Love him or hate him

[uconngb]

Were you complaining during the other games when he was hoisting 3's and making them?
You can't have it all one way

Um, yes, you actually can......When you are missing, you should stop shooting. Ain't that difficult a concept, is it? Vance was 2-4 from 3, Vital was 3-6, Rodney was 2-12. Who do YOU think should have been getting the shots today?? RP gets bashed a lot on here, but I always give him credit when he comes up big. You guys that blindly defend him don't seem to have the ability to admit when YOU are wrong, though. His shot was clearly off today, as to why, who the hell knows? But one thing for sure is, he should have stopped shooting.....or at least, should have stopped shooting form 27 feet or when he was contested.

 

[ctchamps]

Great point, but Rodney needs to learn to manage his energy. If he is weak legged then shoot a little closer, if his shot is not falling look for the hot hand or the better (i.e. open) shot/shooter. In other words look for other ways to generate offense/points.

Just saying that Rodney never learned the art of adaptation and adjustment.

Totally incorrect. They made the run with Jalen on the bench and Rodney running the point. He missed a lot of shots, but he was the one guy trying to get the bigs involved. Vance had a lot of opportunities this game to take shots and he deferred or chose to drive and make more difficult plays.

Had he taken and made his opportunities on the perimeter that changes the game because SMU has to spread it's defense and that would allow Rodney (who is a shooting guard and not even a combo guard like Vital) to make some noise with driving to the basket.

They tried shifting Vital to run point and that was an even bigger disaster. This game is not the game to put blame on Rodney. Blame Jalen for hurting his ankle.

 

[uconngb]

Totally incorrect. They made the run with Jalen on the bench and Rodney running the point. He missed a lot of shots, but he was the one guy trying to get the bigs involved. Vance had a lot of opportunities this game to take shots and he deferred or chose to drive and make more difficult plays.

Had he taken and made his opportunities on the perimeter that changes the game because SMU has to spread it's defense and that would allow Rodney (who is a shooting guard and not even a combo guard like Vital) to make some noise with driving to the basket.

They tried shifting Vital to run point and that was an even bigger disaster. This game is not the game to put blame on Rodney. Blame Jalen for hurting his ankle.

I actually agree with this and am in no way blaming this game on Rodney. There is much other blame to go around. I just don't think we would have lost by 25 if NOT for Rodney, I think it probably would have been right around where it was.

 

[ctchamps]

Problem was RP was forcing long 3's during a key run and some early in the shot clock. No reason for that.

That hurt the run. No doubt. Especially when Vital made two in a row. But he's capable of making them and has been hot in most of the last nine games. It's easy to second guess his decision making when he struggles but that's a fan's luxury.

 

[ctchamps]

I actually agree with this and am in no way blaming this game on Rodney. There is much other blame to go around. I just don't think we would have lost by 25 if NOT for Rodney, I think it probably would have been right around where it was.

Could have been. Just a few things different and who knows how things would have played out. First run when UConn cut it to six, Vance has a wide open three and an easy pull up midrange shot, but decides to drive to the basket and gets called for a charge. First of several momentum killers. Rodney turning over the ball for a quick basket and then compounding things with a foul was another momentum killer. Amida missing a two footer with no one guarding him and on and on.

I think some of us are saying that Rodney limited his turnovers to one even though he was handling the ball most of the second half while Vital had run pg for just a small portion of the second half and had the same number of turnovers. The absence of turnovers by Rodney who is a SG, is being overlooked by people who are just pointing out his missed shots and early chuckers.

 

[Huskybass]

How do you figure? He's missed 14 out of 18 shots. I get that he's trying hard, but he hasn't really done all that much positive.

Because he is a total homer and a moron. Thats why.

 

[UConnfan8]

His problem is that he plays so many minutes his legs are shot
Whoever talks about managing his energy level is a crackpot

Tell that to the 2010-2011 team.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Purvis was 4-18, 2-12 from three.

He was pretty bad.

And many of his threes were fairly early in the shot clock from well beyond the arc. He did not show a high basketball I.Q. today.

Yes but at least he was willing to take the shot. Jackson on the other hand passed up way too many shots which were better and handed the ball , after is requisite u fake, too - Rodney

 

[CTBasketball]

I've said it before.

Rodney cannot be the focal point of the offense. He is a volume shooter that doesn't shoot well enough to be a good volume shooter.

Rodney is built for a 6/7th man role where he can come in with energy and be super aggressive with the ball. You give him a larger roll, his inability to make shots and his lack of lead-guard basketball IQ will bring him down.

His starting role works sometimes, but a lot of times it doesn't. Against good teams he gets shut down because the only shot he can really create by himself is a 3-pointer or a crazy drive and floater. It's not a reliable way to "depend" on 15 points from your top shooting guard.

 

[huskymagic]

Rodney is a tease so expecting anything from him against good competition is mission impossible. He is a solid 4th option on a good team where no one is focusing in on him. Yes someone had to take shots, but it should have been more Facey and more Vital/Vance after the first 2 or 3 bricks.

Last thing I got from today was "Rodney Pride". No one blames him exclusively for the game, but its laughable to have this thread after this type of game by him. Wait until the ECU game for this thread to make sense.

