Marquette Post Game Thread

[housekeys]

I watched the game live and watched half of it again today, and Mitchell gets away with an incredible amount of contact without being called for a foul. Now granted some of his thefts and pressure is legit and impressive, but my gosh! If any of our players pressured like that they'd foul out by halftime.

I can't remember at what point in the first half, I think within the last 5 minutes they finally called on on him that was highly egregious.

And don't get me started about all the grabbing and impedence off the ball against both Karaban and Ball. What the h*ll has happened in the Big East with freedom of movement. Isn't there someway the UConn athletic department can petition the BE commisser and/or office, sending them a slew of tape on all this off the ball contact so that the BE leadership can inform the refs to look for and call fouls on this type of physicality? I think it would be in the best interest for the conference to empower the more skill teams such as UConn to succeed rather than being beaten by lesser teams who are just grabbing all the time.

As for bad noncall incorrectly called fouls last night we certainly had our share. There were quite a few we got away with that I thought were obvious. Though without looking closely and counting all of them for both teams, I'd still think it was tilted in Marquette's favor.

I don't usually complain about getting hosed by the refs, but this season has been a strange one. There's no doubt that this UConn team clearly struggles to defend without fouling. Most occur due to defenders struggling to keep their man front driving right by them, poor help D execution resulting in off the ball defenders scrambling when D gets blown up and a good amount when they fail to secure the defensive rebounds where they give up 2nd and 3rd opportunities. My guess is if you foul a lot, like a dog with Pavlov's law, the refs react in conditionally response and can't stop blowing the whistle. I swear I keep on hearing the whistle blowing even after they go to commercials. .

On the positive note on our defense, I thought they improved a lot with switching more than we've seen all season and hedging at the right times as well. Not sure if the frequent switching is a new wrinkle or was due to Marquette not having quality Bigs to worry so much with mismatched. One thing that bodes well for even switching sometimes on screens with our bigs is Johnson is long and pretty quick for a big, and Reed, while bigger and not as long, moves pretty well for a player his size. His problem lies more with recognition and technique than physical ability. Sometimes he's just a fraction too slow in closing out and retreating back to his man or late in recognizing to shade off his man to help stave off dribble penetration when a teammate has lost their angle. He's new to this type of D and seems to be slowly getting better with his help D.

That's a lot in that response but I hope it was worth reading.

An opposing fans perspective on UConn: paraphrased - "they either made a basket, fouled or turned the ball over. They were never stopped"

Fouls called by the refs, and turnovers, some because of lack of calls by the refs, were the only things that stopped us. Well, it is a hyperbolic take. UConn was not innocent both with the fouls and mistakes, but the officiating was again very inconsistent. Given how hot UConn was, and how poorly M shot the ball, a different whistle and UConn wins by 20+.

 

[3rdbass]

Looked like Jaylin was gassed after the explosive start. Resulted in him playing less intuitively. Gassed and overthinking for an underclassmen will always result in turnovers and subpar defense. There’s a stud there, but he needs to up his S&C imo after watching yesterday’s game

Gassed? He didn't look tired and it wasn't like he was driving and taking hard hits. He was wide open on his 3 pt shot for the most part since the defense was concentrating on Ball and Karaban to stop from shooting. Stewart is an enigma. He can play great in spurts but then totally disappear in games. I wonder if with McNeeley coming back if Stewart will be even less effective. He has great skills on offense but seems to like defer instead of take charge. We will need him to be more consistent off the bench going forward.

 

[HooperScooper]

They gotta get the turnovers under control, though. 25 is far far far too many to expect continued prosperity.

Before last night they were averaging only 10 a game. It was a 1 game outlier. Turnovers have not been a problem for this team.

 

[UCTitleTown]

I don't think I've ever seen a faster blow by post-game handshake than Shaka Smart gave Hurley.

