Hurley’s Deepest UConn Team | Page 7 | The Boneyard

Hurley’s Deepest UConn Team

husky429 said:
Why are you assuming we can only use one type of coverage with one big? Reed can play any number of coverages effectively. Drop, weak, ice, hedge, even strong a screen... and more. He's a smart kid and will need it for the league.
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I'm saying play to your strengths. Reed is a pretty good rim protector. Not a big fan of him being that far away from the rim and potentially picking up fouls just like we didn't do for Clingan.
 
HW611 said:
I'm saying play to your strengths. Reed is a pretty good rim protector. Not a big fan of him being that far away from the rim and potentially picking up fouls just like we didn't do for Clingan.
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Amen to that.

Tarris did that maybe 5-7 times last year and got a steal all of once, got at least 3 fouls, and 2-3 was what he was supposed to do, set a rather large screen. Clingan did that part pretty well.

So if Tarris can just set a screen and fade back that would be great. Though we should not need that from him so hopefully he just stays down under as a rim protector and vacuum off the glass.
 
Lafayette said:
Amen to that.

Tarris did that maybe 5-7 times last year and got a steal all of once, got at least 3 fouls, and 2-3 was what he was supposed to do, set a rather large screen. Clingan did that part pretty well.

So if Tarris can just set a screen and fade back that would be great. Though we should not need that from him so hopefully he just stays down under as a rim protector and vacuum off the glass.
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What you're missing is that the goal is not to get a steal, it's to keep the guard from easy penetration into the paint, which isn't something you can track on the scoresheet. I thought Tarris did a pretty good job of that last year, so I'd expect it to be a staple of our defense again this season
 
August thread about the depth of our team, built on a strong mix of returning starters, high quality freshmen, and multiple transfers

Is now currently an argument about the high hedge

UConn basketball is almost back, baby
 
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navery12 said:
What you're missing is that the goal is not to get a steal, it's to keep the guard from easy penetration into the paint, which isn't something you can track on the scoresheet. I thought Tarris did a pretty good job of that last year, so I'd expect it to be a staple of our defense again this season
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Drop coverage with the right big would accomplish the same thing. Its why we did it with Clingan and never had any problems with teams penetrating the paint.

The high hedge is not a necessary thing to do and we've had our highest successes without it when Clingan was doing drop coverage.
 
HW611 said:
Drop coverage with the right big would accomplish the same thing. Its why we did it with Clingan and never had any problems with teams penetrating the paint.

The high hedge is not a necessary thing to do and we've had our highest successes without it when Clingan was doing drop coverage.
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But even Clingan used the high hedge at times, and Reed has the athleticism to be incredibly successful doing it. I have no idea why people wouldn't want him to be high hedging
 
navery12 said:
But even Clingan used the high hedge at times, and Reed has the athleticism to be incredibly successful doing it. I have no idea why people wouldn't want him to be high hedging
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They need something to complain about and lack the BBIQ (and plain old IQ) to make an original criticism that isn't played out already.
 
navery12 said:
What you're missing is that the goal is not to get a steal, it's to keep the guard from easy penetration into the paint, which isn't something you can track on the scoresheet. I thought Tarris did a pretty good job of that last year, so I'd expect it to be a staple of our defense again this season
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Thank you for saying what I was about to say. It also prevents the ball handler from getting an open jumper.
 
navery12 said:
What you're missing is that the goal is not to get a steal, it's to keep the guard from easy penetration into the paint, which isn't something you can track on the scoresheet. I thought Tarris did a pretty good job of that last year, so I'd expect it to be a staple of our defense again this season
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I get that but he was trying to steal the ball a few times and got caught all but once when he made a clean steal. He should not have been trying to steal the ball at all. He was trying to high hedge and push the point guard or ballhandler further out while tries to get all the way back so his guy is not open down low. Trying to poke at the ball is a no-no....too easy to get a foul and ruin the high hedge.
 
Umami Zen said:
Team depth helps the starters and the first few rotation players off the bench to stay sharp through competitive practices and scrimmages -leading up to the season and during the season. The depth of players 10-15 gives you injury insurance- quality development opportunities for the entire roster-and situational game flexibility as a last resort. FWIW- I believe depth matters. PT is Danny's call
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I get justifiably apprehensive when there's this level of positivity.......
 
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HW611 said:
Drop coverage with the right big would accomplish the same thing. Its why we did it with Clingan and never had any problems with teams penetrating the paint.

The high hedge is not a necessary thing to do and we've had our highest successes without it when Clingan was doing drop coverage.
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Is Clingan on this years roster? Or anyone similar?
 
ucp990411 said:
Is Clingan on this years roster? Or anyone similar?
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Not at all, but I do believe Reed is better at protecting the rim than playing 20+ feet away and trying to recover.

Just about playing to strengths. Sanogo wasn't a great rim protector but he was super mobile. So the high hedge was fine then. Same with Samson.

When we have a guy that is really good at defending the rim though I think we should gameplan to keep him close to it and not risk unnecessary fouls.
 
