Let's Put Some of this on the Coaches Shoulders

[freescooter]

This team is short on point guards. The bigs are athletic, but mediocre in half court sets. Only Olander has a reliable short jumper. On the other hand, we have wings on top of wings. Lamb, Giffey, Daniels, Smith...all can run, have length and can be disruptive. I don't understanding why this team hasn't been coached to play the same pressing style as the 99 team. They have the perfect athletes to do this. Drummond and even AO are tremendous on the break, and AD and TO have good outlet passes. They need to run that 2-2-1 zone press a lot more. They have the bodies...they can run these guys to the ground and rotate them in and out. It's a huge depth advantage that goes wasted almost every week.

Once Boat is back, I'd never have him and Bazz on the court at the same time. I'd want these guys dripping with sweat and gasping for air when they get subbed for. I thought JC was building the team with this style in mind, but then the "dominant center" fell in his lap and we're back to the same stagnant half court style.

I'll give you 3 reasons why we don't, and in this Century haven't ever really. played that pressing and running style that was a UCONN (and to be fair Georgetown) hallmark in the 1990s. Reason 1.N Reason 2. B Reason 3. A. Put them together and it spells NBA. As Rick Pitino can tell you from abortive time with the Celtics, that style is not a tciket to the next level for lots of reasons, some of them perfectly logical like 80 games vs.30, back to back games in different cities, etc. As UCONN has become more and more a producer of NBA level talent, that type of game simply isn't what players want or need. It is also, and I think these are related, partly that we recruit a different type of player now. There was a time when UCONN didn't recruit Bigs...in fact the knock on Calhoun was that he couldn't coach true big men. The 1999 team had an undersized power forward, a center who had been pretty much of a project and a little undersized (in terms of weight and "bulk" at least) a great wing and a couple of wonderful guards. In fact that was the general makeup of all our great teams in the 1990s which were built around the wings. the interior players were something of an after thought. Since then we've had many more bigs (in fact Calhoun made a shift in his approach after getting beaten by bigger teams two years in a row in the NCAA tournament). Now we have bigger "power teams" if you will but they aren't really built to play the end to end, pressing style of those 1990s teams. I don't care what kind of shape Drummond is in, how fast he is end to end, a team with Oriahki and Drummond and Olander just isn't going to run very well or very long.

 

[wpq4elamin]

You can't blame this on the NCAA. Boatright screwed up. maybe UCONN did too in not vetting him as closely as they should have, but either way, no Boatright wasn't the problem last night. We had a 6-10 guy whose supposed to be a 1st round pick and a 6-9 guy and they got pushed around under the basket by smaller players. The way you beat the 4 guard offense is to crash the boards, and get the ball to your bigs inside and make the smaller team pay dearly. We got 6 points and 12 rebounds from the 2 of them combined. Of course you have a problem if you don't take advantage of the mis-matches. Boatright wasn't going to make that difference.

I blame the NCAA for suspending him twice and not just taking care of it the first time... that's ridiculous....

not to mention the hypocrisy of the NCAA in general.... but we won't get into that now

and the bigs biggest problem wasn't getting pushed around, it was not being able to catch or finish a lay up or dunk

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'll give you 3 reasons why we don't, and in this Century haven't ever really. played that pressing and running style that was a UCONN (and to be fair Georgetown) hallmark in the 1990s. Reason 1.N Reason 2. B Reason 3. A. Put them together and it spells NBA. As Rick Pitino can tell you from abortive time with the Celtics, that style is not a tciket to the next level for lots of reasons, some of them perfectly logical like 80 games vs.30, back to back games in different cities, etc. As UCONN has become more and more a producer of NBA level talent, that type of game simply isn't what players want or need. It is also, and I think these are related, partly that we recruit a different type of player now. There was a time when UCONN didn't recruit Bigs...in fact the knock on Calhoun was that he couldn't coach true big men. The 1999 team had an undersized power forward, a center who had been pretty much of a project and a little undersized (in terms of weight and "bulk" at least) a great wing and a couple of wonderful guards. In fact that was the general makeup of all our great teams in the 1990s which were built around the wings. the interior players were something of an after thought. Since then we've had many more bigs (in fact Calhoun made a shift in his approach after getting beaten by bigger teams two years in a row in the NCAA tournament). Now we have bigger "power teams" if you will but they aren't really built to play the end to end, pressing style of those 1990s teams. I don't care what kind of shape Drummond is in, how fast he is end to end, a team with Oriahki and Drummond and Olander just isn't going to run very well or very long.

I agree with you on most of this. I'm merely suggesting that this team isn't likely to succeed with the NBA strategy. It is uniquely built (by recent JC standards) for the 2-2-1 zone press of yore. In fact, he did run it briefly, to great effect, against Notre Dame. It turned the game around. I do disagree with you on Drummond. While he can't play all game that way, he is amazingly fast for his size, and could beat his man up the court routinely in a fast break offense. He'd be a monster. So I'm just asking for 1/3 or 1/2 game with the press D and break offense, enough to wear down and frustrate the opponent, and snap the Huskies out of their lethargy.

Where have you gone, Magic Johnson?

 

[Huskybass]

You can't blame this on the NCAA. Boatright screwed up. maybe UCONN did too in not vetting him as closely as they should have, but either way, no Boatright wasn't the problem last night. We had a 6-10 guy whose supposed to be a 1st round pick and a 6-9 guy and they got pushed around under the basket by smaller players. The way you beat the 4 guard offense is to crash the boards, and get the ball to your bigs inside and make the smaller team pay dearly. We got 6 points and 12 rebounds from the 2 of them combined. Of course you have a problem if you don't take advantage of the mis-matches. Boatright wasn't going to make that difference.

