How to beat UConn | The Boneyard

How to beat UConn

Palatine

Palatine

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1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
 
Palatine said:
1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
Expand ...
The one thing I feared going into this game was Creighton’s coach
coming up with a game plan we had no answers for.
Many on the board saw how DePaul kept it close by making it a half court game. Obviously some on this board were blinded by Georgetown , who plays our game .
This guy can actually coach since it’s a complete rebuild They’re up and down by when their up they’re very capable and he knew how to exploit our weaknesses.
We have to come up with a consistent outside threat besides Cole.
 
Indeed it was a great game plan. Let Whaley and AJ beat them from beyond the arc. If Whaley was not hot we would have gotten blown out. It was obvious that it was a game where Whaley and Sanago played way too much together on the floor. This favored Creighton game plan.
Defensively I was not disappointed. They were held under 60 points and our defensive efforts ramped up in the 2nd half. You have to admit that Hawkins made two BS 3 pointers.
It irks me that we are now 0-4 vs Creighton. Time to regroup and get ready for Nova.
 
Palatine said:
1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
Expand ...
number 3 and number 6. Watch what Nova does this weekend. They do the same thing every time we play them
 
You can’t take sanogo out. On the offensive end. We have to impose our will. The other guys have to step up. If Cole isn’t hitting shots we’re in bad shape
 
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Palatine said:
1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
Expand ...
7. Get back on defense and take away UConn’s transition offense.

Did we even have a point in transition last night?
 
collapse on Sanogo when he gets the ball down low, force anyone to beat you with their shot. Pressure RJ Cole and force someone else to have to handle the ball. Make Hurley have to make "adjustments"
 
Letsgohuskies11 said:
collapse on Sanogo when he gets the ball down low, force anyone to beat you with their shot. Pressure RJ Cole and force someone else to have to handle the ball. Make Hurley have to make "adjustments"
Expand ...
Yep, pretty much this.

Double Sanogo - he can't pass out of double teams
Go over screens on RJ, make him take it to the rim where his lack of size is a big disadvantage and forces him into tough shots (to be fair to the kid, he makes a lot of them)
Don't worry about guarding anyone but Polley behind the three point line

It's really the lack of shooting killing this team. When your center/PF/reigning defensive POY in the Big East is your best three point shooter on the night, that spells trouble. Teams are correctly packing the paint and living with us shooting.
 
Palatine said:
1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
Expand ...

Pretty much nailed it. This is the easiest team to scout that I've ever seen. Hurley simply doesn't change what he does for anybody. He also seems to think other teams will make the moves he makes. They leave Whaley alone, he would never do that to the opposing 4/5 whether they can shoot or not. He'd vacate the lane, and he does.

Last night we saw Sanogo hedging (a great way to tire out your 5 needlessly), and Martin covering Sanogo's man and leaving his own open in the corner. McDermott game plans for that. Martin is late closing, because he's in the lane covering the 5. Made 3.

On offense the packed the lane, went zone at times, when Sanogo went out and shooters came in the sent everybody out to guard the shooters. We swung the ball around to Cole or Martin, looking for a 3 or penetration opportunity. But they were guarded closely outside and the bigs never took the bait and chased outside. That's why Whaley was standing all alone so often, and Sanogo was at times too. But they can't rebound out there, they are bad screeners and there is no pick and roll when the 7 foot center is just camped in the paint.
 
I was at the game and so I missed the chat discussions so curious what others thought. But I kept thinking, why wouldn't Hurley just tell the team the plan is to give it to Whaley at the top of the key and let him shoot until Creighton changes up their approach? I mean, it was the equivalent of him shooting alone in his driveway. He made 50% from 3 which is better than the rest of the team shot from the field. Why not just keep taking what they were giving them?
 
Marbles90 said:
I was at the game and so I missed the chat discussions so curious what others thought. But I kept thinking, why wouldn't Hurley just tell the team the plan is to give it to Whaley at the top of the key and let him shoot until Creighton changes up their approach? I mean, it was the equivalent of him shooting alone in his driveway. He made 50% from 3 which is better than the rest of the team shot from the field. Why not just keep taking what they were giving them?
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As you said, he took 8 3's last night. His previous high for 3pt attempts in a game was 4. So we kinda did that. Players like Whaley generally won't take every shot, they want to get teammates involved. He probably should have taken 12 though.
 
