 opponents last year.

 

[housekeys]

Teams, like fanbases, will always have a false sense of confidence. I like that we left room for improvement while still putting on an incredible performance. Love it that we took pride in being named #1 in the polls.

The team relishes challenges to its belief it is the best. Defending the championship happens in March. Defending #1 happens in the next game.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Taking the foot off the gas when we’re up is something we need to work on if we don’t want to lose needless games. We did it a lot last season and lost some games because of it - and made others way tighter than they needed to be.

In the BET we almost gave up that gigantic led to Providence. It seemed like they learned from that and never let that happen again in the NCAAT - which worked. Let’s do that instead of dribble and wait until 8 seconds to try and initiate any offense to take a bad shot or turn it over.

It's clear the coaching staff prioritizes draining the clock amd limiting opponent possessions over maximizing final score or going for the kill shot.

For us fans, it's going to be frustrating because learning how to stall the ball and then go in to attack mode within a possession is very difficult for teams to do well.

When they go to commercials for the under 4:00 TV timeout just make sure you reload on your drink.
You're gonna want it to keep nerves calm

 

[Kitaman]

Come on Scrappy. We already put the mental ko on the Nation last year. Now its about keeping our foot on their necks.

 

[FearThePups]

I swear, the team won’t ever please the everyone on the forum even with another championship. I can hear it now “yeah we won, but we did t win by enough”. We’re so spoiled and entitled. How quickly you naysayers forget how we languished in the AAC in Purgatory for an insufferable period of time.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Watching that tape is going to quietly demoralize a lot of teams. We won't lose any game if we come out and play defense like that.

I said it last season. One of the biggest reasons we won and did so pretty easily in last years tourney was our defense. 6 games and gave up more than 59 points once. That team took the defense to another level. I wasnt sure this team could get to an elite level defensively but we showed it yesterday. I want to see that defense against more athletic teams. If htey can do that to Villanova, St johns, Hall or Marquette its big trouble for the rest of the country.

Its like last season Uconn would start the game and make a small run and be up 5 or 6 points. Then things would even out for a bit and the lead would go up a point or two but still be close then theres a 10-0 run and the other team is suddenly down 15 and panicking. The lead then fluctuates in the 15-20 range when the other team makes a small run before halftime and get things under control and get it to a manageable 10 point lead at the half. Then the second half starts and its 15-2 run and itd be over. This team showed this last night but what they didnt do is keep the foot on the gas and the BJs got back in it late.

 

[JMick]

I said it last season. One of the biggest reasons we won and did so pretty easily in last years tourney was our defense. 6 games and gave up more than 59 points once. That team took the defense to another level. I wasnt sure this team could get to an elite level defensively but we showed it yesterday. I want to see that defense against more athletic teams. If htey can do that to Villanova, St johns, Hall or Marquette its big trouble for the rest of the country.

Its like last season Uconn would start the game and make a small run and be up 5 or 6 points. Then things would even out for a bit and the lead would go up a point or two but still be close then theres a 10-0 run and the other team is suddenly down 15 and panicking. The lead then fluctuates in the 15-20 range when the other team makes a small run before halftime and get things under control and get it to a manageable 10 point lead at the half. Then the second half starts and its 15-2 run and itd be over. This team showed this last night but what they didnt do is keep the foot on the gas and the BJs got back in it late.

Yeah the burst of 10-0 runs last year was insane and we've done it again a few times this year. I think at one point yesterday we went on a 10-0 run in only 1:47 of game time.

 

[nomar]

Taking the foot off the gas when we’re up is something we need to work on if we don’t want to lose needless games. We did it a lot last season and lost some games because of it - and made others way tighter than they needed to be.

In the BET we almost gave up that gigantic led to Providence. It seemed like they learned from that and never let that happen again in the NCAAT - which worked. Let’s do that instead of dribble and wait until 8 seconds to try and initiate any offense to take a bad shot or turn it over.

No question we took the air out of the ball BUT before that we simply went ice cold. It was not a slowdown offense, it was just dudes taking bad shots and missing makeable ones. Between that and the “prevent offense,” the final delta was about 20 points less than it should’ve been.

As for the OP, I disagree. The college basketball world isn’t watching that game tape. They see only that we beat a ranked team by double digits. We’re #1. The statement has been made.

 

[NYtoCT]

Genuine question. Is it possible that part of the reason the coaches like to take the team’s foot off the gas at the end of a game with a comfortable lead is to try to rest guys? Maybe they don’t want the players going full throttle if it’s not needed to try to preserve them for the next game. I know they can sub in bench players but maybe sometimes the score is just close enough that Hurley still wants the main rotation out there for defense but doesn’t want to run them ragged. Just a thought I had and open to criticism on it.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Genuine question. Is it possible that part of the reason the coaches like to take the team’s foot off the gas at the end of a game with a comfortable lead is to try to rest guys? Maybe they don’t want the players going full throttle if it’s not needed to try to preserve them for the next game. I know they can sub in bench players but maybe sometimes the score is just close enough that Hurley still wants the main rotation out there for defense but doesn’t want to run them ragged. Just a thought I had and open to criticism on it.

I think it's more of a player mindset that "game's over...no way they come back."

 

[Scoe]

Running offense kills the clock. I don’t the Taylor Swift song helped matters, not good mojo.

 

[NYtoCT]

I think it's more of a player mindset that "game's over...no way they come back."

But seems like the coaches are telling the players to hold the ball to run out the shot clock instead of attacking.

 

[RichCTBB]

But seems like the coaches are telling the players to hold the ball to run out the shot clock instead of attacking.

Hurley likes to beat teams by as much he possibly can, but you’re right. I would’ve liked to have seen the final margin of victory closer to the 22 that we lead by in the 2nd half vs Gonzaga rather that shut it down.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Watching that tape is going to quietly demoralize a lot of teams. We won't lose any game if we come out and play defense like that.

We almost lost that game. But this is what I'd been looking for. I think Hurley has too, he's mentioned that the defense hasn't been good enough. DC is a huge part of that obviously, but Spencer, Newton and AK need to tighten it up. Hopefully the play from Diarra and Stewart helps those three be more aggressive.

We aren't a team anybody wants to play.

 

[Waquoit]

Going back to the OP, I'm not sure he's correct here. This game was very eye-opening to college basketball world. I've read several articles saying if UConn plays defense like that they're going to be there to the end.

 

[CL82]

I swear, the team won’t ever please the everyone on the forum even with another championship. I can hear it now “yeah we won, but we did t win by enough”. We’re so spoiled and entitled. How quickly you naysayers forget how we languished in the AAC in Purgatory for an insufferable period of time.

I don't know, last year I felt like we won our tournament games by enough.

 

[FearThePups]

I don't know, last year I felt like we won our tournament games by enough.

I get it and agree. I was talking more about this year’s team and nitpicking at little things despite winning those games. Hurley has done an incredible job this year dealing with injuries, creating new lineups, adapting as needed, integrating the new guys and building on the winning tradition.