Marquette Post Game Thread

[NEforceUConn]

That’s a major surgery. It doesn’t really apply.

Literally two free throws at Villanova and just one out of 3 blatant fouls is called at Seton Hall and everyone would be talking about how we find ways to win on the road in the face of adversity, we have the 2 seed locked up for the BET and we may even be in play for a 5 or 6 seed instead of hoping for a 7 at best. How is that not worth talking about?

I thought I was responding to 7774's post that implied we caught lucky breaks to win last night.

 

[navery12]

How much is that our overall pace of play? Otherwise the more meaningful data point is % of 3s taken to overall shots. If our 3s taken is low too, due to pace, then generally negates this being a viable data point and the % is more important.

Those numbers are all adjusted for pace of play already

 

[aceboon]

2 different things here:

1. Big should be around the hoop, but not necessarily just standing under the basket. Let them go 5-6 feet if they can get back quickly. I don't recall seeing Edey patrolling the 3 pt line nor Ayton or KAT, etc...not nearly to the level that Johnson does.
2. Leaving guards out on an island doesn't necessitate the Center is involved. Plenty of teams can use 2 guards and a wing to handle this. We struggle with Ball and Diarra and taller guards setting screens, and PnRs.

But Johnson vacates the paint for extended periods of time and that does leave the lane open and does make AK or Liam have to guard the wing 3 and the paint. How many layups or open 3s because AK or Liam have to hedge simply because there's no one in the paint?

It's more concerning that we need Johnson to cover high screens and pick and rolls for 3s.

Edey wasn't patrolling the 3pt line because Purdue had him in drop coverage, Samson was at the 3 pt line because he was either guarding Ben Gold, a 3 point shooting big, or because he was switched onto a perimeter player, which is what Hurley wanted him to because that was the defensive philosophy. Johnson is not high hedging or switching on his own free will, it's what Hurley is asking him to do.

 

[TheShot1990]

I have a question. What could we have done differently at the end with Kam Jones? He was literally scoring at will. He did seem bothered by our bigs, so perhaps double bigs in the last 4-5 minutes? But who would you pull?

 

[willie99]

Were the loud parts wicked loud? Yes.

Were the quiet parts wicked quiet? Yes.

Both were true last night. Our crowds at both of our home courts gotta step it up next year. I think as compared to other big time environments, our percentage of the wine and cheese crowd reduces the bedlam effect. A "cost" of high priced tickets, I suppose.

Wow, I'm at every home game in both arenas. Our crowds can't do more than we do. We are loud, we are involved, we are supportive. We are far more involved and supportive than this board

This board doesn't even represent UConn fans. It's an internet enabled aberration

 

[homunculus]

I thought I was responding to 7774's post that implied we caught lucky breaks to win last night.

Sigh. My bad. That you did.

 

[Gurleyman]

I have a question. What could we have done differently at the end with Kam Jones? He was literally scoring at will. He did seem bothered by our bigs, so perhaps double bigs in the last 4-5 minutes? But who would you pull?

Basically just try to do a little better job taking his left hand away. It's challenging - but once he gets going downhill with his left, it's just a "hope he misses" situation.

 

[Hoops91]

Best game they played all year!!

 

[Deepster]

I have a question. What could we have done differently at the end with Kam Jones? He was literally scoring at will. He did seem bothered by our bigs, so perhaps double bigs in the last 4-5 minutes? But who would you pull?

Put Steph Castle on him? Castle held him to 13 in the BET last season.

 

[SubbaBub]

This is what we should expect as a baseline performance. Not perfect, but they corrected early mistakes, played better defense as the game went on, stayed mostly out of foul trouble, and everyone contributed.

Not good enough to beat a #1 seed but within shouting distance and good enough to beat St John's if they aren't shooting lights out.

Time to lock in and go.

 

[mussels]

This board doesn't even represent UConn fans. It's an internet enabled aberration

We’re here because we don’t have no tickets. We’re depraved, cause we’re deprived

 

[RuffRuff]

Wow, I'm at every home game in both arenas. Our crowds can't do more than we do. We are loud, we are involved, we are supportive. We are far more involved and supportive than this board

This board doesn't even represent UConn fans. It's an internet enabled aberration

Then why do you come?

