Don’t go there. I just got lambasted in the other thread for implying the same thing.
have to focus on defensive breakdown- why were so many Creighton players open? I would expect other teams to replicate what Creighton did offensively, so what is a better defensive plan for that kind of offensive attack? Is it just that Clingan has to stay out of foul trouble? Also, until yesterday, I thought our offense was great- but, maybe it isn't so great. What offensive options could we have tried since it was so hard to get any shooters open? And I don't know if it is some kind of pet peeve for me or something more central, but I really hate that high hedge that Samson tries to do- how many times does he foul someone 30-40 feet away from the basket? Everyone else has to scramble to cover the big man and someone was always open. There must be some other way to handle a screen up high.
That what happens when Clingan leaves the game too early.
When you say that you turn us into Purdue. We have a lot more weapons than them and have proven we can make adjustments and win games against good teams without Clingan on the floor. It's a dangerous thing when success hinges on one player being out there.
Everyone chill out!! There is no way we were running the table with a what … 28 game win streak. We are currently unanimous #1. We lost at a tough venue to an elite 8 team from last year. This loss shouldn’t even knock us off the top spot but I would assume the top 3 share 1 votes. It looked like a scrimmage pace and I had the feeling that if there was one game left to take an L this was the one. Marquette is too close in the standings.
In 2 of 3 losses, DC has been limited or hurt. In the other, no Castle. We need a full team, playing without fouling, to win some games. We can make do in some others.
There is no question we are better with a full roster ready to go, and having Clingan out on the floor for the majority of the minutes. That said, we can't allow teams to make a strategy out of getting Clingan into foul trouble and then using it to their advantage because we are unable to compete otherwise. What we learned when Clingan and other players were on the bench is that we have several guys who can step up, and that we can make adjustments at the 5, play small, etc...BUT we haven't faced a lot of Kalkbrenners either. So your point is well taken, that THIS was one of those games where we needed all hands on deck.
Not only Cam. Steph lost his guy/got caught out of position at least twice during the 5-minute 3pt barrage as well.
Loss wasn’t embarrassing. Team played hard, just got beat.
A couple points to add:
Good points.
Not sure how many teams UConn will face that have the offensive capability to exploit this aspect of their defense, but Creighton did lay down a blueprint on how to attack our defensive strategy.
In the first half alone i counted 3 uncontested 3s on plays Spencer blew. He was atrocious defensively tonight and you can tell it got in his head because he stunk it up offensively. People may want to talk about deficiency or formula on how to beat us and thats all bs. We outrebounded them, had 1 more turnover but 1 more point in points off turnovers and a lot of the numbers were about even or slightly in our favor except one big number. 3s. We hit 3 and they hit 14. Ballgame. Crayton went unconscious and we couldnt hit the ocean if we fell out of the boat. We need to be better defending the 3 because if we dont that is the great equalizer that will get us killed. Someone here mentioned if a team got really hot from 3 and we struggled that is what can get us beat and its exactly what happened.
We can't lose a tight game...
(I know, I know, Kansas)
Yes!
It can be great, if they make their shots. Creighton did at a high %. The Huskies have proven that they can do that most games. They laid an egg in this one mainly because of the Creighton defense.
