It’s as bad as we thought

[olehead]

I think we need to run more in transition if we want to improve our shooting %s. We aren't good in the half-court. We also turn the ball over a lot on the break. I don't have the stats on our team, but I've gotta imagine that the higher % of turnovers would be worth it if we can just score the ball more on the run.

Coach, we all have to admit our game has been frickin stall-ball since Bouk went out. It's a reality. I guess they know best?

 

[olehead]

I'm with you on running. Have been all along. Hurley seems to think we need to play slow, because we are offensively challenged. I think that's why you play fast.

My completely amateur, eye test only opinion is that we have too many guys who are playing volleyball around the rim. I'm not sure why we even call them layups when they are released so far from the basket. They are just throwing the ball at the backboard as quickly as they can. It's rushed.

Instead, jump, get the damned ball near the backboard and then release it. Go up strong, protect the ball, initiate the contact, then make your shot.

Seriously, a fantastic video. K Free w/ the forwards, hell all the coaches should break this thing down and spend 30 minutes exclusively practicing scoring thru contact.

It completely negates the culture Coach Hurley is looking to cultivate. Toughness. Leading the Big East in O Rebounding is fantastic but shooting 40% on two foot put-backs originating from the O-Rebound reflects mental softness.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Have Ty Polley start and begin his work in the post and midrange and crashing the boards.

Ty Polley is the answer.

Cole is a losing player. Worst finisher on the team and least clutch player on the team. He needs to play off ball.

seriously, r u on drugs? he only has taken 12% of his shots at the rim! a number sooo bad, and at 6'9'' no less, that it defies explanation. any explanation. heck, rj 20%, badams 25%, and jalen, 30%, blow that away. 6'9''!
on the udderhand, we take aboot 40% there, which seems like a decent % when compared to the seemingly 30-50% for most teams. ergo, it's not the 'taking' the shot thing, it's the 'making' the shot thing, which we all know from just watching. except tyler. he never goes there, which we also all know from just watching.
i fully expect us to revert to our mean, when fully whole. it'll be a good mean. i mean, when we get meaner.

 

[ZenConn]

In one of our tourney games with Adrien and Sticks (I think it was UTSA), the broadcast mics caught the talking between Adrien and Sticks telling each other to "Dunk that $@#!".

We should play that video with the sound on at Gampel.

 

[ConnEd]

First, let me say that I love what Martin has brought to the team so far. He reminds me so much of Donny Marshall but with a little better handle and outside game at the same stage.

That said, one thing I've noticed on his drives is that as he initiates contact, he swings the ball side to side in front of face to make space to get his shot up. Kinda what Ray did on his famous game-winner versus G'town in the BE Final. The problem with that is that it makes it much harder to put the ball up with any touch and also to have good control of the direction the ball is going up. It's a rapid motion, and he goes directly into the shot after without a pause to re-center the ball and reset his arms. I feel like that leads to his release at the rim often being a bit frenetic rather than controlled.

 

[ZenConn]

That said, one thing I've noticed on his drives is that as he initiates contact, he swings the ball side to side in front of face to make space to get his shot up. Kinda what Ray did on his famous game-winner versus G'town in the BE Final. The problem with that is that it makes it much harder to put the ball up with any touch and also to have good control of the direction the ball is going up. It's a rapid motion, and he goes directly into the shot after without a pause to re-center the ball and reset his arms. I feel like that leads to his release at the rim often being a bit frenetic rather than controlled.

Reminds me of @tcf15 tweet. This video made me chuckle and it's so applicable for a lot of players.

 

[LIuconn]

We're crap w/out Bouk

 

[tennmike]

This topic and the data have spurred some interesting observations. Aside from the missed bunnies, part of the reason our close-in percentage is so bad is because we have very few transition baskets. What happened to our fast break? I do not recall a UCONN team so disinclined to run. I'm guessing that the easy answer is Bouk, but I agree with the functional athleticism opinion. You would think that our rebounding advantage may lead to run-outs, but more likely, we are crashing from everywhere and not leaking anyone out.

