Looking ahead

[EASTFLA]

I really thought when Hurley lost his presence of mind (for the X-th time), the game was going to go downhill. The team kept its poise, but Hurley does have to address the T's. Some T's are good, but his timing has never been good. It occurs at crucial game-changing points of the game, and one of these times it will cost him and the team.



That was a great game. I think we got all the calls at the end of the game, but that is what home court is all about. It was their best game start to finish all season. Villanova is tough and is a hard team to shake. Building a lead against this team is very difficult. There were so many "moments" in this game, and against a really good team we did not turn the ball over.



That sets them up as a confident team going forward. Are they finally growing up in front of our eyes? One game does not a season make, but this is a huge building block at the right time. They have a pair of wins over top 10 teams now, and now it is all about seeding. There is a lot of basketball left, so this isn't the story yet. They are 11-5 in the Big East, but there are 8 teams at 7-8 or better, and in a nightmare scenario they finish 11-8, and everything changes. By the same token, 3-0 and they go into the BE Tourney at 23-7 and 14-5. That would be good enough for a top 15 ranking. If they could muscle their way to a BE Tourney win, they would go to selection Sunday at 26-7, and that would get them a 3 seed. That is huge because to get to the Sweet 16, they would need to beat a 14 and/or a 6/11 seed.



While it seems like there is little season left, for UConn, there is a lot left. Our next 3 games set up the BE Tourney and that sets up our seed for the Dance.



This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing. Are they past that now? We will see over the next couple of weeks

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing.

Seems like an overly harsh observation in the context of the actual season that they’re having.

 

[UConnRock]

This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing. Are they past that now? We will see over the next couple of weeks

Geez, 20 wins and 7 losses with 5 of the losses being by 4 points or less. MSU loss w/o Whaley, lost to WVU w/o Martin or Whaley, lost to Providence w/o Sanogo. I am not sure what you are seeing

 

[Hurleyman216]

We aren’t an elite offensive team, but when we’re clicking on defense we can lock down anyone in the country. If we’re going to go on a run this year it’ll likely be a lot like 2014 where we just lock down the other team with elite defense. We’ve looked better on offense the past 2 weeks, but we don’t have the offensive talent (yet) to be a top 10 offensive team. I can’t wait for Sanogo to develop a 3 point shot over the summer so that we can play him as a 4 next year and let Clingan and Johnson fill more of the time at the 5. Sanogo is built like and moves like Zion Williams more and more, he’s just missing that outside shot. I’m not saying he will be Zion, but man if he can step back and hit a 3 next year we are gonna be scary.

 

[husky429]

Seems like an overly harsh observation in the context of the actual season that they’re having.

It's delusional. If anything, our floor is very high and our ceiling is lower.

Our defense and toughness are going to make us a top-25 team. We don't have the half-court scoring ability or number of shooters to be a top-10 team most nights though.

 

[HeGotGame]

This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing. Are they past that now? We will see over the next couple of weeks

This is just flat out wrong. 0 losses with the full lineup to non-NCAA tournament teams.

 

[EASTFLA]

Seems like an overly harsh observation in the context of the actual season that they’re having.

I'm not looking for trouble, just stating facts. I read about 20 of your most recent posts, and it comes across as a UConn-apologist. Anyone that points out anything remotely beyond your narrative is immediately questioned. My point revolves around 10 turnovers in 14 possessions that started with a 17 point lead, that got whittled to 4. That defines scary floor at times. It isn't the first time, but none to that degree. If you would like other examples, I would be glad to provide them. My post was generally positive, thanks for your contrabution. I mean that. I stand by my statements. This is a very good team with a high ceiling, it is also a team that has a low floor at times, example cited.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm not looking for trouble, just stating facts. I read about 20 of your most recent posts, and it comes across as a UConn-apologist. Anyone that points out anything remotely beyond your narrative is immediately questioned. My point revolves around 10 turnovers in 14 possessions that started with a 17 point lead, that got whittled to 4. That defines scary floor at times. It isn't the first time, but none to that degree. If you would like other examples, I would be glad to provide them. My post was generally positive, thanks for your contrabution. I mean that. I stand by my statements. This is a very good team with a high ceiling, it is also a team that has a low floor at times, example cited.

If by "low floor" you mean "can look lousy for a few minute stretch during a game" almost every team in college basketball since the UCLA dynasty has a "low floor." But it is beyond stupid to judge a basketball game by poor stretches within games. If you don't want to judge by the season, how about at least being rational and judging by entire games, since that is what is used to meansure success?

On the other hand, it is hard to believe that anyone who complains about "UConn apologists" on a UConn board is really looking for a serious discussiosn.

