I wonder if moving Samuels into the SL

[scrappy2.0]

and Hamilton to 4 would take pressure off of Boatright and give us a little more flow at start of games.

Even though we have won games--we havent been good at the start of them.

I think playing hamilton as the Daniels 4 makes more sense right now and put more rebounding responsibility on brimah

We can move Facey to back up 4/5 and cut the rotation down to 8. i.e


Line up

C-Brimah

F Hamilton

G Purvis

G Boatright

G Samuels


Bench

C /PF Facey

G Calhoun

G Cassell


Foul trouble players Nolan and Lubin.

We need an offensive jumpstart

Play 4 out and make sure Boatright doesnt have to handle and pound the ball into the ground for 25 seconds 10 times.(not his fault)

We have a good team--we just need to balance it better.

 

[Stainmaster]

Samardo Samuels played for Louisville many moons ago...why is he penciled in as our starting PG?

 

[Danzz]

Absolutely not. Tsam is an offensive minus and yes I saw him score tonight. He is an average ball handler and average passer. Tsam is a plus on the defensive side but this team needs offense. He is valuable in his current role but if he has to start we are in big trouble.

 

[scrappy2.0]

Absolutely not. Tsam is an offensive minus and yes I saw him score tonight. He is an average ball handler and average passer. Tsam is a plus on the defensive side but this team needs offense. He is valuable in his current role but if he has to start we are in big trouble.

I dont agree. T sam is our second best ballhandler and perimeter defender. He would allow Boatright to play off the ball more. teams are jamming Boatright hard. Purvis and Calhoun are similar type players--so that makes no sense to start both. Tsam give sus that energy to start games that we have lacked. Putting facey back into a bench role gives us a productive big off the bench--something we have not had all year. Its just a minor retool of the line up. We cant afford to continue bad starts--we need change.

 

[scrappy2.0]

Uconn has to play 4 out and go away from the two bigs. Were just not getting it from Nolan and Lubin really is just a foul trouble/specialty player at this point. We have the wings--we have a player who can play mobile 4 in Hamilton as he really can rebound and we need to put more responsibility on Amida to rebound.

 

[PAHusky]

I dont agree. T sam is our second best ballhandler and perimeter defender. He would allow Boatright to play off the ball more. teams are jamming Boatright hard. Purvis and Calhoun are similar type players--so that makes no sense to start both. Tsam give sus that energy to start games that we have lacked. Putting facey back into a bench role gives us a productive big off the bench--something we have not had all year. Its just a minor retool of the line up. We cant afford to continue bad starts--we need change.

Boat has played off the ball a good amount in the last few games and hasn't produced at a higher level than when he's running the point. TSam is so incredibly inconsistent on offense that it's often like playing 4 on 5 with him out there. Taking out Facey, an incredibly consistent rebounder/defender who scores at an (admittedly smaller) higher rate than TSam makes little sense.

On another note, will someone please teach Brimah another post move? Watching him go to his right ad nauseum is painful.

 

[upstater]

I thought they played better when both Purvis and Calhoun were on the floor together, so having Hamilton/Facey at the 4 might work.

I never thought Purvis and Calhoun would complement each other out there, but they did. UConn made one of its few runs with those 2 on the floor.

 

[CTBasketball]

I really think he should be in the starting lineup. I would rather have a slightly offensive challenged, yet gives 110% Samuel in there than people who sleepwalk.

 

[dante]

Start TSam and where is our rebounding going come from? Brimah averages what 4 rebounds? We need Facey out there fighting for rebounds.

 

[CTBasketball]

Start TSam and where is our rebounding going come from? Brimah averages what 4 rebounds? We need Facey out there fighting for rebounds.

Could you possibly mean DHam, dante

 

[scrappy2.0]

The bottom line is this--we need a change to the starting line up and change that makes most sense is Facey to the bench. NOT to penalize him but to realign and re-balance our offense.

If we stay status quo were simply going to keep getting off to bad starts. We get nothing offensively from our back up post bigs. Its better to play hamilton at the 4 and bring Facey off the bench. If that means start Calhoun or Samuel--Im down with either. I can go with

C-Amida
F Hamilton
F-Calhoun
G Purvis
G Boatright as well

I might even cut the rotation down to 7 in this circumstance.

 

[Kitaman]

I think we have to do something. What we are starting with ain't working. I would not be opposed to trying T-Sam starting just to change things up. We had 8 points 10 minutes in last night. And its a pattern. So why not try a change? If not T-Sam then do something new to start games.

 

[Danzz]

I dont agree. T sam is our second best ballhandler and perimeter defender. He would allow Boatright to play off the ball more. teams are jamming Boatright hard. Purvis and Calhoun are similar type players--so that makes no sense to start both. Tsam give sus that energy to start games that we have lacked. Putting facey back into a bench role gives us a productive big off the bench--something we have not had all year. Its just a minor retool of the line up. We cant afford to continue bad starts--we need change.

And maybe this is our biggest weakness : "Tsam is second best ball handler" He is an average at best ball handler and a below average passer. His value is as a perimeter defender, the kid is tough as nails and he helps by eating up minutes so Boat can catch a breather. But start him? No.
I think we all have the tendency to want to change the lineup based upon a poor performance but the coaches are well are of the strengths and weaknesses. They see these kids everyday in practice.

