Looking ahead to Buffalo

[Hey Adrien!]

Had a great time at Gampel on Sunday!

On Saturday, I watched the first half and the last 10 minutes of the Buffalo v Harvard game. Unfortunately, it was played at a neutral site, but if this game was played in either home court, the energy would have been rocking.

Harvard looked strong in the beginning, but with Towns out and Aiken not starting yet, Buffalo's athleticism, speed and pace was too much for Harvard.

Buffalo plays fast. Currently, they are 38th in the nation in KenPom tempo and the team's style looks no different with Whitesell replacing Oats. Buffalo has always been a guard-heavy team, but they are even faster and quicker after Nick Perkins graduated. Their new center is Josh Mballa, who plays a lot like Kentan Facey in he's very athletic, works his butt off, blocks shots, limited offensively but keeps it simple and does all of his offensive under the basket.

The team's bread and butter are their four very good guards. Jayvon Graves and Devonte Jordan are the two returning vets while MTSU transfer Antwain Johnson looks and plays a lot like CJ Massinburg. The biggest surprise was sophomore guard Ronaldo Segu, who has electric quickness and his skinny 6'0 160 frame helps him weave around traffic easily. He had a career game against Harvard and as a 1st guard off the bench, he helps the team's continuity when their other three guards need a breather.

Thursday's game will be fast paced and a lot of fun. Personally, with such an athletic and smaller team like Buffalo, this might be a game where Carlton takes a backseat to Whaley. If Buffalo makes their shots, it'll be a tough game, but if UConn plays with the same defensive attention and effort as they did with Florida, they will win the game.

 

[Kembacity]

Had a great time at Gampel on Sunday!

On Saturday, I watched the first half and the last 10 minutes of the Buffalo v Harvard game. Unfortunately, it was played at a neutral site, but if this game was played in either home court, the energy would have been rocking.

Harvard looked strong in the beginning, but with Towns and Aiken out, Buffalo's athleticism, speed and pace was too much for Harvard.

Buffalo plays fast. Currently, they are 38th in the nation in KenPom tempo and the team's style looks no different with Whitesell replacing Oats. Buffalo has always been a guard-heavy team, but they are even faster and quicker after Nick Perkins graduated. Their new center is Josh Mballa, who plays a lot like Kentan Facey in he's very athletic, works his butt off, blocks shots, limited offensively but keeps it simple and does all of his offensive under the basket.

The team's bread and butter are their four very good guards. Jayvon Graves and Devonte Jordan are the two returning vets while MTSU transfer Antwain Johnson looks and plays a lot like CJ Massinburg. The biggest surprise was sophomore guard Ronaldo Segu, who has electric quickness and his skinny 6'0 160 frame helps him weave around traffic easily. He had a career game against Harvard and as a 1st guard off the bench, he helps the team's continuity when their other three guards need a breather.

Thursday's game will be fast paced and a lot of fun. Personally, with such an athletic and smaller team like Buffalo, this might be a game where Carlton takes a backseat to Whaley. If Buffalo makes their shots, it'll be a tough game, but if UConn plays with the same defensive attention and effort as they did with Florida, they will win the game.

Nice info dump, I like knowing more moving into the game later in the week

 

[UofCT]

Had a great time at Gampel on Sunday!

On Saturday, I watched the first half and the last 10 minutes of the Buffalo v Harvard game. Unfortunately, it was played at a neutral site, but if this game was played in either home court, the energy would have been rocking.

Harvard looked strong in the beginning, but with Towns and Aiken out, Buffalo's athleticism, speed and pace was too much for Harvard.

Buffalo plays fast. Currently, they are 38th in the nation in KenPom tempo and the team's style looks no different with Whitesell replacing Oats. Buffalo has always been a guard-heavy team, but they are even faster and quicker after Nick Perkins graduated. Their new center is Josh Mballa, who plays a lot like Kentan Facey in he's very athletic, works his butt off, blocks shots, limited offensively but keeps it simple and does all of his offensive under the basket.

The team's bread and butter are their four very good guards. Jayvon Graves and Devonte Jordan are the two returning vets while MTSU transfer Antwain Johnson looks and plays a lot like CJ Massinburg. The biggest surprise was sophomore guard Ronaldo Segu, who has electric quickness and his skinny 6'0 160 frame helps him weave around traffic easily. He had a career game against Harvard and as a 1st guard off the bench, he helps the team's continuity when their other three guards need a breather.