 

[uconnfan68]

That last line got my 'like'.

 

[EASTFLA]

Find me a top 25 team that turned the ball over 10 times in 14 possessions? It simply does not exist. But at this point I am moving on, so enjoy your day!

 

[6xChamps]

This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing. Are they past that now? We will see over the next couple of weeks

Huh? Through 27 games their "floor" is losing one Quad 2 game to a tourney team in Creighton who played a near perfect game.

 

[Get a Job]

Seems to me like this team's floor is losing to a decent major conference opponent on the road missing two starters. That is a pretty high floor.

 

[HeGotGame]

Find me a top 25 team that turned the ball over 10 times in 14 possessions? It simply does not exist. But at this point I am moving on, so enjoy your day!

Did they win that game? Was that win against an NCAA tournament team? Cool example.

 

[Bonamassa]

Hawkins has and is drastically changed/changing the offense from stagnant to exciting. He's becoming a monster before our very eyes.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

i know the results don’t necessarily substantiate it, i’m afraid of our floor as well (maybe irrationally).

feel like we can play with anyone (as we have shown), and our defense will keep us in every game, but i am still worried about how precarious our offense can be at times (we have so much riding on Cole and Sanogo).

in terms of tourny matchups, i would rather catch a strong offensive team that we can stifle, as opposed to a strong defensive team which i think we would be vulnerable to with our lack of offensive creators.

 

[EASTFLA]

I really thought when Hurley lost his presence of mind (for the X-th time), the game was going to go downhill. The team kept its poise, but Hurley does have to address the T's. Some T's are good, but his timing has never been good. It occurs at crucial game-changing points of the game, and one of these times it will cost him and the team.



That was a great game. I think we got all the calls at the end of the game, but that is what home court is all about. It was their best game start to finish all season. Villanova is tough and is a hard team to shake. Building a lead against this team is very difficult. There were so many "moments" in this game, and against a really good team we did not turn the ball over.



That sets them up as a confident team going forward. Are they finally growing up in front of our eyes? One game does not a season make, but this is a huge building block at the right time. They have a pair of wins over top 10 teams now, and now it is all about seeding. There is a lot of basketball left, so this isn't the story yet. They are 11-5 in the Big East, but there are 8 teams at 7-8 or better, and in a nightmare scenario they finish 11-8, and everything changes. By the same token, 3-0 and they go into the BE Tourney at 23-7 and 14-5. That would be good enough for a top 15 ranking. If they could muscle their way to a BE Tourney win, they would go to selection Sunday at 26-7, and that would get them a 3 seed. That is huge because to get to the Sweet 16, they would need to beat a 14 and/or a 6/11 seed.



While it seems like there is little season left, for UConn, there is a lot left. Our next 3 games set up the BE Tourney and that sets up our seed for the Dance.



This team has a high ceiling, but they also have a scary floor as at times they play so bad it is disturbing. Are they past that now? We will see over the next couple of weeks

I knew when I made this post with everything positive in it, except one observation (low floor), that those 2 words would be all contained in any followup post and the 95% that was strictly positive would be totally ignored. I say that because no matter what the topic, say anything that can be read as potentially negative, that is what most will latch onto here. That's just the nature of many posters here, if you have even a few words that aren't patting the team on the back even though 95% of the post was doing so, it is like unleashing a pack of wild animals, how dare you say anything about my Huskies. I love them as much as anybody here, but I am not all fuzzy eyed and believe they are perfect. This s a very strong team with a lot of moving parts, and they have had a great season so far, but like a lot of good teams they have their warts too. The problem is so many are blinded by their own love, which is ok, we are all different, and we all see things through our own eyes. Anyone that says anything that can be construed as negative is attacked, that is how it is, and I accepted that when I made the post, but I also stand by the statement, and have no fear of those coming back at me, I expect it.

 

[Vancat]

 

[SoFla Steve]

From TR Brackets -- Big East tourney predictions . . .

 

[UCLJ0211]

From TR Brackets -- Big East tourney predictions . . .

View attachment 73888

Seems pretty accurate. Surprised they think Seton Hall has a better chance of winning it all than PC, but I haven’t been watching Seton Hall lately- are they playing better basketball than PC is?

 

[UCLJ0211]

Georgetown fans

 

[Kolumbo]

From TR Brackets -- Big East tourney predictions . . .

View attachment 73888

The #1 seed has < 10% of winning the nut. You know a certain combination of luck, timing, covid, and providence combined to allow PC* this unexpected season. Good for it.

