Jalen - wheres the urgency

[smoothcriminal]

I think playing alongside AG changes things a lot for Adams. As you'll likely remember, he played pretty poorly in the games last season in which Gilbert was present. It's a change in role that he doesn't seem to adjust well to.

Probably some truth to this. May be more a ball dominant guard than we thought. He’s struggling to be an alpha playing off the ball

 

[Sphinx]

I think playing alongside AG changes things a lot for Adams. As you'll likely remember, he played pretty poorly in the games last season in which Gilbert was present. It's a change in role that he doesn't seem to adjust well to.

Nail on the head, my friend.

 

[UCDaveD]

People blaming jalens performance tonight on some mysterious illness will go down as one of the most embarrassing boneyard moments of all time.

Lmfao, you haven’t been around here long, have you?

 

[Sphinx]

Nail on the head, my friend.

I think playing alongside AG changes things a lot for Adams. As you'll likely remember, he played pretty poorly in the games last season in which Gilbert was present. It's a change in role that he doesn't seem to adjust well to.

Agree. If you want to get Jalen involved, get him back on the ball. As much as I like AG for the future, Jalen is the more experienced (and probably the better) PG at this moment in time. I'd love to see (never happen) a two-platoon backcourt, with Jalen and AG splitting time at the point and CV and Taryn at the 2. This would open the 3 for Sid. The only time AG and Jalen would be on the floor at the same time would be in the closing minutes of a tight game -- for ball-handling and free throws.

 

[pj]

Jalen loves uconn and is a nice kid. Would love if he used all this criticism over his focus as fuel. Rev up that motor on the court to show smoothcriminal he’s an idiot. Coach Hurley and I have similar styles - push buttons to extract the best. Big things ahead

Coach Hurley and pj have one thing in common -- we hope that @smoothcriminal is shown to be an idiot.

 

[Towney007]

The fact people talk about this guy in the NBA is WILD to me.

 

[Sportsfan71]

Jalen is who he is. You just have never seen him take the reins like you have in the past and just lead. Not really just him but a few others. Behavior patterns are hard to break at this point but not totally undoable. I just see a bit of laziness, boneheaded plays and a lack of locked in look and that is not good if you want your guards to be your leaders out there. At this point, can only hope Hurley can maximize what he can out of him and you just move on. AG could be that leader but time will tell as the season goes on.

 

[Bonehead]

It’s also silly to ignore that his prior coach also suspended him for being a bonehead and it seemed to have little impact, or that some players don’t develop the way we hope they would have for a variety of reasons. Calhoun’s style didn’t work for everyone, and Hurley has said—in reference to Sid iirc—that sometimes the more physically gifted players get lazy and coast for periods, and that those players are frequently not a good match for his style.

I don’t discount the potential impact of good coaching, but at this point I’m not convinced that Jalen is a good match for that same reason, or that he has a strong enough constitution to have survived four years under Jim Calhoun.

Hey!!

 

[Son of Robert]

I think Jalen will step it up and be really good, much more consistent with his scoring and overall play. I think this will happen soon, as conference play begins. Needs to find his rhythm, playing off the ball. Also he is double-teamed often when he has possession. He'll figure it out.

 

[Scrutineer]

Jalen was a 5 star (#23 on Rivals) who hasn't lived up to that ranking thus far. Maybe the insiders can enlighten us casual fans about the reason(s).

So many maybies. Maybe he wasn't pushed hard enough the last several years or maybe it comes down to his heart isn't in it as much as we all think it should be based on his ranking. Or maybe basketball came so easily to him growing up he assumed he could advance to the NBA just by going along as he always had. If that's the case, it's his choice and he'll have to live with it. There's a lot of talented people that don't achieve what was expected of them.

The feeling I get from reading these posts is a lot of people are frustrated because they want him to be a success for his own sake as well as the effect it would have on the team and that frustration that might wrongfully be interpreted as bitterness towards him.

 

[Ewekon]

There are times during the game when Jalen looks like he just does not really care. 3/4's effort is OK with him. I can see him on the bench if he continues to do the stuff he did against Manhattan and it won't be because Smith is better. At this point it is on him. Hurley can only provide so much guidance and coaching.

Well I guess he doesn't care about dollars because he is throwing millions of them away. He is going to get a UConn degree so good for him
But......

