Marquette Post Game Meltdown Thread

[auror]

Yep. And lost. My point stands that in our last 7-8 games we have not been playing our best ball. How have you disproven that?

We have not played our best ball in the last 4 games, correct. The preceding 3 games we won by 22, 11, and 8. Totally fine, full 40 minutes is all that matters. The 8th game we won by 53.

The last 4 have been worse, because:

1) We played 3 top 30 teams on the road and a top 20 team at home, all in the last 4 games.
2) As noted above, our shooting is in a bit of a slump. Calcaterra was on fire in non-conf and struggling in conference play. This can and likely will change.
3) We got the big boy target on our back and our players don't have a ton of experience being in this position. Super charged the away fans. They'll get better at it,.
4) We lost composure on defense on the road against Providence.
5) Opponents are making 81% of their foul shots against us in conference play so far. For the full season, that would literally be the highest mark against in the entire country. In our 3 losses, opponents have made 83%

 

[UconnU]

This team is built for tournament play. The rigorous monotonous conference play isn’t our strong suit. We play better vs teams that haven’t seen us, we’re streaky, we need the motivation of tournament play.

 

[karstenkibbe]

I don’t believe it’s been mentioned yet here, but we committed at least three shot clock violations tonight. Not due to Marquette’s defense. Clearly because no one is demanding the ball. Court awareness out the window with guys bumping into their teammates. Lack of communication. No leader. No alpha. No one ready to make a Boatright stink face.

 

[August_West]

I don’t like the losses, but tough road games, ok I guess.

But if anyone thinks we play a composed game under 5 minutes in close games , I don’t know what to say. We are so far out of sorts in these situations it scares the hell out of me. We play tighter than a drum.

 

[REB1094]

I don’t like the losses, but tough road games, ok I guess.

But if anyone thinks we play a composed game under 5 minutes in close games , I don’t know what to say. We are so far out of sorts in these situations it scares the hell out of me.

You didn’t like the Andre double step back 3??

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don’t understand the hate for Hurley in this one. Maybe some ill-advised zone towards the end of the game, but what else? I thought the rotation was good. Clingan was great so he got minutes. AK was excellent tonight so he got minutes. AJ is the straw that stirs the drink so he got minutes. Hurley didn’t cause the turnovers. Hurley didn’t disappear like Hawk.

We lost another game on the road. It sucks. I get it, but I don’t believe it’s Hurley’s fault. When Sanogo and Hawkins don’t perform well, we struggle.

I blasted Hurley for 4 years on this board, but I am now probably among the 20% most positive towards him.

Marquette is trying to win too, and they played well tonight. UConn struggled at times, which is not surprising on the road against a good team. This is not the 2004 Huskies. This is not a team of destiny. It will have to grind out wins and get some help to have the season we all want.

I have some quibbles with Hurley, such as defenders always going over screens, AJax's overly green light, and that UConn's offensive and defensive sets don't seem to have a lot of variety possession to possession, but most of that is minor. My biggest complaint is that he should develop sets for Sanogo and Clingan to be on the court together. When in doubt as a coach, put your 5 best players on the court. Sanogo and Clingan are definitely 2 of the 5 best players on the team. I like the offense, and the man-to-man base defense is pretty good.

The season will be decided by a handful of plays at the right time. Hurley will need to be ready to mix things up when that happens, because the other team will be ready for UConn's base sets.

 

[Drfla]

It's Hurley's job to get Hawkins in a position to affect the game. The stuff we ran for him didn't get him open at all. It didn't look like it was Hawkins fault, he was working his butt off.

C’mon. If Hawk isa first rounder he has to do more than shoot off screens. He needs to create some for himself ( not sure he can). Not Hurley’s job. He must be a wing that can slash to the hoop to set up his 3 point shots.

 

[Drfla]

This guard play will lead to a 2nd round exit. There's no getting around it.

If it’s not the guard play it will surely be Sanogo’s inconsistency

 

[twiceahusky]

We aren’t playing like a top team so we don’t deserve to be in the conversation. We have 1 or 2 quality wins and 3 losses

I agree we aren’t playing like a top team right now, but Alabama and Iowa St are great wins, and Creighton with a full squad is certainly a quality win.

I imagine you know this.

 

[superjohn]

We have not played our best ball in the last 4 games, correct. The preceding 3 games we won by 22, 11, and 8. Totally fine, full 40 minutes is all that matters. The 8th game we won by 53.

The last 4 have been worse, because:

1) We played 3 top 30 teams on the road and a top 20 team at home, all in the last 4 games.
2) As noted above, our shooting is in a bit of a slump. Calcaterra was on fire in non-conf and struggling in conference play. This can and likely will change.
3) We got the big boy target on our back and our players don't have a ton of experience being in this position. Super charged the away fans. They'll get better at it,.
4) We lost composure on defense on the road against Providence.
5) Opponents are making 81% of their foul shots against us in conference play so far. For the full season, that would literally be the highest mark against in the entire country. In our 3 losses, opponents have made 83%

It's fine but this board, talking heads around the Big East, and national talking heads were calling us the best team in the country and a team that could absolutely win it all. It's not at all fine if those are the expectations.

It's all fine if everyone adjusts expectations. If we lose in first 2 rounds of the NCAA's none of it is fine.

 

[Kolumbo]

I don’t understand the hate for Hurley in this one. Maybe some ill-advised zone towards the end of the game, but what else? I thought the rotation was good. Clingan was great so he got minutes. AK was excellent tonight so he got minutes. AJ is the straw that stirs the drink so he got minutes. Hurley didn’t cause the turnovers. Hurley didn’t disappear like Hawk.