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auror said:
As you said, he took 8 3's last night. His previous high for 3pt attempts in a game was 4. So we kinda did that. Players like Whaley generally won't take every shot, they want to get teammates involved. He probably should have taken 12 though.
Expand ...
Your response is validating McDermott's plan. He counted on Whaley being reluctant to shoot because that is not his role. He would need Hurley to pull the team to the side during a timeout and say, hey, we are going to keep feeding Whaley to get them out of the defense. He shot 8 threes. Yes that is alot for Whaley. But the team took 67 shots. I guess I am thinking wide open Whaley 3's should have been way more than 8.
 
Double team Sanogo when he has the ball and hit the boards because 90% of the time it will stay with him and 65% of the time it will bounce off the rim.
Force RJ to drive against your big guys.
Stick to Polley like glue because he isn't going to move and when he does there will be no screen to face
Ball pressure Gaff and AJ - they will cough it up - I would probably include Hawk but he doesn't see the ball enough
Look for the big guys of UConn to hedge - get your shooters to the corners and sneak a wing underneath - you are bound to score

Things have to change - this team is way too predictable

God forbid UConn throws in some zone defense with any regularity
 
Marbles90 said:
Your response is validating McDermott's plan. He counted on Whaley being reluctant to shoot because that is not his role. He would need Hurley to pull the team to the side during a timeout and say, hey, we are going to keep feeding Whaley to get them out of the defense. He shot 8 threes. Yes that is alot for Whaley. But the team took 67 shots. I guess I am thinking wide open Whaley 3's should have been way more than 8.
Expand ...
Absolutely it was a good gameplan.
 
How about, play the passing lanes? We are a really bad passing team. Cole, Jackson and Martin consistently drive to the basket where there is always another defender because Sanogo is there. When they do drive to the hoop, have they ever passed to a shooter on the perimeter? So many warts have been exposed in the last 2 games. We are simply a bad half court team.
 
Marbles90 said:
Your response is validating McDermott's plan. He counted on Whaley being reluctant to shoot because that is not his role. He would need Hurley to pull the team to the side during a timeout and say, hey, we are going to keep feeding Whaley to get them out of the defense. He shot 8 threes. Yes that is alot for Whaley. But the team took 67 shots. I guess I am thinking wide open Whaley 3's should have been way more than 8.
Expand ...

Or he could play Akok, who McDermott would not have left alone in the same way. Yet other than about 1 minute, he didn't do that. As soon as Hurley saw the strategy, he should have swapped Jackson for Hawkins and Akok for Whaley. Two minutes into the game that should have happened.
 
Marbles90 said:
I was at the game and so I missed the chat discussions so curious what others thought. But I kept thinking, why wouldn't Hurley just tell the team the plan is to give it to Whaley at the top of the key and let him shoot until Creighton changes up their approach? I mean, it was the equivalent of him shooting alone in his driveway. He made 50% from 3 which is better than the rest of the team shot from the field. Why not just keep taking what they were giving them?
Expand ...
We don't seem to want to keep a hot hand working like the NBA. That player often heads to the bench for some reason.
 
.-.
gtcam said:
Double team Sanogo when he has the ball and hit the boards because 90% of the time it will stay with him and 65% of the time it will bounce off the rim.
Force RJ to drive against your big guys.
Stick to Polley like glue because he isn't going to move and when he does there will be no screen to face
Ball pressure Gaff and AJ - they will cough it up - I would probably include Hawk but he doesn't see the ball enough
Look for the big guys of UConn to hedge - get your shooters to the corners and sneak a wing underneath - you are bound to score

Things have to change - this team is way too predictable

God forbid UConn throws in some zone defense with any regularity
Expand ...
Force RJ to drive is right. Obviously we’ve been blessed with creative finishers like Kemba, Bazz, Boat, Adams and Bouk, but Cole is one of the worst guard finishers at the rim I can remember here, He never goes into the body and falls away for left handed prayers half the time, never getting the call because they just aren’t fouls. He never goes into the chest of the defender to move him. He could learn a thing or two from Gillespie.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
Force RJ to drive is right. Obviously we’ve been blessed with creative finishers like Kemba, Bazz, Boat, Adams and Bouk, but Cole is one of the worst guard finishers at the rim I can remember here, He never goes into the body and falls away for left handed prayers half the time, never getting the call because they just aren’t fouls. He never goes into the chest of the defender to move him. He could learn a thing or two from Gillespie.
Expand ...
Huh? He always draws contact and actually does finish pretty well. Why does he go to the line so often?
 
