Memphis Post Game Thread

[aceboon]

May be in the minority after that huge shot, but I still need to see a lot more from Solo. Against good comp he reverts back to catch and shoot only. He has little depth to his game.

lacking wiggle and creativity off the bounce, I would at least like to see him try to get to a midrange spot for a pull-up and/or floater since I don't think he has the ability to get all the way to the rim and finish in traffic. He's shown he has the pull-up in his game.

 

[Bomber36]

Who? Diarra? I wasn't criticizing him, I was suggesting he could/should be our starting point guard

Sorry, I quoted the wrong post.

 

[Deleted at users request]

We need 1 guy that can go get his own. We don’t really have that right now. Nowell has attacked the rim nearly as much as most the perimeter guys and he has played a fraction of the minutes. That’s why I wanted Meleek or Acaden. I think Braylon and Adams will be great, but they aren’t really guys that will break down their guy off the dribble. Tristen and Cam were so crafty and Steph was so explosive. We need that guy bad on this team.

I think Adams may have some of that breakdown game. I see a lot of Devin Booker in his game, but there’s a chance he can play like a Kentucky Booker where he’s more of a spot up guy as a freshman.

I agree we need to get and or develop those guys. Stewart is that on the roster currently. We just need to use him more.

 

[Scottobot]

Memphis made a lot of threes and played gritty physical defense, give them some credit. Going from playing division 2 patsies, to a rugged physical team was a tough adjustment. UConn made a great comeback and made a lot of clutch shots. The main thing I didn’t like was when Reed was on bench we had no interior defense, and no rebounding.
SJ 0 rebounds and 5 fouls. Can’t win w against good team with starting center doing that.

 

[TheHorde]

Felt weird to me, but heck, Danny has two more nattys than I do.

Depth is a blessing and a curse I guess, particularly when there might not be a pronounced difference in skill between players 3 through 7 on your roster.

 

[Bomber36]

Alright…we lost…for reasons…I’m out. See yall tomorrow.

 

[Icehawk]

Felt weird to me, but heck, Danny has two more nattys than I do.

It’s one of the few faults he has IMO, he doesn’t seem to ride the hot hand. I love his passion but he’s got to cool it with the insults.

We had TWO coaching techs, that shouldn’t happen. Johnson’s was bad too, we got lucky there.

Upside is Reed is looking good, like real good and Diarra did all he could, he had one bad T/O early and then hit his FTs all night.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Some of yall gotta log off the internet during games and give yourselves an hour or two to logically think after the game before you start posting nonsense on the internet.

I think it is called therapy. Keeping it in for two hours would not be healthy. No one is threatening any one, we are releasing our frustrations with written words. I think that is what makes the internet the perfect place to share your frustrations with those experiencing the same feelings.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I mean, people posting in this thread were calling Newton “unplayable” in the Final Four last year. The same Final Four he was MVP of. We’re not exactly a measured fan base. It’s the program’s first loss since February.

Props to Memphis. They played great, shot the absolute hell out of the ball, and outcompeted the guys in white. They deserved it.

There was a lot of “be patient - it’s gonna take a while for this team to gel with all the new pieces” stuff on this board in the fall. It’s gonna be interesting to see how many people actually meant it.

The T was bad. Just can’t happen. The officials were also brutal. But make no mistake this would have been a theft of a W if they took it.

Reed was a stud. Thrilled to see Stewart break out. Karaban played well. Beyond that I’ve got pretty much nothing. Foul trouble killed Solo. McNeeley hit those big 3s in the last 2 minutes but was a ghost for 35+. Same with Hassan, for the first 35 or so minutes I thought it was the worst he’s looked in probably a year but he was tough at the end.

Long season. Lots to work on. They’re going to get better. Coming off 2 straight national championships I’m cool with enjoying the process.

We’re in alignment. It’s not championship or bust for me personally. I’d just like to see good adjustments made and giving our guys the best chance to win.

Next game definitely needs a shakeup in the lineup. Putting Reed in by himself would help our slow starts tremendously.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It’s one of the few faults he has IMO, he doesn’t seem to ride the hot hand. I love his passion but he’s got to cool it with the insults.

We had TWO coaching techs, that shouldn’t happen. Johnson’s was bad too, we got lucky there.

Upside is Reed is looking good, like real good and Diarra did all he could, he had one bad T/O early and then hit his FTs all night.

Yeah like instead of them going apes—t on the sideline about calls that won’t be changed, figure out the defense, or draw up some more offense. Focusing on the Refs as coaches does no good at all.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

you do remember the “you better get us now” prediction that worked really well?

that squad had 10% the talent of the current roster

 

[uh-no]

Felt weird to me, but heck, Danny has two more nattys than I do.

dunno...I got 17

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I think Adams may have some of that breakdown game. I see a lot of Devin Booker in his game, but there’s a chance he can play like a Kentucky Booker where he’s more of a spot up guy as a freshman.

I agree we need to get and or develop those guys. Stewart is that on the roster currently. We just need to use him more.

He’s super slight though, not to say he won’t put on muscle, but he isn’t ready for college contact yet.

 

[TheHorde]

It’s one of the few faults he has IMO, he doesn’t seem to ride the hot hand. I love his passion but he’s got to cool it with the insults.

We had TWO coaching techs, that shouldn’t happen. Johnson’s was bad too, we got lucky there.

Upside is Reed is looking good, like real good and Diarra did all he could, he had one bad T/O early and then hit his FTs all night.

