Nice team effort and many contributions tonight.

[DogMania]

The list of contributors is lengthy.

One that most might not have realized but Niels led the team in rebounding, pulled down 11.

TSam logged 21 minutes, yes 21, and he along with Boat held down the fort while Bazz had to sit for two long stretches.

Boat shouldered the majority of the handling and did a nice job.

Daniels 3 ball seems to be coming around. Shot 3-5 and those 3 that went in felt huge at the time.

Brimah had his share of altered shots as he always does, plus one memorable block where he seemed to come from burbs to block that corner 3.

Kromah, who has been struggling the past few weeks, and many have been pleading with KO not to play, had a great game on both ends of the floor. 2-3 from deep (at least one of those was huge stretching a close 2nd half lead from 3 to 6), 3-6 overall, 4-4 from the line where he usually struggles, 12 points overall and a team leading 4 steals. That's a nice nights work.

Oh, and some guy named Shabazz Napier shot 9-13...yes missed just 4 of his 13 shots, 4-8 from 3, 3-4 from the line, got his usual 5 rbs, 2 stls and team leading 25 points...accomplished all that playing just 25 minutes. A point a minute, not bad!

Nolan had a quiet game playing just 6 minutes, but of course he drew a charge, which he does in just about every game he plays, sometimes draws a pair.

Coming out of Buffalo with a 12 point win over 2nd seeded Nova took a full team effort. Hopefully they can carry over this level of play to MSG where we've witnessed many nights of Husky Magic.

 

[Ohio UConn]

Nice summary. Agree with all.

Shabazz deeserves attention but entire team.............great.

In my eye...............key unnoticed player of game for UConn was the the Berlin guy.....Neils Giffey. Did stunning work down low..............so many subtleties to go into.

The less I say & post.............the better.................last time I was here...............Kemba was in college still.

Keep the faith brothers!

 

[cordeodato]

Just want to mention one thing I love about Neils. When he grabs onto a rebound he keeps it. Rarely ends up in someone else's hands.

 

[RichZ]

You forgot one important guy. KO made Jay Wright his bitch. The coaching job he did was incredible.

 

[zymurg]

I always get a little smile when I see a DM post game wrap up. The team defense in the second part of the first half was otherworldly. In Ollie's presser, he noted how Nova moves the ball quickly with one or more extra passes to set up totally open 3's. Ollie switched D's, and in
every defensive iteration, UConn covered the third and fourth potential shooter.

KO showed a deft hand at roster management. He anticipated Nova's substitution patterns, and he had the proper players on the floor in the proper positions to thwart Nova. Of course playing the small lineup won't work if Giffey doesn't show perfect technique and super grip hands
on the defensive boards. Leadership means knowing how to use your assets, and when your assets are human the leader has the commitment and belief of his team members to success.

After the battle of Wellington a comment was made about the victory being won on the playing fields of Eton. In that sense this victory over Nova was won in the daily practices starting with November.

Sometimes I believe that fans focus too much on game management as a sine qua non of coaching. A successful college coach must be able
to multi task. Knowing the correct tactics/strategy is important, but you just can't tell the players do this/do that. You have to prepare
them to succeed doing this or that.

One final comment; KO is very aware of nuances. In the presser he talked about his body language. In the half time snippet, he was relentlessly positive. Watching him defend the sideline; you know he is totally in the moment, but he has this wonderful gift to be both inside and outside the moment at the same time.

 

[SixRings]

I'm surprised that a lot of people don't mention the free throw shooting of this team when discussing game accolades.
What KO has done with this is nothing short of incredible. It is a main reason we won last night. Nova has the ability to score in big bunches and make double digit comebacks in seconds. Yet, UConn continued to hit their free throws and literally squash any momentum build Nova was looking for. Of course getting the lead is more important but keeping it in the final minutes isn't something that just happens without great preparation.

 

[djct1999]

This team needs Shabazz for the obvious reasons but we don't head to MSG without the total team effort. From Boat to Samuel, we go 7 deep with each kid impacting the game in some way. Just an awesome team weekend!!!!!