Miserable awful thoughts

[CTBasketball]

Just so much wrong with this game. Essentially we got exposed, badly.

I'm convinced TSam and Boat are the only ones who knows how to break a 2-2-1 press though. The rest of the looked clueless.

 

[Excalibur]

The story of this game is pretty simple. We had one guy who was prepared for the pressure and physicality of WVU's defense.

Purvis could have helped if he wasn't hurt, but he probably doesn't change the result.

As for the shooting, those of you thinking that we just missed shots are a bit off. We don't have many guys who are going to make contested jump shots, and they forced into contested jump shots all night.

 

[superjohn]

We played a crappy game, we played several crappy games last year too.

 

[willie99]

we missed uncontested 3's and uncontested free throws , didn't see too many uncontested 2's

 

[willie99]

We played a crappy game, we played several crappy games last year too.

QFT

and in 2011 and 2004 and several other Elite 8 and conference championship seasons

1999 was almost flawless however

 

[tzznandrew]

Call me a pom-pom wearer, but I came away from this game with a lot of optimism. WV plays a style that is tough to be prepared for so early in the year, especially when you're replacing 60% of your starting lineup from last season. Better shooting would have changed everything. Our shooting has not been good so far this season

DHam had 8 of our 21 turnovers, mostly on being too aggressive with his passes. However, he also looked like he could win games singlehandedly.

Our passing wasn't all that bad, and at times it was beautiful. WV is going to get TO's.

We're going to be a tough out come March.

This. This is exactly what I took away.

 

[Cheeky]

This game was made and broken with the pressure.
We didn't handle the pressure.
Most of what went wrong came from not handling the pressure.

Completely disagree about perimeter jumpers - Go back and read the BY through about Jan 1 last year. Guys were calling for DD to stop shooting 3s because he wasn't hitting them consistently. They kept arguing he should go inside. DD continuing to shoot 3s, and eventually making them at a high rate, may have been the single most important change in our game that resulted in our dominance.

If not one of Purvis/Cassel/TSam can even threaten the 3, and Omar doesn't find his way back (and he seems completely lost at this point), then you can put a fork in this season, because the crash-the-rim-every-play from these guys with Boat and DHam the only legit 3 shoots, and Boat too occupied running the O to get many 3s and not exactly a dagger chucker anyway, is a fantastic strategy for losing.

Just like DD did last year - gotta shoot the 3 early to have it as a weapon later.

 

[KingOPancakes]

I think we were ok with the press, bur because we can't shoot, we end up having to attack very loose defenses that are packed in tight in the paint, which will result in turnovers.

Did we watch the same game? Boat picked up his dribble deep in the back court and was forced to take a TO, multiple turnovers on the inbounds under the basket leading to buckets, multiple hail mary passes that flew over the receivers head, and at one point I think it was TSAM who got the ball just before half court AHEAD OF THE DEFENSE, stopped, let the D catch up and then passed back to Boat to let him try to get it past the press.

There were many things to take away from last night's game. The most obvious was that we collapsed under the press.

 

[scotty0330]

Flash back to last year---we struggled with full court pressure then as well. Albeit- Louisville who does a better job that WVU with full court pressure kick our rear ends three times last year. Even with Napier, Daniels and Giffey (three experienced players) we had trouble breaking and dealing with good full court pressure. Now you bring in a couple first year players (Hamilton and Cassell) throw in a transfer and a seldom used guard (Samuel) and the results are not that much different yet we are somehow surprised.

 

[Pudge]

I have watched a great deal of City HS basketball teams press like West Virginia did last night. You can do it in lots of cases. And, frankly, WVU will do this all year (and Louisville is frankly better & more sophisticated). WVU caught us with several guys that had not played together and did not know some basic principles. And that target is on Daniel Hamilton ... and Rodney/TSam/Cassell etc.

