Momentum Gets No Respect

[Mister P]

Not that the following first half sequence determined the game but one event can change the flow of the game.
Houston was up 18-9 and then we went on a run to cut it to 5 , 21-16. JA was on the line trying to cut it to 4. He missed and Houston scored 5 quick points and ended the half on a 18-9 run...And then the second half started.
Make that foul shot and who knows how the rest of the half may have turned out. With momentum not only does a player get more into the game your teammates are more involved and the energy gets contagious and all aspects of the game seem to go a little better.
That being said Houston was the much better team and we were more than likely not going to win that game.

Let’s hope the remaing signing period for recruits goes well.

 

[spudzj6]

If you back it up a minute. We cut it 18-16. Guy slid across the lane, no travel call, ended up getting it inside for an and 1. We had momentum there, would have had the ball looking to tie or go up 1.

Regardless, we were never going to stay close. We got straight whipped by a smarter, faster, tougher team

 

[Austin316]

You need to play defense and make shots. He could have made the free throws and we would have scored 47 instead of 45...

We lost because Polley and Vital didn’t show up today and we simply gave up in the second half.

The better team won. Look forward to next year when we have a seasoned coach and hungrier/healthy roster.

Thank you Jalen for your services.

 

[August_West]

If you back it up a minute. We cut it 18-16. Guy slid across the lane, no travel call, ended up getting it inside for an and 1. We had momentum there, would have had the ball looking to tie or go up 1.

Regardless, we were never going to stay close. We got straight whipped by a smarter, faster, tougher team

Yup that was the exact turning point of the game and why I created the We had our shot thread.

We were playing good defense at that point of the game still and getting real clean looks on offense during that stretch and Vital and Polley just couldnt do anything with them. Once that and 1 on the no travel call went down you could just feel the Houston run coming. If we had put game pressure on them there when we were getting stops and made those entirely makeable shots the whole complexion of the game changes. We still lose 9 out of 10 times, but confidence breeds effectiveness and we just didnt have it. It was effectively over right then.

 

[AdamaNation]

Not that the following first half sequence determined the game but one event can change the flow of the game.
Houston was up 18-9 and then we went on a run to cut it to 5 , 21-16. JA was on the line trying to cut it to 4. He missed and Houston scored 5 quick points and ended the half on a 18-9 run...And then the second half started.
Make that foul shot and who knows how the rest of the half may have turned out. With momentum not only does a player get more into the game your teammates are more involved and the energy gets contagious and all aspects of the game seem to go a little better.
That being said Houston was the much better team and we were more than likely not going to win that game.

Let’s hope the remaing signing period for recruits goes well.

40 point losses don’t usually hook big fish.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Yup that was the exact turning point of the game and why I created the We had our shot thread.

We were playing good defense at that point of the game still and getting real clean looks on offense during that stretch and Vital and Polley just couldnt do anything with them. Once that and 1 on the no travel call went down you could just feel the Houston run coming. If we had put game pressure on them there when we were getting stops and made those entirely makeable shots the whole complexion of the game changes. We still lose 9 out of 10 times, but confidence breeds effectiveness and we just didnt have it. It was effectively over right then.

 

[jibsey]

40 point losses don’t usually hook big fish.

Lord I hope that is not true. The pitch is that we are starting a new era. If Houston can get good players why can’t we?

 

[Mister P]

40 point losses don’t usually hook big fish.

40 point losses don’t usually hook big fish.

If the chum that’s been in the water doesn’t lead to a trophy fish this spring hopefully it will land us a “keeper” fish or two that will eventually lead the trophy fish to our school.

 

[polycom]

Lord I hope that is not true. The pitch is that we are starting a new era. If Houston can get good players why can’t we?

Houston is a few years(Sampson was hired in 2014) into their rebuild we are exactly 1 season into ours, we will get there.