 

[Mr. French]

We are a loyal bunch. Hawk won a chip. If Ball gets one the comparisons will be more objective. But I agree with your assessment. They are different players and Ball’s shot is more in line with how great shooters now shoot. Hawk had a more traditional jump shot and really was not great off the dribble.

That step back three Ball made indicates he may end up being a much better off the dribble shooter than Hawk was/is. Hawkins also had trouble going to the basket until well into his sophomore year. Solo is stronger and he is getting there game by game. It will be fun to watch with Liam back he is going to get Solo the ball in better position as defenses are going to have to account for at least three top level shooters.

I really am excited as all of a sudden the pieces are starting to fit. It’s like there was a puzzle and we were having a hard time getting it started then once we got that corner piece all of a sudden half the puzzle was finished.

Love CBB, it’s amazing given the right circumstances how a big win can change the perspective of a whole season.

I know what you mean ... but ... Solo has 1.

And he's only midway through his first actual season of playing a good chunk. Hawkins played significantly through 2 full years for you to evaluate him. Solo is working with a quarter of the time.

 

[jostar1]

#

Has anyone found our post-game press conference?

Looking for danny hurley post game marquette?

Can not find... anyone find a link

the-boneyard.com

 

[thekollieman]

I really admire the touch that Hurley and staff has shown with developing and playing Ball, Ross, Mahaney and Stewart.

How many folks were really down on Solo because of his D and lack of interest in getting to the rim. Yes, he sure had a great game last night, but all things point to that being the tip of the iceberg. Staff was patient and kept the mirror in front of his face. Rebounding, dribble drives, and improving D to go with his shooting are almost shocking.

Who'd have thought we would actually be pleased with Jaydens ball handing and initiating the offense to go with the kind of defensive game he had. He is a 15 point game away from nightmare for opposing coaches.

Listening to board trying to explain Jaylins game is interesting. Lack of conditioning is hard to believe at this point, but maybe. Maybe that start he had scared him. "Wow, do they expect me to keep doing that stuff?" You know the whole staff is reinforcing their belief that Jaylin is that guy we saw early on last night.

Hurley has alot of belief in Mahaney, and will not hesitate to pull him when he doesn't live up to that belief. I don't think you'll have to wait for next year to see Mahaney make the kind of contributions in big games that he came here to do,

The staffs fingerrints are all over these kids. Their faith in their players along with their ability to teach, motivate and inspire self confidence is something to see. Glad the staff wasn't betting the way alot of the Yard was last night.

I agree that Mahaney has a lot more to offer this season. Surely there will be at least a couple more all around great games from him. I just think next year, with roster turnover combined with his own personal continuity with the program, he’ll feel more comfortable representing the Hurley high standard on the court and be way more productive on average.

 

[housekeys]

Another thought on last night's game.

UConn played as the decisive underdog. How often has that been the case for the past 2 years? As we often see with teams playing against us, being underdogs often takes your game to another level. That is what we saw last night, IMO. This is significant because if we are a low seed playing against the current top teams (Auburn, Duke etc) UConn will likely be an underdog. This bodes well from a mental state of mind and is different than in our previous runs to the title. I like the combination of being an underdog while having championship pedigree (i.e DNA

 

[dennismenace]

In an early part of the game time out
I was surprised at Shaka's live huddle commentary knowing he was aware this was being televised. He clearly was accusing them of playing with one hand around their neck. Not the kind of thing you want millions of people to see you saying about your team.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I know what you mean ... but ... Solo has 1.

And he's only midway through his first actual season of playing a good chunk. Hawkins played significantly through 2 full years for you to evaluate him. Solo is working with a quarter of the time.

Yes Solo does have one and that was a completely inappropriate omission on my part. No sarcasm intended, I blew that one. What he did while Castle was out was critical.

 

[uconngb]

Hawk 2 years ago was better than Solo this year.

Curious what you base that on as he shot 39% on3 makes per game while Solo is currently at 46% on the same # of makes per game. That is a SIGNIFICANT differential.

 

[uconngb]

Do you mean a non-entity on defense? Offense seems fine particularly when he is running curls around the 3 point line.

