Mid season observations

[g_smith]

All of our losses had high numbers of turnovers.
We should be running our offense with less forced shots, (ie/ bazz, boat, and sometimes Lamb) and waiting for better opportunities.

I now consider Drummond and Lamb to be our biggest scorers.
Last night was the perfect example. Where earlier in the year it was Shabazz and Lamb, now Shabazz has less points and more assists and Drummond has those points. This is better. Bazz shouldn't be our biggest scorer. He isn't Kemba and I think he's finally starting to play like that.

When Oriakhi plays hard, you can see it in the rest of the team.
It's him we'll need come March to step up and be a force on and off the court.

On defense, let's defend the perimeter better.
Time to stop letting off so many 3s because we drop back on D to help the front court.

Deandre Daniels has HUGE POTENTIAL for the second half of this season.
Anyone who follows the team knows that we're continuously called out for not having production from the 3 position. (Roscoe, Giffey, DD) We know Roscoe can play D, but he's lacking in offensive presence, especially on the wing. Giffey is solid, he's not explosive in any sense. DD though, is nowhere near his potential. He can be the guy hitting 3s from the wing every game, giving some good assists and a major contributor on D. If he can click, this team will have a legit shot at a repeat.

 

[caw]

I think I agree with all of those points.

TO's are a mix of a few things, but most are just bad/lazy plays. A few I remember from last night:

• Boatright trying to feed Drummond on the break and throwing it too low where it could be defended by Jones (?)
• Napier getting a 5 second call on him
• Napier in-bounds to Boatright that never got to him

These are the types of TO's that UConn (or any good team) can't afford.
The others come from over-dribbling and not recognizing or moving the ball fast enough when the double comes and offensive fouls.
The first they did a much better job of dealing with in the second half and something I think Napier/Boatright and Lamb will get better with naturally as the season progresses, the second I'm mostly OK with.
I think UConn did a decent job defending the 3 all game last night. WVU was 6-14 in the first half but 3 came from Jones who isn't in the scouting report as a player you really need to worry about shooting the three. The second half WVU was 0-10.
Oriakhi doesn't need to put up a double-double every game or even get 10 boards a game. He did a great job last night and had a meager stat line to show from it. He did, however, play hard and gave UConn a presence down there with Drummond that Olander can't provide. I said before that I would love for AO to get 8-10 boards a game, but after watching Drummond I'm not sure that is possible. I'll settle for great D, a positive attitude, good leadership and a high shooting percentage. Also, something I noticed, Oriakhi seems to get more attention in the post than Drummond from the defense. Drummond was open a few times because of AO screens, or WVU doubling AO before the ball was thrown in to him. I think this is partially due to:

• AO being able to establish himself in the post better
• AO having better post moves (even though he finishes soft)
• Drummond moving very well on the baseline when the guards penetrate (he cuts through the lane like a guard sometimes)
• Drummond rolling hard on pick and rolls