Jalen Adams | The Boneyard

Jalen Adams

Chin Diesel

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They should have rested him when they were up 15. Hindsights 20/20, but they almost paid for that down the stretch.


Well, he was rested. Just while he was on the court and running the clock down to :10 every possession.
 

Waquoit

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I know I'm late, but I'm jumping on the Adams bandwagon.
 

UConnSwag11

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Kid is exhausted. That lefty runner was something truly special though. Some of the things he does with the basketball surprise me.
If we could finish the bunnies around the rim he'd have several more assists. And if we had another ball handler his turnovers would be down
 
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Kid is exhausted. That lefty runner was something truly special though. Some of the things he does with the basketball surprise me.

Lefty runner was the key shot that kept us from losing the lead. Great creativity on that one. He'd score so much more down the stretch vs. his tired guy if he wasn't so spent, his abilities are endless.
 

RichZ

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I'm still having some problems with his demeanor. He spent way too much time chastising CV last night, and then when CV was headed to the line late, he came over and tried to hug him and encourage him, CV just pushed him away with a look of disgust.
Maybe it's a Yankees/Red Sox, Knicks/Celts, Giants/Patriots thing, I don't know. But there's a dynamic developing there that I find worrisome.
 

Dream Jobbed 2.0

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I'm still having some problems with his demeanor. He spent way too much time chastising CV last night, and then when CV was headed to the line late, he came over and tried to hug him and encourage him, CV just pushed him away with a look of disgust.
Maybe it's a Yankees/Red Sox, Knicks/Celts, Giants/Patriots thing, I don't know. But there's a dynamic developing there that I find worrisome.
Umm that was a look of disgust? Both players were laughing.
 
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I'm still having some problems with his demeanor. He spent way too much time chastising CV last night, and then when CV was headed to the line late, he came over and tried to hug him and encourage him, CV just pushed him away with a look of disgust.
Maybe it's a Yankees/Red Sox, Knicks/Celts, Giants/Patriots thing, I don't know. But there's a dynamic developing there that I find worrisome.

While I agree with the manner in which he did it, I did think that CV game him the smiling "get away from me" thing and not the disgusted look. Like he was a little po'd still but all forgiven.
 

tykurez

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Wanted to add some other thoughts but was tired last night and used this as a "bookmark" of sorts.

Dom Amore‏@AmoreCourant
Kevin Ollie on Adams' key shot. "I've never seen him shoot lefthanded. It was a hell of a shot, it was a big-time shot."

This was at the key juncture - Adams knew he had to make a play. UCF and it's myriad of fans were getting fired up and the rest of our guys were looking a bit shook. His creativity is astounding, but it also leads to a lot of sloppy play ... and it's especially prevalent during long stretches or towards the end of games. Really makes the thought of next year that much more exciting if everyone is back and healthy.

And give Johnny Dawkins credit - he drew up some good defense on Adams. He was doubled off ball screens and they were aggressively bumping him when he was screened off the ball (towards the end I thought a couple were a little too aggressive and should have been called.) BJ Taylor also exhibited some excellent ball pressure and was clearly getting Jalen frustrated at times - something he's definitely got to work on.

Also, this kid is a sophomore. We've not had many players tasked with leading the team as a sophomore, and those who have generally haven't done it well (Khalid an obvious exception.) Both Kemba and Shabazz had a rough go as underclassmen leaders on their respective teams - there were lots of questions and concerns surrounding their play during those years.
 
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Wanted to add some other thoughts but was tired last night and used this as a "bookmark" of sorts.

Dom Amore‏@AmoreCourant
Kevin Ollie on Adams' key shot. "I've never seen him shoot lefthanded. It was a hell of a shot, it was a big-time shot."

This was at the key juncture - Adams knew he had to make a play. UCF and it's myriad of fans were getting fired up and the rest of our guys were looking a bit shook. His creativity is astounding, but it also leads to a lot of sloppy play .. and it's especially prevalent during long stretches or towards the end of games. Really makes the thought of next year that much more exciting if everyone is back and healthy.

And give Johnny Dawkins credit - he drew up some good defense on Adams. He was doubled off ball screens and they were aggressively bumping him when he was screened off the ball (towards the end I thought a couple were a little too aggressive and should have been called.) BJ Taylor also exhibited some excellent ball pressure and was clearly getting Jalen frustrated at times - something he's definitely got to work on.

Also, this kid is a sophomore. We've not had many players tasked with leading the team as a sophomore, and those who have generally haven't done it well (Khalid an obvious exception.) Both Kemba and Shabazz had a rough go as underclassmen leaders on their respective teams - there were lots of questions and concerns surrounding their play during those years.
I loved how Khalid played and led the team at those games in Pittsburgh.
 

gtcam

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JA came as a projected "superstar" - UConn's next Kemba and/or Bazz
I think KO realizes the huge amount of pressure on JA and it is my understanding that KO is paying a lot of attention on/with JA and that is paying dividends
We have all seen the attitude concerns last year and at times this year.
The kid has been asked to do a lot and, in my estimation, has grown greatly. He has made some unreal plays and is not afraid to take control. Has he made mistakes? Yes but he has the ball in his hands 85% of the time.
JA still has some growing to do - he needs continued work on the attitude, his shot (especially from 3 pt range) needs to improve and I feel he needs to get tougher and more determined to take it to the hoop, I think these will come with a more complete cast around him and the ability to be afforded some rest during these games.
I see him being a very special player and has improved different aspects of his game as this season goes on
I look forward to him being THE MAN next year on a very very competitive team
 
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In fairness to Adam, there is a lot on his plate and he is only a sophomore. IMO Adams is the only Husky who can consistently create his own shot and he is the only guard who has the quickness, ball skills and control to consistently go by his defenders.