He also probably wanted to see how guys like Liam would react after sitting with the foul trouble for most of the first half. I’d imagine that he views this time of the year as invaluable to find the right lineups and situations to put guys in. A November loss hurts, but not as much as one in February or March.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Will be interesting to look back on this in a few months, but immediately after the Memphis game here is my ‘optimal’ lineup:

• Diarra
• Ball
• McNeeley
• Karaban
• Reed

+Stewart as 6th man (maybe? Had a breakout game today)

Hindsight will correct me, but from my couch today (Nov 25) this seems like the best mix. Thoughts?

Maybe some hope that nowell can find the floor.

 

[CL82]

The best coach in America, who actually cost of the game?

Yes and yes

 

[millertime7774]

Yeah like instead of them going apes—t on the sideline about calls that won’t be changed, figure out the defense, or draw up some more offense. Focusing on the Refs as coaches does no good at all.

Who was responsible for the first T? Don't think they ever showed anything, unless I missed it.

 

[NIT88]

rewatch the game - Memphis came in with a plan to flop - not just #4 who did about 20 Kemba head throws but also their bigs.... falling down all game - it was done with the plan to get samson out and it worked and they got so many weak calls.

It was all that I hate about basketball.

Also UConn's D is far off championship level.l

The D definitely is my bigger concern. After the game, we moved up to number 3 in Kenpom for adjusted offense, but fell more than 20 spots in D to 30.

 

[superjohn]

If we play our best 5 players there’s no PG. if we play our best 6 players there’s still no PG. That would be less of a problem if Ball was a better facilitator. Against this press I don’t think it works. It may be a lineup we can play situationally though.

The problem is I'm just not sure Mahaney is going to turn into a very good point guard and it makes us a lot less athletic because it's keeping one of Liam, Solo, Jaylin off the floor and it's keeping Hass off the floor when he's in there.

People bring up Tristen but Tristen was a point guard coming in. He had a 22 point triple double with 5 steals in his fourth game at UConn against Buffalo. He's just a lot bigger/more physical than Mahaney and he wasn't getting targeted all the time on defense. Mahaney has a couple things working against him. He's trying to learn the toughest position for the most advanced offensive team in the country as someone who isn't a natural point guard. At the same time he's getting targeted on defense because he's the slightest and least athletic guy on the court.

I just worry they may be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The team and Mahaney are too talented to have the whole season depend on something that may not be a fit. I trust the staff because they've been right about basically everything but we're really going to have to start seeing it work and 6 of the next 7 games are against big time teams.

 

[drayenob]

Who was responsible for the first T? Don't think they ever showed anything, unless I missed it.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The problem is I'm just not sure Mahaney is going to turn into a very good point guard and it makes us a lot less athletic because it's keeping one of Liam, Solo, Jaylin off the floor and it's keeping Hass off the floor when he's in there.

People bring up Tristen but Tristen was a point guard coming in. He had a 22 point triple double with 5 steals in his fourth game at UConn against Buffalo. He's just a lot bigger/more physical than Mahaney and he wasn't getting targeted all the time on defense. Mahaney has a couple things working against him. He's trying to learn the toughest position for the most advanced offensive team in the country as someone who isn't a natural point guard. At the same time he's getting targeted on defense because he's the slightest and least athletic guy on the court.

I just worry they may be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The team and Mahaney are too talented to have the whole season depend on something that may not be a fit. I trust the staff because they've been right about basically everything but we're really going to have to start seeing it work and 6 of the next 7 games are against big time teams.

The best fix appears to be insert Hass, instruct him he doesn’t need to be the energizer he is off the bench and tone it down a bit, and have Aiden spell Solo and play off ball.

 

[Scoe]

What did the trainer say that warranted a T.

 

[TheHorde]

What did the trainer say that warranted a T.

I’d love for someone like Borges to dig into this to get details. If it really was said in a huddle at not a high volume and in a demonstrable way to show up the refs, boy…

 

[Mike Honcho]

What did the trainer say that warranted a T.

"That's a BS call"

 

[pj]

The problem is I'm just not sure Mahaney is going to turn into a very good point guard and it makes us a lot less athletic because it's keeping one of Liam, Solo, Jaylin off the floor and it's keeping Hass off the floor when he's in there.

People bring up Tristen but Tristen was a point guard coming in. He had a 22 point triple double with 5 steals in his fourth game at UConn against Buffalo. He's just a lot bigger/more physical than Mahaney and he wasn't getting targeted all the time on defense. Mahaney has a couple things working against him. He's trying to learn the toughest position for the most advanced offensive team in the country as someone who isn't a natural point guard. At the same time he's getting targeted on defense because he's the slightest and least athletic guy on the court.

I just worry they may be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The team and Mahaney are too talented to have the whole season depend on something that may not be a fit. I trust the staff because they've been right about basically everything but we're really going to have to start seeing it work and 6 of the next 7 games are against big time teams.

All this is true, but I'm sure they have backup plans. They have two quality PGs behind him in Diarra and Nowell, and Hurley has talked about Ross possibly being able to play point. Mahaney's difficulties are baffling, but he has time to learn how to fit in better and fill a role. I don't see him as a backup shooting guard, that may be his personal strength but the team doesn't get better with him pushing Ball/Stewart/McNeeley/Ross to the bench. He has to succeed as a PG or he doesn't have a role.

He's not the only one who has to grow, other guys on the team do too. Solo Ball's every shot was a 3 pointer, and had 0 rebounds, 1 assist, and 5 fouls. Ross had 0 points and 0 rebounds. Between the two of them they played 39 minutes. The whole guard group has to get better.