Late Game Management

[Candyman]

I think Sanogo has no confidence in his passing at all. I notice at top of key when he goes out there he will only hand ball off and never pass. Once he gets the ball in the paint there is zero chance of him passing out to an open man. Other teams must be picking on this. He's too important to be on bench at end of close games so this must be fixed soon.

If I’m an opposing coach I’m making sure the guy guarding Jackson is doubling Adama. Jackson is just not an offensive threat. I’ll take my chances him taking runners or shoot that awful looking three ball.

 

[UCfor3]

Adama is a bit of a black hole right now. Most of the time it is a good thing. We want him to be offensively agressive as he is our best weapon but we can't be a one trick pony as a team. We need more than Cole and Sanogo. Tyrese stepped up today but we need Hawkins to be a factor. The Cole and 3 forwards and one center lineup is juat too easy to defend when the rubber meats the road at the end of games. Polley or Ajax need to be off the floor. If Tyler is on fire, he should be in. If not have a seat. It's either or with him or AJax unless something obvious dictates otherwise. Cole needs help. Guard help. The Big East will dictate that much more than the last two opponents. Hawkins development will be huge but we need one of Gaffney or Diggins to step up to have the versatility that great teams have once the tourney rolls around. Anyone can see we need another ball handler, creator, and playmaker other than Cole to be a major contender. He needs help and playing two ball handlers has always served us well at the end of games in the past. Our starting lineup and end of game lineup is unsustainable for success. It's safe and comfy but ultimately a killer.

 

[Improviser]

Larry Brown already filling that role for Penny. JC would be interesting. Hurley needs something. He’s really, really bad in end of game situations.

Just recalled a former BC coach who had a winning record, Al Skinner.

Not saying he is the right one, but he did steer their ship to a winning record over a period of time. I have no knowledge of his end of game proficiency.

A current member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Ethics Coalition, Skinner spent 22 seasons as a head coach at the Division I level, building a 385-291 (. 570) career record while guiding his teams to nine NCAA tournament appearances and four conference titles.

His current position gives an interesting perspective.

 

[jibsey]

End of games willl be tough for UConn this year.
We don’t have a guy that can breakdown his guy for a score. Not enough guys that can create their own shot off the dribble.
Maybe Hawkins at the end of the year can be that guy but not there yet?

Hawkins has to want to get free, it takes effort and if the guards penetrate he can get the ball and his shot up. Coming off screens too he should be the number 1 option. Calhoun is an intimidating presence to have on the bench the way Memphis has Larry Brown but this is not Hurley’s strength and he needs help. I agree that if Whaley had played we win that game because a lot of those drives to the hole woulda been rejected on help defense.

 

[Improviser]

I think Sanogo has no confidence in his passing at all. I notice at top of key when he goes out there he will only hand ball off and never pass. Once he gets the ball in the paint there is zero chance of him passing out to an open man. Other teams must be picking on this. He's too important to be on bench at end of close games so this must be fixed soon.

If AJ is close to the basket and therefore close to Sanogo, Sanogo should be able to make a short pass to AJ, and AJ should be able to drive for a shot and maybe drive for a dunk, or draw a foul. AJ is a good foul shooter.

And, the pass from Sanogo would be a short shovel pass, or almost a handoff. Why not try this?

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Its an early loss to a quality opponent coming off a double ot game. We played really bad, it happens. Hopefully you learn and move on.

 

[Umami Zen]

Izzo worked the refs and outcoached Dan Hurley the last five minutes. Refs were not in mid-season form with their questionable calls. Our late game management/offense is predictable. Martin should not be handling the ball in that situation. We have to close games out with 7 point leads. Our body language (coaches/players) was not positive late in game. What's your offensive scheme when you shoot 2-16 from 3 ?

We missed Whaley's D and senior leadership/winning plays. Sool is a pass first PG who was a high BB IQ-Knows how to pass and dribble.. Time to give him some PT as a Gaff alternative.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There were quite a few calls (and non-calls) that could/should have gone our way and didn't but we should have won despite that.

There were two critical, senseless fouls we committed late in the game that were exceptionally damaging. Sanogo's foul on a free throw miss (allowed MSU two free points with no time coming off the clock) and Cole's reach in (leading to a three point play) on a breakaway not long after. Remove those two fouls and MSU needs a miracle to pull the game out.

 

[CTMike]

We all wondered who would be “the guy” without Bouk… well this is what happens when you don’t have “the guy”.

Seems there’s been hesitation to work Hawkins in because he’s a freshman prone to do freshman things but I’d rather lose with him out there so we accelerate his growth.

 

[CL82]

We all wondered who would be “the guy” without Bouk… well this is what happens when you don’t have “the guy”.