This can & will be coached. We will not look like this the next time we get pressed (the Puerto Rican Quatro won't be the only ones watching FILM). We will get far better as a Team at this by February. We looked awful ... like a bunch of guys who had never ever seen this. And, frankly, it's all around us. We can't simulate this in practice. The Power Guards needs to be disciplined (plus Dan Hurley). And the Facey Brimah twosone should have 10 dunks in this environment.

WVU? You simply cannot tell me anything about Staten or others. I don't know. That defense makes 10 guys indistinguishable. And, I usually would think that they are not going to get away with this as the year goes on; however, you might note that Huggins has 5 pretty solid guard types harassing & some good talls.

 

[aceboon]

Fishy's on this one.

19 TO's and 9 assists won't win a lot of games. 3-17 from 3 tells me you shot too many 3's and maybe you don't do that all too well.

Kids were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was downright scary what that "basic" press did to them. While I agree Boat's been great he's not the calming force vs that press either. It's not Bazz or Kemba in this case and he needs to improve as well. But DHam didn't help him, wow he was rattled for a kid who can handle and pass th e ball so well. Live and learn right?

TSam - I said this 2 games ago. He needs to be who we saw last year late and in the tourney. If he tries to be more he shouldn't be on the court because he's not more, he's a piece. His 3 TO's seemed to be 10. Catch the ball, find an open player or dribble it out. Then get a rebound or get back to the other end and defend like mad. 10 shots from him isn't going to bring us a lot of wins unless they are lay ups!

Facey - definitely interesting. He got 10 and 8 what more can you ask. If he improves his ball handling and passing he can become quite a catch.

Texas is going to have a blast watching this tape - an absolute party!

Bazz was not good at all against a press, what we saw out of Boat was no different than the two of them together the last 3 years, Louisville made him melt. For whatever reason UConn has been bad against presses since it seems like AJ's group walked out the door. Kemba had the game against Mizzou in his back pocket but he had issues at time handling it as well.

 

[Excalibur]

Boat/Bazz type guards will struggle against a physical press like WVU's just because of their size. Hamilton is they type of guy you need to break that press, and he hadn't seen anything like it before. I suspect if we were to see a similar press in 2 months we wouldn't have any issue with it.

 

[IMind]

It wasn't just the press... we turned the ball over under the basket a startling number of times in the first half... our bigs just have to be better at being bigs. Grab a rebound hang on to it... and throw the outlet pass... also maybe if our guards weren't trying to pad their rebounding stats by stealing rebounds from their own players so much we'd get down the court better. Seriously our guards HAD TO rebound over the last couple of years.. but they need to stop trying to grab every defensive rebound and get out on the break.

 

[Edward Sargent]

If you're typing with poms-poms on, stop reading. I don't want to hear your whining.

1) The board seems to entering the bargaining phase of grief, but that performance stunk out loud. They were completely undone by West Virginia's pressure and if you ever had the sense UConn was going to win, I'm not sure what you were watching. UConn rattled by a press....sun might rise in the west tomorrow.

2) Too many guys are happy to hoist perimeter jumpers. Too few guys are capable of making them. We have three power guards - if they're standing still, they're no longer power guards. They're potted plants.

3) Cassell cannot become the guy who just takes eight threes a game and leaves the heavy lifting to someone else - if that's the case, I'd rather see Terrence out there running over things. Five assists in four games? I'll put another chair in the doghouse I built for Nolan if that keeps up.

4)

5) Until the train crash that is the offense gets back on the rails, the defense needs to stop taking the first half off. (On the season, we're -12 in the first half.)

6) Coaching Terrence Samuel must be like a Civil War soldier firing a cannon. You're sure that you're about to do a great deal of damage somewhere downstream, but as to where, what or who that damage will visit, heaven knows. He plays so hard, but half the time the damage he does is friendly fire. Growing pains, I 'spose.

7) Do not look up the AAC's power numbers. We need to beat Texas.

