Need to play better versus physical teams.

[WeAreUCONN]

DePaul exposed a major weakness in this UConn team. DePaul was physical on almost every play and the refs decided to let them be physical without calling a majority of the fouls unless the foul was blatant, causing Sanogo, Martin, and others to have lousy games or taking longer to adjust to the physical play. I expect all teams to be physical with UConn going forward. Hawkins isn’t ready for physical play and Jackson wasn’t much better. Our games against Villanova, Marquette, and Xavier will be physical wars and we need to do much better than we did against an undermanned DePaul team.

 

[ucp990411]

DePaul exposed a major weakness in this UConn team. DePaul was physical on almost every play and the refs decided to let them be physical without calling a majority of the fouls unless the foul was blatant, causing Sanogo, Martin, and others to have lousy games or taking longer to adjust to the physical play. I expect all teams to be physical with UConn going forward. Hawkins isn’t ready for physical play and Jackson wasn’t much better. Our games against Villanova, Marquette, and Xavier will be physical wars and we need to do much better than we did against an undermanned DePaul team.

I agree that we seem to have the most difficulty with teams that are physical. Tyrese Martin as strong as he is really struggles when guarded with toughness. Whaley is not a tower of strength and then there are Polley, Hawkins and Akok who simply are not physical players. If I was an opposing coach my gameplan vs us would include being as physical as thge refs allow.

 

[UCFan1513]

Think this is a great point. Though DePaul isn't a great team, they were a tough matchup for UConn, especially when UConn isn't making outside shots. Thought DePaul had a great gameplan against Sanogo, and once they took him out of the game in the first half the team struggled mightily

Think Xavier will be a particularly tough, physical, matchup

 

[tennmike]

Agree that Whaley, Hawkins, Polly, and Martin were knocked out of their element, but Jackson's 13 boards was about desire and toughness.

 

[ucp990411]

If you noticed DePaul may have been the first to not allow AJ space to shoot 3s. And yes he is a very good rebounder but not especially good at boxing out. We as a team are weak at that.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Agree that Whaley, Hawkins, Polly, and Martin were knocked out of their element, but Jackson's 13 boards was about desire and toughness.

I didn’t realize Jackson had 13 rebounds. This article is a decent read about Jackson and his physical play.

Guard Andre Jackson is bringing the physicality and energy for UConn

Sophomore guard Andre Jackson is built for battle. On Saturday night, the UConn men’s basketball team found itself in a dogfight of a game against DePaul, pulling out a 57-50 victory at Wintr…

www.courant.com

 

[jibsey]

Jackson is out jumping other team’s forwards and centers for rebounds. Kid is amazing.

 

[jdb50]

Our problem is Adama can not get real physical or the refs will put him on the bench. Isiaih has been getting pounded into all season trying to hold his position and the refs have been calling fouls on him. We need to really up our boxout game and just be relentless on the glass. If we need to put Springs in who is solid due to foul trouble do it. Martin has to get his shots up into the square and stop fading away and mix it up more on the glass. We have solutions but everyone needs to step it up.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Thought the team didn't do a good job at getting Sanogo the ball deep. DePaul did a good job fighting him early for position. I would like to see him go stronger sometimes at the rim, still. His finesse is impressive, but he has to go hard sometime.
One of the things I really like about him though is he doesn't let struggles at one end carry over to the other. He still rebounded and played solid defense.

 

[UCFan1513]

If you noticed DePaul may have been the first to not allow AJ space to shoot 3s. And yes he is a very good rebounder but not especially good at boxing out. We as a team are weak at that.

Hadn’t seen a true box out until the last couple games. Know it was a point of emphasis so should improve over time hopefully

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Adama needs to use his strength a lot more. ~5 shots a game he falls away. I don’t know why. Maybe he doesn’t have confidence in gaining position by putting the ball on the floor, but he is so strong. Stronger than 90% of the defenders he’s facing. Get yourself under the rim.

 

[OkaForPrez]

If you noticed DePaul may have been the first to not allow AJ space to shoot 3s. And yes he is a very good rebounder but not especially good at boxing out. We as a team are weak at that.

We are the 3rd best rebounding team in the country.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Hadn’t seen a true box out until the last couple games. Know it was a point of emphasis so should improve over time hopefully

We are the third best rebounding team in the country.

 

[OkaForPrez]

DePaul exposed a major weakness in this UConn team. DePaul was physical on almost every play and the refs decided to let them be physical without calling a majority of the fouls unless the foul was blatant, causing Sanogo, Martin, and others to have lousy games or taking longer to adjust to the physical play. I expect all teams to be physical with UConn going forward. Hawkins isn’t ready for physical play and Jackson wasn’t much better. Our games against Villanova, Marquette, and Xavier will be physical wars and we need to do much better than we did against an undermanned DePaul team.

We held them to 28% shooting and out boarded them by 9. We won precisely because we were more physical than they were.

We are the third best rebounding team in the country and the third best 2pt defense in the country.

There are two ends of the floor.

We can win in the 90s or in the 50s.

That’s the sign of a good team.

 

[UCFan1513]

We are the third best rebounding team in the country.

Mostly buoyed by offensive rebounding. Their defensive rebounding rate is sub-100 in the country. Hurley himself mentioned it as a point of emphasis for the team (either pre-game or at halftime) in the last couple of weeks

If the team played at a faster tempo you could live with that a bit more since players are leaking and not grabbing boards. But given tempo and what a good rebounding team they are on offense, they could clean that area up a bit. It has been noticeably improving the last couple games

 

[UconnU]

Mostly buoyed by offensive rebounding. Their defensive rebounding rate is sub-100 in the country. Hurley himself mentioned it as a point of emphasis for the team (either pre-game or at halftime) in the last couple of weeks

That’s because we contest every single shot in the paint. We’ll often have multiple guys going up for the block. Hence why we’re 2nd in the country in blocks. Can’t box out if you’re going for a block. Furthermore if teams can’t get clean looks at the rim they take more jumpers and end up grab more long rebounds on offense. Given our personnel I think we’re playing to our strengths on defense and don’t see a need for a change imo.

 

[UCFan1513]

That’s because we contest every single shot in the paint. We’ll often have multiple guys going up for the block. Hence why we’re 2nd in the country in blocks. Can’t box out if you’re going for a block. Furthermore if teams can’t get clean looks at the rim they take more jumpers and end up grab more long rebounds on offense. Given our personnel I think we’re playing to our strengths on defense and don’t see a need for a change imo.

That’s a good point I didn’t consider. Do distinctly remember Hurley mentioning it as a point of emphasis though, and think there is room for improvement, but don’t think it’s the most glaring hole in the team’s game