Seems there’s been hesitation to work Hawkins in because he’s a freshman prone to do freshman things but I’d rather lose with him out there so we accelerate his growth.

I’d be cautious about that after seeing him his body language after he lost the ball in the Auburn game. As good as he is, and he does look good out there, he still is a freshman who, as you point out, is prone to freshman mistakes. It may be better to give him opportunities to succeed on the court in build his confidence so that he’s is ready to take on those game on the line shots at the end of the season. He still is only a few games into his career. It may be too early to ask him to put the team on his shoulders just yet.

 

[8893]

I’d be cautious about that after seeing him his body language after he lost the ball in the Auburn game. As good as he is, and he does look good out there, he still is a freshman who, as you point out, is prone to freshman mistakes. It may be better to give him opportunities to succeed on the court in build his confidence so that he’s is ready to take on those game on the line shots at the end of the season. He still is only a few games into his career. It may be too early to ask him to put the team on his shoulders just yet.

It’s a tough call, but I was surprised when Hurley didn’t put him back in after that. Part of me thought the best way for him to overcome it would be to get right back on the horse. He was more broken up about that than he was about the turnover.

In either event, he definitely should have been on the floor down the stretch yesterday when we needed a three. His FT form is also impeccable and he is good at drawing contact if he needed to drive. I would much rather see him than Gaffney in that situation.

 

[freescooter]

Hurley does a whole lot right. He is the right coach for us... He does not have high-major D1 coach in-game offensive coaching skills. Our play calls late in the game were putrid 2 games in a row. We dumped it to Sanogo over and over and over again with no movement. 0 shots for Polley.

He needs to put playcalling on Kimani or Luke's shoulders for the end of games or something. Have an "offensive coordinator" for the team.

We don’t have anyone who can shoot from outside. What else are they going to do? The basic rule of basketball is get the ball to your star and get the heck out of his way. If you have Ben Gordon AND Emeka, you can make a choice. If you just have Sonogo that is your primary option. And he is not turning the offense over to an assistant. If that happens he will be on his way out the door…to insurance sales or something.

 

[CTMike]

I’d be cautious about that after seeing him his body language after he lost the ball in the Auburn game. As good as he is, and he does look good out there, he still is a freshman who, as you point out, is prone to freshman mistakes. It may be better to give him opportunities to succeed on the court in build his confidence so that he’s is ready to take on those game on the line shots at the end of the season. He still is only a few games into his career. It may be too early to ask him to put the team on his shoulders just yet.

I definitely get where you are coming from… no easy answer.

 

[Husky Alien]

We are really good. Only makes a loss like this more frustrating. It was a lot of factors that went into the loss today, but we're going to be fine.

Like that @JMick! Yes, we want to win these type of games. Yes, Sanogo has to learn how to pass when doubled and should not be taking 8ft jump hooks, needs to learn how to face the basket and take a jumper. Yes, Hawk needs to be in game down 3...... Yes, Hurley needs to temper his temper when game is on the line when a bad call is made (close to being T'd up) could you imagine? Yaders would of been on FIRE! Myself included. Yes, AJax steps out of bounds but no one mentions that he made that 3, difference maker. Yes, poor late game management. Yes, did we want to win this tournament. Of course!

So let's not forget where we have been since our last ship we have come a long way since. We are being mentioned on all the media outlets along with the other big boys. Yes! It's early in the season and there is a lot of games ahead of us. Yes, things will get corrected, we will be fine. That is why we have these games. Better to live and learn now than the alternative in March.

Let's beat up on VCU today.

 

[husky429]

We don’t have anyone who can shoot from outside. What else are they going to do? The basic rule of basketball is get the ball to your star and get the heck out of his way. If you have Ben Gordon AND Emeka, you can make a choice. If you just have Sonogo that is your primary option. And he is not turning the offense over to an assistant. If that happens he will be on his way out the door…to insurance sales or something.

Coaches in basketball give assistants playcalling roles all the time.

Sanogo is not the star Emeka or Ben was. He is good, but he is not "go get your own for the next 5 trips down the floor" good right now.

 

[HuskyBoi]

This board cannot accept a loss. It's incredible the expectation to go 30-0 every regular season. Accept the fact we will lose games but we are in a way better position than the past few years

 

[brihman]

Agree that it is painful out there at the end of games. I’m happy when they get a shot up. Hurley has gotta be able to shake off that bad call. Has to have like 12 ppl remind him that he can’t spend the whole time-out yelling at the ref. Really just about the knock on him is that he is a spaz at the end of games - otherwise he’s been unbelievable.

