Jalen All Heart Tonight!

[3rdbass]

Jalen's words about his burst in the second half was showing heart. This was surely missing in the USF game but glad it came out tonight as we needed it to win. We need JA every game to beat the best teams. I'm sure KO got into him the last game about his nonchalant way yesterday and to keep his head in the game. He did that and played and his heart gave him the adrenaline to forget about the sore ankle. JA was clutch tonight and will have to be every night if we want to win it all.

 

[mauconnfan]

What a 2nd half for a kid on one leg huh? I mean he took care of the ball, made smart plays and big plays - had fun out there. Great to see, he has to be close to fumes.

 

[Palatine]

In a weird way, the bad ankle made him play more in control and within himself. He was awesome tonight.

 

[Matrim55]

Jalen's been all heart all year. We'd be 5-27 without him, at best.

I hope to god we have an elite 8 season next year so this fanbase can properly appreciate just how good this kid is. He literally can't take a single possession off without everything going to **** for this team, and here he is in the middle of March willing us past better/more experienced/healthier teams.

He's special.

 

[champs99and04]

Jalen's been all heart all year. We'd be 5-27 without him, at best.

I hope to god we have an elite 8 season next year so this fanbase can properly appreciate just how good this kid is. He literally can't take a single possession off without everything going to **** for this team, and here he is in the middle of March willing us past better/more experienced/healthier teams.

He's special.

I think you get a bit carried away when it comes to Jalen, but tonight was the best game he's played in a Husky uniform. He was superb on both ends and burdened a workload I frankly didn't think he could handle.

Kemba, Bazz, and even Boat - to a lesser extent - were rare players. There aren't a lot of guys who can go balls to the wall on defense for 40 minutes and still facilitate nearly every set on the other end. I don't think it's particularly reasonable to ask a player to do that, and we shouldn't expect Jalen to. He did it tonight, though. Tonight he was on that level.

 

[Kitaman]

The kid celebrates other's good plays and beats himself up (i.e. sulks) at his mistakes. He's an emotional a leader!

Its his team next year and energy, emotion and demand for excellence won't be a problem. Like Coach he'll block access to the escalator!

 

[Chin Diesel]

His second half was spectacular.

Those mid range pull up J's and dagger 3's make the offense run soooo smooth. Opens everything up. That corner 3 by Jackson was set up by Jackson's defender hedging towards Adams after the pick and roll. UH basically was trying to triple team Adams and he got it Jackson.

 

[ctchamps]

His second half was spectacular.

Those mid range pull up J's and dagger 3's make the offense run soooo smooth. Opens everything up. That corner 3 by Jackson was set up by Jackson's defender hedging towards Adams after the pick and roll. UH basically was trying to triple team Adams and he got it Jackson.

If Kentan finds his game again than UConn becomes much more difficult to play.

 

[jibsey]

A word about Jalen. The USF game was a practice and because of his injuries jalen has been playing with no practice. Same for Vance with the concussion. If we can find MIA Facey we'll be all set.

 

[UConn990411]

I think you get a bit carried away when it comes to Jalen, but tonight was the best game he's played in a Husky uniform. He was superb on both ends and burdened a workload I frankly didn't think he could handle.

Kemba, Bazz, and even Boat - to a lesser extent - were rare players. There aren't a lot of guys who can go balls to the wall on defense for 40 minutes and still facilitate nearly every set on the other end. I don't think it's particularly reasonable to ask a player to do that, and we shouldn't expect Jalen to. He did it tonight, though. Tonight he was on that level.

Nah, I disagree - yes, he still makes too many young player mistakes, but he's so much better than even his numbers dictate.

I'm not going to predict a Kemba or Shabazz-type season, but he's on (or ahead of) par with where they were as sophomores, and way ahead of Boatright. Assuming he's healthy and has more weapons around him next year, it'll be fun to see him put everything together.

 

[champs99and04]

Nah, I disagree - yes, he still makes too many young player mistakes, but he's so much better than even his numbers dictate.

I'm not going to predict a Kemba or Shabazz-type season, but he's on (or ahead of) par with where they were as sophomores, and way ahead of Boatright. Assuming he's healthy and has more weapons around him next year, it'll be fun to see him put everything together.

I'm not sure about any of that, but I do agree with you on the last part. Next year, I have no doubts he will be special.

But he's been as guilty of anyone as holding this team back just like Kemba and Bazz held their teams back, to some degree, when they were sophomores. At a certain point it is tough to dress the numbers up - he shot 38% in conference play, never got to the line, and rated out as mediocre defensively (both by the eye test and the numbers test). Advanced metrics aren't the end all, but his o rating was four points lower than his d rating in conference play. That's not good.

I put a lot of that on the coaching staff. I don't think he's been utilized properly for a good chunk of this season. Forcing him into continuous ball screen action with Brimah depressed his efficiency a lot and the workload certainly took a toll on his defense. But if other guys on the team are gonna take heat for under-achieving, he shouldn't be exempt.

 

[UConn990411]

I'm not sure about any of that, but I do agree with you on the last part. Next year, I have no doubts he will be special.

But he's been as guilty of anyone as holding this team back just like Kemba and Bazz held their teams back, to some degree, when they were sophomores. At a certain point it is tough to dress the numbers up - he shot 38% in conference play, never got to the line, and rated out as mediocre defensively (both by the eye test and the numbers test). Advanced metrics aren't the end all, but his o rating was four points lower than his d rating in conference play. That's not good.

I put a lot of that on the coaching staff. I don't think he's been utilized properly for a good chunk of this season. Forcing him into continuous ball screen action with Brimah depressed his efficiency a lot and the workload certainly took a toll on his defense. But if other guys on the team are gonna take heat for under-achieving, he shouldn't be exempt.

Right - he still makes a lot of young player mistakes as I mentioned. But he's so much better as a playmaker than anyone expected he'd be, and his size and length gives him an edge Kemba or Shabazz could never develop.

I don't think he's exempt from criticism either, but it's worth noting how many injuries he's had to play through due to the lack of healthy options. And not just play through - log nearly 40 minutes at probably 70%.