My thoughts (I haven't read any of the past 24 hour posts)

[OkaForPrez]

1) I'm not sure people recognize how important Shonn Miller is on BOTH ends of the floor. We become one dimensional offensively when he's not a post threat and defensively he was the only guy who could match up with Pollard. You box score wiz bangs can tell me what Miller's +/- was yesterday, but I know they erased our first half lead when he hit the bench, and I know we erased their 2nd half lead when he came in the game. Even with Dotson going bananas, Houston runs through Pollard. And without miller to negeate him, that was a big difference.

2) Make shots. The offense generated a slew of open threes in the 2nd half. Purivs and Gibbs both had looks with nobody even close to them and threw up some horrendous line drive bricks. Houston, who is two different teams off of makes and misses, turned every one of those missed three's into a paint bucket in transition. I didn't have a problem with the coaching in this game outside of yet another travesty of end game clock management. We got looks for our three point shooters and they just didn't execute.

3) Hamilton clearly needs a wake up call, defensively primarily. And I like that KO is calling him out. I just wish he did it more on the sideline and less in the press.

4) The fatal flaw of this team is competent dribble drive attack at the point. We knew it in November when Gibbs clearly wasn't the answer. If there's to be a debate about coaching, it's should Ollie have gone out and gotten a better fit piece instead of the best player.

5) Hat tip to Houston who I believe played exceptionally well.

 

[champs99and04]

Agree on #5 especially. Sometimes we forget that there are two teams that contribute to the result. Houston hit a ton of shots yesterday and punished us for every one of our mistakes.

It's still inexcusable to lose to them at home, but the opposing players play a big role in determining the outcome.

 

[imno1]

Good post but I # 4 seems like a hindsight comment. Maybe the flaw in Ollie's coaching strategy was continuing to let Gibbs run down the clock and try to make a play. He's like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. Not that there great alternatives until JA started to develop. As you mentioned when we are not hitting our 3s anyone can team with us

 

[Penfield]

Good post @OkaForPrez

as to your first point - Miller has been having issues staying out of foul trouble recently. I think we are essentially going to live or die on his ability to stay in games in March. Not sure if there is anything Ollie can do to help protect him more on D.

 

[tykurez]

Miller has been having issues staying out of foul trouble recently. I think we are essentially going to live or die on his ability to stay in games in March. Not sure if there is anything Ollie can do to help protect him more on D.

Totally agree with this. As good as Shonn has played, consistently, all year ... he's still not doing a good job of staying out of foul trouble. He has a tendency to get too aggressive, even when he's established pretty good position.

 

[Candyman]

In response to #3- At one point Ollie pulled him from the game for his terrible D and then Houston grabbed back to back offensive rebounds and he put him right back in. Had no choice he's our best defensive rebounder plus Miller was in foul trouble once again.

However, Dham was a major liability on D. Dotsdon was killing him, when we switched him off Dotson he was guarding a little guard who he couldn't stay in front off. I have never seen a player lose his guy as much as Dham has this season.

 

[Jerry1714]

Agree on almost everything by the OP.

Game boiled down to playing 30 mins of horrific defense, not a news flash for anyone who watched the game, and everyone not named Daniel Hamilton shooting 20% from 3.

I also think we cannot have Adams shooting 13 times in a game, he cannot make a shot unless its a layup, hes being left alone on jumpers for a reason. Our best offense is him driving and dishing.

 

[jibsey]

OP, you covered all the bases, the only thing was I would understand if KO maybe needed maybe until January to figure out the Gibbs problem, but here we are in March. Shooters get cold but shooting 30% from 3 with shots that wide open can kill you because 2 more made 3's changes everything in that game.

 

[JimHurley]

Hamilton is a very frustrating player. There's no doubt he has the talent. No question there. But he doesn't hustle and doesn't have any heart. He's soft. And I don't like soft players. He has all the tools to become a dominant D1 player, he just needs to put "10 toes in."

