Joey California

[AZHuskiePop]

My knock on Diarra was his inability to give up the ball to better positioned players resulting in empty trips. I noticed he found Clingan yesterday , of course at his size his very noticeable.

 

[UCfor3]

I pretty much religiously defend Hurley on this board but I really think his treatment of joeys minutes in the Nova game changed Joey’s year.

Joey’s red hot. Great OOC stretch, coming off of the gtown game where he pretty much single-handedly won the game for us. Hurley barely plays him.

Reminds him he’s a role player on this team. Shakes his confidence. Haven’t seen the same guy since.

Joey is responsible for his own play. If he is so mentally fragile(I don't think he is) that one game of limited minutes throws off his entire game for the rest of the season then it was always going to go bad. We have a struggling player that we all hope figures it out soon and finds his form. Hurley has his issues at times sure but hard to hang this one on him based on nothing but coincidental timing.

 

[UCLJ0211]

At least we should see him in the DePaul game!

 

[gsmooth]

Joey is responsible for his own play. If he is so mentally fragile(I don't think he is) that one game of limited minutes throws off his entire game for the rest of the season then it was always going to go bad. We have a struggling player that we all hope figures it out soon and finds his form. Hurley has his issues at times sure but hard to hang this one on him based on nothing but coincidental timing.

100%, you took the words right off my fingers. That Nova is almost 2 months ago and if Joey was that fragile mentally he was never going to be good in BE play in the first place.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I pretty much religiously defend Hurley on this board but I really think his treatment of joeys minutes in the Nova game changed Joey’s year.

Joey’s red hot. Great OOC stretch, coming off of the gtown game where he pretty much single-handedly won the game for us. Hurley barely plays him.

Reminds him he’s a role player on this team. Shakes his confidence. Haven’t seen the same guy since.

That was also when the competition got much tougher as well. Other than SJU, everyone we played after Nova was a tournament team, or at least on the bubble.

The whole team played varying degrees of "worse" after that point. Joey was just "more worse", especially on defense. He also stopped making up for it with great offense at that point.

 

[Fishy]

I pretty much religiously defend Hurley on this board but I really think his treatment of joeys minutes in the Nova game changed Joey’s year.

Joey’s red hot. Great OOC stretch, coming off of the gtown game where he pretty much single-handedly won the game for us. Hurley barely plays him.

Reminds him he’s a role player on this team. Shakes his confidence. Haven’t seen the same guy since.

Alternative theory - Joey met Big East defense and it was too much for him.

The kid has been playing basketball for his entire life - not getting minutes in the Villanova game didn’t send him careening into a mental death spiral.

He’s a good player, but he’s just not able to get looks in this conference - but his performance in the preseason was enough to make his year here a success.

 

[Slick]

Alternative theory - Joey met Big East defense and it was too much for him.

The kid has been playing basketball for his entire life - not getting minutes in the Villanova game didn’t send him careening into a mental death spiral.

He’s a good player, but he’s just not able to get looks in this conference - but his performance in the preseason was enough to make his year here a success.

He played excellent ball against Marquette. Hit shots off dribble, excellent passes and solid defense.

 

[Fishy]

He played excellent ball against Marquette. Hit shots off dribble, excellent passes and solid defense.

He made one shot against Marquette and he’s shooting 26% in conference play - I am guessing that‘s why his minutes are starting to shrink. He was getting about 10 a game.

 

[UCan3]

This thread reminds me of the “chicken egg“ argument - which came first. Joey C. hasn’t played long stretches for quite some time - even when we were losing games left / right. When he gets in, he is not on the court long - there is quIck hook.

Now you could say well he’s not playing well and his numbers are down - that would be true. Or you says gee whiz he barely gets on the court and never gets into a groove to work things out and thus numbers are suffering as a result.

I think it’s mixture of the 2 - I think it would make us a better team if we can get him back on track. Foul trouble NCAA tourney likely - we are going to need him at some point. I’d like to see him get in for 10 minutes a game - not sure what his numbers are at now.

 

[Umami Zen]

Joey's strength is catch and shoot.. If the ball isn't goin' in for him.. His D against BE athletes won't keep him on the floor for extended periods of time. Hope he can find some minutes in the next four games to get back on track so that he can be an asset off the bench during Tournament play..

 

[huskymedic]

Assisted access <<

 

[Scottobot]

Diarra played really well against Seton Hall, and I hope that was the reason JC got no minutes. I hope Hurley does not give up on the deep bench. A game like Alleyne’s vs Marquette or Joey’s vs Georgetown, or Diarra’s vs Seton Hall, can make the difference in a tournament run. Last year Hurley kept shortening the bench, and come tournament time we essentially had 6 players, and no options off the bench when we needed something. Diarra, JC, Alleyne, and Clingan are all needed if we are going to do something post season.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

JoeyCis not a NBE player
But that being said, I will bet if he got 17 minutes like NA received he wouldn’t have zeros across the board

Look at you - punching down on two college kids at once.
JoeyCis is almost funny, but you probably don't see that aspect of it.
And were you going with the back-handed compliment by using "NBE?"