The biggest offensive problem this year for UConn is we have several players who can knock down perimeter shots but can't consistently create them for themselves. I put Purvis, Jackson and Vital in the category (in fairness Jackson and Vital are only freshman and are improving quickly). Purvis is a huge asset when he plays in control and lets the game come to him. When Purvis tries create he tends to get moving too fast and out of control. That mean Adams has to create, draw the defense and find the open guy.

When UConn has succeeded it is because Adams makes things happen. When UConn struggles it is often because Adams is off or becomes too passive. That is a huge burden to put on 1 player let alone an underclassmen. There are no "rest series" for Adams and every team brings their best defenders on him.

As far as improvement I think Adam's conditioning needs to get better. A lot is expected of him and he seems to wear out over the course of the game. Give the kid credit he never quits and continues to man up but he looks beat down at the end of games in a way I don't remember other Husky greats showing. The other area for improvement for Adams is the inexplicable mental errors. Adams seems to have a least 2 unforced turnovers a game. It usually comes in the form of a lazy pass or sloppy dribble and often directly leads to an easy transition basket for the other team. I'm not sure Adams is yet capable of 40 minutes of mental focus in a game but that comes with experience.

I don't blame Adams for getting frustrated and I think he is still growing into his leadership role. He is still one of the best sophomore guards we've ever had and is probably ahead of where Shabazz, Boatright and Kemba were at the same point in their careers. By the time Adams leaves UConn he will be on the same pedestal as the above players.
 

intlzncster

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Welcome aboard. Make sure you save a spot for next year's Cousy Award.

This was a good retort. Hopefully the kid doesn't get seduced too early by NBA dreams.
 
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When he takes on a facilitator role, this team becomes so much better because we have guys that can knock down outside shots.

People said at the beginning of the year that he wasn't a true point guard; I think he's earning his stripes at the position. Passes so well. I just don't like it when he becomes overly aggressive as a scorer.
 

Huskyforlife

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On Vitals instalive(or whatever it's called) after the game last night he commented on their back and forth as something that happened during the heat of the game, or in other words, not a problem at all. On past live streams I've seen Adams and Vital joke around with each other a lot.

I thought it was pretty obvious Vital was messing with Jalen at the FT line, wasn't he smiling?

Please don't take what happened last night as bad blood, think about Shabazz and Boat during the title game, it's just two competitors who lost their cool for a moment.
 

Matrim55

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People said at the beginning of the year that he wasn't a true point guard; I think he's earning his stripes at the position.
He wasn't at the beginning of the year, but he clearly is now.

Passes so well. I just don't like it when he becomes overly aggressive as a scorer.
Sometimes he has to b/c he's the only guy on the team who can just go create a shot out of nothing. With Gilbert, Larrier & MAL on next year's group, that won't be the case, so there will be fewer "bad" shots from the team as a whole, and from Adams in particular.

Single-season record for APG is 8.6 by Marcus in 2006. Jalen should be able to make a run of that next year if he stays and the injured guys get healthy.
 

junglehusky

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I'm curious, in the early days of the yard (I think I joined in 2000), did people freak out about bad blood when Khalid got in Jake's or Ricky's face?
 
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He wasn't at the beginning of the year, but he clearly is now.


Sometimes he has to b/c he's the only guy on the team who can just go create a shot out of nothing. With Gilbert, Larrier & MAL on next year's group, that won't be the case, so there will be fewer "bad" shots from the team as a whole, and from Adams in particular.

Single-season record for APG is 8.6 by Marcus in 2006. Jalen should be able to make a run of that next year if he stays and the injured guys get healthy.

I think he'll be sharing the ball too much with Alterique to do that. Marcus played alongside Rashard/Denham in the backcourt, two guys who were either spot-up shooters or one/two dribble and pull up guys, and Austrie who mostly a caretaker with ball and not really a creator. Jalen has showed enough command of the offense and creativity in the pick & roll that he should be the primary PG in a 2 PG setup next year but he won't have to be as ball dominant like he is now having to play alongside Purvis and Vital.
 
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I think one of the reasons that Adams gets gassed is because he literally has to do everything. Kemba and Shabazz always had someone that can create and take some pressure off of them. (Even if Dyson and Boat weren't at their best at the time.) Adams has to carry the scoring load and the facilitating load, and no one else on the team is particularly good on either.

(And that isn't talking about defense, where I've noticed sometimes he gets the toughest defensive assignment.)

And Ollie is too afraid to take him out.

He can definitely work on his conditioning, but I think he'll seem better next season because he's not going to be asked to do as much.

And yea, it would be absolutely crazy to not have him as the primary PG. However, it'll be nice to be able to run a few plays for him too, as he seems to be able to move without the ball well.
 

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