I feel bad for AG and CV

[willie99]

Vital is still needed on the court because he’s a solid defender and great rebounder. I can live with his bonehead shot selection from time to time.

Alterique right now doesn’t have any redeeming qualities IMO. Hopefully he figures it out.

He plays great on the ball defense, that's one thing

 

[Shine33]

He plays great on the ball defense, that's one thing

I saw at least 2 threes hit right in front of his face bc he backed off his defender bc he was worried about getting beat off the dribble.
One he is short, so that doesn’t help bc they can shoot over him, two he isn’t super quick so he needs to give the defender some space to not get beat off the dribble, three, his arms don’t seem very long, so when he closes out he is not much of nuisance to shooters.

 

[B1GEast]

Don't feel bad for these young men. The are learning valuable life lessons that will suit them later in life. Things about team work and having to overcome difficult situations. Not every athlete will move on to the NBA, and I'm not saying that they don't have the ability to play at the next level, just saying that life is bigger than the game. At some point you just have to realize what you got to do and I hope they figure that out on the court and in life.

 

[mauconnfan]

Vital is still needed on the court because he’s a solid defender and great rebounder. I can live with his bonehead shot selection from time to time.

Alterique right now doesn’t have any redeeming qualities IMO. Hopefully he figures it out.

Vital isn’t close defensively to AG you’re dreaming. His steals come from not guarding his guy well. Listen they’ve both been pretty awful to say one is more valuable than the other is just who you like. Neither deserve praise.

 

[lange10]

Vital isn’t close defensively to AG you’re dreaming. His steals come from not guarding his guy well. Listen they’ve both been pretty awful to say one is more valuable than the other is just who you like. Neither deserve praise.

Maybe. Both could improve defensively. Vital is unquestionably a great rebounder for us though. That’s valuable. I don’t know what Alterique is providing right now that is valuable.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Vital isn’t close defensively to AG you’re dreaming. His steals come from not guarding his guy well. Listen they’ve both been pretty awful to say one is more valuable than the other is just who you like. Neither deserve praise.

Vital is 2nd in the AAC in rebounding, 1st in steals, and 3rd in assists. But you’re right, he doesn’t deserve praise.

 

[mauconnfan]

Vital is 2nd in the AAC in rebounding, 1st in steals, and 3rd in assists. But you’re right, he doesn’t deserve praise.

Geez Dave Vital I apologize he sucked last night no praise for making losing plays sorry.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Geez Dave Vital I apologize he sucked last night no praise for making losing plays sorry.

Offensively, yes, he had a terrible game. There’s more to basketball than that though. 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists is pretty good from your two guard. Was grabbing 13 rebounds losing plays? Was jumping into passing lanes and having 4 steals losing plays? He deserves praise for what he does well just as anyone else does.

 

[mauconnfan]

Offensively, yes, he had a terrible game. There’s more to basketball than that though. 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists is pretty good from your two guard. Was grabbing 13 rebounds losing plays? Was jumping into passing lanes and having 4 steals losing plays? He deserves praise for what he does well just as anyone else does.

Not praise but respect. Read my other posts much respect for his toughness rebounding it’s great.

So you’re right those things make up for taking a 3 when you shouldn’t at crunch time my bad.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

I love it when people make up things that nobody said. Vital and Alterique can contribute and make good plays while still losing the game for us down the stretch with dumb hero ball.

There are like 5 threads about how Gilbert sucks. New one after every game...

 

[tower1]

People are wayyyyy to critical of Gilbert and vital. Especially Gilbert, people are acting like he’s playing the worst out of anyone of the team. He’s not shooting well, some bad shots but also lots of open shots just not going in. But we literally have no offense without him in the game (without him the offense consists of throwing the ball to Carlton in the post and hoping for magic). Gilbert has the ability to get past the first defender and drive (something no other guard has been doing except maybe for bouknight) and has been a floor general on the court.

Defensively he’s been okay. sometimes I question when he goes and plays help defense, leaving people open for 3s too often (it’s already easy to shoot over him). But he also stays in front of players trying to drive pretty well.

let’s also not forget that it’s still November. Gilbert and Vital are in shooting funks, but this is the time to work those kinks out rather than in league play

So you sacrifice the whole team and not play the freshman to allow Gilbert more shots. He is a trrible shooter and not much better in making decisions. He should not be starting. Look at how smooth the team played against Buffalo. I guess Hurley didn't notice.

 

[mauconnfan]

So you sacrifice the whole team and not play the freshman to allow Gilbert more shots. He is a trrible shooter and not much better in making decisions. He should not be starting. Look at how smooth the team played against Buffalo. I guess Hurley didn't notice.

Buffalo didn't pressure the ball on D at all, hardly ramped it up when they were coming back. X would've been a different world, bigger guards in the face. Is what it is. He's playing crappy I get the idea of not starting him makes sense until he gets it, IF he gets it. But anyone who thinks Adams is a PG is mistaken and Gaffney as we can see has a ways to go. Everyone forgot about that one piece of pressure, double team Brendan finally saw at half court and he dribbled it OOBs off his foot to give them a chance yet again.

Like it or not we need DH to drill into Gilberts head to stop taking the ball deep and trying to make shots. If anything stop and pop from 12-15 we'll be ok. He's a better shooter than he has been, maybe not by a lot but he can make shots. Not layups though please!