Marbles90 said:
Your response is validating McDermott's plan. He counted on Whaley being reluctant to shoot because that is not his role. He would need Hurley to pull the team to the side during a timeout and say, hey, we are going to keep feeding Whaley to get them out of the defense. He shot 8 threes. Yes that is alot for Whaley. But the team took 67 shots. I guess I am thinking wide open Whaley 3's should have been way more than 8.
Expand ...
Whaley could always fake the three and throw a killer crossover and bang one down.
 
Palatine said:
1. Clog the lane on defense.
2. Don't worry about fast breaks, send everyone to the backboard on defense.
3. Double team Sanogo and leave Whaley alone at the arc.
4. Never leave Polley alone.

5. Play isolation offense, UConn rarely helps.
6. Draw the shot blockers away from the basket.

Hurley is going to need to adjust because the league has adjusted to us.
Expand ...

Simply switching to a zone would have beaten Seton Hall. Hurley does have to mix up his defenses occasionally

How about one 12 foot pro curl on offense? Used to be a staple of our offense. The only thing we do now is shoot from beyond the arc or inside the box
 
The purpose of the 3 man weave is to get the defense moving, cause switching which should open a lane to drive to the hoop and if double teamed pass to the open man. The biggest problem with this is we miss contested layups and are such a poor passing team that we rarely find on open shooter. It’s infuriating when I see someone open for a 3 but they don’t get the ball
 
.-.
Marbles90 said:
Your response is validating McDermott's plan. He counted on Whaley being reluctant to shoot because that is not his role. He would need Hurley to pull the team to the side during a timeout and say, hey, we are going to keep feeding Whaley to get them out of the defense. He shot 8 threes. Yes that is alot for Whaley. But the team took 67 shots. I guess I am thinking wide open Whaley 3's should have been way more than 8.
Expand ...
shouldve been 20
 
This is why I dont understand why Hurley wont increase the tempo. He talked about wanting to get the bench involved, Akok is great in transition on both ends of the floor, and running gets more people involved. These slow it down rock fights dont work when you cant make shots.
 
In UConn's 5 Losses:
  • We've shot 29% from 3 (20.5% ex-Seton Hall where we were near 60%)
  • Our bench players (Polley, Akok, Gaffney, Hawkins) contributed 53 points (27 ex-Seton Hall) on 22% shooting (13% ex-Seton Hall).
    • Ironically, Akok started 4 of those games and Hawkins started 1.
To me, the loss prescription is as simple as not getting anything from our bench. We play 9 guys but we're not 9 guys deep. I don't really put these losses on Hurley much, except for probably Seton Hall.
 
ucp990411 said:
The purpose of the 3 man weave is to get the defense moving, cause switching which should open a lane to drive to the hoop and if double teamed pass to the open man. The biggest problem with this is we miss contested layups and are such a poor passing team that we rarely find on open shooter. It’s infuriating when I see someone open for a 3 but they don’t get the ball
Expand ...

Sure. Do you run it against Syracuse? Creighton was in man some of the time, zone some of the time and had Kakbrenner effectively zoned on the lane until he got hurt. When the D isn't chasing you, the weave and the screens up top just waste time.

McDermott scouted UConn very effectively and built a game plan that his guys executed very well. Since UConn continued doing exactly what he game planned for, they ended up winning. Yes, there were spurts when the fact that UConn has more athletic talent and better players allowed us to catch up. But note that happened after Kalkbrenner got hurt as well.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Sure. Do you run it against Syracuse? Creighton was in man some of the time, zone some of the time and had Kakbrenner effectively zoned on the lane until he got hurt. When the D isn't chasing you, the weave and the screens up top just waste time.

McDermott scouted UConn very effectively and built a game plan that his guys executed very well. Since UConn continued doing exactly what he game planned for, they ended up winning. Yes, there were spurts when the fact that UConn has more athletic talent and better players allowed us to catch up. But note that happened after Kalkbrenner got hurt as well.
Expand ...
The thing is that we shot 35% rather than 29 % we win the game.
 
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