Thursday's game will be fast paced and a lot of fun. Personally, with such an athletic and smaller team like Buffalo, this might be a game where Carlton takes a backseat to Whaley. If Buffalo makes their shots, it'll be a tough game, but if UConn plays with the same defensive attention and effort as they did with Florida, they will win the game.

Do you think Carlton can own Mballa?

 

[mauconnfan]

Sounds like a game plan for a line up of Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight, Polley and Akok on occasion. Smaller, quicker some length.

Would love to play some half court and shove the ball down their throats if smaller with carlton. But dam he hasn't looked the same. That guy last year had quicker feet, wasn't glued completely to the ground like the guy I'm seeing right now. Never seen him lose balance so much, I am concerned he worked too hard to get strong and lost some athleticism.

 

[auror]

Someone in the other thread said Buffalo is a better version of St. Joe's. I'd disagree with that slightly.

Stylistically, they both take a lot of 3's and Buffalo is an even better shooting team. But whereas St. Joe's is very wing dominant with great switching size and the ability to help on D, Buffalo is guard dominant. St. Joe's main lineup had nobody under 6'5". Buffalo's 3 most played lineups feature 3 guys under 6'3", a 6'5", and a 6'7". They don't play a guy bigger than 6'8".

So while in the 2nd half we took advantage of St. Joe's ball handling weakness with a press, that does not seem to be the same way to attack Buffalo. Also unlike St. Joe's, Buffalo's 2 bigs aren't floor stretchers of note. That means we can leave in Carlton and/or Whaley for rebounding and rim protection and trust our guards to lock up the perimeter and even if they get beat to have rim protection at the ready. Buffalo's bigs do hit the offensive boards well, so we need rebounding. I don't see this as the game for Polley at the 4, or really at all. He'll get beat by Buffalo's guards at the 3 and get pounded on the glass at the 4, and doesn't create a mismatch by stretching since his defender (Jeenathan Williams) is mobile and not a post defender.

We need to pound Buffalo in the paint and on the boards. We should play 3 guards (Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight, plus Gaffney and Adams sprinkled in) with Akok and Carlton the most minutes. Buffalo's defense is similar to ours in that they try to take away the 3 and have a shotblocker for cover. Our guards should penetrate, draw the shot blocker Mbella, and dish to the big to finish or draw the foul. Or just dump it into Carlton and crash the glass, especially if we have Sid or Bouk at the 3. If that's effective, they may try to zone us, in which case we can bring Polley in.

 

[bendm]

Buffalo lost to Dartmouth and then barely beat Harvard without its best player... Need to keep the momentum going against them. Being stuck on the other side of the bracket with Towson and St. Joes would be a huge let down after beating UF.

Buffalo- W
Xavier- L
Miami- W
Florida over Xavier for the Charleston Chew

 

[MSGSeven]

Had a great time at Gampel on Sunday!

On Saturday, I watched the first half and the last 10 minutes of the Buffalo v Harvard game. Unfortunately, it was played at a neutral site, but if this game was played in either home court, the energy would have been rocking.

Harvard looked strong in the beginning, but with Towns and Aiken out, Buffalo's athleticism, speed and pace was too much for Harvard.

Buffalo plays fast. Currently, they are 38th in the nation in KenPom tempo and the team's style looks no different with Whitesell replacing Oats. Buffalo has always been a guard-heavy team, but they are even faster and quicker after Nick Perkins graduated. Their new center is Josh Mballa, who plays a lot like Kentan Facey in he's very athletic, works his butt off, blocks shots, limited offensively but keeps it simple and does all of his offensive under the basket.

The team's bread and butter are their four very good guards. Jayvon Graves and Devonte Jordan are the two returning vets while MTSU transfer Antwain Johnson looks and plays a lot like CJ Massinburg. The biggest surprise was sophomore guard Ronaldo Segu, who has electric quickness and his skinny 6'0 160 frame helps him weave around traffic easily. He had a career game against Harvard and as a 1st guard off the bench, he helps the team's continuity when their other three guards need a breather.

Thursday's game will be fast paced and a lot of fun. Personally, with such an athletic and smaller team like Buffalo, this might be a game where Carlton takes a backseat to Whaley. If Buffalo makes their shots, it'll be a tough game, but if UConn plays with the same defensive attention and effort as they did with Florida, they will win the game.

