Need to shake things up

[superjohn]

Freemantle isn't a center, he's a power forward. He regularly shoots 3s and takes his man off the dribble. He just happens to also be 6'9“.

Freemantle is a center/power forward, he just shares the court with a significantly bigger center and Freemantle hardly ever shoots 3s. He's made most of them but has shot significantly less 3s than Sanogo this season.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Freemantle isn't a center, he's a power forward. He regularly shoots 3s and takes his man off the dribble. He just happens to also be 6'9“.

he takes less than one three a game and has made a total of 9 this year.

Did Fremantle beat us by shooting threes or dominating at the rim?

 

[Rico444]

Fair enough, he doesn't shoot a ton of 3s but he's way more mobile than Sanogo. He doesn't just post up, and he can defend other stretch 4s. He's listed as a power forward on almost every website, was considered a stretch 4 coming out of high school, and is listed as a PF on NBA draft sites. He's not a center.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Fair enough, he doesn't shoot a ton of 3s but he's way more mobile than Sanogo. He doesn't just post up, and he can defend other stretch 4s. He's listed as a power forward on almost every website, was considered a stretch 4 coming out of high school, and is listed as a PF on NBA draft sites. He's not a center.

That’s fine. I don’t think we said he was. We’re talking about Sanogo at the 4, not 5. Sanogo can guard him at the 4. Sanogo has quick feet and is already out by three point line. But Freemantle doesn’t play how you’re you’re making it out to be. He plays by the basket a lot more. The fact that you think Sanogo can’t guard him but Karaban can, is one of the reasons why we have the board melting down

And why are we talking about Freemantle? We play them one more time. We need the bigs playing together for other teams as well. Our current lineup is horrendous on defense and predictable on offense

 

[Rico444]

That’s fine. I don’t think we said he was. We’re talking about Sanogo at the 4, not 5. Sanogo can guard him at the 4. Sanogo has quick feet and is already out by three point line. But Freemantle doesn’t play how you’re you’re making it out to be. He plays by the basket a lot more. The fact that you think Sanogo can’t guard him but Karaban can, is one of the reasons why we have the board melting down

And why are we talking about Freemantle? We play them one more time. We need the bigs playing together for other teams as well. Our current lineup is horrendous on defense and predictable on offense

My initial post was talking about how playing two centers at the same time is going to cause issues in my opinion, superjohn is the one that brought up Xavier. My concern is that Sanogo and Clingan both play close to the basket on offense and neither can defend most 4s in the league. Karaban has to get better defensively for sure but he's a freshman so I expect he will. He also makes our spacing a million times better on offense than it would be with two centers on the floor. Freemantle and Nunge don't both plant themselves next to the basket on offense like Sanogo and Clingan would have to to be successful. Neither one of them can handle the ball at all and you don't want either taking a 3, only Sanogo and only if there's not a defender within 10 feet of him.

Overall we have to make changes to the lineup but i don't think double big is the answer. We also would have had 30+ turnovers on Sunday if we played Sanogo and Clingan together.

 

[olehead]

He’s Ben Simmons II

Well like pre-shook Ben, here's to hoping AJax will use those wonderful gifts to go. and. make. a. layup/dunk. Please.

 

[olehead]

Rinse. Repeat.

 

[Billy Jack]

That’s fine. I don’t think we said he was. We’re talking about Sanogo at the 4, not 5. Sanogo can guard him at the 4. Sanogo has quick feet and is already out by three point line. But Freemantle doesn’t play how you’re you’re making it out to be. He plays by the basket a lot more. The fact that you think Sanogo can’t guard him but Karaban can, is one of the reasons why we have the board melting down

And why are we talking about Freemantle? We play them one more time. We need the bigs playing together for other teams as well. Our current lineup is horrendous on defense and predictable on offense

Our current lineup is not horrendous on defense that has not been our problem. Regardless, you’re nit going to improve our defense by playing double bigs.

 

[jake14mw]

So I think we’ll be fine. I think we may have overachieved during the first two months and we need to reset our expectations.

Compete for Big East regular season title & win the Big East Tournament. Get to the S16. Let the chips fall where they may. Hurley knows he has to make an adjustment on offense and defense. Kids get in funks, losing streaks happen. We’ll bounce back.

But, with regards to a PG, this team is going nowhere without Tristan Newton. He’s played so poorly that he needs minutes reduced, but we’re not going far without him. Diarra can’t be given starter minutes and Jackson is not the answer either. Hurley needs to sit him down and figure it out.

I agree with this 100%. Like it or not, this team needs Newton to play well. He has the skills to do it. The team/staff needs to work to get him right. If that doesn't work, I say give JC a shot to run the point. I like Diarra, but he is so limited offensively. One of these guys is the answer.

The answer is not Jackson being the PG! Where are you guys getting this idea from? Whenever he has the ball on the perimeter you just have to play him to pass. He can't shoot from the perimeter and he's not a threat to score off the dribble. He's the easiest on-ball guard there is outside of the paint. He is much more beneficial to the team offensively WITHOUT the ball on the perimeter.

I don't think playing Sanogo and Clingan together is the solution either. I understand why people say it. It's frustrating that two of our best guys have to share minutes. They have been great, but they're not our problem. Our guards have been stinking up the joint, and we've got to get just ONE out of the four portal guys playing better. That should be doable, and it's the solution.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Our current lineup is not horrendous on defense that has not been our problem. Regardless, you’re nit going to improve our defense by playing double bigs.

Defense has most certainly been the problem during the skid.

 

[CTBasketball]

I hope the starting lineup includes the Greek Freak tonight.

 

[Billy Jack]

Defense has most certainly been the problem during the skid.