If so, hat trick.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He’s a mid-major guy who got exposed in conference play.

Played really well against Georgetown in December and is like 25% on three point shots since. I don’t think he’s gotten to the free throw line since like Christmas and his perimeter defense is notably bad on a team where perimeter defense is already pretty lousy.

For a mid major guy, he’s been great at finding Clingan with nifty no look passes down low.

 

[KembaStepback]

This Board never ceases to amaze me. Joey has struggled immensely since the new year yet people still want him in...wild.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I pretty much religiously defend Hurley on this board but I really think his treatment of joeys minutes in the Nova game changed Joey’s year.

Joey’s red hot. Great OOC stretch, coming off of the gtown game where he pretty much single-handedly won the game for us. Hurley barely plays him.

Reminds him he’s a role player on this team. Shakes his confidence. Haven’t seen the same guy since.

I agree with this.

He’s our best offensive bench player. Shooting, passing, finishing at the rim, I’d probably say he’s the best at all 3 with getting to the rim being debatable with Diarra. He’s also the best decision maker.

We’ll need him for the tourney with the heater he can be. We’ve given Alleyne all the rope in the world to get right but Joey C has had his minutes significantly decrease since conference play and like mrl said, it was right after he won the GTown game for us.

Must be hard having your minutes cut for almost no reason when you’re playing well. It’s hard to get back in rhythm getting 10 mins a game when you used to get 20 too.

 

[giddyup]

JoeyC doesn’t fit Hurley’s offensive scheme. He’s not super athletic but is a high IQ basketball player with great BB skills. He’s not a blow by guy, not a dominant rebounder or lock down D guy. He makes good passes, sees the floor, moves the ball and can shoot the lights out in space.

Send him to a Colgate where they kill with a lot of ball rotation to create open rhythm 3s coupled with a great kick out center like Records and other 3 threats like Richards, he would bring them into week 2.

The problem is we have no penetration guard or kick out center. Our offense doesn’t work in and out. It works off of screens around the edge or dump passes that never come back out. If you watch our earlier games, you’ll see a ton more ball movement but coaches have figured out (1) we don’t penetrate well, (2) AJ can’t shoot threes, and (3) Adama doesn’t kick out. So, you extend to contest the 3 at the top of the arc and not overly worry about drive byes, you collapse weak side where AJ is to help with penetration and collapse on Adama, and extend on the strong side to to contest the 3 from there.

The whole problem is we can’t spread the floor where JoeyC would be very valuable, and we screen and dribble in lieu of rotating quickly by passing. I’m no basketball genius but that’s why JoeyC isn’t playing.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He’s our best offensive bench player. Shooting, passing, finishing at the rim, I’d probably say he’s the best at all 3 with getting to the rim being debatable with Diarra. He’s also the best decision maker.

I like Calcaterra but this is an absolutely insane statement. I thought we had peaked when someone suggested that he should be running the point but this tops it.

He’s a weapon off the bench when he makes shots. He’s overmatched against good Big East defenses and cannot defend.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Assisted access <<

What a fantastic article, thanks for sharing. Kid seems to have been cut from some very fine cloth.

This past week has been a fairly typical one for Rich Calcaterra. He was in Las Vegas last week with a corporate group of about 3,000 people. He flew out Friday morning and arrived in Hartford late Friday night for UConn's Saturday noon game against Seton Hall at Gampel, where Rich sat a few rows behind the courtside season tickets he purchased but lent that game to Donovan Clingan's father, Bill.

"I don't like to sit there," said Rich, who also bought season tickets at XL Center as a way to help out the program. "I'll use Joey's tickets (given to players) and give mine to fans. Bill sits there sometimes. My wife and I will find a couple sitting way up top and give them the seats. It's really worked out well."

 

[karstenkibbe]

JoeyC doesn’t fit Hurley’s offensive scheme. He’s not super athletic but is a high IQ basketball player with great BB skills. He’s not a blow by guy, not a dominant rebounder or lock down D guy. He makes good passes, sees the floor, moves the ball and can shoot the lights out in space.

Send him to a Colgate where they kill with a lot of ball rotation to create open rhythm 3s coupled with a great kick out center like Records and other 3 threats like Richards, he would bring them into week 2.

The problem is we have no penetration guard or kick out center. Our offense doesn’t work in and out. It works off of screens around the edge or dump passes that never come back out. If you watch our earlier games, you’ll see a ton more ball movement but coaches have figured out (1) we don’t penetrate well, (2) AJ can’t shoot threes, and (3) Adama doesn’t kick out. So, you extend to contest the 3 at the top of the arc and not overly worry about drive byes, you collapse weak side where AJ is to help with penetration and collapse on Adama, and extend on the strong side to to contest the 3 from there.

The whole problem is we can’t spread the floor where JoeyC would be very valuable, and we screen and dribble in lieu of rotating quickly by passing. I’m no basketball genius but that’s why JoeyC isn’t playing.