8) I do not want to be Rakim Lubim, Omar Calhoun, Dan Guest or Marcel Lewis right now. Between the four of them, they haven't scored a single point and they're the ones who get pegged....I don't think this week is going to go well for the Puerto Rico Four. Some deeper thoughts there, but this isn't the place.

9) Kentan Facey. Four games in....25.0 minutes per game, .500 FG%, six points, seven rebounds. Whatever we thought we might get out of Nolan and Lubin, we're getting it from Facey. He's becoming a very interesting player.

For some reason none of this bothered me last night. Maybe its because I lived through the horrific losses we had to Louisville last year but everything looks correctable to me.

 

[Huskybass]

West Virginia punched UConn in the mouth early and UConn never recovered. Great early season lesson that the team will benefit from.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think Fishy has the right idea. Some additional observations.

1. Boatright is not Shabazz. He's a darned good PG, but the press exposed him and his shooting, even FTs, was awful. He isn't a guy who can carry a team, he's a really good complimentary piece.

2. Facey can play. I don't know why this is a surprise. He's a superb rebounder. He can get 8-10 on put-backs alone. You need those guys. His post defense needs to be better, but it is still better than what we can get from Hamilton at that spot.

3. Brimah is better than last year, but I have not seen the huge leap we heard about, just incremental improvement.

4. Hamilton will be a star, but facing a tough, aggressive defense with strong athletes, he looked like the freshman he is. Good learning experience. Ollie needs to stop playing him at the 4.

5. Cassell Jr. and Purvis are enigmas. Both guys look to me like they are used to being "the guy" and are struggling to adapt to the team concept. I really don't like having both of them on the court at the same time as they both suffer from "Jerome Dyson syndrome".

 

[Dove]

Ollie should have suspended more guys but knew he couldn't.

Only Boat gave us any hope for a comeback but when we need a bigger boat we just have to endure the growing pains.

 

[gtcam]

The difference between 2011, last year and this year to date? Boat doesn't have a running mate like he was to Bazz and Bazz was to Kemba.
The Ferrari has a bad axle but I don't see him as the press breaker type. SC Jr. isn't the athlete to fill the role. TSam is the closest but in reality his handle is questionable if he is not going to the hoop.
KO needs another "point guard" pure and simple. He needs one now and needs one more next year to go with JA.
I am still very optimistic about this year - WVA was a big, physical and LONG team. Not blaming the officiating but I feel that the lack of the normal touch fouls, bad screens and slapping on our drives to the hoop didn't help.
Beyond that, UConn cannot shoot as badly from the three or the free throw line and expect to beat anyone.
While he was a turnover machine yesterday (KO will change this), I would love to see D Ham as the 2 guard next to Boat, move Facey to the 3 - if we had another effective big.
This team has the making of a very good team. It needs to put this in the learning catagory, gain a sense of composure, work on rebounding position. The shots will fall soon.

 

[aceboon]

Facey at the 3, what the hell am I reading...

 

[Excalibur]

I think Fishy has the right idea. Some additional observations.

1. Boatright is not Shabazz. He's a darned good PG, but the press exposed him and his shooting, even FTs, was awful. He isn't a guy who can carry a team, he's a really good complimentary piece.

2. Facey can play. I don't know why this is a surprise. He's a superb rebounder. He can get 8-10 on put-backs alone. You need those guys. His post defense needs to be better, but it is still better than what we can get from Hamilton at that spot.

3. Brimah is better than last year, but I have not seen the huge leap we heard about, just incremental improvement.

4. Hamilton will be a star, but facing a tough, aggressive defense with strong athletes, he looked like the freshman he is. Good learning experience. Ollie needs to stop playing him at the 4.

5. Cassell Jr. and Purvis are enigmas. Both guys look to me like they are used to being "the guy" and are struggling to adapt to the team concept. I really don't like having both of them on the court at the same time as they both suffer from "Jerome Dyson syndrome".