Outstanding write up the only problem is Aiken played against Buffalo so not sure what game you were really watching...

 

[mauconnfan]

Someone in the other thread said Buffalo is a better version of St. Joe's. I'd disagree with that slightly.

Stylistically, they both take a lot of 3's and Buffalo is an even better shooting team. But whereas St. Joe's is very wing dominant with great switching size and the ability to help on D, Buffalo is guard dominant. St. Joe's main lineup had nobody under 6'5". Buffalo's 3 most played lineups feature 3 guys under 6'3", a 6'5", and a 6'7". They don't play a guy bigger than 6'8".

So while in the 2nd half we took advantage of St. Joe's ball handling weakness with a press, that does not seem to be the same way to attack Buffalo. Also unlike St. Joe's, Buffalo's 2 bigs aren't floor stretchers of note. That means we can leave in Carlton and/or Whaley for rebounding and rim protection and trust our guards to lock up the perimeter and even if they get beat to have rim protection at the ready. Buffalo's bigs do hit the offensive boards well, so we need rebounding. I don't see this as the game for Polley at the 4, or really at all. He'll get beat by Buffalo's guards at the 3 and get pounded on the glass at the 4, and doesn't create a mismatch by stretching since his defender (Jeenathan Williams) is mobile and not a post defender.

We need to pound Buffalo in the paint and on the boards. We should play 3 guards (Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight, plus Gaffney and Adams sprinkled in) with Akok and Carlton the most minutes. Buffalo's defense is similar to ours in that they try to take away the 3 and have a shotblocker for cover. Our guards should penetrate, draw the shot blocker Mbella, and dish to the big to finish or draw the foul. Or just dump it into Carlton and crash the glass, especially if we have Sid or Bouk at the 3. If that's effective, they may try to zone us, in which case we can bring Polley in.

Agree with a lot but not Polley. He's long and a bad match up for them too can shoot over them. He can contest shots while not guarding far out on the perimeter because of his length. These defenders need to know when to give space so they can recover. I mean Sid can't see more minutes than Polley at any time as far as I can see you lose a jump shooter and a better defender. He needs to rebound better but unless he's not making anything need him on the court 20-25 minutes a game at least.

I do like the fact they aren't big at all and their bigs don't stretch the floor as Carlton may have his way if we throw it in.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Outstanding write up the only problem is Aiken played against Buffalo so not sure what game you were really watching...

View attachment 48218

My bad, good catch. I meant to say he didn't start, but typical Monday brain fart on my end.

Do you think Carlton can own Mballa?

On the offensive end, absolutely. My question is will his offensive dominance outweigh the potential defensive mismatch with a smaller, quicker team.

Maybe a better idea is to counter with a 4-guard, 1 big lineup at times. Something like AG, Vital, Adams, Gaffney, Carlton if/when their top four guards are on the floor at once. Jeenathan Williams plays most minutes at a 4 spot and he's only 6'5 200, so I could see Sid being a good defensive matchup to him too. It'll be a fun game.

 

[mauconnfan]

It would seem they had their worst game against Dartmouth. I mean they shot 35% overall, 29 from 3 and 38.5 from the FT line. Ugh there hopefully that team shows up or we play as good of defense as Dartmouth. Since then against Nazareth and Harvard they've shot 50 from 3 although only 45% overall against Harvard. Now another point of interest was against Nazareth they shot 42% from the FT line but 86 vs Harvard. 2 awful FT shooting games so far but again, 3 games in they are hard to figure out. Also 5 guys averaging 10PPG up to 16.7. And a 6th at 9.3PPG.

We will see if our guys come out ready and play the same D. On paper a tough matchup but with Bouk we're hopefully a little deeper in the guard spot. Dan Hurley will need to be on top of his subs game!

 

[auror]

Agree with a lot but not Polley. He's long and a bad match up for them too can shoot over them. He can contest shots while not guarding far out on the perimeter because of his length. These defenders need to know when to give space so they can recover. I mean Sid can't see more minutes than Polley at any time as far as I can see you lose a jump shooter and a better defender. He needs to rebound better but unless he's not making anything need him on the court 20-25 minutes a game at least.