 

[Jerry1714]

Hamilton is a very frustrating player. There's no doubt he has the talent. No question there. But he doesn't hustle and doesn't have any heart. He's soft. And I don't like soft players. He has all the tools to become a dominant D1 player, he just needs to put "10 toes in."

You continue to amaze with your posts. Wow

 

[Stainmaster]

Hamilton is a very frustrating player. There's no doubt he has the talent. No question there. But he doesn't hustle and doesn't have any heart. He's soft. And I don't like soft players. He has all the tools to become a dominant D1 player, he just needs to put "10 toes in."

You continue to amaze with your posts. Wow

"Poster, I served with William Shea. I knew William Shea. William Shea was a friend of mine. Poster, you're no William Shea."

(I didn't actually, but still)

 

[CTBasketball]

Spot on as usual @OkaForPrez. Please do not go insane like the rest of us.

 

[TasteofUConn]

1) I'm not sure people recognize how important Shonn Miller is on BOTH ends of the floor.

And given that he's limited offensively, it's a scary point.

2) Make shots. Purivs and Gibbs both had looks with nobody even close to them and threw up some horrendous line drive bricks.

Purvis is the kind of guy who is better off having a guy run at him full bore for a shot. He's about as fully of an instinctive player as I've ever seen, with very little active processing whilst playing. Him having two seconds to think about shooting a three is anathema. For those of you paying close attention, this is exactly why he's such an awful free throw shooter

4) The fatal flaw of this team is competent dribble drive attack . . . If there's to be a debate about coaching, it's should Ollie have gone out and gotten a better fit piece instead of the best player.

1. There IS a coaching debate already. Not saying it's a full fledged mutiny, but there is little doubt that the discontented rumblings from the crew are there and getting louder.
2. I think a better question than "why didn't Ollie get a better fitting piece . . . " is "why has Ollie continued to ram the wrong piece into place since October?" It's forgivable to misapprehend Gibb's ability to run the point. It's not to make the same mistake repeatedly as the same Shakespearean tragedy replayed all season long.

5) Hat tip to Houston who I believe played exceptionally well.

Wow. Completely respect your basketball knowledge but gotta disagree. I saw open shot after open shot after easy dunk from them yesterday. They certainly proved that they can bury the uncontested jumper.
Not sure I would ever say the other team played "exceptionally well" when we lose by a couple buckets and I see our shooting guards clang shot after shot and then not run back on D.

 

[OkaForPrez]

@TasteofUConn two rebuttals. RE the Gibbs point, I think that's a similar line of thought to why Enoch doesn't see more time. UConn emphasizes defensive rotations 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. I'd be willing to bet we spend 75% of our practice time on it. The transition to Adams happened when he was finally capable to be in the right place defensively. And then it took a slight detour for his episode.

RE: Houston's fast break, they played a large part in making us look bad. They played quick and got the ball up ahead fast. They attacked the rim and our defense often before we could get it set up. In fact they might have exposed a weak spot in a top 10 defense. I absolutely credit that to Sampson's gameplan and their execution, it was a smart way to attack us.

Unfortunately for our boys, I'm guessing they are still running right now.

 

[Hankster]

1) I'm not sure people recognize how important Shonn Miller is on BOTH ends of the floor. We become one dimensional offensively when he's not a post threat and defensively he was the only guy who could match up with Pollard. You box score wiz bangs can tell me what Miller's +/- was yesterday, but I know they erased our first half lead when he hit the bench, and I know we erased their 2nd half lead when he came in the game. Even with Dotson going bananas, Houston runs through Pollard. And without miller to negeate him, that was a big difference.

2) Make shots. The offense generated a slew of open threes in the 2nd half. Purivs and Gibbs both had looks with nobody even close to them and threw up some horrendous line drive bricks. Houston, who is two different teams off of makes and misses, turned every one of those missed three's into a paint bucket in transition. I didn't have a problem with the coaching in this game outside of yet another travesty of end game clock management. We got looks for our three point shooters and they just didn't execute.