Huh?? Ross had 2 points.

 

[Mr. French]

Yes Solo does have one and that was a completely inappropriate omission on my part. No sarcasm intended, I blew that one. What he did while Castle was out was critical.

He wasn’t a major factor so your point was taken, no harm!

Don’t admit you’re wrong too much around here, it might make people’s heads explode.

 

[uconngb]

Solo was great last night but just a couple games ago he took the collar down the stretch and the team lost a close one. Hawk made shots the entire season culminating in that dagger 3 to quash SDSU’s dreams. I think Ball has more to do to push Hawk aside.

Call me crazy but I think the definition of a better shooter is the guy that makes a greater percentage of his shots. What other measure is there??

 

[JungleLobo]

Contrast Shaka’s coaching last night where he was trying to be “Mr. Mellow” to get his team to relax… that didn’t work, kind of a head scratcher! Low energy IMO. Might work against most DIV 1 teams but not Mr. Hurley.

The homer TV announcers after cutting away from Shaka’s “pep talk” were locked in on showing how it worked after Marquette scored after Time out. “See it worked” they started this conversation about how good the speech was…

Then Ball drains a 3… Sorry announcers, sometimes you need to call what you see, not what you’d like to see.



It was funny seeing Dan fire up our team!!! How can they be more desperate than us!! That was one for the ages!

Ball doesn’t have a superstar game with no drop off, and Marquette pulls it out. From the time of the “pep talk” it was plus to Marquette.

 

[uconngb]

Solo has made dagger threes all season and he makes his threes at a significantly higher rate than Hawkins did on the same amount of volume as Hawkins.

I REALLY don’t get what’s so hard to understand about this.

 

[dennismenace]

I think we need to take Mahaney being a junior in context as a first year transfer into the program. I believe he will have a tremendous increase in confidence here next year, which will translate into a massive improvement in his contributions.

Think he needs to spend some serious time in the weight room. He gets easily pushed around out there. This is the Big East.

 

[Stinger92860]

Looked like Jaylin was gassed after the explosive start. Resulted in him playing less intuitively. Gassed and overthinking for an underclassmen will always result in turnovers and subpar defense. There’s a stud there, but he needs to up his S&C imo after watching yesterday’s game

Looking at his entire year so far, I don’t his passes are crisp and confident. It’s not a strength for him and we were asking him to handle the ball up top And distribute. I was disappointed he stopped looking for his shot, he needed to be more agressive.

 

[Stinger92860]

Before last night they were averaging only 10 a game. It was a 1 game outlier. Turnovers have not been a problem for this team.

Stew and Mahaney had 9 of those turns. We desperately need a 2nd ball handler, never thought it could be Ross.

 

[UCTitleTown]

JS seems to get all his points in a short period of time. He needs to be more a part of the offense for the full game or he's better off the bench. With LM coming back, that's probably going to be what happens.

 

[Stinger92860]

I agree that Mahaney has a lot more to offer this season. Surely there will be at least a couple more all around great games from him. I just think next year, with roster turnover combined with his own personal continuity with the program, he’ll feel more comfortable representing the Hurley high standard on the court and be way more productive on average.

We have 3 guys coming in next year that could be better than Mahaney on day 1. If Solo comes back, that takes care of the 2. Plus I think we look for a point in the portal.

 

[HooperScooper]

Stew and Mahaney had 9 of those turns. We desperately need a 2nd ball handler, never thought it could be Ross.

Who was the secondary ball handler while they were averaging 10 turnovers for 21 games before last night?

 

[Fan1978]

Hawkins was better on really quick curls and screens because he was very effective on the 2 foot catch, whereas Solo is a TAD slower on release because he's usually 1-2 step. But his actual release is lightning quick so he makes up for it a bit.

The visual of Hawkins flying off screens, squaring and nailing is there, and it's real.

And I'd have said at the start of the year it's a no brainer he’s the better shooter, but Solo has been so good this year it's tough to ignore. At this stage, his shooting is more impressive.