 

[UConnDad]

Not today

Bull!

 

[Waquoit]

Without Rodney today, we'd be losing by 25.

I'll have what Dan's having.

 

[UConnDad]

I'll have what Dan's having.

Me too, except for whatever Rodney didn't do today it was not for lack of effort. And the whole team played their --- off today!

 

[UConnDan97]

I'll have what Dan's having.

Sure. It's a cup of "we don't have another point guard besides Jalen", and I put a slice of "he's a very good on-ball defender" into it.

If any of you have a different point guard available to this team that I'm unaware of that would have led to the equivalent point total, I'm all ears...

 

[jibsey]

Against better teams Rodney for the most part has been lacking this year. It's mostly because he needs to be set up for his shots. On his own he takes 30 footers.

 

[AdamaNation]

Me too, except for whatever Rodney didn't do today it was not for lack of effort. And the whole team played their -- off today!

That is pretty much the point of this post

 

[mauconnfan]

Rodney is a tease so expecting anything from him against good competition is mission impossible. He is a solid 4th option on a good team where no one is focusing in on him. Yes someone had to take shots, but it should have been more Facey and more Vital/Vance after the first 2 or 3 bricks.

Last thing I got from today was "Rodney Pride". No one blames him exclusively for the game, but its laughable to have this thread after this type of game by him. Wait until the ECU game for this thread to make sense.

ST*U

 

[Rico444]

I wish Vance had half the confidence Rodney has. The last few games, he's failed to pull the trigger on a bunch of open 3s,even though he's been shooting really well. Reminds me of Giffey early in his career.

 

[mauconnfan]

I wish Vance had half the confidence Rodney has. The last few games, he's failed to pull the trigger on a bunch of open 3s,even though he's been shooting really well. Reminds me of Giffey early in his career.

Yes agree. Said this to friends yesterday at least 2-3 times, ball fake and dribble into traffic instead of a spot up 3. Shoot the ball Vance, please - he's too good of a shooter to give those up!

 

[Rico444]

Yes agree. Said this to friends yesterday at least 2-3 times, ball fake and dribble into traffic instead of a spot up 3. Shoot the ball Vance, please - he's too good of a shooter to give those up!

There were a couple of times that he drove off of those ball fakes and got a good look, but if he pulls the trigger on open shots more often, then he'll open the lane up even more for the next time he does pump fake.

Really like his potential. Now he just needs to learn to defend, because that part of his game is ugly right now.

 

[mauconnfan]

There were a couple of times that he drove off of those ball fakes and got a good look, but if he pulls the trigger on open shots more often, then he'll open the lane up even more for the next time he does pump fake.

Really like his potential. Now he just needs to learn to defend, because that part of his game is ugly right now.

Yeah prefer not to talk about his defense, not pretty. Lots to learn there, always late to help too. He is a smart enough player to be a good defender I have faith he'll be okay there eventually given time.

 

[Waquoit]

"He played hard!" You're supposed to play hard. About the 12:45 makes UConn makes a stop. The crowd goes wild. Rodney brings the ball down with no intent to pass backes up and launches a long 3 that clangs off the front of the rim. SMU comes down and makes a three (his man, IIRC). Now he brings the ball down throws a lazy pass, intercepted, he hacks the guy for an and one. If Disney made a show about that sequence it would be called "That's So Rodney!".

 

[UConn990411]

"He played hard!" You're supposed to play hard. About the 12:45 makes UConn makes a stop. The crowd goes wild. Rodney brings the ball down with no intent to pass backes up and launches a long 3 that clangs off the front of the rim. SMU comes down and makes a three (his man, IIRC). Now he brings the ball down throws a lazy pass, intercepted, he hacks the guy for an and one. If Disney made a show about that sequence it would be called "That's So Rodney!".

Problem is, he's never gotten pulled in his career for taking bad shots, so why stop now?

Purvis is very good when he's serving as a role player, but he becomes a net negative when he starts playing hero ball. As soon as Jalen went out, you knew those long 3s were coming.

 

[Goat]

I acknowledge VJ passes on shots and you see KO on him about it. CV is a little less careful, but it seems the freshman worry about efficiency. They were ready to compete in the last 10. Most of the opportunities went too Rodney, although Jackson was open a lot. Rodney made one 3 from a catch and shoot and one off the dribble all day, but kept chucking them.

SMU, especially Milton in the first half, made lots of contested shots, many heartbreakers at the buzzer. I wish Rodney could consistently shoot at his peak. We and the future that would buy him would both be much better for it.

 

[jibsey]

"He played hard!" You're supposed to play hard. About the 12:45 makes UConn makes a stop. The crowd goes wild. Rodney brings the ball down with no intent to pass backes up and launches a long 3 that clangs off the front of the rim. SMU comes down and makes a three (his man, IIRC). Now he brings the ball down throws a lazy pass, intercepted, he hacks the guy for an and one. If Disney made a show about that sequence it would be called "That's So Rodney!".

It was amazing that the team had gotten the game to that point and it was impressive, but you're right that sequence was the final grenade that blew up the game. I was still happy that we were competitive yesterday regardless of the outcome, they were the better team with or without jalen in the second half.