We lost another game on the road. It sucks. I get it, but I don’t believe it’s Hurley’s fault. When Sanogo and Hawkins don’t perform well, we struggle.

A head coach has to do a lot of things well and Hurley doesn't. He can't get the most ouf of his players, he just doesn't have that skill.

 

[auror]

C’mon. If Hawk isa first rounder he has to do more than shoot off screens. He needs to create some for himself ( not sure he can). Not Hurley’s job. He must be a wing that can slash to the hoop to set up his 3 point shots.

You can be a 1st rounder without a ton of on ball shot creation, sure. Not every guard has the same playstyle. He's flashed some in other games anyways.For example, AJ Griffin went 16th last year.

Has to play better than he did tonight, obviously, though. OMax was all over him tonight. Like too much, fouled and held Hawkins a lot off ball But hey, they treated it like an NBA finals game and didn't call it.

It's easier to not let a guy score when you foul him constantly without getting called for it.

 

[JohnFSilver]

We will not win the Big East regular season title

Going to have to run the table. Already 2.5 games back and Xavier and PC have tiebreak.

 

[Chief00]

Sanogo is gone whether or not he gets drafted... and should be. It's time for him to make money.

You were the same guys who recommended Bouknight should leave. He’s in the G League now and wasn’t ready off the court either.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I don’t understand the hate for Hurley in this one. Maybe some ill-advised zone towards the end of the game, but what else? I thought the rotation was good. Clingan was great so he got minutes. AK was excellent tonight so he got minutes. AJ is the straw that stirs the drink so he got minutes. Hurley didn’t cause the turnovers. Hurley didn’t disappear like Hawk.

We lost another game on the road. It sucks. I get it, but I don’t believe it’s Hurley’s fault. When Sanogo and Hawkins don’t perform well, we struggle.

I don’t know. It was clear to see how good Clingan was defensively. Also, why do they play so slow and programmed? Where is the speed, power and grace we saw beginning of year?

 

[JohnFSilver]

You were the same guys who recommended Bouknight should leave. He’s in the G League now and wasn’t ready off the court either.

Bouknight’s banker thinks he made right decision.

 

[jpeakin]

Why the hell weren't we full court pressing with a minute or so left in the game???

 

[Kolumbo]

Bouknight’s banker thinks he made right decision.

Bouk needed a long term fnancial planner, not a banker.

 

[auror]

Why the hell weren't we full court pressing with a minute or so left in the game???

We were doing a zone trap.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Hurley hasn’t won an away game against a ranked team since he got here…

You're right.

He also hadn't won a pre-season tournament, defeated a P5 team in a true road game, or beaten Creighton/Craig McDermott during his time at UConn. He's done all 3 this season.

He's just lost 3 road games to top conference foes who are all ranked in the Top 25 and have been a combined 29-2 at home.

This was always going to be his most challenging year yet, and this 5-game stretch was going to be the toughest.

I want the team to have done better than averaging being ourscored by 10 in the second half.

 

[REB1094]

I don’t know. It was clear to see how good Clingan was defensively. Also, why do they play so slow and programmed? Where is the speed, power and grace we saw beginning of year?

It really looks like they’re just going through the motions on offense. Nobody is even thinking of putting up a shot except Sanogo (excluding the P&Rs with Clingan)

We struggle a lot against ball pressure for that reason. Nobody is looking to make a scoring play, just going through motions

 

[superjohn]

It really looks like they’re just going through the motions on offense. Nobody is even thinking of putting up a shot except Sanogo (excluding the P&Rs with Clingan)

We struggle a lot against ball pressure for that reason. Nobody is looking to make a scoring play, just going through motions

Going to see a lot of ball pressure on Sunday.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It really looks like they’re just going through the motions on offense. Nobody is even thinking of putting up a shot except Sanogo (excluding the P&Rs with Clingan)

We struggle a lot against ball pressure for that reason. Nobody is looking to make a scoring play, just going through motions

Newton just isn’t what we though he was gonna be offensively. I guess the offseason chatter (or lack there of) from Hurley and others about Newton was telling.

 

[EnochRoot]

It's fine but this board, talking heads around the Big East, and national talking heads were calling us the best team in the country and a team that could absolutely win it all. It's not at all fine if those are the expectations.

It's all fine if everyone adjusts expectations. If we lose in first 2 rounds of the NCAA's none of it is fine.

It's cute to call a team #1 in January, but at the end of the day, UConn does not have the guards to (1&2) to run the table. Not even close.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’ve been beating this drum since our first loss, so someone please check tape and show me I’m wrong. Xavier sometimes ran two man screens.

• Hurley has long said he hates giving up 3s. He’s shown it here and it goes back to URI. Coaches know it and exploit it.
• in each of our losses (and some close wins) the opponent runs their guards and wings around screens, not to get shots, but because we always chase over the screen to prevent the 3. Never go under to cut off penetration. Don’t switch either.
• Since the rim protector, except Clingan, is charged with being out on the screener, we have an attacking guard/wing with a trailing defender and no post presence. This is why the D looks better with Clingan.
• People think Jackson, Newton, Alleyne and Hawkins suddenly can’t defend? They are being rubbed out on screens and our team defense has a gaping hole. They aren’t being beaten one on one. Nor is Sanogo supposed to cover the paint when he’s outside.
• We went zone to stop it, but the right answer is to leave the 5 in drop and either come under screens or switch. I had hoped with these big guards we could switch because nothing eliminates a screen game more effectively. But Hurley isn’t doing it.
• It’s a blueprint to beat UConn until we adjust. So much of our offense comes from defense that it’s hurting us on both ends.