No more excuses for Boat

[jibsey]

RB isn't the problem the lack of talent around him is! Only Dham has real UCONN talent on the team and he is scared to take shots at times.

Bingo. And DHam will be better next year and more assertive.

 

[Forte]

People definitely did say that I'll admit it.

At least we had Kemba coming back - though nobody could've predicted the junior season he had.

Going from Boat to a freshman is going to be rough.

I was actually watching the youtube special of Calhoun talking about that season. UConn wasn't even ranked in the top 68 in Sports Illustrated. This could happen again, but it will depend on freshmen talent coming in. That team if you recall was VERY young... just about all freshmen and Kemba. You could see the talent, even in their drought they had some big time wins earlier in the year. The talent on that team was obvious early on. We need those types of players to replace the current roster. I'm excited for Jalen Adams to put on the jersey but man the carry over of the current roster to next year gives me nightmares.

 

[gtcam]

I suppose all you bashers/criticizers did the same with Bazz when he took halves off??????
I guess when people are frustrated it's easy to place blame.
It's Ollie's coaching, it's Boat not playing well, etc.
Maybe this team is so very young and, in some cases, not ready for the stage.
Are we all so spoiled we can't sit back, breathe and say - it's just not going to happen.
I would rather be a UConn fan than a Cuse, Pitt, BC or a fan for any team that hasn't won 4 championships in last 16 years.

 

[Scoe]

I don't think anyone wants to win more then Boat, no one is harder on Ryan Boatrigh then Ryan Boatright. He is good he's just not Kemba or Shabazz. Pulling a Kemba-Shabazz isn't that easy.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don't think anyone wants to win more then Boat, no one is harder on Ryan Boatrigh then Ryan Boatright. He is good he's just not Kemba or Shabazz. Pulling a Kemba-Shabazz isn't that easy.

Especially when Kemba had Bazz, Bazz had Boat and Boat has...?

 

[Scoe]

Especially when Kemba had Bazz, Bazz had Boat and Boat has...?

Yep, that further states my point.

 

[amory]

It's been said, but lightning struck twice with Kemba and Bazz and it ain't striking a third time. Boatright is a supremely talented player and probably the next guy enshrined in the Huskies of Honor, but you only have to look at the missed free throws down the stretch against Texas and Yale to know he isn't cut from the same cloth as those two. Very few are.

 

[Gurleyman]

It's been said, but lightning struck twice with Kemba and Bazz and it ain't striking a third time. Boatright is a supremely talented player and probably the next guy enshrined in the Huskies of Honor, but you only have to look at the missed free throws down the stretch against Texas and Yale to know he isn't cut from the same cloth as those two. Very few are.

That's a little cold. El-Amin and Bazz both dribbled off their own legs with less than two minutes left in intense-pressure NCAA games (Bazz with 1:30 to go, down by 3 to St. Joe's - KEA 1:50 to go, up by 3 to Gonzaga. Those were both THE key games those teams had to win (99 to get to the FF, 14 just to at least have some success in the NCAA - I think a loss to Nova would have been easier to swallow). Their teammates made plays to bail them out around their mistakes, or both their legacies would be a lot different.

Kemba obviously had a pretty impeccable run, but he did foul a 3-point shooter up 3 in the last five seconds of the BE title game (even if that resulted in us losing, I think we would have universally forgiven him).

 

[tcf15]

That's a little cold. El-Amin and Bazz both dribbled off their own legs with less than two minutes left in intense-pressure NCAA games (Bazz with 1:30 to go, down by 3 to St. Joe's - KEA 1:50 to go, up by 3 to Gonzaga. Those were both THE key games those teams had to win (99 to get to the FF, 14 just to at least have some success in the NCAA - I think a loss to Nova would have been easier to swallow). Their teammates made plays to bail them out around their mistakes, or both their legacies would be a lot different.

Kemba obviously had a pretty impeccable run, but he did foul a 3-point shooter up 3 in the last five seconds of the BE title game (even if that resulted in us losing, I think we would have universally forgiven him).

Bazz, as a freshman, also had that turnover in the Final Four game vs. Kentucky up 2 with about 20 seconds to go in the game after trying to dribble through traffic and having it bounce off T Jones' leg. Fortunately, he was able to redeem himself at the end of the game with that 1-and-1.

 

[Danzz]

The players around him just aren't that good. I'd shudder to think of what their record would be with out Boat.

We will find that out next year. Scary.

 

[Dribbles]

Bingo. And DHam will be better next year and more assertive.

"Just you wait till next year!!!"

 

[Kitaman]

Bazz, as a freshman, also had that turnover in the Final Four game vs. Kentucky up 2 with about 20 seconds to go in the game after trying to dribble through traffic and having it bounce off T Jones' leg. Fortunately, he was able to redeem himself at the end of the game with that 1-and-1.

And . . . . . . . for the next two years Bazz was a finger pointing junkie, jacking up bad shots and not looking at all All American-ish. Perhaps he was honing things for his senior year. By his senior year he had been playing with 2 Championship players for 3 years and 3 players (Nolan, Omar, DD) for 2 years.

Boat is playing with all newbies except Omar. Nolan is invisible (and sadly doesn't count). Why people especially fans can't empathize with Boat's dilemma is beyond me.