If an opposing center is a 3 threat what is the strategy?
 
Yes! A high hedge argument. The issue with the high hedge is as much about the rotations as it is about our big being 8958 feet away from the hoop. Last year, Samson would hedge to half court, but that required poor defenders to rotate and consistently give up either easy looks near the hoop or a wide-open baseline 3. If our players rotate correctly and can defend, the high hedge can be very disruptive. But if it's Mullins getting backed down by Ejiofor under the hoop then it is just dumb strategy.
 
jibsey said:
If an opposing center is a 3 threat what is the strategy?
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You get torched by Creighton. McDermott has never won the big ones, but he always game plans us very well and often makes us look bad. That's not a coincidence. Why they were the only team to consistently just have their big play goalie against us, knowing that our 5's will, for no good reason, have the ball at the top of the key with the clock running down, is beyond me.
 
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I thought Samson was very good at the high hedge in many regards. Maybe most importantly, that he was quick enough to get back onto his guy in the paint before anything bad could happen. His issue, however, was fouling while hedging. I don't know if anyone cares to look ( I sure don't) but it seemed like a solid half of Samson's fouls occurred near or beyond the three point line. That was a bad use of his fouls. I'd rather our centers commit their fouls trying to block a shot in the paint or trying to get a rebound. The reaching in 25' from the basket on a 6-foot guard was all risk and no reward. He just didn't seem to be able to help himself.

Reed seems nimble enough to effectively hedge but picking the pocket of the opposition's point guard probably shouldn't be any part of objective.
 
If…..Mullins becomes a starter…..and our lineup is Silas, Solo, Alex, Mullins, and Reed, have we ever put out a better shooting lineup in UConn History? (Assumption is Alex returning to high %).
 
boog204 said:
Yes! A high hedge argument. The issue with the high hedge is as much about the rotations as it is about our big being 8958 feet away from the hoop. Last year, Samson would hedge to half court, but that required poor defenders to rotate and consistently give up either easy looks near the hoop or a wide-open baseline 3. If our players rotate correctly and can defend, the high hedge can be very disruptive. But if it's Mullins getting backed down by Ejiofor under the hoop then it is just dumb strategy.
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Exactly. In 2022-23 Andre, Karaban and Hawkins were great with the rotations. In 2023-24 Castle, Karaban and especially Cam were terrific. The 2024-25 team Solo and Liam were very poor with the rotations. Solo got better as the season went on but Liam never got it. Teams were focused on making sure he was the one that would rotate.
 
Some of y'all don't understand the high hedge at all. You notice when a guy overextends and our back line rotates poorly. You don't notice the 9/10 times we disrupt a ballhandler and seamlessly recover.

Go watch a replay of a game. Count how many times we hedge, and how many times it leads to a bucket.
 
husky429 said:
Some of y'all don't understand the high hedge at all. You notice when a guy overextends and our back line rotates poorly. You don't notice the 9/10 times we disrupt a ballhandler and seamlessly recover.

Go watch a replay of a game. Count how many times we hedge, and how many times it leads to a bucket.
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I remember this standing out as so effective especially when Sanogo was the one hedging and we had Andre picking off passes left and right.
 
husky429 said:
Some of y'all don't understand the high hedge at all. You notice when a guy overextends and our back line rotates poorly. You don't notice the 9/10 times we disrupt a ballhandler and seamlessly recover.

Go watch a replay of a game. Count how many times we hedge, and how many times it leads to a bucket.
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Yes, there were many times when one of our guards was getting burned and Samson would hedge, disrupt him and recover.
If you have an elite shot blocker, maybe he stays home. When we had Okafor back there, Ben Gordon could take ridiculous chances, almost goading guards to try and score in the paint only to be swatted.
 
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ucp990411 said:
It totally disrupts the opponents offensive continuity. Takes away the pick and roll. Causes turnovers. Must be done with correct rotations
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At the scrimmage Hurley said our defense was horrible last season,
 
navery12 said:
What you're missing is that the goal is not to get a steal, it's to keep the guard from easy penetration into the paint, which isn't something you can track on the scoresheet. I thought Tarris did a pretty good job of that last year, so I'd expect it to be a staple of our defense again this season
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He was on the bench with early fouls way too often and most were a result of the high hedge minefield.
 
husky429 said:
Some of y'all don't understand the high hedge at all. You notice when a guy overextends and our back line rotates poorly. You don't notice the 9/10 times we disrupt a ballhandler and seamlessly recover.

Go watch a replay of a game. Count how many times we hedge, and how many times it leads to a bucket.
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It led to a bucket a lot last season and numerous mismatches and open shooters.
 
Chief00 said:
At the scrimmage Hurley said our defense was horrible last season,
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Crazy, I know, but how we performed on defense is not necessarily a result of the style of defense we played. It could just have been poor execution.
 
Inyatkin said:
Crazy, I know, but how we performed on defense is not necessarily a result of the style of defense we played. It could just have been poor execution.
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And/or personnel.
 
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