Maryland post game thread

[AllHusky]

January 2023 hoops lost 6 or 7 BE games yes? Hurley couldn’t coach. Turned out ok. Haven’t much to offer to discussion other than practice hard, be excited to compete and improve.

 

[UConnJim]

CT produces some damn good basketball talent. We had really good players in state during the 70s and 80s. Jim got a few to stay home.

Remember the guys who committed or came back: Aleksinas, Dulin plus Mckay, Thompson, Abromatis, Kelley, and more

Ones that got away Bagley, Matthews, Gminski, Campbell, Garris, Williams, Williamson, Foster, Semo, Olynek, and many more

I don't think you can compare Aleksinas, Dulin, McKay, Thompson,... with Bagley, Matthews, Gminski, Campbell, Garris, Michael Adams,... as the players that got away had more talent than the ones UConn got. The talent level that left was well above the talent level that played for UConn. Gminski 14 years in NBA, Bagley 12 years NBA, Adams 11 years NBA, Matthews 9 years NBA, Williamson 8 years NBA, Sly Williams 8 years, Charles Smith 10 years,

Calhoun's NIT champion had 2 recruited players from Connecticut, Murray Williams and Pikell, and that championship lead the way to better recruiting. UConn football needs to change the narrative.

 

[Tdaley]

I've never been a fan of the 3-3-5 (going back long before we attempted it with Crocker seven yers ago) but to some extent I understand why, with the direction this sport is taking having some variant of that defense is necessary.

The biggest problem with the 3-3 front is that if the opponent can sucessfully block each of the three defensive linemen one on one, you're cooked. That's what happened for the most part yesterday, hopefully we won't see anyone else who can do the same.

We did switch off quite a bit to 4-2 up front (which we were told would happen a lot this season0,) which makes it a bit easier for the front line to battle the offensive line, but this is at the cost of flexibility in attacking from the LB's and, if the offensive line can hanbdle the front four, you're left trying to matchup with a safety at linebacker.

I'm not ready to give up on the season nor am I ready to give up on Brock as a defensive coordinator but I was hoping that we would be a bit more cohesive at this point than we were. There was thing they showed on TV yesterday, that each of the past five recruiting classes for Maryland were all top 40, two being top twenty, so yes, there was quite a bit of talent on the other side.

Time will tell on the remainder of the season.

Its not just the alignment that you have to look at. Its the type players that you get to come to Uconn. Our history is that we lineup 4 decent run stopping linemen who can't get anywhere near the quarterback on the pass rush. Brock's defense allows him disguise his pass rushes better and place a hybrid defensiveend/linebacker on the field that gives us more speed and hopefully more of a pass rush. My guess is that we will see better pass rushes and more sacks this year than last year. The risk of course is that we don't stop the run as well as we have the last two seasons. The theory is the extra speed on the field will offset the the one less beefy player. Stopping the run has historically been a strength of Uconn over the years. The pass rush not so much. I am more open than others on this board to the idea that the 3-3-5 will work this time because we have better personnel than we had in 2017 and 2018. . Also, the critics of the 3-3-5 forget that Edsall change to 4 down linemen in his second year ( 2018) and we ended up having the worst defense in the history of Uconn. It was the personnel not the defense that we ran that year that lead to such a poor performance.
I do agree with you. Time will tell. I just hope that the fans give Brock's defense a fair shot.

 

[Buffett10]

January 2023 hoops lost 6 or 7 BE games yes? Hurley couldn’t coach. Turned out ok. Haven’t much to offer to discussion other than practice hard, be excited to compete and improve.

People wanted to run Danny out of town especially after the early tourney exits.

 

[Patman]

Location. Warm weather states/areas allow for year round training, the population is more interested in physical fitness in general and athletes tend to retire in these places where they not only raise their kids but coach/advise the next generation. Having said that, there is talent available everywhere if coaches are willing and able to develop it.

I think athletics culture makes a difference in terms of mindset. Builds a more general athletic base. If your talent gets discouraged at an early age (say like 9) they'll never become the 19 year old stud player.

It would also seem you can't build active players into monsters anymore.... a lot of hidden talent is due to poor development, I would think. No longer can you take a guy who didn't touch the weight room or the track field into a monster. No diamonds in the rough because high schools know the basics on polishing.

Hell, there's a kid who was playing broomball in my rec league this summer who is turning into a small monster but he'll be nothing other than in the band because everybody else in high school is a monster at 16 already

Edit: I ain't projecting the kid to be any level of college level athlete but I am jealous of somebody who came into weight training before developing my current anxiety problems. As a competitive guy I wish I had those talents

 

[superjohn]

I think athletics culture makes a difference in terms of mindset. Builds a more general athletic base. If your talent gets discouraged at an early age (say like 9) they'll never become the 19 year old stud player.

It would also seem you can't build active players into monsters anymore.... a lot of hidden talent is due to poor development, I would think. No longer can you take a guy who didn't touch the weight room or the track field into a monster. No diamonds in the rough because high schools know the basics on polishing.

Hell, there's a kid who was playing broomball in my rec league this summer who is turning into a small monster but he'll be nothing other than in the band because everybody else in high school is a monster at 16 already

Edit: I ain't projecting the kid to be any level of college level athlete but I am jealous of somebody who came into weight training before developing my current anxiety problems. As a competitive guy I wish I had those talents

It's never too late to get into weightlifting, it gets even more important as we get older. How is anxiety keeping you from lifting weights?

 

[DawgEnjoyer]

I wondered that too. Nagging injury?

Edwards is better and Rosa is mistake prone

 

[cttxus]

It's never too late to get into weightlifting, it gets even more important as we get older. How is anxiety keeping you from lifting weights?

Agree. Some level of regular resistance (weight) training as you get older (i.e. past age 30) is important, as I've discovered over the last few decades since then. Among other things, it's one of the best ways to burn calories, reduce stress, and even keep your T level and maybe your self-esteem from slowly slipping away like a thief in the night.