Absolutely not. Defense has not been responsible for the turnovers, the poor 3-point shooting, nor the poor FT shooting. And blaming the defense for not holding down Xavier and Marquette on their own floors is ignoring just how good their shooting is.

 

[CTBasketball]

I hope the starting lineup includes the Greek Freak tonight.

Normal starting lineup. Rats.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Our current lineup is not horrendous on defense that has not been our problem. Regardless, you’re nit going to improve our defense by playing double bigs.

How’d the same lineup do tonight?

 

[UConnSwag11]

Nothing changed

 

[UConnSwag11]

Jackson, Hawkins, Karaban,Sanogo, Clingan

For offense, starting lineup, and any lineup with Sanogo at the 5, is the easiest to scout for multiple reasons.

Our starting lineup, and any lineup with Sanogo at the 5, is the worst on the defensive end.

Sanogo is not great at defending the lane, and since our guards can’t keep their guy in front of them, we need Clingan to patrol the paint and clean everyone’s mess up. Similarly like Thabeet did in ‘09, granted that was a defensive style. Sanogo is already guarding 4’s/5’s out at the 3 point line anyway. Clingan can cover the void left by sanogo out on the three point line.

It also allows us to run different offense sets and still have three point threats

It’s apparent a lot needs to change. More so on the offensive end with or without a change.

Defense has to change it starts with a new lineup

 

[REB1094]

I don’t know what the fix is honestly

Newton and Diarra have stretches of 3-5 minutes where they play decent, and are unplayable the rest of the game. Joey had a good game tonight but was invisible the previous 6

Andre is the life and soul of this team but is just not refined offensively and he’s not locking down the perimeter like he did OOC. Alleyne hasn’t made a 3 since Xavier

Sanogo is absolutely gassed and we have 11 games to go. He still struggles to pass out of the post and we’re reverting to just having him shove his way through the paint over multiple defenders.

I’m in favor of just playing your best 5 (Andre/Hawk/Karaban/Sanogo/Clingan) and just seeing what happens. It can’t be worse than what we have now.

If that doesn’t work, I think the entire playbook needs to be redesigned. The BE has UConn figured out to the X and to the O. Gotta mix up the sets and empower guys to make basketball plays when they see openings instead of going through the motions every play (Hawkins is good at this, just lacks the ballhandling to do it at an elite level)

The defense is absolutely lost for at least half of every game..

The talent is there, we saw it earlier this year. But when the other team knows exactly what you are going to do as soon as the ball crosses half court, it doesn’t matter how talented you are.

Man, I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t envy the coaches that have to figure it out

 

[3rdbass]

There is no difference between our guards running point, and Jackson. Like I said in that comment, jackson is the best at facilitating the offense, passing, pushing the pace, better at entry passes in to the bigs. He doesn’t dribble the air out of the ball. With Karaban and Hawkins on the perimeter, that will keep teams honest and allow Clingan and Sanogo to work inside. Sanogo has show he can even hit a three. IMO Sanogo needs to nail down a mid-range jumpshot so we can run a pick and pop with him. His offense near the basket is too predictably. I would like to see more pick and pops with Karaban like we ran with Giffey in 2014. We have a pick and roll with Clingan. With the big playing together, they can run some high-lows.

Defensively we have a big to guard the rim and Sanogo who can guard the four. I’m assuming we can get more stops and rebounds which will allow us to get out in transition for easier buckets

Haha, the same Jackson who leaves his feet and doesn't take a layup and instead passes the ball to Hawkins on the baseline. The dude is so out of control right now trying to do too much on offense and defense. He needs to slow down and not just go out there as a chicken with his head cut off. Like I said before if Newton and Diarra don't step up their games we screwed.

 

[firstnline]

Shake things up? Team should dye their hair blond. Its worked for the Danbury High wrestling team for a number of years, maybe it can work for us.

 

[olehead]

Even With The Same Lineup, we win that game by six or more if Adama makes his layups. I recommend about 30 minutes of Dejuan Blair finishing footage for Adama with particular attention of the use of butt and shoulders. Anything to get him to have greater confidence with his finishes, and maybe instilling in him to embrace his advantage over nearly anyone, (just as Blair did) Physical Strength.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Haha, the same Jackson who leaves his feet and doesn't take a layup and instead passes the ball to Hawkins on the baseline. The dude is so out of control right now trying to do too much on offense and defense. He needs to slow down and not just go out there as a chicken with his head cut off. Like I said before if Newton and Diarra don't step up their games we screwed.

Have Jackson off the bench and move Sanogo to the 4. Remove Sanogo from the starting lineup and keep Karaban at the 4. Either way a message has to be sent to the entire team. A message has to be sent to Jackson and Sanogo. Whatever the message is, “Donovan is playing 30 minutes a game”, has to be in it

 

[3rdbass]

Have Jackson off the bench and move Sanogo to the 4. Remove Sanogo from the starting lineup and keep Karaban at the 4. Either way a message has to be sent to the entire team. A message has to be sent to Jackson and Sanogo. Whatever the message is, “Donovan is playing 30 minutes a game”, has to be in it

I hope when johnson is back we do move him in the starting lineup if he can play defense. We need someone to block shots next to Sanogo who has sucked on d this year. It would be great if Clingan but probaly won't see either of them starting until johnson is fit to spell minutes.

 

[Marat]

Nothing changed

And do you expect any new significant changes for Sunday? Probably not.

 

[Puertorock43]

I thought I read that Danny H after the ST.John’s lost that he was gonna shake things up, get a spark? Looks like we did nothing but the same thing, again.

 

[UConnSwag11]

And do you expect any new significant changes for Sunday? Probably not.

Nope