 

[Purple Stein]

Jalen was a 5 star (#23 on Rivals) who hasn't lived up to that ranking thus far.

FWIW, here are the 5 players above and below JA and their current roles

18. Tyler Dorsey - NBA
19. Caleb Swanigan — NBA
20. Jalen Brunson — National POY, NBA
21. Carlton Bragg — Junior at New Mexico - long, painful backstory
22. Dwayne Bacon — G League/NBA shuttle
23. Jalen Adams — 17/4/3 at UConn
24. Justin Simon - 10/5/3 at St. John’s
25. Luke Kennard — NBA
26. Deyonta Davis - G League
27. Thomas Bryant — NBA
28. Tyler Davis - G League/NBA 2 way

If JA had declared (and good for us he didn’t), he’d be in the G League right now. Several of his peers (Kennard, Bryant, Brunson) are on the verge of NBA breakthroughs, so JA is certainly behind that pace. I had no idea he was averaging 17 ppg.

 

[cowboysnation]

From my perspective...the problem with Jalen is anxiety and nerves.

I have seen this kid go up against NBA players and beat them. I have seen him dominate practices.

Off the court he is a very humble and charismatic.

But on gameday...the nerves get him. I’ve seen it first hand. He repeats the same words over and over again. He usually starts games slow because of his nerves. I’ve even seen him nervous in the post game. How many times do you see him say “most definitely” in interviews?? Watch him in pregame and you will see the nervous energy.

I’m sure KO and Hurley are wondering why the dominance and play in practice doesn’t translate into the game. It’s all mental. And this being Jalen’s final year has probably amped the nerves to another level.

 

[Ewekon]

From my perspective...the problem with Jalen is anxiety and nerves.

I have seen this kid go up against NBA players and beat them. I have seen him dominate practices.

Off the court he is a very humble and charismatic.

But on gameday...the nerves get him. I’ve seen it first hand. He repeats the same words over and over again. He usually starts games slow because of his nerves. I’ve even seen him nervous in the post game. How many times do you see him say “most definitely” in interviews?? Watch him in pregame and you will see the nervous energy.

I’m sure KO and Hurley are wondering why the dominance and play in practice doesn’t translate into the game. It’s all mental. And this being Jalen’s final year has probably amped the nerves to another level.

Wow

 

[Chief00]

The 4-pt first half, 20-pt second half was Shabazz's stock in trade. Maybe Jalen would have shown up if his services had been required. Struck me that Jalen is unused to playing basketball at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night, and the later the hour got, the more his reflexes seemed to say, "Hey man, where are we?"

I think he is used to being up way past 8pm.

 

[CTBasketball]

“Our 5-star senior PG only averages 17/3/3 and will score >1700 career points but he’s a bust and has underperformed here.”

Anyone, does this make sense? He’s a great college player so leave it at that until season’s end.

 

[mauconnfan]

“Our 5-star senior PG only averages 17/3/3 and will score >1700 career points but he’s a bust and has underperformed here.”

Anyone, does this make sense? He’s a great college player so leave it at that until season’s end.

Great he's not. Good he is. For UConn to have a really good year he needs to be really good not even great. He's fallen short of that but there's time we will see.

 

[CTBasketball]

Great he's not. Good he is. For UConn to have a really good year he needs to be really good not even great. He's fallen short of that but there's time we will see.

I can see the argument here for sure. If he plays well UConn does well. Maybe more efficient is the better word to use, because his turnovers (and the teams) are an issue.

 

[mauconnfan]

I can see the argument here for sure. If he plays well UConn does well. Maybe more efficient is the better word to use, because his turnovers (and the teams) are an issue.

Bingo. He can be great I'm with you on that he does some special stuff and has taken over games. Not as much this year and we need him to while getting more efficient with the ball. Basically an enigma of sorts. He's the key on Nova and the league he really is.

 

[CTBasketball]

Bingo. He can be great I'm with you on that he does some special stuff and has taken over games. Not as much this year and we need him to while getting more efficient with the ball. Basically an enigma of sorts. He's the key on Nova and the league he really is.

He’s his own worst enemy. Not many can stop him if he’s on his game.

 

[Vancat]

Is Chief trying to tell us he's a partier?

 

[8893]

Is Chief trying to tell us he's a partier?

 

[Yup!]

