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It's probably too early to say this team is fatally flawed, but the history of teams who are inept from behind the arch isn't all that inspiring.
Through five games, this team has chucked up 83 threes and made just 29% of them. To what extent this can be attributed to variance isn't yet known. They were at 37% one week ago before managing to shoot 6 for 33 in losses to West Virginia and Texas. Calhoun - a designated long marksmen before the season, even if he hadn't quite earned that label - being injured and Purvis seesawing in and out of the lineup doesn't help matters.
But as you examine the personnel on this roster, it's hard not to notice a glaring absence of perimeter shooting. 83 shots is a relatively small sample, but there's little in the way of my anecdotal observations that give me hope that this is an easily correctable problem. Hamilton and Boatright are both reluctant three point shooters, and even though they're both capable, Texas was content to give them plenty of room to launch in their defense of ball screens today. Boatright, especially, turned down multiple clean looks, instead looking to reset the offense or attack the driving lanes.
Essentially, Boatright and Hamilton are solid three point shooters who don't stretch the defense the way high volume, high accuracy shooters would. Neither of them are particularly comfortable pulling up from three off the dribble, and they're indecisive enough on catch-and-shoot opportunities to allow closing defenders the split second they need to close shooting windows.
Meanwhile, Terrence Samuel is simply a one-man wreckage crew offensively (which pains me, because I love what he does on the other end). Samuel has gone from a useful bench piece to a poor man's R.J. Evans on offense over the offseason. It's one thing when defenses help off you - it's another when they're leaving you on an island. At this point, UConn is playing 4 on 5 with Samuel out there - he has no range outside of 3 feet and he isn't big or adept enough as a driver to make defenses pay for abandoning him.
Sam Cassell plays for the sole purpose of hitting the threes that Boatright and Hamilton generate on drives. Unfortunately, he's not hitting any of them. When Purvis returns, he may struggle to find minutes.
Not having a great three point shooter puts us in the company with a lot of teams. Unfortunately, just as we all feared, Ollie has yet to uncover a front court pairing that moves the needle offensively. Brimah, Nolan, and Facey have combined for three assists this season, total. And while college forwards are typically deficient as ball-handlers and passers, these figures lag well behind even the moderate bar that was set for them. Brimah experienced some success in the post against smaller defenders earlier in the year, but Texas' beefy front court overwhelmed him.
The limitations of our big men enables defenses to monopolize the middle of the court, face guard Boatright away from the ball, and stack the paint to deter drivers. Texas was begging for somebody other than Boatright to beat them today, and it didn't happen.
Defensively, I was very happy. The perimeter D was fantastic. The transition defense was horrific, particularly in the first half, but Ollie will have them run half a marathon for every transition basket allowed and that problem will be fixed. There's no reason this shouldn't be a top ten unit, and I think they're well on their way.
I was in the house today. Awesome atmosphere, hard-fought game. Those are the type of rock fights that endear me to college basketball, even if that doesn't necessarily make sense. The offense will obviously improve; returning Purvis should do wonders for this teams consistency. I just fear there may be a defined ceiling on this team if they don't start shooting it better.
Through five games, this team has chucked up 83 threes and made just 29% of them. To what extent this can be attributed to variance isn't yet known. They were at 37% one week ago before managing to shoot 6 for 33 in losses to West Virginia and Texas. Calhoun - a designated long marksmen before the season, even if he hadn't quite earned that label - being injured and Purvis seesawing in and out of the lineup doesn't help matters.
But as you examine the personnel on this roster, it's hard not to notice a glaring absence of perimeter shooting. 83 shots is a relatively small sample, but there's little in the way of my anecdotal observations that give me hope that this is an easily correctable problem. Hamilton and Boatright are both reluctant three point shooters, and even though they're both capable, Texas was content to give them plenty of room to launch in their defense of ball screens today. Boatright, especially, turned down multiple clean looks, instead looking to reset the offense or attack the driving lanes.
Essentially, Boatright and Hamilton are solid three point shooters who don't stretch the defense the way high volume, high accuracy shooters would. Neither of them are particularly comfortable pulling up from three off the dribble, and they're indecisive enough on catch-and-shoot opportunities to allow closing defenders the split second they need to close shooting windows.
Meanwhile, Terrence Samuel is simply a one-man wreckage crew offensively (which pains me, because I love what he does on the other end). Samuel has gone from a useful bench piece to a poor man's R.J. Evans on offense over the offseason. It's one thing when defenses help off you - it's another when they're leaving you on an island. At this point, UConn is playing 4 on 5 with Samuel out there - he has no range outside of 3 feet and he isn't big or adept enough as a driver to make defenses pay for abandoning him.
Sam Cassell plays for the sole purpose of hitting the threes that Boatright and Hamilton generate on drives. Unfortunately, he's not hitting any of them. When Purvis returns, he may struggle to find minutes.
Not having a great three point shooter puts us in the company with a lot of teams. Unfortunately, just as we all feared, Ollie has yet to uncover a front court pairing that moves the needle offensively. Brimah, Nolan, and Facey have combined for three assists this season, total. And while college forwards are typically deficient as ball-handlers and passers, these figures lag well behind even the moderate bar that was set for them. Brimah experienced some success in the post against smaller defenders earlier in the year, but Texas' beefy front court overwhelmed him.
The limitations of our big men enables defenses to monopolize the middle of the court, face guard Boatright away from the ball, and stack the paint to deter drivers. Texas was begging for somebody other than Boatright to beat them today, and it didn't happen.
Defensively, I was very happy. The perimeter D was fantastic. The transition defense was horrific, particularly in the first half, but Ollie will have them run half a marathon for every transition basket allowed and that problem will be fixed. There's no reason this shouldn't be a top ten unit, and I think they're well on their way.
I was in the house today. Awesome atmosphere, hard-fought game. Those are the type of rock fights that endear me to college basketball, even if that doesn't necessarily make sense. The offense will obviously improve; returning Purvis should do wonders for this teams consistency. I just fear there may be a defined ceiling on this team if they don't start shooting it better.