I disagree. A little offense from Boat and both Lamb and Napier fresher down the stretch would have made for a different outcome.

 

[Danzz]

Certainly Shabazz deserves some of the criticism he's getting. He's frequently taking too much time off the clock before getting the offense started. In part, this is because his teammates are standing around, or running in endless circles. And his two big men are playing like they're the smallest guys on the court. But at least some of this blame has to go to our coaches.

Drummond still has absolutely no idea how to get himself in position for a pass in the post and clear space around him, nor does he know how to set an effective screen (they're soft, and he releases too soon). The coaches need to step up and focus some attention on these two basic big-man fundamentals.

Have you noticed that wvery team is playing the same defensive strategy against us - double teaming the ball at the top of the circle. And they're all doing it effectively. This tells me we need some counter strategies. We're just too vanilla on offense, and poorly executing the vanilla offense we have.

What we are doing is fine if you have a player, or two, that is capable of creating his own offense, but Lamb can't, or won't, take on defenders, and Shabazz looks like a ball hog if he does it too often.

JC and his staff need to focus attention on getting the big men to play like big men. Alex has been more agressive, but he still forgets, or doesn't recognize, that he's the strongest guy on the floor. His role on offense should be clearly defined - Dunk Everything, and get in postion to rebound everything that doesn't go in the basket so you can dunk some more.

As for Andre, he's standing outside the lane with his arms down, and not making contact with a defender with the intent of posting up. But it's mostly not his fault. He's raw. Where are the coaches? How in the hell can a projected NBA center not be learning how to play the post. He's got great hands, but he's never in position in the paint to get the ball passed to him. He's also not creating any space around himself to give the passer some security. The coaches are failing this kid right now. They also need to teach him how to screen effectively, and when to release and roll. His screens are soft and he often releases too soon letting the defender slip through and negating the benefit of the screen.

And then there is Lamb. Sometimes I think he needs to be yanked out of the game. He runs around in arcs rather than making abrubt changes of direction. He's as easy to follow as a GPS. He also gives up to easily on offense, refusing to take on defenders. He's not making quick, direct moves, everything is an arc. Again, the coaches need to get some of the blame.

I'll probably get lots of flack for this post - How dare I critcize a HOF coach? - but the players are taking all the blame and it's not entirely their fault.

The truth is we rarely are very good in half court offense. If we don't score before the defense sets up we have problems and it is nothing new this year. Over the years we scored points off of turnovers and rebounds/outlets and this includes our championship teams.

 

[freescooter]

I disagree. A little offense from Boat and both Lamb and Napier fresher down the stretch would have made for a different outcome.

maybe, but Shabazz hit what, 3 long range 3s down the stretch. I think maybe this team would have actually benfited from a Craig Austrie/Donnell Beverly type backup point guard. Someone who could play 3-6 minutes a game just to spell Napier for a few minutes. But with the scholarship limitations and Boatright that was probably a bit of a luxury.

 

[Palatine]

Yeah, let's blame a teenage Boatright for taking bad advice or falling to temptation. Even if he did screw up, there are dozens of young basketball players who walked the same path. However, they are not being put under the microscope by the NCAA. Add to that, he has already paid a price that his peers haven't. So yeah, I think the NCAA should get off his back.

 

[HuskyHawk]

maybe, but Shabazz hit what, 3 long range 3s down the stretch. I think maybe this team would have actually benfited from a Craig Austrie/Donnell Beverly type backup point guard. Someone who could play 3-6 minutes a game just to spell Napier for a few minutes. But with the scholarship limitations and Boatright that was probably a bit of a luxury.

Yep, this is what I said yesterday on a different thread. Steady, experienced pg backup would help.

 

[freescooter]

Yeah, let's blame a teenage Boatright for taking bad advice or falling to temptation. Even if he did screw up, there are dozens of young basketball players who walked the same path. However, they are not being put under the microscope by the NCAA. Add to that, he has already paid a price that his peers haven't. So yeah, I think the NCAA should get off his back.

so are you saying he's just a dumb jock and can't be expected to know the rules? Or if your a good enough player the rules don't apply? Or is it the old everybody does it excuse? If it is 1 or 2, I disagree. if it is #3, i don't know what to say.

 

[freescooter]

Yep, this is what I said yesterday on a different thread. Steady, experienced pg backup would help.

Yeah, to some degree this might be where the scholarship restrictions do hurt. Not in landing marquee guys but in getting the role players.

 

[ctchamps]

so are you saying he's just a dumb jock and can't be expected to know the rules? Or if your a good enough player the rules don't apply? Or is it the old everybody does it excuse? If it is 1 or 2, I disagree. if it is #3, i don't know what to say.

I respect your knowledge and understanding of rules and I think it is a good starting place. But my understanding of human strengths and weaknesses makes me believe that not every one who doesn't have your gift or appreciation of this aspect of society is lazy or bad. There are probably hundreds of things people do that many of us find ourselves struggling or unable to accomplish in spite of our best intent and actions. Your arguments remind me of the teachers who in the fifties would reprimand students who struggled to read, insisting every student was lazy. Well now we understand that there are programming problems with the brain which interfere with certain people's processing of letters and words. So these people were reprimanded not because they were failing to try, but because society was still in its infancy in understanding the human brain. In essence teachers were not sophisticated in understanding how people learn. And we're still a long way off from understanding everything. It appears to me you have a background and interest in following rules and regulations. And our society needs people like you. But to insist that 17 and 18 year olds be as familiar as you about the NCAA rules book as the legal teams hired to ensure their compliance would be as unrealistic as one of these same kids insisting you step onto the basket ball court and play at their level of accomplishment. There is a range of skill sets in all of us for various things and insistence we all be the same is contrary to the evidence of the variations of abilities that all of us contribute to this world and why we all need one another.