 

[Griffman]

Not that the following first half sequence determined the game but one event can change the flow of the game.
Houston was up 18-9 and then we went on a run to cut it to 5 , 21-16. JA was on the line trying to cut it to 4. He missed and Houston scored 5 quick points and ended the half on a 18-9 run...And then the second half started.
Make that foul shot and who knows how the rest of the half may have turned out. With momentum not only does a player get more into the game your teammates are more involved and the energy gets contagious and all aspects of the game seem to go a little better.
That being said Houston was the much better team and we were more than likely not going to win that game.

Let’s hope the remaing signing period for recruits goes well.

Sorry Mister P but we lost by 39 points. One event would not have changed the flow of the game. We still would have gotten creamed....

 

[businesslawyer]

Not that the following first half sequence determined the game but one event can change the flow of the game.
Houston was up 18-9 and then we went on a run to cut it to 5 , 21-16. JA was on the line trying to cut it to 4. He missed and Houston scored 5 quick points and ended the half on a 18-9 run...And then the second half started.
Make that foul shot and who knows how the rest of the half may have turned out. With momentum not only does a player get more into the game your teammates are more involved and the energy gets contagious and all aspects of the game seem to go a little better.
That being said Houston was the much better team and we were more than likely not going to win that game.

Let’s hope the remaing signing period for recruits goes well.

The year of the Giants first Super Bowl, in their playoff opener, a rookie Jerry Rice got open deep and caught what would have been the opening score of the game, except he fumbled with no one between him and the goal line. the Giants went on to win something like 49-3. There are still Niner fans who tell me "what if" they went up 7-0 there and developed momentum. The answer is they would have lost 49-10 instead.

Those Niner fans are as full of crap as that post was.

 

[Mister P]

I never said that that made us lose the game. I actually said it did not determine the outcome and I expected us to lose the game to begin with. I was stating we were on a nice run and things changed quickly after the missed FT and the ensuing possessions. Make the FT and get another stop you keep momentum going. Team was deflated after that. Maybe then you go into the half down single digits rather than 15.

 

[gtcam]

Kind of a unneeded thread - IF IF IF - I understand that MrP says he didn't mean that a missed free throw cost the game but the idea that it was JAs free throw that started the downslide and was echoed on the chat is BS.
The team was up against a far superior force in terms of talent, training, conditioning and yes - coaching
UH ran UConn out of the gym - plain and simple
I have seen this UConn team look tired (regardless of what the Fish says) in the late stages of the 1st half and 2nd half too many times this year.

Besides an uptick in talent which I know that DH and his staff are working diligently on, the team needs a better overall improvement in strength and conditioning - something I was under the impression was happening all last off season and advertised as such.

Many claim that they are the way the are because of the past 3 seasons - yes there was an attitude of losing but that is something an effective coach should overcome and not just with "his players". The impression we got when they beat Syracuse is that the team was now under the DH rapture and celebrated as such. I guess they forgot? If anyone would have shown the bad/loser attitude it would have been JA and CV - I didn't see any of that in those two at all - they were positive and buying into the DH system

It's a long road back to the JC days and not as easy as it was then either for so many reasons.

Here's to 2019-2020. I am looking forward to better things and I really think they are on the horizon

Thank you JA - sorry that you weren't given more to work with during your career, you'll be missed by me.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

I agree that in college basketball, you’ll often see one team get rattled or panicked or simply lackluster and, in the worst instances, quit when the game seems to get out of reach. On the other side if the coin, things can happen to increase the intensity level of a team, which has the opposite effect of them playing better/tighter defense, making faster cuts on the offensive side of things, and generally hustling more and giving 100% effort.

To me, that’s more an issue of effort and intensity than “momentum.” The key to a great team and great coaching is maximizing effort and intensity across 40 minutes every game, regardless of whether the last shot dropped or not. That’s what Geno and the women have been so exceptional at. It doesn’t mean you win every game, but it means you give 100% effort every minute of every game.

The team made genuine strides in this area under Hurley this year. They kept fighting, even when the other team built up a lead and were much better at not taking their foot off the gas and letting bad teams back into games.

This one got away from them. Might a few breaks have forestalled that a bit? Sure. But Houston was clearly a much better team today. We needed them to get rattled and start making mistakes or playing lackadaisically and that simply wasn’t in the cards in this one.