Jimmy C making moves

[huskyrob1]

I've gotta say I don't understand the love affair many Boneyarders have with Giffey. Even though he has struggled, I still prefer Daniels to start based on his length and skill set. Giffey makes me very nervous when he touches the ball in anything but an open three point shot position. I see him as a guy who should come off the bench for some set plays to knock down a few shots after time outs. He seems very tentative at times. I find myself yelling at the TV screen to protect the ball and step to receive passes instead of waiting for the ball to get to him. I definitely agree with starting Boatright and Smith but as we have seen from Calhoun's line-ups dujour this season, I'm more interested in seeing them get 'starters minutes' and also not getting yanked for making a mistake.

I like Giffey, he plays better defense, can hit the three, and has the fewest TO's by far of anyone in the regular rotation. I also think he has quite a bit of upside to his game. Sure Daniels is the better athlete but not so sure the better skill set. As a senior Orihaki is doing a great impression of Boo Willingham this season, he needs to sit.

 

[FeedTheDove]

I like Giffey, he plays better defense, can hit the three, and has the fewest TO's by far of anyone in the regular rotation. I also think he has quite a bit of upside to his game.

he also rebounds the ball very well which is something we could use a lot more of right now. Hustle plays and rebounding will be a key aspect of turning this season around and giffey can supply both of those things. I have to admit that im no longer nervous when i see him in there and instead i get excited.

 

[UCweCONN]

I like Giffey, he plays better defense, can hit the three, and has the fewest TO's by far of anyone in the regular rotation. I also think he has quite a bit of upside to his game.

I will admit I like his help and perimeter defense but not his man to man. Opposing players salivate when they get a chance to take him one on one, or when he tries to handle the ball outside. He has shown glimpses of creativity in getting shots off but lacks D1 quickness IMO.

 

[ford82]

If you don't see some positives in Giffey's game besides his shooting than you either haven't watched him play much or you flat out don't know basketball.

 

[61cygni]

That's really strange, because I actually like his man to man defense. At least I remember a couple games where he was playing really well. The opponents did seem to love taking him one on one, but he definitely held his own I think, most of the time stopping penetration before they made it past the high post, forcing a pass or a well challenged shot. On the other hand, it looks like he regularly challenges 3s decently, but they were draining them regardless.

I really love how he has cut down on the turnovers. Last year he was averaging 3 turnovers per 40 minutes. Down to 1.3 this year. Huge difference. A willing passer, but not forcing the issue as much. Love his movement without the ball. Very nervous when he gets the ball on the perimeter when his defender is locked on and he holds it, I much prefer him catching it on the go, immediately slashing, or doing a catch and shoot.

 

[UCweCONN]

If you don't see some positives in Giffey's game besides his shooting than you either haven't watched him play much or you flat out don't know basketball.

And you've shown that reading isn't your strong suit....he's a good spot up shooter and perimeter defender... that's two positives right there. Every player has strong points and weak points, I just don't see enough of Giffey's strengths to see him starting at a premier level program. At Farfield or Quinipiac, yes, at UCONN, no.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Someone better tell Doug Gottlieb the first guard in next years draft is coming off the bench.

 

[cohenzone]

JC makes moves, fine, but lets see how long he sticks with it. He tends to make moves and not allow the experiment to go very far. There is no doubt this team frustrates him , but the most experienced guy on the team is a junior and has been erratic at best. Very young team and I hope they all hang in there.

 

[Chief00]

Bazz can still make big shots late in the game.

I think it has been a tough go for this team because their 2 Captains are not in the place where they can reach out to their teammates. Alex seems focused on his situation and Bazz needs to trust his teammates with the ball.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

he also rebounds the ball very well which is something we could use a lot more of right now. Hustle plays and rebounding will be a key aspect of turning this season around and giffey can supply both of those things. I have to admit that im no longer nervous when i see him in there and instead i get excited.

A big part of the reason the offense is so poor, IMHO, is that there is a critical mass requirement of needing to have most of your players able to catch, handle, and pass the ball reasonably well. So far, Andre, Alex, Roscoe, and Deandre have not been able to do these things. Jeremy is not a good passer generally and has not shown a good ability to make entry passes. Giffey is probably the best entry passer on the team. His tentativeness has been a problem and due in part to his being JC's whipping boy most of the year. JC has gone off on him for every single mistake he's made (and sometimes for mistakes others have made). Sometimes Giffey tries to make the too difficult pass and turns it over. This has been the primary flaw in his play. So, he has tightened up and got the the point where he would barely do anything with the ball. He has slowly been showing more willingness to try to make plays despite getting more JC spittle than anyone I can recall.

I think that Niels has a lot more potential than he has shown if he were to loosen up and try to become another playmaker on this team. This will not happen if JC will not let him play through a mistake. I would like to see JC run some plays for Niels at times and push him to show what he can do. We really need multiple players who can pass and move the ball and I think that Niels is the best we have to do that at the 3.

 

[Husky Dynasty]

I like this move/lineup a lot. It was time for a change, and now the team needs to either put up or shut up. Hopefully JC will give the starters enough time to gel without making a rapid/disruptive substitution. We'll see one way or another on the court tomorrow night, but I just have a good feeling about this lineup.

Let's just beat Georgetown and go from there.

 

[Chelo]

I hate to say it but this feels like 2010 all over again.

 

[Prezidint]

It's days like these that I really wonder whether it was a good move to trade Coombs-McDaniel

 

[Huskybass]

I hate to say it but this feels like 2010 all over again.