I actually feel sorry for him, as he had NBA aspirations even in high school and he has no one helping him enhance his resume.

We should all be saying thank God he got a ring, because he deserves it with this season and what's he's 'left with.'

 

[Stainmaster]

Do we realize how spoiled we are to have had not one, but two flat-out superstars in the past few years? Just because Boat isn't as dominant as either Kemba or Bazz doesn't mean we as a fanbase got slighted.

 

[Waquoit]

Are people on this board this incapable of differentiating between criticizing and bashing?

Using the term "embarrassing" isn't criticism, it's bashing.

 

[8893]

Putting aside what Boat is missing by not having anyone remotely close to playing Robin to his Batman, somehow it's also lost on people that Giffey played at an All-American level for the last two months of the season, and Daniels finally awoke in the NCAAs.

Hell, even Two-Rings-Tyler Olander provided some experience, which is sorely lacking this season, period.

 

[UConn990411]

Using the term "embarrassing" isn't criticism, it's bashing.

When did I say that?

 

[Waquoit]

When did I say that?

You bashers all look alike to me.

 

[UConn990411]

You bashers all look alike to me.

You're seriously considering me a basher? Lol.

 

[dante]

It's been said, but lightning struck twice with Kemba and Bazz and it ain't striking a third time. Boatright is a supremely talented player and probably the next guy enshrined in the Huskies of Honor, but you only have to look at the missed free throws down the stretch against Texas and Yale to know he isn't cut from the same cloth as those two. Very few are.

seriously? it was not boats fts that lost us the Texas and Yale games. However it was the fts that lost us the Temple game and who missed them? See nobody brings up the Temple game but the Texas has been brought up time and time again to crap on Boat.

 

[breezy]

Fwiw boat played far better @cincy last night than Bazz did @cincy last year.

 

[CTBasketball]

The only thing I hate seeing on here about Boat is that once he has a great game everyone's like, "Oh that's one of the best PG's in the nation. Why was he left off ESPN's top PG list? He deserves that mid-season Wooden Award watchlist."

And then once he has a bad game, "Boat is injured. Dude c'mon stop bashing Boat he's playing on one leg."

It's the oddest thing I've ever seen. Boat is a hell of a player, but he's not invincible to the point where he only has bad games because of his past injuries...

 

[Gurleyman]

seriously? it was not boats fts that lost us the Texas and Yale games. However it was the fts that lost us the Temple game and who missed them? See nobody brings up the Temple game but the Texas has been brought up time and time again to crap on Boat.

I think there's a higher level of expectation for a senior who's been there. Not sure that ripping on a freshman in that spot for the first time is warranted. We don't go to OT in the first place if he didn't go 2-2 at the line in the last minute of regulation.

Boat was 3-4 in the last minute vs Texas (pretty reasonable to accept 3-4) and we get a stop either time and we win. Yale was a day he probably shouldn't have played, but we defend the 3 off the o/b play, and we probably win. We overcame Bazz's turnover and missed bunny late against St. Joe's, or Kemba's 5-19 against Butler, because we did other things well. Basketball is rarely flawless under pressure - the key is to make good things happen around the inevitable mistakes/hiccups and then they become masked.

 

[gtcam]

It's been said, but lightning struck twice with Kemba and Bazz and it ain't striking a third time. Boatright is a supremely talented player and probably the next guy enshrined in the Huskies of Honor, but you only have to look at the missed free throws down the stretch against Texas and Yale to know he isn't cut from the same cloth as those two. Very few are.

Wow
Bazz, Kemba, KA, Ricky M, Talik - the list goes on, they ALL had missed fts, bonehead plays to cost games.
So Boat is the only one?
As far as I am concerned they are all cut out of the same UConn blue cloth

 

[ktuck911]

Outside of Hamilton I don't see many players around him that have the talent level UConn is use to.

Gimme a break... UCONN has plenty of talent on this team... when you got new guys in the rotation an adjustment period happens... Do you remember how the teams that won National Championships for us performed the following year? Not so good... So don't give me that crap that Boat is the only talent on this team... Chemistry is an issue right now with this squad... understanding how to play along side each other, when to shoot... when to pass while under durress... we're a mess... but it's growing pains.. which is expected for the Men's team.. We don't reload like Kentucky, or like our own WBB squad... We'll be fine in the long run... We got kids that are here to learn and grow, normally for all 4 years, sometimes 3 years, rarely one and dones pan out here... Tough year but I like UCONN MBB just fine... No stress.. Next year will be different...

 

[upstater]

The only thing I hate seeing on here about Boat is that once he has a great game everyone's like, "Oh that's one of the best PG's in the nation. Why was he left off ESPN's top PG list? He deserves that mid-season Wooden Award watchlist."

And then once he has a bad game, "Boat is injured. Dude c'mon stop bashing Boat he's playing on one leg."

It's the oddest thing I've ever seen. Boat is a hell of a player, but he's not invincible to the point where he only has bad games because of his past injuries...

He was playing great.

Then he got injured.

Then he wasn't playing great.

What else should we conclude?

Bazz hurt his hand last year.

And had 10 games of sub 40% shooting from the floor.