 

[Hankster]

People are wayyyyy to critical of Gilbert and vital. Especially Gilbert, people are acting like he’s playing the worst out of anyone of the team. He’s not shooting well, some bad shots but also lots of open shots just not going in. But we literally have no offense without him in the game (without him the offense consists of throwing the ball to Carlton in the post and hoping for magic). Gilbert has the ability to get past the first defender and drive (something no other guard has been doing except maybe for bouknight) and has been a floor general on the court.

Defensively he’s been okay. sometimes I question when he goes and plays help defense, leaving people open for 3s too often (it’s already easy to shoot over him). But he also stays in front of players trying to drive pretty well.

let’s also not forget that it’s still November. Gilbert and Vital are in shooting funks, but this is the time to work those kinks out rather than in league play

In the Florida game he went to the bench. Bouk and Gaffney came in and in my opinion, they both did a hell of a job. I was surprised DH left them in that long. But I guess he was a "if it's not broke don't fix it" kind of guy, at the time.

 

[buddy]

Without Vital, I don't think UConn would have beaten Buffalo. With Gilbert, UConn will beat no one.

 

[mauconnfan]

In the Florida game he went to the bench. Bouk and Gaffney came in and in my opinion, they both did a hell of a job. I was surprised DH left them in that long. But I guess he was a "if it's not broke don't fix it" kind of guy, at the time.

Had to be Buffalo Bouk was suspended still for Florida?

 

[Hankster]

Buffalo didn't pressure the ball on D at all, hardly ramped it up when they were coming back. X would've been a different world, bigger guards in the face. Is what it is. He's playing crappy I get the idea of not starting him makes sense until he gets it, IF he gets it. But anyone who thinks Adams is a PG is mistaken and Gaffney as we can see has a ways to go. Everyone forgot about that one piece of pressure, double team Brendan finally saw at half court and he dribbled it OOBs off his foot to give them a chance yet again.

Like it or not we need DH to drill into Gilberts head to stop taking the ball deep and trying to make shots. If anything stop and pop from 12-15 we'll be ok. He's a better shooter than he has been, maybe not by a lot but he can make shots. Not layups though please!

Great point. We couldn't drive inside at all. What happened to that pull jumper? It is no where to be found.

 

[Waquoit]

And yet, think where we’d be without him.

3-2?

 

[Chief00]

None of this stuff is all that unfixable. Gilbert has to pick his spots a hell of a lot better and I'd be thrilled if he didn't try to flip the ball off the backboard with a 7 footer draped all over him, but these are remediable issues at this point. They both bring a lot to the table and will be critical to the success of this team going forward, there are times when they run great offense when both of those guys are on the court, they just need to clean up this hero stuff when the game gets to lemon booty time. That was a fun game to watch but they should have won that ____ five or six times.

The slow starts are when the two starting guards are in the game. Both can graduate this year, not a lot of time to tear down and remake their game.

 

[Shine33]

Offensively, yes, he had a terrible game. There’s more to basketball than that though. 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists is pretty good from your two guard. Was grabbing 13 rebounds losing plays? Was jumping into passing lanes and having 4 steals losing plays? He deserves praise for what he does well just as anyone else does.

I wish someone loved me half as much as you love Vital

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Gilbert’s problem, one of them at any rate, is that he can penetrate seemingly at will, but is unable to finish. His moves inside worked in HS, they don’t at this level. For instance, he had a very nice drive last night getting to the left side of the rim, then tried the shot right-hand, nearer the defender. Easy block. His left hand doesn’t finish well and he knows it. Plus, he can leap, but at his size still can’t get it over the bigs inside.

He needs the floater, the pull-up, and a reliable 3 pointer. None are in his arsenal now. I like his energy, his quickness on D, his handling of pressure, and his dedication. But I’m sure his shots per game should be single digits.

 

[bmayuc]

Vital is still needed on the court because he’s a solid defender and great rebounder. I can live with his bonehead shot selection from time to time.

Alterique right now doesn’t have any redeeming qualities IMO. Hopefully he figures it out.

The only essential skill that Alterique has for us is he is the only excellent ball handler. At this one crucial skill, Vital is a turnover machine, Brendan Adams is average, Gaffney is average and looks shaky with the rock, Bouk looks maybe above average but small sample size.

If Alterique can simply remove "shooting ever when he's near the rim" from his game I think he can be a useful piece. But he should never, ever try and make a layup. It's an immediate block and fast break the other way.

 

[XLCenterFan]

IMO opinion, Vital is better right now than I expected him to be. I also admire him for sticking it out. He's had a decent career and has always given it 100% Heck, he's almost an automatic double double. What more can you ask from a kid?

I also feel for Gilbert. A promising career that's been mired in injuries. I felt like he showed a spark last season, but now it may just be that these injuries are adding up. Either way, no reason slam them.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

Both could help us if they knew their roles and limitations. Unfortunately neither has figured that out yet while at UConn. How long do you wait for vital to learn when and when not to shoot? How long do you wait for Ag to learn that he is getting blocked every time he goes into the paint? They do the same things over and over expecting different results. I'm tired of waiting. If we wait until January we may be too far in the hole to dig ourselves out. They needed to prove themselves early this year and to me they have failed. They need to take a back seat and if they want more PT how about they earn it with good play?

 

[Conndog]

Can Gilbert play the kind of game that Taliek played? Taliek couldn’t shoot well but set everyone up- granted, he had a tremendous cast around him. Taliek was a great defender too.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I wish someone loved me half as much as you love Vital

I don’t love vital, not even close to one of my favorite huskies of all time. He has his limitations as a player, but I do think he doesn’t get half the respect he deserves around here and doesn’t deserve nearly the amount of criticism he gets.

He’s far outplayed his 160 ranking.