You better not say that, the Koolaid Police will be all over you.

 

[aceboon]

Agree with you on Niels, the few times where has committed to making a move with the ball and getting in the lane he's actually looked pretty good in doing so, but like you said I also feel that he's terrified of making a mistake and catching JC's ire so he plays with shackles on. No one on the team catches it from Calhoun like Niels does when he makes a mistake, he's like a redheaded stepchild out there sometimes.

A big part of the reason the offense is so poor, IMHO, is that there is a critical mass requirement of needing to have most of your players able to catch, handle, and pass the ball reasonably well. So far, Andre, Alex, Roscoe, and Deandre have not been able to do these things. Jeremy is not a good passer generally and has not shown a good ability to make entry passes. Giffey is probably the best entry passer on the team. His tentativeness has been a problem and due in part to his being JC's whipping boy most of the year. JC has gone off on him for every single mistake he's made (and sometimes for mistakes others have made). Sometimes Giffey tries to make the too difficult pass and turns it over. This has been the primary flaw in his play. So, he has tightened up and got the the point where he would barely do anything with the ball. He has slowly been showing more willingness to try to make plays despite getting more JC spittle than anyone I can recall.

I think that Niels has a lot more potential than he has shown if he were to loosen up and try to become another playmaker on this team. This will not happen if JC will not let him play through a mistake. I would like to see JC run some plays for Niels at times and push him to show what he can do. We really need multiple players who can pass and move the ball and I think that Niels is the best we have to do that at the 3.

 

[joober jones]

When Giffey is starting at this point in the season something is horribly wrong.

 

[TheChamps990411]

lol! jc was on the boneyard and took my suggestion. i think AD,RS,NG,JL,RB could be our best lineup and we`re about to find out.

 

[Walker11]

It's days like these that I really wonder whether it was a good move to trade Coombs-McDaniel

Agreed. Not that the offense is good vs. man, but it is much much worse vs. zone and Coombs has demonstrated an ability to attack and make good decisions from the free throw area.

Also, guys, I know Giffey is white so the initial thought must be that he sucks at D, but if you actually watch you will see that even his man to man defense is quite good. He has frequently guarded 2 guards who are much smaller this year, and even the occasionally PG. He is not an explosive athlete but he has very good lateral quickness and is not a liability in the least defensively at the 3.

 

[EricLA]

well i'm glad he's trying something new. fans have been down on bazz for several of his "issues" all year, and apparently not only did he not fix it/them, but the coach(es) saw the same things. as for Roscoe, i'll admit i don't get to see many games on TV from san diego, but he must be doing something right in practice - it's not like he's been lighting up the scoring column lately...

 

[Walker11]

Roscoe hasn't really done anything right, I guess its just that he hasn't had the extended minutes to show that he can't do anything right like some other guys. JC mainly wants to go more uptempo and Scoe is much quicker than Alex.

 

[imno1]

This line up is worth a try. Now can we get NG to shoot it a little more and AD to stay home on D

 

[mauconnfan]

Agreed. Not that the offense is good vs. man, but it is much much worse vs. zone and Coombs has demonstrated an ability to attack and make good decisions from the free throw area.

Also, guys, I know Giffey is white so the initial thought must be that he sucks at D, but if you actually watch you will see that even his man to man defense is quite good. He has frequently guarded 2 guards who are much smaller this year, and even the occasionally PG. He is not an explosive athlete but he has very good lateral quickness and is not a liability in the least defensively at the 3.

Guys lets not get ridiculous. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was an awful basketball player and 2 or 3 games which teams left him open for layups made some think otherwise. He was selfish, lazy and was a cancer in the lockerroom. He played lazy defense if any at all and was caught "leaking" to get his points many times if you watched closely. This would not have helped this team rather woould have hurt this team. Please let's jus not go there!

 

[mauconnfan]

This smells of desperation. Almost like when they benched the 2010 seniors when they were getting killed by USF. They have retooled and retooled and retooled the starting lineup this year and it's changed nothing.

Nobody wants to admit it but the play of Napier and Oriakhi this year has destroyed this teams potential. Nobody on this board expected them to be this bad this year. No one. They are the reason we are sitting at the brink on Feb 1st. They can change the starting lineup all they want but eveyone knows that's the problem. Niels Giffey or Roscoe or Deandre starting is not why this team is losing to unranked teams at home and struggling to break 60 points.

Everyone before the season said the keys would be A.) If Jeremy Lamb can be the MAN and B.) Can Napier be an effective starting PG and leader. A.) is an incomplete and B.) is a No. And Oriakhi added a whole new ? that no one was anticipating prior to this year. He was our MVP of the Final 4 (whether he won it or not). And now? How can his play be explained? To go from that to what he is now is a setback we simply can't overcome with a freshman and Olander down low. I can only hope Alex handles this benching better than the way he handled the one in Atlantis in Dec.

B) No huh???

And it's been that way ALL year......he hasn't proven at all that he could run this team, help them win games??? You people are really stupid!! He may have hit a wall no doubt but do we need to point out the good games? Is he the only one playing shi**y or is he the PG and his shi**y play is more magnified?

Unbelievable..................

 

[huskymagic]

Boat and Scoe to start tomorrow in place of Bazz and Alex

Looks like Calhoun made the changes he needed to make. Excellent now we can see this team play UCONN basketball and contend for the title this year. This season just got saved.

 

[James]

please. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel wasn't a horrible basketball player. What about that rebound that essentially got us in position to Kemba Pitt?