I do like the fact they aren't big at all and their bigs don't stretch the floor as Carlton may have his way if we throw it in.

I don't think Polley can chase a guard around screens or keep up with them in transition on defense if he's playing the 3. He just doesn't have the foot speed. Polley is good at guarding 6'5" - 6'8" guys, but 6'3" and fast is an issue.

At the 4, he doesn't have an offensive mismatch unless they go zone and he will get slaughtered on the defensive boards.

It's just not his matchup. Now he could still provide surplus value if he goes 3/5 from 3 or whatever, so maybe you stick with him anyways and give him some minutes at the 4, especially when Buffalo has their backup 4 Gabe Grant in, but I'd definitely play him less minutes with Bouknight available to play minutes at the 3, who (hopefully) gives you the same advantages of Polley against the Buffalo guards (a bit of height, shooting, and length) plus better defensive coverage and more offensive shot creation.

 

[husky429]

I don't think this game is much different than others. Polley is a BIG net positive if he is able to knock down 3s. Shooting is the most important skill in the game. If he isn't hitting from downtown, he doesn't provide much else.

 

[auror]

I don't think this game is much different than others. Polley is a BIG net positive if he is able to knock down 3s. Shooting is the most important skill in the game. If he isn't hitting from downtown, he doesn't provide much else.

He's also good at defending the Jarron Cumberlands, Markis McDuffies, and Nate Hintons of the world. Buffalo just doesn't have that guy.

 

[Captbluefin]

A lot of people are showing a ton of confidence in Book before he has even has a second of D1 basketball under his belt.

I am excited to see him but many here are expecting Ray Allen right off the start..

 

[MuchoDogYears]

That guy last year had quicker feet, wasn't glued completely to the ground like the guy I'm seeing right now. Never seen him lose balance so much, I am concerned he worked too hard to get strong and lost some athleticism.

The muscle is fine. I think Carlton simply put on too much weight along with that muscle. Keep the strength, lose some of the weight, get down 10 -15 pounds.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

This game scares me more than any other potential matchup in S.C.
Buffalo’s offensive strengths, outside shooting and speed, play directly against what have been UConns weaknesses on defense.
UConn needs to not give 2nd chances, rebound every missed shot, minimize turnovers, and get in the face of three point shooters.
Winning this game will be more about playing great D and rebounding then about scoring.

 

[intlzncster]

Would love to play some half court and shove the ball down their throats if smaller with carlton. But dam he hasn't looked the same. That guy last year had quicker feet, wasn't glued completely to the ground like the guy I'm seeing right now. Never seen him lose balance so much, I am concerned he worked too hard to get strong and lost some athleticism.

Didn't he put on like 25lbs? Or was that last year?

He's definitely stronger within 3ft. Like a bull in there. But he must have a 6 inch vert at this point. And he's not quick to elevate. We should park him under the hoop most of the game outside of P&R screens.

This team is clearly at it's best in transition. Half court O has been rough. Haven't had anyone who can create their own shot. Hoping Bouk can change that, and that opens up things for other guys

 

[intlzncster]

This game scares me more than any other potential matchup in S.C.
Buffalo’s offensive strengths, outside shooting and speed, play directly against what have been UConns weaknesses on defense.
UConn needs to not give 2nd chances, rebound every missed shot, minimize turnovers, and get in the face of three point shooters.
Winning this game will be more about playing great D and rebounding then about scoring.

How are they at rebounding? That's key because if we can't win that battle your first two points will kill us.

 

[superjohn]

A lot of people are showing a ton of confidence in Book before he has even has a second of D1 basketball under his belt.

I am excited to see him but many here are expecting Ray Allen right off the start..

I love the tilting at windmills. Find me a post that even remotely says something like they are expecting Ray Allen right away.

 

[auror]

How are they at rebounding? That's key because if we can't win that battle your first two points will kill us.

Good at attacking the offensive glass after penetration and getting long rebounds off 3's. Susceptible on defensive end.

 

[Captbluefin]

I love the tilting at windmills. Find me a post that even remotely says something like they are expecting Ray Allen right away.

I have read many posts throughout the yard with unrealistic expectations regarding Book. He has never been in a D1 game

I will admit the Ray comment is a bit extreme.

 

[intlzncster]

I have read many posts throughout the yard with unrealistic expectations regarding Book. He has never been in a D1 game

I will admit the Ray comment is a bit extreme.