Bro - you are a senior. It is now or never if you want to make the cheddar. Have some GD pride out there! Completely unacceptable game tonight for a player of his caliber. This is what he was more concerned about pregame:

He’s really immature and I’ve been saying this since day one. I get his freshman year, but this kid is a senior now, there’s no excuses. What bothers me a ton with Adams is that he has the potential to takeover a game if HE WANTS TO and always starts off slow and turns up later or starts off fast and slows down later in the game. Inconsistent at best and I believe it’s immaturity

 

[Palatine]

“Our 5-star senior PG only averages 17/3/3 and will score >1700 career points but he’s a bust and has underperformed here.”
Anyone, does this make sense? He’s a great college player so leave it at that until season’s end.

That is a fair point. But it is also fair to say that Jalen has not approached his ceiling. You watch him do things that other guys on the court simply cannot do and he often does it making it look easy. Then, he throws a pass to other team, a lazy cross court pass that gets picked off and run out for a dunk. And it drives a lot of crazy including his coach.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

From my perspective...the problem with Jalen is anxiety and nerves.

I have seen this kid go up against NBA players and beat them. I have seen him dominate practices.

Off the court he is a very humble and charismatic.

But on gameday...the nerves get him. I’ve seen it first hand. He repeats the same words over and over again. He usually starts games slow because of his nerves. I’ve even seen him nervous in the post game. How many times do you see him say “most definitely” in interviews?? Watch him in pregame and you will see the nervous energy.

I’m sure KO and Hurley are wondering why the dominance and play in practice doesn’t translate into the game. It’s all mental. And this being Jalen’s final year has probably amped the nerves to another level.

what makes you think its anxiety and nerves?

 

[CL82]

It’s also silly to ignore that his prior coach also suspended him for being a bonehead and it seemed to have little impact, or that some players don’t develop the way we hope they would have for a variety of reasons. Calhoun’s style didn’t work for everyone, and Hurley has said—in reference to Sid iirc—that sometimes the more physically gifted players get lazy and coast for periods, and that those players are frequently not a good match for his style.

I don’t discount the potential impact of good coaching, but at this point I’m not convinced that Jalen is a good match for that same reason, or that he has a strong enough constitution to have survived four years under Jim Calhoun.

No way to tell for sure, but Jalen isn't the only player who didn't develop under KO. It's fair to wonder if a different coach might have been better match for him.

We are where we are though. I hope a light goes on for him, or if there is something physical bothering him that it resolves. He had to carry this team on his shoulders for the bulk of his career here. I'm rooting for him.

 

[Chief00]

I can see the argument here for sure. If he plays well UConn does well. Maybe more efficient is the better word to use, because his turnovers (and the teams) are an issue.

More efficient, less sloppy, better shooting via extra hours after practice and leadership.

 

[Kenny11]

Is Chief trying to tell us he's a partier?

Well he certainly was at the beginning of his UConn career. At the start of his sophomore year I know he was playing behind Gilbert in practices on the second team because coaches weren't happy with him (more as a message than a plan for the season). But as far as I know, he has been a hard worker in the second half of his college career and is well liked by coaches, students, faculty etc. He is just not wired like others where he is going to go all out and all times.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Bro - you are a senior. It is now or never if you want to make the cheddar. Have some GD pride out there! Completely unacceptable game tonight for a player of his caliber. This is what he was more concerned about pregame:

Really. Well I'm glad you made it a point not to take it personally....

 

[mauconnfan]

No way to tell for sure, but Jalen isn't the only player who didn't develop under KO. It's fair to wonder if a different coach might have been better match for him.

We are where we are though. I hope a light goes on for him, or if there is something physical bothering him that it resolves. He had to carry this team on his shoulders for the bulk of his career here. I'm rooting for him.

I think it’s beginning to look more fair that he didn’t recruit a lot of UConn style players as much as the development. Heck most here were telling me how much better Enoch was going to be after getting Pitino and Mack right? The only thing that separates him now from his sophomore year at UC is he’s 2 years older same player. Not much different for any that left.

Kids get better if they really want to and understand what it takes and it depends on how smart they are too on the court. KO wasn’t really good last few years I’m not trying to defend him hardly, but many here are trying to throw too much on him and not enough on the kids themselves. They need to man up and realize what it takes to be a better teammate and help your team to win games.