I don’t like downtown Bridgeport, so I solve for that by not going. You can save all the righteousness for the real UConn fans you cheer with. Problem solved!

 

[uconnfan68]

We're going to have to get used to Mahaney playing more. Hass is a warrior, but he's obviously hurting and it's not going to get any better. Hass is not going to be able to play 35 mins in consecutive games at the BET (as we all hope we have). Hurley's going to have to live with Aidan at PG. He gave us 10 mins last night without a TO. He dribbles too much and is hesitant to shoot, but he didn't hurt us.

Playing too afraid of mistakes. Needs to remember he was a player last year.

 

[willie99]

Then why do you come?

I don’t like downtown Bridgeport, so I solve for that by not going. You can save all the righteousness for the real UConn fans you cheer with. Problem solved!

Pound sand and cry, then tell Hurley who should play and how many minutes they should play and when they should play, then complain about recruiting misses, tell us how bad somebody is, tell us how bad the crowds are when you obviously have no clue

I choose to laugh

 

[Fore!]

Shaka is a class act. I really like the Big East coaches. Shaka, Pitino, Miller, McDermott, Matta, Holtman etc. It’s a coach’s league.

I feel like we are peaking again. Let’s see. A good run in the BET will set UConn nation on fire. I’m feeling better that we can make some noise.

Scratch Pitino from the list and I’d agree with you…

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Wow, I'm at every home game in both arenas. Our crowds can't do more than we do. We are loud, we are involved, we are supportive. We are far more involved and supportive than this board

This board doesn't even represent UConn fans. It's an internet enabled aberration

Disagree and so do a lot of other people on this board and not on this board; just look at other comments from posters who like I attend games in both venues. Look at games in other arenas where there is CONSISTENTLY more loudness from tip to last buzzer. We can do better. Hell, why do Hurley and Karaban have to constantly ask fans in their video interviews/spots to make more noise?

 

[NickDanger]

Our defensive FG% is hurt by the fact that teams have had their best shooting night of the year against us

So you’re saying our defensive field goal % is hurt by the fact that our defensive field-goal % is bad.

 

[willie99]

So you’re saying our defensive field goal % is hurt by the fact that our defensive field-goal % is bad.

Pure brilliance

 

[willie99]

Disagree and so do a lot of other people on this board and not on this board; just look at other comments from posters who like I attend games in both venues. Look at games in other arenas where there is CONSISTENTLY more loudness from tip to last buzzer. We can do better. Hell, why do Hurley and Karaban have to constantly ask fans in their video interviews/spots to make more noise?

Nonsense

 

[AllHusky]

Hey gang, really stretching to keep the post game thread alive. We won, great win, lots to feel good about, lots to keep working on. Bring on The Hall!!

 

[Elitehuskies]

Last night was definitely a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. Luckily, it ended on some very high notes that we can take as momentum beyond seton hall.

Some positives I’ll note.

AM: watching him this past year has been like someone uncomfortable with public speaking. Deep down inside, you really want him to succeed but when you watch him struggle you feel helpless and at some point you want the hook. He plays the 2 lot more comfortably than dribbling around. It seems his court visibility is 8 ft when he dribbles because he’s so uncomfortable and afraid of getting the ball stolen. I like how he took some shots. He’s getting better and more confident. We need him and hopefully he’ll peak at the right time. He’s our dark horse.

AK: he finally broke the spell that’s haunted him since missing those 2 FTs when we needed him at SH and all those truckload of misses at the 3 are in the rear view mirror. I feel his confidence is back and he does all those little things well. With that last 3, all future 3s are going to feel like the basket is the size of a barrel. He’s now consistent again and will carry us.

LM: he currently plays like we are desperate for a basket. We are not. Quit driving so much. He’s having a hard time beating the defense off the dribble and often throws up circus shots. Look to pass and make better basketball IQ plays. I sense he’ll adjust and trust his teammates more.

Our other guys are playing well and different players getting hot. Reed, Samson, Solo, Hass, Stew all can their moments. We are all concerned for Hass. That knee is our Achilles heel.