Bouk will be fine. He just needs to provide the team with a perimeter guy who can get his own shot. And that's his skill set.

 

[superjohn]

I have read many posts throughout the yard with unrealistic expectations regarding Book. He has never been in a D1 game

I will admit the Ray comment is a bit extreme.

He'll have his good and bad moments as every freshman does but he is a really skilled offensive talent, it's the rare time I think Jon Rothstein isn't blowing smoke. He'll give us a guy who can take his man off the dribble and score, another ballhandler, and just more talent/athleticism...all things we need.

Effort and defense will determine how much he plays.

 

[mauconnfan]

He's also good at defending the Jarron Cumberlands, Markis McDuffies, and Nate Hintons of the world. Buffalo just doesn't have that guy.

Problem is you mentioned Sid. He's not good at guarding anyone right now hence why he doesn't play. He wanders looking to block a shot and hasn't done that well either. For now, at least for me no matter what, Polley would be my guy ahead of him even guarding a 6'5" guy because at least he can score.

 

[Captbluefin]

He'll have his good and bad moments as every freshman does but he is a really skilled offensive talent, it's the rare time I think Jon Rothstein isn't blowing smoke. He'll give us a guy who can take his man off the dribble and score, another ballhandler, and just more talent/athleticism...all things we need.

Effort and defense will determine how much he plays.

I agree we are on the same page.. I just don’t think he is “ plug and play” he will add another dimension to us and other team will have a different type of offensive player to defend.
We can hope by February he will be reliable for the push into march.

I just don’t expect him to stroll out in Charleston and light it up. It will take a bit.

 

[auror]

Problem is you mentioned Sid. He's not good at guarding anyone right now hence why he doesn't play. He wanders looking to block a shot and hasn't done that well either. For now, at least for me no matter what, Polley would be my guy ahead of him even guarding a 6'5" guy because at least he can score.

I'm envisioning Akok in that spot as the 6'5" guy plays the 4 for Buffalo. I did concede I'd play Polley as a backup 4 if I were Hurley (10-12 minutes). I'm sure I'd play him 5-10 minutes at the 3 as well (more if Buffalo goes zone at all), but also a few minutes each of Sid and Adams (Adams would get more minutes as the backup 2), and then the other 20-25 of the minutes at the 3 to Bouknight. Sid can hit the offensive glass from the 3 at least, which is taking advantage of the opponent's mismatch (he's been our 2nd best offensive rebounder to this point). But still, I'd only give him 5-10 minutes total unless there's foul trouble.

And again, that's just for this particular matchup.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't like the suggestions here that we need to match up with them. They need to match up with us. If you are a Buffalo fan, your thread on this matchup is saying, how the hell can we match their size? They start 6'10". 6'10" and 6'9" across the front. How do we stop that?

So I say, hammer them. Good luck to them stopping us inside without fouling. Playing small is not playing to our strengths. I'm fine with playing a big guard/wing at the 3 (Bouk, Adams). But we shouldn't try to beat them at their game.

 

[Bonk]

Said before the season the Buffalo game will be a litmus test to see if we are good or not this year. Tough but an opponent we need to beat if we have postseason aspirations.
If we are a bubble team come spring a loss to tough the Buffalo/Iona teams would hurt our odds, assuming the Florida win negates the St joes loss.

 

[ctchamps]

Sounds like a game plan for a line up of Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight, Polley and Akok on occasion. Smaller, quicker some length.

Would love to play some half court and shove the ball down their throats if smaller with carlton. But dam he hasn't looked the same. That guy last year had quicker feet, wasn't glued completely to the ground like the guy I'm seeing right now. Never seen him lose balance so much, I am concerned he worked too hard to get strong and lost some athleticism.

Should change as season goes by. On the positive side neither Blackshear or Gorjok Gak manhandled him. I even wonder if the balance issue was because he bodied back Blackshear easier than he anticipated. We never needed to double their bigs. Where as they doubled and triple teamed Josh all game. If he can react quicker and improve his passing he's going to be special.

He corrected the problem second half, managed eight rebounds and thirteen points. Kerry managed two more points and similar rebounding numbers. And two of his shots were circus shots that managed to go in. Whaley and Carlton gave better overall numbers than the Fla. bigs and it's been a long time since we could say that against a good team.