 

[Danzz]

I think we have to do something. What we are starting with ain't working. I would not be opposed to trying T-Sam starting just to change things up. We had 8 points 10 minutes in last night. And its a pattern. So why not try a change? If not T-Sam then do something new to start games.

Not working? We just lost 1 game in a row and before that we've played pretty well.

 

[SubbaBub]

After last night, Hamilton needs a seat on the bench. Was a negative factor the entire game. Way too out of control on both ends.

I don't know why Omar didn't play more in the 2nd half? If I were Omar, I'd wonder the same thing.

 

[gtcam]

and Hamilton to 4 would take pressure off of Boatright and give us a little more flow at start of games.

Even though we have won games--we havent been good at the start of them.

I think playing hamilton as the Daniels 4 makes more sense right now and put more rebounding responsibility on brimah

We can move Facey to back up 4/5 and cut the rotation down to 8. i.e


Line up

C-Brimah

F Hamilton

G Purvis

G Boatright

G Samuels


Bench

C /PF Facey

G Calhoun

G Cassell


Foul trouble players Nolan and Lubin.

We need an offensive jumpstart

Play 4 out and make sure Boatright doesnt have to handle and pound the ball into the ground for 25 seconds 10 times.(not his fault)

We have a good team--we just need to balance it better.

This has some merit to it.
Puts Boat in a position of being an off guard and gives him a chance to relax on the court.
I like what KF has done in some games but maybe coming off the bench may be a new twist.

 

[gtcam]

After last night, Hamilton needs a seat on the bench. Was a negative factor the entire game. Way too out of control on both ends.

I don't know why Omar didn't play more in the 2nd half? If I were Omar, I'd wonder the same thing.

You are too harsh on DHam - he didn't play well but you don't sit him down like that.
Omar could not keep up with their faster and more athletic players defensively - same as Sam C

 

[scrappy2.0]

Not working? We just lost 1 game in a row and before that we've played pretty well.

We havent started games out well since the start of the season. We need a change in the SL and to cut the rotation down. 2 bigs is not working for us.

 

[UConn990411]

I'm in favor of the Boat-Calhoun-Hamilton-Facey-Brimah starting lineup.

Their biggest issue starting out games is running any semblance of offense, to the point where they keep digging themselves into early holes. Inserting Omar - and his ability to be competent from 3 - into the SL gives them a lot more balance on that end, which will hopefully prevent some of these cold shooting starts. And it will allow them to turn the pressure up tenfold by bringing Purvis and TSam into the game together.

I don't see it happening because Purvis simply won't come out of the starting lineup and, well, Ollie has the tiniest of leashes on Omar these days. But I think it'd be a good move for this team.

 

[dante]

Could you possibly mean DHam, dante

yeah, funny how people jump on Ryan for missed fts but this kid gets a pass on everything. kid turns it over it's ok but man that Phil is worthless, kid throws a pass to the other team and it's ok, but damn Purvis basketball IQ is frightening. I love all our huskies but man that "golden child " status this kid has over here is sickening.

A Ryan,Rodney,Omar,Kentan,and Amida seems to be more balanced offensively. Defenses are going double up on Boat so somebody is going be open and seeing as Omar is more of a threat from the 3 line, Purvis going have more room to slash or hit that open jumper or they stick on Purvis leaving Omar wide open at the 3 like they used to leave Giffey. Reason I like Omar starting over DHam is because he's not a catch and shoot he needs to dribble and thats when he gets in trouble and is forced to pass and it's just a turnover to happen, while Omar is more content with shooting.

 

[BoatShow]

I think Purv may be better suited for the off the bench offensive spark role and take some pressure off. I was thinking Omar should fit this but he makes better decisions and we need better O to start games.

 

[Kitaman]

Not working? We just lost 1 game in a row and before that we've played pretty well.

Sorry, I thought it was obvious that something needs to change. Ollie tends to agree: linky

 

[mauconnfan]

After last night, Hamilton needs a seat on the bench. Was a negative factor the entire game. Way too out of control on both ends.

I don't know why Omar didn't play more in the 2nd half? If I were Omar, I'd wonder the same thing.

He was our best rebounder and scored 16 points. So he gets 16 and 12 and you say he sits? Let's compare his numbers to Facey's 0 and 6 and let me know why?

 

[Huskygrad88]

After last night, Hamilton needs a seat on the bench. Was a negative factor the entire game. Way too out of control on both ends.

I don't know why Omar didn't play more in the 2nd half? If I were Omar, I'd wonder the same thing.

I know. He had a double/double and led them in both scoring and rebounds. We need him off the court ASAP.

 

[scrappy2.0]

To me its pretty simple

We DO NOT have a BIG off the bench who can contribute in a material way. Playing 4 out for this team will give the guys more space to make plays and will cause a mismatch at the 4 similar to what we had with Daniels. By moving Facey to the bench and moving either Omar or TSam(Im starting to think Omar in) and our bench is essentially Tsam and Facey cutting the rotation down to 7 with other guys used in case of foul trouble. We need to let Omar and Purvis have more opportunity on offense. Samuel /Facey is a nice energy bench and both of them can still play 20 minutes with a cut down rotation.