Bottom line, we are looking really good now for an extended run. If we can will the BET you better believe we can 3peat. Else, we’ll certainly exceed everyone’s mid season expectations. L F G!

 

[NJHusky]

Watched the game again….we do not help ourselves at times and I really hate complaining about the refs. That said…..we get a really freaking bad whistle.

There’s no leeway. It’s like we’re playing with a 30% lighter trigger than the other team. Mahaney and McNeeley got called for a few that would never, ever have been called our way.

I’m so looking forward to being done with BE refs.

 

[uconn_jack]

The media talking heads love to parrot the "UConn 3pt defense is one of the worst in the country" (as are you), but this is just based off the raw 3pt% numbers.

There's more nuance to how it affects game outcomes than that.

The flip side is part of UConn's strategy is to deny total #'s of 3pt shots per game. For that metric, we are 17th in the nation (18.5 attempts per game).

The end result is we are actually 49th in the country in pts allowed from 3pt range per game.

Good, let the narrative continue and have teams go in assuming they can feast on 3's and build a plan around that, but not get as many shots off as they'd expect.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

The media talking heads love to parrot the "UConn 3pt defense is one of the worst in the country" (as are you), but this is just based off the raw 3pt% numbers.

There's more nuance to how it affects game outcomes than that.

The flip side is part of UConn's strategy is to deny total #'s of 3pt shots per game. For that metric, we are 17th in the nation (18.5 attempts per game).

The end result is we are actually 49th in the country in pts allowed from 3pt range per game.

Interesting.... any way you can compare the first half of the season versus the second half, or even the last-third versus the first two-thirds? Wondering if we got better on the pts allowed from 3pt range as we headed down the home stretch.

 

[cwh20]

Sure, but A) no one really plays the "if" game in the wins. It's just in the losses. Like you just did. And B) people only play the "if" game with what we did, not what the other teams did. It makes the board so boring, there is no actual discussion.

Yup. At any point in a season the combined records are a .500 winning percentage overall. Teams/fans want the “only if” wins but very few deduct the wins they actually have no matter how lucky or unlikely the win was. UConn and Seton Hall can’t both count that game as wins. The winning percentage combined would probably shoot up to .600 with all the extra wins claimed by teams that didn’t actually win.

 

[Gurleyman]

LOL their two best % three point shooters had 1 attempt in total.

Yeah. Joplin was mostly taking contested step backs and deep ones and hit a couple. Jones, who is basically a 25 percent 3 point shooter (since a hot start in November), was 0-5 when he settled for 3s instead of killing us off the bounce. Mitchell, who has never been a good three point shooter, did miss 3 basically wide open looks, but he’s a guy you can leave open and “prove you can make one” before you adjust and stay at home. Sorta like Diarra for us. Maybe Chase Ross missed a couple he should have made, but don’t see much luck or a game plan failure here at all, really. They needed some circus shots just to break 60.

If we draw BYU in the opening round, then yeah, I wouldn’t use the same defensive game plan.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Basically just try to do a little better job taking his left hand away. It's challenging - but once he gets going downhill with his left, it's just a "hope he misses" situation.

That’s kinda what I was thinking re: make him go right. Easier said than done obviously. Most lefties I’ve ever played against may as well have their right arm amputated because they can’t do anything with it. He was friggin automatic. Great player.

 

[DogMania]

Eh, he didn’t take a wide open jumper in the lane with the shot clock running out to make Liam force a deep heave, is tentative on open men on the inbounds, and threw up that weird heave in the corner. He made a jumper, which was nice. I saw the same slow decision maker. We will need someone to spell Hassan and he does look like the better option right now. Cross your fingers.

Mahaney was better, but does tend to over dribble and slow dilivering the basketball. I realize the on the ball pressure was fierce, but he didn't turn it over and made a few nice plays.

It's hard to perform at your best level when you don't get consistent PT. With that said he's been give chances and just doesn't seem to have PG instincts, but he still might be our best off the bench option to spell Diarra.

Hopefully he can continue to earn PT and improve without hurting the team in the process.