I just watched a replay of the final play

[huskymagic]

Andre Drummond speaking about Roscoe:

"Roscoe is our X-factor…He played great defense."

I think Andre has been reading the boneyard

 

[mauconnfan]

Exactly what did this have to do with this thread?

 

[FluxTZ]

Here's a question - Had Roscoe not taken it to the hole but instead attempted a pass to AD, and caused a turnover, would we be screaming for him to have taken the shot instead?

Honestly, I was fine with either option. I think the better of the two was to pass to AD but I had no problem with him taking it to the basket. and in my opinion, I think he was fouled.

 

[Gurleyman]

Having just watched the replay, I was wrong on one thing. Drummond would not have been blocked out if he shot the 15 footer. Melo was coming out to Roscoe and Fair was collapsing from the other side. Still don't mind the decision to try to catch the defense rushing out at him with a blow by, but in hindsight, the 15-footer would have been the more effective choice (most effective would be to sell Melo on the shot and dump it down to the block for an Andre dunk, but Fair probably would have done everything possible to get there and foul, which makes that pass risky, even if it looks open).

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm amazed by some of this.

1. It was a foul. Period. And probably a smart one at that. We are not going to get an even break from the zebras this year. I'm as anti-conspiracy theory as anyone but it's getting hard to hold that position.

2. Had Roscoe passed to Drummond, everyone had to pray that no one could grab Drummond before he dunked. I'm not saying the play wouldn't have worked, but in the huddle you have to have been told to be very careful before passing to Drummond.

3. My favorite is that Roscoe shouldn't have touched the ball there. Did you watch the comeback? Our halkfcourt offense was based on getting the ball to Roscoe just underneath the 3 in the 3-2. They were overplaying the guards and opening that space up for Roscoe. Someone wants to have a play that ignores what Syracuse was giving us and what they were leaving open? Great.

 

[4UConn]

If I never see Jim Burr again....I'd be OK....

 

[OkaForPrez]

Just saw it on TV for the first time on ESPN U. I think fair took 4 steps. He does a jump skip and lands with two steps then picks up both feet to set himself. You can see it in the overhead shot, but its painfully obvious from the camera angle behind him. When you put that no call on both sides of the floor, that's when it really hurts.

No moral victories against the Cuse, but we looks like we are developing something.

 

[DogMania]

Cuse extended the D beyond the 3 to prevent the loss.

We did what he had to do and got the ball into the paint. Roscoe could have passed it, but he didn't. He got fouled. No call. Game over.

Can't get on Roscoe's case, we aren't in this game at all if it wasn't for him.

I watched the replay again and initially I thought that Roscoe should have quickly put up the J and would have had AD camped to put in the rebound. But after watching it again, Roscoe had AD wide open to his left. It would have been an easy dump down and dunk for the tie. He didn't even have to do a hard upfake since Melo immediately ran out at him leaving AD wide open.

Lastly, unlike last season, UConn simply isn't getting the calls, especially at home. Roscoe was fouled 2 to 3 times on that play. Fair not only hacked him on the shot, but shoved him in the back pushing him right into Melo before his shot. If you're a ref you have to make that call.

I'm not blaming the loss on the refs, since IMO that game was lost on the glass and in the paint, with UConn giving up so many put-backs, second chance opportunities and uncontested drives right up the gut.

As far as effort and not giving up, I give them big time high marks. If they play this way from this point on, they're going to win a bunch of games.

 

[UConn4ever]

In all seriousness, no way that was a foul in that spot and do you think in a million years he would have made 2 FTs. He clunked 2 just a few minutes before.

Are you kidding me? a foul is a foul at anytime in the game remember when they called a foul on Pitt 85 feet from the basket in that game vs Butler in the NCAA tournament a few years ago with like no time left if they call that a foul, there is no reason that a foul shouldn't have been called on Fair.

 

[DogMania]

Wasn't a takedown. It was a terrible play. No way he should have touched the ball other than a put back.

Let's see, Fair first shoved him in the back, hacked his arm and pulled him down with his other hand...Yeah, I'd say that's a foul during any moment of a game. I don't know why, but UConn simply isn't getting these types of calls. Last season I thought we got some favorable officiating at times, not this year.

 

[DogMania]

Yes, he should have either shot the ball right away or passed down to AD on the left moving to the hoop. When he did drive, he should have taken it more into the defender instead of whatever you would call what he did. But, easy to second guess. First time I recall Roscoe being in that type of situation and hopefully he'll be a little calmer next time. Roscoe played very well. We had lots of other opportunities to get key baskets with less than the best decisions. Maybe Syracuse is pretty good....just a thought.

After finally watching a recording of that last play, you are spot on, DB. It happened all so fast, I didn't notice AD on the left watching it live, but AD was wide open for an easy dunk and tie.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

(1) I get that refs sometimes swallow their whistles in the final seconds, but generally only when the contact is clearly unintentional. Given that Syracuse was running around strategically fouling everyone in sight at the end of the first half to prevent us from getting a clean shot off, you just can't give them a presumption of innocence at the end of the second half of the same game. Fair knew what he was doing. It was a great play, but he was clearly trying to prevent a clean shot once he saw that he was out of position.