He looked for Polley off a screen, he didn’t get open. He then tried for Martin and he wasn’t open. We had 4 players standing near the top of the key clogging the lane. Gaffney was sort of out of luck.

 

[uconngb]

This board cannot accept a loss. It's incredible the expectation to go 30-0 every regular season. Accept the fact we will lose games but we are in a way better position than the past few years

Losses happen……duh. But they aren’t supposed to happen when you’re up 5 with 1:40 to go.

 

[husky429]

This board cannot accept a loss. It's incredible the expectation to go 30-0 every regular season. Accept the fact we will lose games but we are in a way better position than the past few years

Losses are losses. It happens. Players miss shots. Or turn the ball over... whatever. I'm not mad we went 2/16 from 3, or about the boneheaded TOs in either game. They're kids and this game is demanding as hell.

Losing because your coach is terrible at game management (and that moronic ref) is a problem and one people should rightfully be pissed about. The guy makes millions a year. He needs to figure it out.

That previous statement can be true AND we can also be in a better position than last year. Hurley is killing it in literally every aspect of coaching except how to play call and manage the team late. This has been consistently true since year 1. Our record in close games and OT sucks.

If you gave Calhoun that lead with 3 minutes left, we win by 15. Instead we went to Sanogo over and over and over again to play 1v1 with no shooter on the strong side to give him spacing... it was TERRIBLE.

 

[HuskyBoi]

Losses are losses. It happens. Players miss shots. Or turn the ball over... whatever. I'm not mad we went 2/16 from 3, or about the boneheaded TOs in either game. They're kids and this game is demanding as hell.

Losing because your coach is terrible at game management (and that moronic ref) is a problem and one people should rightfully be pissed about. The guy makes millions a year. He needs to figure it out.

I thought we had it all figured out after the Auburn game though?

He is still figuring stuff out. Our defense is there, just needs to figure out the rotations and getting the right 5 on the court at the right time.
Losing Whaley I think was a game changer, he would've been a major influence defensively and I hope the other Boneyarders realize that he is clear of Akok on that court (and I love Akok). Also, it's very difficult to play a game right after 2 OT at noon the next day

But the reactionary posts on this board after any loss concerns me the most.

 

[husky429]

I thought we had it all figured out after the Auburn game though?

He is still figuring stuff out. Our defense is there, just needs to figure out the rotations and getting the right 5 on the court at the right time.
Losing Whaley I think was a game changer, he would've been a major influence defensively and I hope the other Boneyarders realize that he is clear of Akok on that court (and I love Akok). Also, it's very difficult to play a game right after 2 OT at noon the next day

But the reactionary posts on this board after any loss concerns me the most.

The guy is 50. He's had years here and at Wagner/URI to figure it out and hasn't gotten better. He's too rigid and clams up.

Some of the reactionary takes are bad. You acting like "just needs to figure it out" is equally as revolting.

He doesn't need to figure it out. He needs to do some major soul-searching. This isn't a small fix. He is genuinely awful at it consistently.

 

[8893]

But the reactionary posts on this board after any loss concerns me the most.

I have bad news for you: that is the essence of every sports fan message board, everywhere.

 

[the Q]

End of games willl be tough for UConn this year.
We don’t have a guy that can breakdown his guy for a score. Not enough guys that can create their own shot off the dribble.
Maybe Hawkins at the end of the year can be that guy but not there yet?

Yup. Hawkins needs to be run off all kinds of screens

Otherwise manufacture something that gets the ball handler going downhill without having to create. Might even create a lob opportunity like mich st did to beat Loyola

 

[the Q]

The guy is 50. He's had years here and at Wagner/URI to figure it out and hasn't gotten better. He's too rigid and clams up.

Some of the reactionary takes are bad. You acting like "just needs to figure it out" is equally as revolting.

He doesn't need to figure it out. He needs to do some major soul-searching. This isn't a small fix. He is genuinely awful at it consistently.

I think some of us are just happy he’s not running the weave

But yes the offense still looks Ollie-ish which is why that and auburn were close games to begin with.

There is no guy who is even a jalen on this roster for those late game situations.

Cole cannot get by his defense or shake himself free. He and Hawkins are gold options spotting up. But who is getting the ball to them?

In theory getting Jackson downhill and giving him the options to kick to is one way. But that’s alot to ask for a guy who has questionable decision making right now

 

[lange10]

Its an early loss to a quality opponent coming off a double ot game. We played really bad, it happens. Hopefully you learn and move on.

You’re definitely right but it is concerning that we still lack the ability to close. It was a problem last year as well, even with Bouknight. It’s on the players as much as it’s on the coaches but it needs to get figured out soon or this is not a second weekend tournament team.