I agree with 1-4 with the caveat that Brimah's offensive game has improved significantly, but the needle has barely moved in defense and rebounding. None of these should be a surprise, outside of maybe Facey.

On #5, I don't think you can draw any conclusion on Purvis in a game where he was clearly hurt and unable to move. He looks to be a taller, stronger version of Jerome Dyson. But he was clearly limited after the first 90 seconds last night. Cassell is going to struggle against quicker defenders.

 

[tzznandrew]

This game was made and broken with the pressure.
We didn't handle the pressure.
Most of what went wrong came from not handling the pressure.

Completely disagree about perimeter jumpers - Go back and read the BY through about Jan 1 last year. Guys were calling for DD to stop shooting 3s because he wasn't hitting them consistently. They kept arguing he should go inside. DD continuing to shoot 3s, and eventually making them at a high rate, may have been the single most important change in our game that resulted in our dominance.

If not one of Purvis/Cassel/TSam can even threaten the 3, and Omar doesn't find his way back (and he seems completely lost at this point), then you can put a fork in this season, because the crash-the-rim-every-play from these guys with Boat and DHam the only legit 3 shoots, and Boat too occupied running the O to get many 3s and not exactly a dagger chucker anyway, is a fantastic strategy for losing.

Just like DD did last year - gotta shoot the 3 early to have it as a weapon later.

I like this new incarnation, @Cheeky

Most of the 3s they missed were open. If you are a 1, 2, or 3, and you are wide open yet won't take a 3, we are in trouble, so they needed to take most of them, I thought (they did get a little 3 happy, SCII in particular), but generally I thought they were reasonable shots.

Purvis looked terrible yesterday, but was injured and 2-4 against Dayton. I think we'll have some 3 point threats, just none as good as Bazz or Giffey. We don't need them to be that good, but they need to be guarded.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

If you're typing with poms-poms on, stop reading. I don't want to hear your whining.

1) The board seems to entering the bargaining phase of grief, but that performance stunk out loud. They were completely undone by West Virginia's pressure and if you ever had the sense UConn was going to win, I'm not sure what you were watching.

9) Kentan Facey. Four games in....25.0 minutes per game, .500 FG%, six points, seven rebounds. Whatever we thought we might get out of Nolan and Lubin, we're getting it from Facey. He's becoming a very interesting player.

 

[Waquoit]

West Virginia punched UConn in the mouth early and UConn never recovered.

I'm not signing up to that. But I think all "punch them in the mouth" analysis is silly. UConn didn't back down, they kept fighting. The stretch that finally killed them was when they cut it to six and couldn't get over that hump despite several stops on D. That was due poor shooting and selection than any after-effects from being punched in the mouth.

 

[Pudge]

Boatright absolutely CAN carry & lead this bunch. I'm not concerned with the Kemba or Shabazz comparable. He's a solid heady Senior guard; fully prepped for this leader role. He'll have his day.

Facey is good. I like that he's incrementally grown. We can expect more & more from him. Brimah has a lot of growth needed to get to a high ceiling. Need just more play.

As for the "Jerome Dyson" syndrome ... WTF? Hell if I'd guess what that is. Rodney & Cassell & Hamilton ALL will understand their role in UConn's way.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I like this new incarnation, @Cheeky

Most of the 3s they missed were open. If you are a 1, 2, or 3, and you are wide open yet won't take a 3, we are in trouble, so they needed to take most of them, I thought (they did get a little 3 happy, SCII in particular), but generally I thought they were reasonable shots.

Purvis looked terrible yesterday, but was injured and 2-4 against Dayton. I think we'll have some 3 point threats, just none as good as Bazz or Giffey. We don't need them to be that good, but they need to be guarded.

No conclusion. I think Purvis will be excellent, and possibly a star. I merely don't like him on the court with Cassell Jr., as they both have a reckless streak. Cassell needs to calm down and play a little more like a PG, even when he is playing SG. That's why we saw so much of Samuel yesterday.