3) Hamilton clearly needs a wake up call, defensively primarily. And I like that KO is calling him out. I just wish he did it more on the sideline and less in the press.

4) The fatal flaw of this team is competent dribble drive attack at the point. We knew it in November when Gibbs clearly wasn't the answer. If there's to be a debate about coaching, it's should Ollie have gone out and gotten a better fit piece instead of the best player.

5) Hat tip to Houston who I believe played exceptionally well.

Spot on. Miller is a huge part both offense/defense. I don't know about DHam either. One play he is fantastic the next two were horrendous. With Rodney and Gibbs you have to wait and see what you get. I also concur about the box score club.

 

[Hankster]

1) I'm not sure people recognize how important Shonn Miller is on BOTH ends of the floor. We become one dimensional offensively when he's not a post threat and defensively he was the only guy who could match up with Pollard. You box score wiz bangs can tell me what Miller's +/- was yesterday, but I know they erased our first half lead when he hit the bench, and I know we erased their 2nd half lead when he came in the game. Even with Dotson going bananas, Houston runs through Pollard. And without miller to negeate him, that was a big difference.

2) Make shots. The offense generated a slew of open threes in the 2nd half. Purivs and Gibbs both had looks with nobody even close to them and threw up some horrendous line drive bricks. Houston, who is two different teams off of makes and misses, turned every one of those missed three's into a paint bucket in transition. I didn't have a problem with the coaching in this game outside of yet another travesty of end game clock management. We got looks for our three point shooters and they just didn't execute.

3) Hamilton clearly needs a wake up call, defensively primarily. And I like that KO is calling him out. I just wish he did it more on the sideline and less in the press.

4) The fatal flaw of this team is competent dribble drive attack at the point. We knew it in November when Gibbs clearly wasn't the answer. If there's to be a debate about coaching, it's should Ollie have gone out and gotten a better fit piece instead of the best player.

5) Hat tip to Houston who I believe played exceptionally well.

Spot on. Miller is a huge part both offense/defense. I don't know about DHam either. One play he is fantastic the next two were horrendous. With Rodney and Gibbs you have to wait and see what you get. I also concur about the box score club.

 

[mauconnfan]

Hamilton is a very frustrating player. There's no doubt he has the talent. No question there. But he doesn't hustle and doesn't have any heart. He's soft. And I don't like soft players. He has all the tools to become a dominant D1 player, he just needs to put "10 toes in."

You know I hear people in the stands saying he doesn't hustle and see this and I disagree to a point, but i could be wrong. He plays hard, he just doesn't play smart and that can be misleading. He wouldn't be starting or getting back off the bench if he wasn't playing hard, lets at least give KO and the staff a little credit here.

 

[intlzncster]

1) I'm not sure people recognize how important Shonn Miller is on BOTH ends of the floor. We become one dimensional offensively when he's not a post threat and defensively he was the only guy who could match up with Pollard. You box score wiz bangs can tell me what Miller's +/- was yesterday, but I know they erased our first half lead when he hit the bench, and I know we erased their 2nd half lead when he came in the game. Even with Dotson going bananas, Houston runs through Pollard. And without miller to negeate him, that was a big difference.

2) Make shots. The offense generated a slew of open threes in the 2nd half. Purivs and Gibbs both had looks with nobody even close to them and threw up some horrendous line drive bricks. Houston, who is two different teams off of makes and misses, turned every one of those missed three's into a paint bucket in transition. I didn't have a problem with the coaching in this game outside of yet another travesty of end game clock management. We got looks for our three point shooters and they just didn't execute.

3) Hamilton clearly needs a wake up call, defensively primarily. And I like that KO is calling him out. I just wish he did it more on the sideline and less in the press.

4) The fatal flaw of this team is competent dribble drive attack at the point. We knew it in November when Gibbs clearly wasn't the answer. If there's to be a debate about coaching, it's should Ollie have gone out and gotten a better fit piece instead of the best player.

5) Hat tip to Houston who I believe played exceptionally well.

Hopefully you haven't missed chief's first Night Thread. It's outstanding.