This is so pronounced that when an opposing player falls under their own basket, we do not try to take advantage of the obvious 5 on 4. Even then, we don't push the ball. I want to jump through the screen watching us then get into our sets.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

I'm surprised Martin isn't worse. Eye test failed me there. RJ, Gaffney, and Adams are just abysmal though. Wow.

Martin gets a lot of foul calls when he misses put backs. That makes his numbers look better than they really are. He never gets an ‘and 1’. Ever.
Well, almost never.

 

[tennmike]

My memory is not what it once was, but the last two breaks that I remember were of Carlton - one make, one bad miss. And then there was Polly's first game back; held my breath on that one. Thought we were Wing University.

 

[Lefty2one]

This is what happens when you trot out mid-major backcourt sans Bouk.

At the rim...

Cole 35%
Adams 28.6%
Gaffney 38.5%

Those are egregiously poor numbers.

 

[CL82]

We're crap w/out Bouk

Crap? No. A team without defined roles on offense? Yes.

 

[UconnU]

What would the percentage be if you took out Bouknights stats? He was finishing at an insane clip at the rim.

 

[navery12]

What would the percentage be if you took out Bouknights stats? He was finishing at an insane clip at the rim.

Without Bouknight's shots we're 104/205 for 50.7%. Would put us tied for 7th worst in the country

 

[boog204]

And that's with Bouk being really, really good at this rim up until the last few games. I would imagine that Cole/Gaff/Adams are collectively probably some of the worst at-the-rim guards in the country.

From 2 point land:
Adams - 29%

I was thinking the other day that Adams may be the worst "good" shooter we've ever had. For some reason I look at him as a solid 3 point shooter and his #'s across the board are just hideous. I mean he's a career 28% 3 pt shooter on almost 200 attempts. That's, um, not good.

 

[Kenny11]

I’m trying to figure this out. I played basketball seriously through high school and played recreationally since, and I would consider myself to be a pretty good player, even though I’m too short to play at any serious level. For a guy like me, I could see in a competitive format, how this could be a likely percentage to shoot contested layups, but for athletic, skilled division 1 athletes, how is this possible? Do we have that much of a lack of basic skill or is this a lack of concentration thing? Blows my mind though.

I think its just a combination of the players we have
1. Carlton, slow release around the hoops and doesn't jump well.
2. Whaley, short for a center
3. Martin, seems to have bad hands and jumps really high in the open court but doesn't get off the ground in traffic.
4. Cole, very short, can't jump, short arms.
5. Bouknight and (probably) Jackson - elite athletes and finishers but injured.
6. Sanogo..new and nervous
7. Adams, not in control
8. Polley..is barely every by the rim.
9. Akok..shaking rust off
10. Gaffney...doesn't get there much.

 

[mauconnfan]

Dagger Trey Ty is a wing on offense. He’s best as a second option. He’s a big weapon to winning.

However, because we lack any good options on offense with Bouk our and our point guards playing subpar overall, teams are making it an emphasis to play Polley tight and take him out of games.

Until Bouks return we need to play Polley differently and make teams adjust again how they play him.

No team cares if Cole scores. It never leads to winning.

Let teams adjust to Tyler? Oh they did they're guarding him with a guy who doesn't leave his sight because he's one of the only weapons we have that can hurt them. Good call on RJ too, I mean no one cares if he scores but it's nice not to get blown out and have a chance since he does score. I mean without him the last 2 we lose by double figures rather easily. Not sure how you think up this stuff?

 

[jdb50]

Bouknight made the close to the rim shots. That's what was so exciting to see happen when he was on the court. The rest of the team I expect will miss them and am amazed when they go in. These guys just aren't good finishers right now. Let's hope they figure it out. Soon!

 

[UC56CAFF]

From Katie Sharp on twitter...

“UConn is shooting 52.7% on shots at the rim (layups, dunks, tip-ins) per hoop-math.com.

That ranks 325th out of 347 D-1 teams.”

Unbelievable the last 3 trips after reading this. Carlton air all layup, Adams driving missed easy layup were 2 of the 3. Horrible

 

[HobokenHusky]

Just literally LOLed at that Carlton hook shot. Poor kid.

 

[ElmCity40th]

I need Pork Chop to dunk everything.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

I logged in just to see the comments on this thread. Was not disappointed. Thanks BY