(2) Even if that foul is called, it doesn't give us a W. In fact, the odds say we still lose that game 3 times out of 4. Roscoe is a 70% FT shooter, so it's 50-50 that he makes 2 to send it to overtime and 50-50 again that we come out on top in OT.

(3) Overall, I thought this was a fairly officiated contest. There were a few questionable calls (there always are), but we actually got a few calls for the first time in what seems like weeks. So even though that last foul should have been called, you really can't lay blame for the loss on the officials. Syracuse deserved the win.

 

[FeedTheDove]

(2) Even if that foul is called, it doesn't give us a W. In fact, the odds say we still lose that game 3 times out of 4. Roscoe is a 70% FT shooter, so it's 50-50 that he makes 2 to send it to overtime and 50-50 again that we come out on top in OT.

This is true, however, the foul would have at least given us a chance to send it to OT. Not only would it have given Roscoe the opportunity to knock down the two free throws, but let's say he missed one (whether it be the first or second) There was roughly 3.5 seconds on the clock when the foul actually occurred (the first foul at least.) This is absolutely enough time for an offensive rebound, and a put-back, and also enough time to foul a Syracuse rebounder, putting them on the line, and then giving us another shot to win it or send it to OT. The foul would have set up a number of different scenarios for the outcome of the game... that were never possible without it. Gotta blow the whistle, </3

 

[caw]

No

I'd rather have Giffey in than Roscoe for offense. Either way, on that play one of the guards has to make a play there.

 

[orangehomer]

don't worry about it, if you take care of business this week we will be playing again next week anyway.

 

[Excalibur]

Anyone criticizing the fact that Roscoe is falling away needs to have their head examined. He's falling away because he was pulled backwards.

 

[jibsey]

What we are losing sight of here is that we outplayed the #2 team in the country in the second half (after we were outplayed in the first) and lost a nailbiter in the last second. That basically means we have the talent to make a run in the tournament should we make it. Until this game we were being blown out by the better teams in the BE. Boatright is finally asserting himself, and when Napier starts scoring we can be dangerous. Pitt played Ville pretty tough on the road so that won't be easy.

 

[DogMania]

I'd rather have Giffey in than Roscoe for offense. Either way, on that play one of the guards has to make a play there.

I'm not sure I understand why people wanted Giffey in there at the end rather than Roscoe. Scoe was having an outstanding game. He was one of our most active players on the offensive glass and was the one who seemed most comfortable with receiving the ball in the middle of the paint, which ended up the case with 4+ seconds on the clock. Now of course, we'd all like to have someone like Lamb with the ball in that spot, but no way was SU going to let him have the ball anywhere close to the basket.

You have to give SU credit for trying to take away the players that UConn wanted the ball in their hands, forcing them to give it up to a player who's not used to being in that situation. Maybe if Scoe had been receiving the ball in the middle of the paint throughout the season he might have been more instinctual and had spotted AD open to his left right under the basket.

I just don't see how Giffey could have been a better piece of the puzzle in that game at that time.

 

[FeedTheDove]

There is no way that i would want the ball in giffeys hands in that situation, period. Roscoe did not make a bad decision, he was fouled.

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm not sure I understand why people wanted Giffey in there at the end rather than Roscoe....I just don't see how Giffey could have been a better piece of the puzzle in that game at that time.

Because people really like Giffey more than he has earned. Nice player, but why would he be out there over the kid who had 11 points and 7 rebounds? Giffey had 0 points, 0 assists, and 1 rebound. Because he can pass better? I just don't think the numbers back up his being a better passer.

 

[businesslawyer]

What we are losing sight of here is that we outplayed the #2 team in the country in the second half (after we were outplayed in the first) and lost a nailbiter in the last second. That basically means we have the talent to make a run in the tournament should we make it. Until this game we were being blown out by the better teams in the BE. Boatright is finally asserting himself, and when Napier starts scoring we can be dangerous. Pitt played Ville pretty tough on the road so that won't be easy.

I don't think anyone is losing sight of it. We all know we have the talent to play with top level teams. What we don't know is whether we can and will play 40 minutes without losing focus.

Many think one good win will take this team psychologically over the hump. Which is why it's so frustrating that we had a chance to get there and couldn't take advantage of it.

 

[caw]

Because people really like Giffey more than he has earned. Nice player, but why would he be out there over the kid who had 11 points and 7 rebounds? Giffey had 0 points, 0 assists, and 1 rebound. Because he can pass better? I just don't think the numbers back up his being a better passer.

I love stats as much as the next guy, but assist stats are really a poor way of judging a passer (fun but not really good). Roscoe didn't have a bad game, but I'm not sure if "good" is quite accurate either.

 

[Excalibur]

I love stats as much as the next guy, but assist stats are really a poor way of judging a passer (fun but not really good). Roscoe didn't have a bad game, but I'm not sure if "good" is quite accurate either.

He had a good game. No reasonable argument otherwise. Point to the first half if you want, but who did have a good first half?

 

[Rico444]

don't worry about it, if you take care of business this week we will be playing again next week anyway.

I was at the game, and wanted a win as much as anybody, but this is spot on. Regardless of a couple of calls at the end, I'd rather be on the right side of the whistle in the BET or NCAAs. Those are the games that matter.

 

[sparky]

Bad play calling. Whatever happened to running an out of bounds play that leads to a score as opposed to throwing it into the backcourt. With JC there that play would have been different.