I think we need a little perspective...

[The Funster]

My sense was that Boat was often getting it to them in the right place, or near right place, and they pump faked away the open shot or lane.

I won't deny that he doesn't always put it on the money in the way that Marcus or Taliek or Shabazz did. But he does it enough that--with more confident scorers and playmakers--our offense would look a lot better than it did.

In other words, the last person I would blame here is Boat (not to put words in your mouth @businesslawyer )

Pretty much how I see it. Perimeter pump fakes and fake first steps got tedious during the season. That and the fact that teams just packed it in on us meant that it was hard for Boat to dribble drive and create. He always drew the longest defender and never got a break. I don't think Boat ever had the freedom that Kemba and Bazz had.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Wanna bet? Football drives the bus and there is no seat on there for us today. When and if is anyone's guess.

It's more complicated than "football drives the bus." Spend more time in the CR forum.

 

[amory]

It's not too much of an expectation for our fan base that we make the tournament. Expecting to make the field as an at-large with the talent we had on the roster this year doesn't make us spoiled or jaded. If we beat Houston and Yale we're in.

Bad job by the team this year.

 

[tzznandrew]

I don't think that is an accurate statement about Williams. He was the only ball handler on the team, and while there was a lot of talent on that team, there was only 1 ace outside shooter, Rashad. Defensively he wasn't great, but saying he was terrible defensively is a bit of an exaggeration. And Williams was probably the best passer UConn has ever had.

I am confident that if we could have survived George Mason, UConn would win the whole thing that year with only 2 losses in a Big East that was amazing that year. The George Mason loss was not Williams' fault nearly as much as it was the two feathered pillows we had in the post that game.

I didn't buy the bolded statement, and so I looked. And wow, both Rudy and Denham had terrible outside shooting years.

Rashad and Marcus were both 40%. All other significant players were 32% or under.

Given the great passing, and the interior offense that team had, players were missing open looks.

But I also agree on your point about winning the whole thing. That UConn team did have a flaw of only one ball handler, but they were monsters.

Sadly, they only showed up when they respected the opponent--and they got a bad draw for that.

 

[Waquoit]

I always get turned off when someone decides I need perspective. I've got plenty of perspective, thank you. The fact is, the good times are over. I'm still going to go to games and follow the team, but it won't be the same. It will be like when the Whalers left and the Wolfpack came in. Games are still fun, they just don't matter.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I always get turned off when someone decides I need perspective. I've got plenty of perspective, thank you. The fact is, the good times are over. I'm still going to go to games and follow the team, but it won't be the same. It will be like when the Whalers left and the Wolfpack came in. Games are still fun, they just don't matter.

So you need perspective and insight.

 

[CTBasketball]

I didn't buy the bolded statement, and so I looked. And wow, both Rudy and Denham had terrible outside shooting years.

Rashad and Marcus were both 40%. All other significant players were 32% or under.

Given the great passing, and the interior offense that team had, players were missing open looks.

But I also agree on your point about winning the whole thing. That UConn team did have a flaw of only one ball handler, but they were monsters.

Sadly, they only showed up when they respected the opponent--and they got a bad draw for that.

I think that the issue wasn't that we only had one ball handler, but it was the latter. They only showed up for opponents they respected - look at the NCAA Tournament. We barely got by Albany and UK. Washington was a hurdle, but they were a good team. And ****in' George Mason. People forget they smacked UNC and Michigan State in the previous rounds.

Marcus could handle pressure, various defensive schemes, etc perfectly as the only ball handler. He was that good - his basketball IQ was advanced for college. Even Austrie was really good his freshman year - alleviated Marcus off the bench in times. Its just that the team lost track of why they play the game in the first place.