Hawkins has a beautiful stroke but lacked confidence between the ears. Solo is a better 3 point shooter right now. He has 2 games with 7 threes at high percentage. Hawkins waa 38 percent? Solo is 46. Ball knows it’s going in , hawkins hoped. Solo defense is hard to watch at times but shooting is first level.

 

[jibsey]

Think he needs to spend some serious time in the weight room. He gets easily pushed around out there. This is the Big East.

Not going to help. He is outclassed physically and can’t change that in that time, plus there’s his handle. He still can come off the bench, score and do some things for the team but there will be bad matchups for him from game to game, defensive liability. Lesser opponents it won’t be noticed.

 

[thekollieman]

We have 3 guys coming in next year that could be better than Mahaney on day 1. If Solo comes back, that takes care of the 2. Plus I think we look for a point in the portal.

I don’t doubt that as a possibility, but I also don’t get the impression that Mahaney will be competing directly with those guys. I think he’ll either be the starting point guard or backing up Nowell if Nowell happens to earn it over him. At any rate, having more UConn playing experience under his belt should give him more confidence by default. I could be way off here, but I do doubt that they go point guard recruiting in the portal.

 

[RuffRuff]

Not going to help. He is outclassed physically and can’t change that in that time, plus there’s his handle. He still can come off the bench, score and do some things for the team but there will be bad matchups for him from game to game, defensive liability. Lesser opponents it won’t be noticed.

The reality is that we can use something very different with that spot.

 

[PAHusky]

I don’t doubt that as a possibility, but I also don’t get the impression that Mahaney will be competing directly with those guys. I think he’ll either be the starting point guard or backing up Nowell if Nowell happens to earn it over him. At any rate, having more UConn playing experience under his belt should give him more confidence by default. I could be way off here, but I do doubt that they go point guard recruiting in the portal.

You can’t go into next year with your pg being a rotation of Nowell and Mahaney. Would be a huge disappointment with the talent they conceivably will have at every other position.

 

[auror]

You can’t go into next year with your pg being a rotation of Nowell and Mahaney. Would be a huge disappointment with the talent they conceivably will have at every other position.

Keep in mind that both of those players will likely be much better than they were this year.

 

[3rdbass]

I don’t doubt that as a possibility, but I also don’t get the impression that Mahaney will be competing directly with those guys. I think he’ll either be the starting point guard or backing up Nowell if Nowell happens to earn it over him. At any rate, having more UConn playing experience under his belt should give him more confidence by default. I could be way off here, but I do doubt that they go point guard recruiting in the portal.

I hope Nowell and Mahaney aren't are only PG options next year. I think Hurley will pick up a big atheltic PG to run the offense in the portal and they might groom Adams to be the backup PG. I'm not sure Nowell and Mahaney from I have seen are answers next year. I will give Nowell the benefit of the doubt since he is a freshmen and has battled injuries. I can't say the same for Mahaney who has been overall not effective for us besides a couple of spurts. I think it is pretty evident and Hurely even said Mahaney isn't a PG. He is only playing there now sine Nowell is hurt and has been inconsistent when playing.

 

[RuffRuff]

I hope Nowell and Mahaney aren't are only PG options next year. I think Hurley will pick up a big atheltic PG to run the offense in the portal and they might groom Adams to be the backup PG. I'm not sure Nowell and Mahaney from I have seen are answers next year. I will give Nowell the benefit of the doubt since he is a freshmen and has battled injuries. I can't say the same for Mahaney who has been overall not effective for us besides a couple of spurts. I think it is pretty evident and Hurely even said Mahaney isn't a PG. He is only playing there now sine Nowell is hurt and has been inconsistent when playing.

The PG experiment is pretty much over with, and we certainly don’t need him playing significant 2G minutes. Unless there mutual consent to being a spare bench piece again next year, in his senior year after starting his first 2 years for a tourney team, not sure how this one works out.