 

[EASTFLA]

Think we saw a half of a game where we saw that low floor. Seems to be a lot of support in that from the thread Creighton post-game. We got exposed, and still almost pulled it out. Cole was electric, the rest of the team, not so much. Sanago had a tough game. He had some great defensive moments and a lot of ugly ones. It doesn't change the fact we are a very good team, we are. It hammers out the point, that on occasion we show a low floor, and I stand by that. We don't have a must-game vs DePaul, but losing it sends us into the BE Tournament on a low note. I think we will take care of business against DePaul, but it is not a given. Our 40.9% shooting was our best against Creighton in the 5 games we have played the last 2 years. We have never shot better than 30% from deep vs this team. We are 0-5 against them and sometimes a team just has a match-up advantage. They beat us off the glass too. They just looked hungrier than us. I wouldn't over-react to a single game, other than we do have a low floor at times, and sometimes we are good enough to recover from it, and sometimes we don't. We play to our high ceiling more than we play to our low floor, but like it or not, we have a low floor that beats us sometimes. It isn't unlike a lot of teams, but we do get exposed at times.

 

[navery12]

Think we saw a half of a game where we saw that low floor. Seems to be a lot of support in that from the thread Creighton post-game. We got exposed, and still almost pulled it out. Cole was electric, the rest of the team, not so much. Sanago had a tough game. He had some great defensive moments and a lot of ugly ones. It doesn't change the fact we are a very good team, we are. It hammers out the point, that on occasion we show a low floor, and I stand by that. We don't have a must-game vs DePaul, but losing it sends us into the BE Tournament on a low note. I think we will take care of business against DePaul, but it is not a given. Our 40.9% shooting was our best against Creighton in the 5 games we have played the last 2 years. We have never shot better than 30% from deep vs this team. We are 0-5 against them and sometimes a team just has a match-up advantage. They beat us off the glass too. They just looked hungrier than us. I wouldn't over-react to a single game, other than we do have a low floor at times, and sometimes we are good enough to recover from it, and sometimes we don't. We play to our high ceiling more than we play to our low floor, but like it or not, we have a low floor that beats us sometimes. It isn't unlike a lot of teams, but we do get exposed at times.

If losing to NCAA tournament bound Creighton by 2 points is our floor is that really a low floor?

 

[EASTFLA]

You are totally missing the point as usual. Our low floor lost that game. Our low floor put us down 16. We don't play 40 minutes of basketball with a low floor. We play at times with a low floor that we overcome, and sometimes we don't. We were favored over Creighton 2 times. They are 20-9. If we took care of them as we should, they are 18-11 and either on the bubble or out. We are a big part of the reason they are an NCAA Tournament team. We lost to them with their best player out. Take Cole off the floor and even up the "health" situation, and both PG's out. How does that look? Our low floor put us down 16, what part of that do you not understand? Our high ceiling was nearly good enough to win anyway. Most of the time we can win those games. I'm sure if you were watching the same game as me and we were down 16 you were praising their high ceiling. Let's at least be objective here, but I do understand, some are blind with love and passion and will never see it. You proved that once again. Let's set the record straight and move on. We have a very good team. We have a team with a high ceiling, and that shows up more than the low floor. That high ceiling makes us very good, but our low floor shows up at times, and we are good enough to overcome that. There are times, and last night is an example, we couldn't overcome it.

 

[navery12]

You are totally missing the point as usual. Our low floor lost that game. Our low floor put us down 16. We don't play 40 minutes of basketball with a low floor. We play at times with a low floor that we overcome, and sometimes we don't. We were favored over Creighton 2 times. They are 20-9. If we took care of them as we should, they are 18-11 and either on the bubble or out. We are a big part of the reason they are an NCAA Tournament team. We lost to them with their best player out. Take Cole off the floor and even up the "health" situation, and both PG's out. How does that look? Our low floor put us down 16, what part of that do you not understand? Our high ceiling was nearly good enough to win anyway. Most of the time we can win those games. I'm sure if you were watching the same game as me and we were down 16 you were praising their high ceiling. Let's at least be objective here, but I do understand, some are blind with love and passion and will never see it. You proved that once again. Let's set the record straight and move on. We have a very good team. We have a team with a high ceiling, and that shows up more than the low floor. That high ceiling makes us very good, but our low floor shows up at times, and we are good enough to overcome that. There are times, and last night is an example, we couldn't overcome it.

You're just using the phrases low floor and high ceiling for absurdly small sample sizes and in a way nobody talks. Nobody talks about a team having a low floor because they had a bad 10 minute stretch in one game and ignores the other 27 games where they've won the majority of games. But you talked in circles so many times using those phrases in that one post I'm gonna need a few days to reset my brain to be able to function again