This. Wish I could give your post 1000 likes because it’s spot on, and most people here just won’t admit it. At this point in the season, we aren’t running (or can’t run) the type of offense required to get Joey the types of looks he needs to be productive.

 

[UConnDad]

There’s always a way to get shooters open. Problem is it would be detrimental defensively in many cases.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

This Board never ceases to amaze me. Joey has struggled immensely since the new year yet people still want him in...wild.

Does your round about comment mean Joey C was terrific before January 1st? ………….wild.

 

[RichZ]

I think he should get a few minutes here and there as a 3 threat when Hawkins goes out.

You realize he's shooting 27% from 3 in Big East play, don't you? Add that to his lack of defensive ability, and it's very hard to justify giving him any time at all.
I prefer to just remember him for that glorious touch basket on the break, and not ruin the memory watching him chuck bricks.

 

[REB1094]

This. Wish I could give your post 1000 likes because it’s spot on, and most people here just won’t admit it. At this point in the season, we aren’t running (or can’t run) the type of offense required to get Joey the types of looks he needs to be productive.

We’ve shot the second most threes this year in the conference, and our NBA-bound guard is taking over 7 a game. Our offense definitely has no issues getting guys threes, sometimes to a fault.

Joey made his threes earlier this year, has been missing his threes more recently, and he doesn’t offer much more when the shot isn’t going down. I think that’s all there is to it. Alleyne gets a longer leash because he plays great defense and is backing up Andre Jackson, who is in foul trouble more often than not. Joey has 2 guys ahead of him in the depth chart, Alleyne has 1

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I like Calcaterra but this is an absolutely insane statement. I thought we had peaked when someone suggested that he should be running the point but this tops it.

He’s a weapon off the bench when he makes shots. He’s overmatched against good Big East defenses and cannot defend.

Maybe his analysis was way off the mark, but insane? No. The guy is a fan just like you are, and you backed up your “insane” statement by referring to a statement made by someone else. Chill

 

[Deleted at users request]

I like Calcaterra but this is an absolutely insane statement. I thought we had peaked when someone suggested that he should be running the point but this tops it.

He’s a weapon off the bench when he makes shots. He’s overmatched against good Big East defenses and cannot defend.

He’s our best offensive bench player is an insane statement? It’s just between him, Diarra, and NA.

 

[Rico444]

For the record, I think Joey should continue to get a few minutes every game to see if he can bust out of this slump. If he can be a microwave off the bench in the postseason, that takes us to another level. That being said, he hasn't shot well for a long time now so you can't push to give him double digit minutes unless he's making shots.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He’s our best offensive bench player is an insane statement? It’s just between him, Diarra, and NA.

How was he before Big East play? IIRC he was pretty good at hitting three’s. Even if he’s missing now, I’d give him more minutes when we have a big lead. If he wakes up and starts shooting like he did before Jan 1st, that helps us immensely. Agree though that if we need to play lockdown defense he sits, and for the most part we have needed to play lockdown defense since Big East play began.

 

[HuskyHawk]

JoeyC doesn’t fit Hurley’s offensive scheme. He’s not super athletic but is a high IQ basketball player with great BB skills. He’s not a blow by guy, not a dominant rebounder or lock down D guy. He makes good passes, sees the floor, moves the ball and can shoot the lights out in space.

Send him to a Colgate where they kill with a lot of ball rotation to create open rhythm 3s coupled with a great kick out center like Records and other 3 threats like Richards, he would bring them into week 2.

The problem is we have no penetration guard or kick out center. Our offense doesn’t work in and out. It works off of screens around the edge or dump passes that never come back out. If you watch our earlier games, you’ll see a ton more ball movement but coaches have figured out (1) we don’t penetrate well, (2) AJ can’t shoot threes, and (3) Adama doesn’t kick out. So, you extend to contest the 3 at the top of the arc and not overly worry about drive byes, you collapse weak side where AJ is to help with penetration and collapse on Adama, and extend on the strong side to to contest the 3 from there.

The whole problem is we can’t spread the floor where JoeyC would be very valuable, and we screen and dribble in lieu of rotating quickly by passing. I’m no basketball genius but that’s why JoeyC isn’t playing.

Is this serious? He's great fit for the offense, but a terrible fit on defense. He can't guard explosively athletic guards. When we signed him I thought he'd be a great late game closer, and I do think Hurley should have had him in late vs Seton Hall. He makes smart plays and can pass and shoot FTs. But the SH guards would have attacked him in ISO all game.

 

[Umami Zen]

Rotation is getting tighter.. Bench guys have to bring it for PT.. Matchups/unique skill sets/foul trouble can also influence those minutes.. As Dan Hurley has said.. Players control the minutes (to a certain degree) -not him.

Joey has got to give him a reason to play him.. Can see some opportunities for situational PT over the next few games.. But he's got to contribute.. Hope he gets a chance.. On him.. Would be cool to see the Cali kid splash a three at the Garden.